The Indian Women’s Hockey team were competing for the first time in the semi-finals in Tokyo Olympics. The entire country was rooting for them. It was a phenomenal tournament for them as all the supporters and doubters were left awestruck by their scintillating performances. Even though they narrowly missed out on winning the bronze medal, their performances were filled with grit and determination, inspiring thousands of individuals worldwide.
QNET India applauds the Indian women’s hockey team for their achievement in the Olympics and shares its perspective on five lessons from their journey for QNET entrepreneurs.
QNET celebrates the journey of the Indian Women’s Hockey Team in the Olympics 2020
The 2020 Summer Olympics was monumental as the Indian women’s hockey team made their first appearance in the semi-finals of the tournament. Not many would have foreseen their successful journey.
The Nabhvarna arrived in Tokyo games village prepared to make a mark. Although, their campaign was off to a rough start. The Indian team lost to the eventual gold medallists, the Netherlands, with a dominating scoreline of 5-1 in the first game. The Tokyo Olympics was proving to be a difficult tournament, as they followed the game against the Netherlands with two more losses against Germany and Great Britain.
With an imminent departure following three consecutive defeats, the pressure was on the Indian team to perform. However, the team fought back with a spirit of fortitude, winning back-to-back games against Ireland and South Africa.
The match against Ireland was a defensively resolute performance as they did not allow Ireland to register a single goal in the game. Navneet Kaur registered a late goal to give the Indian Women’s team their first win in the tournament.
Although to ensure qualification into the quarter-finals, they had to win against South Africa. Anything short of a victory would not be enough for them to qualify. The match against South Africa was a nail-biting encounter, which saw the South African team levelling the score three times after India had taken the lead.
The match ended 4-3 with a game-winning performance from Vandana Katariya. She scored a hat-trick and the last goal of the game to send India into the quarter-finals. A remarkable achievement, given that both the games were a must-win for India.
A tough fixture in the Quarter-finals against Australia in Olympics 2020
After losing their first three games, nobody would have predicted that the Indian women’s hockey team would qualify for the quarter-finals. But up next, they were to face Australia. The Hockeyroos were in scintillating form, winning all five of their pool games, including a resounding 6-0 win against China.
The two-time gold medallists were favourites to win the game. However, the game surprised everybody, with the Indian team producing their best performance in the tournament. They were forced to defend a constant onslaught of attacks from the Australian team before claiming the winning goal in the second quarter of the game from a penalty corner.
It was a proud moment for the entire country as the Indian women’s hockey team qualified for their first-ever semi-finals in the Olympics.