Tokyo Olympics: Indian women's hockey team create history, enter semis for first time

India`s players celebrate after scoring a goal during women`s field hockey quarterfinal match against Australia at the 2020 Olympics. Picture/ PTI

The Indian women's hockey team scripted history on Monday by qualifying for the Olympic Games semifinals for the first time, beating three-time champions Australia by a solitary goal here.

A day after the Indian men's team entered the Olympic semifinals following a 49-year gap, the world no. 9 women's side also entered the history books with a phenomenally gritty performance.

Coming into the match, the odds were totally against India as in world no.2 Australia, a mighty unbeaten opponent, awaited them in the last four round.

But the Indians, determined to prove a point, produced a strong and brave performance to eke out the narrow win over the Hockeyroos.

Drag-flicker Gurjit Kaur rose to the occasion when it mattered and converted India's lone penalty corner in the 22nd minute to surprise the Australians.

India's best performance in the Olympics came way back in the 1980 Moscow Games where they finished fourth out of six teams.

In that edition of the Games, women's hockey made its debut in the Olympics and the sport was played in a round-robin format with top two teams qualifying for the final.

The Rani Rampal-led side will play Argentina in the semifinal on Wednesday.

Olympic gold medal-winning shooter Abhinav Bindra was among the first to congratulate the women's hockey team on their achievement. He wrote on Twitter, "Incredible Morning. So proud of our women's hockey team. Nothing unites us the way sport does !!! #twomoretogo."

Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore also congratulated the women's hockey team for their feat. He wrote, "Congratulations to the Flag of India Women's Hockey Team for entering the #Olympic semi-finals. You've made India proud! Best wishes for the next match. #Cheer4India"

Anurag Thakur wrote, "Splendid Performance!!! Women's Hockey #TeamIndia is scripting history with every move at #Tokyo2020! We're into the semi-finals of the Olympics for the 1st time beating Australia. 130 crore Indians Flag of India to the Women's Hockey Team - "we're right behind you"!

The Indian women's hockey coach Sjoerd Marijne also shared a photo with the team and had a nice caption - Sorry family, I coming again later 😊❤️

Marijne also indulged in a funny banter with Shah Rukh Khan after the Indian women's heroic victory.

Also Read: India hockey skipper Manpreet Singh: We were ready to die on the field

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