Tokyo: World No 9 India women's hockey team created history on Monday by beating three-time champions Australia 1-0 to reach the Olympic Games semi-finals for the first time.
This came after India men's team defeated Great Britain on Sunday to enter the Olympic semi-finals following a 49-year gap.
Coming into the match, the odds were totally against India as world No 2 Australia, a mighty unbeaten opponent, awaited them in the last eight round.
But the Indians, determined to prove a point, produced a strong and brave 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.
India's best performance in the Olympics came way back in the 1980 Moscow Games where they finished fourth out of six teams.
In that edition of the Games, women's hockey made its debut in the Olympics and the sport was played in a round-robin format with the top two teams qualifying for the final.
The Rani Rampal-led side will play Argentina in the semi-final on Wednesday.
With PTI inputs
from Firstpost Sports Latest News https://ift.tt/37tdj5r
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