HIGHLIGHTS

• Coach Sjoerd Marijne also broke down after India’s bronze medal match
• They have inspired a million girls: Marijne’s message to India women’s hockey team
• India women lost 3-4 to Great Britain in the bronze medal play-off on Friday

India women’s hockey team head coach Sjoerd Marijne broke down after their heartbreaking loss in the Bronze medal play-off match at Tokyo Olympics on Friday but the Dutchman found the strength to console his girls and tell them that they did India proud.

Sjoerd Marijne, who went through a roller-coaster of emotions much like billions who were watching the match back home, told India Today that he had asked Rani Rampal’s team to give it their all against Rio Olympic champions Great Britain in the bronze medal match. It seems the girls paid heed to their coach as they came up with a courageous effort against the higher-ranked English side.

Rani Rampal’s side had already created history and surpassed all expectations by entering the semifinals of the Games for the first time. But the maiden Olympic medal remained out of bounds as Great Britain, who were gold-winners in the 2016 Rio Games, came out on top in the pulsating encounter.

Hockey Bronze Match: India women miss medal – Report | Highlights

India’s best performance in the Olympics before this was a fourth-place finish in the 1980 Moscow Games but there were no semifinals in that edition as only six teams competed in a round-robin format and the top two featured in the final.

Girls give it their in valiant fight against Great Britain

The heartbreak came a day after the Indian men’s team ended a 41-year-old medal drought by clinching bronze with a 5-4 win over Germany.

The Indians played their hearts out and overcame a two-goal deficit to lead 3-2 at half time. But a desperate Great Britain gave their everything in the second half and scored two goals to snatch the match from India’s hands.

India scored three goals in a span of five minutes through Gurjit Kaur (25th, 26th minutes) and Vandana Katariya (29th) to stun Great Britain.

But the Britishers found the net four times through Elena Rayer (16th), Sarah Robertson (24th), skipper Hollie Pearne-Webb (35th) and Grace Baldson (48th) to emerge winners.