Indian women lose Olympics bronze play-off to Great Britain
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India's dream of a bronze medal in their maiden entry into the semifinal by the women's hockey team came crashing down as it lost 4-3 to Great Britain in a playoff at the Tokyo Olympic Games on Friday.
As per a report by IANS, skipper Hollie Pearne Webb scored the equaliser for Great Britain after India took a 3-2 lead going into half-time. Grace Balsdon scored the all-important fourth goal in the final quarter. Earlier, the Indian women's hockey team made a fighting comeback in the second quarter has fallen behind two goals to nothing early in the match.
After Elena Rayer's pass from the right flank was deflected inside by India's Deep Grace Ekka's stick, India conceded again with Sarah Robertson scoring with a magnificent reverse shot. However, Gurjit Kaur scored twice penalty corners to help India draw level. Vandana Katariya then gave India the lead before half-time.
The Indians played their hearts out and overcame a two-goal deficit to lead 3-2 at half time. But a desperate Great Britain gave their everything in the second half and scored two goals to snatch the match from India's hands. India scored three goals in a span of five minutes through Gurjit Kaur (25th, 26th minutes) and Vandana Katariya (29th) to stun Great Britain.
Earlier on Thursday, the men's team rewrote history as it claimed an Olympic medal after 41 years, defeating Germany 5-4 to win the bronze in an edge-of-the-seat play-off match.