Rani Rampal-led India women’s hockey team bowed out of Tokyo 2020 on a disappointing note on Friday (August 6). The women’s hockey team had a chance to leave the showpiece event with their first-ever Olympic medal when they faced Great Britain in the bronze medal face-off, however, they ended second in the contest after going down 4-3.
Courtesy Gurjit Kaur’s twin strikes, India had bounced back from a 2-0 deficit to go 3-2 up by the end of the first half. However, what followed was sheer heartbreak for the girls, as well as the whole country. Great Britain used their experience into play to beat the Indian women team 4-3 and earn their third successive medal at the Olympics. In the 2016 Rio Olympics, Great Britain had won the gold medal.
Following the defeat, the Rani Rampal-led Indian eves were inconsolable as pictures of them being teary-eyed moved every countryman back in India. Hence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi went on a call with the Indian team to lift their spirits and tell them that the whole country remains proud of their heroics.
PM Modi told on-call, “Namaste Namaste! Aap sablog bahut badhiya khele hain. Itna paseena bhahaya hai….aapka paseena medal nai laa saka lekin desh ka prerna ban gaya….Niraash nahi hona hai ekdum. Aaplog rona band kijiye. Desh aaj aappe garv kar raha hai. (You guys gave your blood and sweat. While it didn’t result in a medal, it has beocme an inspiration for all back home. None of you should cry or feel back. Please stop crying as you guys have made the whole country proud).”
While Rampal thanked PM Modi for his constant support and motivation, head coach Sjoerd Marijne had to step in and reply to the politician as his squad remained inconsolable. He said, “Thank you very much sir. The girls are very emotional at the moment. I have told the girls that they have inspired the nation and it is something very important and they have to cherish.”
For the unversed, India women’s hockey team didn’t have the best of starts in the tournament with back-to-back defeats. They were on the course of an early elimination in their fourth face-off, versus Ireland, before a late comeback ensured their longer stay. Later, they defeated South Africa and Australia (in the quarters) before losing the semi-final to Argentina (2-1) and going down fighting to Great Britain (4-3).
