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HIGHLIGHTS

  • India beat Australia 1-0 in their women’s hockey quarterfinal in Tokyo
  • The win was India’s third in a row at the Tokyo Olympics
  • Gurjit Kaur scored the winning goal for India in the 22nd minute

Indian women’s hockey team captain Rani Rampal was on cloud nine after leading her side to their maiden Olympics semifinals with a stunning 1-0 win over Australia at Tokyo 2020 on Monday.

India pulled off one of the biggest upset wins in the sport’s history at the Olympics when Gurjit Kaur’s 22nd-minute goal put them in the lead which they managed to maintain throughout the rest of the match to reach the last-four for the first time ever.

Rani Rampal was a proud skipper and hailed her team’s performance after the historic win.

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“It’s the biggest moment for Indian hockey. Men’s and women’s team in semis. I’m super proud of the team. We said to each other – give it your all and we did exactly that,” Rani said.

Gurjit Kaur, who scored her maiden Olympics goal to fire India into the semis, was at a loss for words but somehow managed to say a few words before joining in the celebrations with her teammates.

Gurjit scored through a penalty corner, a first for India in this Olympics and the first conceded through a PC by the Hockeyroos.

“Very happy with the win, everybody worked very hard for this win. We performed like one team and we are feeling so happy to have qualified for the semifinals. Thank you to all those who supported the Indian women’s team.

“This team is like a family, including the coaching staff. Our entire country supports us and everybody’s prayers are with us,” an elated Gurjit Kaur said after the match.

India managed to save a whopping 8 penalty corners while converted the only one that they got in the match to register one of the most famous wins in Olympic history.

This is India’s third win in this Olympic campaign in succession after the triumphs over Ireland (1-0) and South Africa (4-3). They had opened their campaign with three successive defeats against the Netherlands (1-5), Germany (0-2) and Great Britain (1-4).

The Indian women hockey team’s best finish at the Olympics came on debut in Moscow back in 1980 when they ended fourth in the six-team competition.

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India today

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