Harpal Singh Bedi /
At the end, it was a heartbreak. In an edge of the seat Olympic bronze medal contest, Indian Women’s team played their hearts out against Rio Olympics Gold Medalists Great Britain before going 3-4 at Oi Hockey Stadium on Friday.
Gurjit Kaur (25′, 26′) and Vandana Katariya (29′) were the scorers for India ~
The bronze medal match opened on a very brisk note and Great Britain dominating the proceedings. and earned a Penalty Corner in the second minute Their shot at goal was brilliantly saved by Goalkeeper Savita.
Navneet Kaur made a brilliant run on the right flank in the 6th minute of the match and passed the ball to Rani, however, the latter couldn’t find a way to tap the ball into the goal.
Great Britain continued to their incisive attacks and earned a Penalty Corner in the 10th minute, however, they couldn’t carry out the drag-flick as they failed to trap the ball. They took two shots in the final minutes of the first quarter, however, Savita brought off two brilliant saves .
Elena Sian Rayer (16′) made a brilliant circle penetration in the opening minutes of the second quarter and produced a cross, however, Deep Grace, who was looking to deflect the ball away from the goal, tapped the ball into the goal instead (1-0)).
India launched a counter attack, Lalremsiami took a reverse shot in the 5th minute of the second quarter, but her shot was superbly blocked by Goalkeeper.
Indians continued to put pressure on Great Britain and earned a Penalty Corner in the next minute, however, they couldn’t convert their opportunity. Sarah Robertson (24′) received the ball in the circle in the 9th minute of the second quarter, took a fantastic shot to send the ball home to make it 2-0
Soon after, India earned a Penalty Corner and Gurjit Kaur made no mistake in converting it to reduce the gap (1-2)-
Salima Tete created an opening in the 11th minute and earned another Penalty Corner . Gurjit Kaur converted it with a superb drag-flick and leveled the score at 2-2.
Three minutes later Sushila Chanu produced a cross from the left and Vandana Katariya deflected the ball home to put India ahead 3-2 just before half-time.
In the 5th minute of the third quarter, Great Britain Captain Hollie Pearne-Webb (35′) received a cross from the right and slotted the ball into the goal to level the score at 3-3.
Soon after, Sharmila Devi made a brilliant run on the right flank and earned a Penalty Corner . Gurjit Kaur took a brilliant shot, but it was saved by the Great Britain Goalkeeper.
Isabelle Petter took a shot in the last few minutes of the third quarter, but again Savita pulled off yet another brilliant save ..
Great Britain kept the pressure on in the fourth quarter, three penalty corners in the next minute. Grace Balsdon (48′) converted the third penalty corner to make 4-3. In the 7th minute of the final quarter,
India tackled the ball in the Great Britain circle brilliantly and earned a Penalty Corner, but couldn’t find the back of the net.
In the last few minutes of the match, Navjot Kaur produced a brilliant reverse hit cross from the left, the Indians couldn’t deflect the ball into the goal.
India made a circle penetration in the final minute of the match, but the defenders cleared the ball away to seal a 4-3 victory.