Indian Women Hockey team entered Olympics Semi-Finals

Indian women’s hockey team has created history by qualifying for Olympic Games semi-finals for the first time. In the match on August 2, India played against three-time champions Australia and made it to the semi-finals by beating Australia by solitary goal.

Key Points

• Earlier, Indian men’s hockey team also entered Olympic semi-finals after a gap of 49-years.
• During the women’s match, Drag-flicker Gurjit Kaur rose to occasion when it mattered and converted India’s only penalty corner in 22nd minute to surprise Australians.
• Indian Women Team is led by Rani Rampal which will now play Argentina in semi-final on August 4.

Background

India’s best performance in Olympics dates back to 1980 Moscow Games where Indian team finished fourth out of six teams. In that edition of the Games, women’s hockey made its debut to Olympics. Sport was played in a round-robin format in which top two teams qualified for the final.

Women’s field hockey tournament

Women’s field hockey tournament at 2020 Summer Olympics is the eleventh edition of field hockey event for women at the Games. Hockey event will be held from July 24 to August 6, 2021. All hockey games will be played at Oi Hockey Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. Game was originally scheduled to be held from July 25 to August 7, 2020. But Olympics were postponed to 2021 because of COVID-19 pandemic. This year, games are being played behind closed doors.

Month: Current Affairs - August, 2021