In the ongoing hockey matches at the Tokyo Olympics, when the Indian men's hockey team defeated Great Britain 3-1 on Sunday to make it to the semi-finals, there was a wave of happiness all over India. But this happiness was doubled by the Indian women's hockey team on Monday when they also defeated the Australian team, considered to be the title contenders, 1-0 in the quarter-finals. The Indian team has exploded after reaching the semi-finals. Gurjit Kaur scored the only goal of the game for India by converting a penalty corner in the 22nd minute. It seems that perhaps Shard Morin's coaching has brought a new edge to the Indian women's hockey team.
This is the same coach who lashed out at the entire Indian team after a 1-5 loss to the Netherlands in the group match. However, after that, the Indian team also lost 0-2 to Germany and in the next match again lost to Great Britain 1-4. It seemed then that the Indian women's hockey team's campaign in Tokyo was now over.
After this, India's falling beats recovered when they beat Ireland 1–0 in the next match and South Africa 4–3 in the decider of the pool. In this thorn match, Vandana Kataria wrote a new history by scoring a hat-trick of three goals. She is the first female hockey player from India to score a hat-trick in the Olympics.
The Indian women's hockey team never looked under pressure against Australia. His defense was very strong, which the Australian team could not break even after getting seven penalty corners. The eyes of sports fans watching a match like this great match on television also became moist after the final result. Hardly anyone has expected such a wonderful game from the Indian women's hockey team.
Earlier, the Indian men's team had reached the semi-finals of the 1972 Mexico Olympics and won the gold medal in the 1980 Moscow Olympics. After the victory of the Indian women's hockey team, the players of the Australian team fell on the field and the whole world saw them crying while the Indian women players were enthusiastically hugging each other and congratulating each other.
Gurjeet Kaur, who scored the winning goal after the match, said that the entire team had prepared well. Regarding reaching the semi-finals, she said that she is proud to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 1980. He also said that people's prayers are with him and the entire coaching staff has worked hard.
After the spectacular victory of the Indian women's hockey team, we spoke to the former coach of the women's team AB Subayya, and she said that this is a more than the expected result. "Top team against Australia not only played the players with passion but also defeated them. This win will be remembered for a long time because they played the perfect match.
The weather also had an effect as the heat was very hot and the Australian players got used to such conditions. No. Against Australia, the Indian team played with full energy, the Aussies lacked it. The team's defense was brilliant which wasted their seven penalty corners. It was one of the best matches of the Indian team." Regarding the benefits of the Indian women's team playing in other countries including New Zealand, Belgium.
In Argentina in the last few years, Subayya says that all the credit goes to Hockey India. "The men's and women's teams have been given so much opportunity that the team that used to get disintegrated in the third and fourth quarters is no longer there. Now at the fitness level, the Indian team is playing better than the European teams, which is very commendable. Hockey. India gave the team all the facilities from foreign coaches to other facilities.
Regarding the team's specialty in the match against Australia, Subayya said that 'It cannot be said that anyone player showed a very strong game. In this match, everyone played unitedly. Everyone played one after the other. He did not let the Australian team run. Scored as soon as you got the chance. From goalkeeper to full back and forward, he did a wonderful job.
Left out and right outplayed as needed. By the way, before the quarter-final match, about the performance of the Indian team against Japan, coach Shard Marin had said that we gave them as many goals as three goals. "In any case, the team had to win and they won. The pitch was over 35 degrees Celsius and humid too. Continuity in performance is essential. Quarterfinals are a fresh start.
It's a game." The Indian women's hockey team played a different game against the Australian team and surprised them by playing attacking hockey. By the way, even after this victory, the road ahead for the Indian team is not easy. Now in the semi-finals, they face Argentina, who showed a strong game, defeating Germany 3-0 one-sidedly to make it to the semi-finals. Argentina is currently the number two team in the world. She has won silver in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, bronze in the 2004 Athens Olympics, bronze in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and silver in the 2012 London Olympics.
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