India women shock Australia to make semis

TIL Desk Sports/ Underdogs India produced a spirited performance to shock three-time champions and world No. 2 Australia 1-0 and enter the semi-finals of the Olympics women’s hockey tournament in Tokyo, on Monday.

Gurjit Kaur’s goal from a penalty-corner proved decisive as Rani Rampal’s team showed grit and determination to bounce back after three consecutive defeats in the league stage before making the quarter-finals to stay in contention for a medal. India will meet Argentina, who scored a 3-0 win over Germany in the first quarter-final.

On Sunday, India’s men’s team entered the Olympics semi-finals after a 49-year gap. On that occasion at the 1972 Munich Games, they lost 0-2 to arch-rivals Pakistan. The last of their eight Olympic gold medals came way back in 1980, at the Moscow Games, but there were no semi-finals in that edition as only six teams participated in the event.

The Indian women hockey team’s best finish at the Olympics was on debut at Moscow back in 1980 when it ended up fourth among six teams. In that edition, only six teams participated and India finished fourth in a round-robin format competition with no classification or elimination matches.