`Shernis always': Indian women hockey team go down swinging, lose bronze medal playoff

Hyderabad: It was a heartbreaking moment for the women's hockey team as they lost the bronze medal playoff against Rio's Gold Medalists, Great Britain by 3-4. The game's first quarter was a tough one to crack as both the teams tried scoring but the defense on either side was tough to beat. It was a close contest between two great teams and ended in no goal to either of the teams. The scoreline showed 0-0 at the end of the first 15 minutes.

In the second quarter of the game, Great Britain was quick to break into the Indian defense as they scored the first goal. India soon got a Penalty corner but India's Gurjit Kaur missed out on the opportunity. With only 6 minutes left to halftime, Great Britain struck again and made it 2-0.

As pressure kicked in, India showed their class and was quick to utilize on the penalty corner. The girls scored their first goal. One brought two for India as India scored the equalizer with just 5 minutes left before midtime.

India's Vandana Katariya, the only woman from the team to score a hat-trick at the Olympics showed her class as she scored the third goal for India in the 29th minute of the game. From trailing by 2-0 to scoring 3 goals in the same quarter, Rani Rampal and her team put out an amazing fight back to take a lead into the final quarter by 3-2.

The final quarter saw Great Britain score the equalizer in the 35th minute by Hollie Pearne-Webb. This was followed by tough defense by both the teams but Great Britain was again quick to make an opportunity and got a penalty corner. They got this one right & scored their 4th goal in the 48th minute. India then was short of a player in the next 6-7 minutes due to a yellow card and green card issued to them by the referees.

India also missed out on utilizing three penalty corners. India missed out on the bronze medal as they lost the playoff 3-4 against Great Britain.

Different emotions were seen in both the camps as the women from Great Britain were all smiles as they won their third consecutive medal at Tokyo. On the other side, the Indian skipper Rani Rampal was in tears as India's head coach consoled her. India's Goal-keeper, Savita Punia was inconsolable after the loss.

This was the best outing in the Olympics history for the Indian women as they reached the semi-finals for the very first time by defeating Australia 1-0 in the quarter-finals.