Indian women's team
had already created history when they reached the quarterfinals of the field
hockey event at the Tokyo Olympics and became the first-ever Indian team to
achieve this feat. However, it looked like Rani and co. weren't really
satisfied with just a quarterfinal appearance and were ready to go one step
ahead to reach the semifinals.
The team scripted history by qualifying for the Olympic Games semifinals for
the first time, beating three-time champions Australia by a solitary goal.
Coming into the match, the odds were against India as world no. 2 Australia, a
mighty unbeaten opponent, awaited them in the last eight rounds. India put up a
strong performance to eke out the narrow win over the Hockeyroos. Drag-flicker
Gurjit Kaur rose to the occasion when it mattered and converted India's lone
penalty corner in the 22nd minute to surprise the Australians.
Goalkeeper Savita Punia, meanwhile, managed to save all the nine shots directed at her, earning the well-deserved epithet of "The Wall" on Twitter.
"The only thing we thought about was that we have to put in our all, we have 60 minutes with us, and hence, it is imperative we give our 100% efforts.”
"We played as a team and helped each other, retackled even if the goal got messed up and kept a calm defence. And we’re extremely happy that our strategy worked in our favour and we won the quarterfinals.”
"The coach told us that it was a “Do or Die” situation, we only have 60 minutes and this is either our first match or the last," Savita Punia said.
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Coach Azad Singh Malik, who has seen Savita’s rise through the Haryana junior teams, shared, “Her biggest strength has been her patience and she does not get puzzled by the attacks. She has a clear mind and keeps seeking defenders’ inputs too about the opposition forward line or penalty corner moves.”