India kick-started a favourable week with the women team making their entry straight to the semifinals for the first time in the Olympics. The victory deciding goal is credited to the account of Gurjit Kaur. India won against the opponent 1-0.

Rani Rampal and her squad will face Argentina, who beat Germany 3-0 in the previous quarterfinal match, in the semis on Wednesday.

The women’s team has never been in the semifinals at the Olympics. They last performed in 1980, gave their best but ended at the fourth position among six teams. This is their third appearance at the Olympics – 1980, 2016 and 2020/21.

Here are the highlights of the match:

Women’s hockey quarterfinal – India vs Australia

8:30 AM, The whistle is blown followed by game rituals. Both the teams were on their toes to beat the opponent.

8:43 AM, India’s Sharmila taken out of the stadium, it appears to be a back injury for taking her out of the podium. The first quarter continues to be full of tension.

8:47 AM, None of the team was able to score a goal in the first quarter.

9:00 AM, Second-quarter began, brings joy to the cart of India as the team secured a goal against Australia.

9:13 AM, Gurjit Kaur kicked off a penalty corner that made India lead against the world No. 2 Australian team in Tokyo.

9:33 AM, Australia is anxious as India still leads. Five minutes left in Q3.

9:36 AM, Third quarter ends. India still holds the dominion.

9:46 AM, the fourth quarter advances. India defended the first five of the last 15 minutes successfully. Australia couldn’t permeate areas across the 23-yard mark. India leads 1-0.

10:00 AM, for the first time in the history team India made it to the semifinals in the Olympics.

Semifinals here comes team India, eager to meet you!!

The post …and history is created, women team reached semifinals for the first time first appeared on The History Book of Indian Hockey.

Below are the highlights of the match:

Quarter 1 – In the first quarter, the Australia team without wasting time made a circle entry and gave a great shot but saved by Indian goalkeeper Krishan Pathak. In the next minutes, another great shot by Australia team and finally a goal in the 3rd minute with a score IND 0-1 AUS. Another great shot by team India at the goal but missed. Team Australia played aggressive and giving back to back shots but team India showed defensive skills to avoid further loss. PC was awarded to India but missed to score a goal. Next PC to Australia, but India kept on saving all the shots at the goal. Australia got possession and scored another goal. In the next minutes another great shot by Niakanta Sharma and finally a first goal of the match in the 12th minute making the score IND 1-2 AUS at the end of the first quarter.

Quarter 2 – In the second quarter, Australia team started with a great shot but no further loss. India got the free hit but missed the shot. Mandeep Singh showed great skills but the shot goes the wrong way. India team got possession in the next minutes by no goal recorded. India got a free hit again but missed. Another great shot by Trent Mitton of team Australia followed by a PC and another goal by Blake Govers making the score IND 1-4 AUS at the end of the first half.

Quarter 3 – In the third quarter, team India ruled the ball in initial minutes, but missed the shot at the goal. Multiple free hits to team India and multiple entries to circle, but all saved. Tim Brand of team Australia scored a goal in the 43rd minute making the score IND 1-5 AUS at the end of the third quarter.

Quarter 4 – Team India seemed aggressive to score goals in the last quarter and left no stone unturned to give great shots. A PC was awarded to India and finally the second goal by Rupinder Pal in the last minutes of the match thereby making the score IND 2-5 AUS. Team India played well but lost the second match of the series.

And finally, the Australian tour ended with 2 wins, 1 draw and 2 defeats for Team India.

Keep watching this space for further updates.

The post Men’s Team India Faced a Second Defeat in the Australia Five Day Hockey Match Series first appeared on The History Book of Indian Hockey.

Below are the highlights of the match:

Quarter 1 – In the initial minutes, team India got the ball to score a lead, but missed. Aran Zalewski took the next charge and then the next minutes, PC was awarded to India but missed the shot at the goal. Then, a free hit to team Australia for the attack and they seemed aggressive to utilize the opportunity, but rescued by skipper Manpreet Singh. Another shot by team Australia but saved by Surender Kumar. Again a free hit to Australia and a next circle entry but missed. Nilakanta made the next circle entry but again missed. Again a great shot at the goal by team Australia but missed. A PC and a Penalty shot were awarded back to back to team Australia and they did it. Finally a goal by Blake Govers with the score IND 0-1 AUS at the end of the first quarter.

Quarter 2 – Team India seeking out for goal scoring opportunities to equalize the score and team Australia looking out for ways to strengthen their lead. Another PC to Australia and they did it again with a goal by Jeremy Hayward. Another great shot at the goal by Australia team but Vivek Sagar saved it. India got the ball possession and Kothajit makes a beautiful pass in midfield. The second PC was awarded to India to score a lead and the players seemed aggressive but missed. The opposing team got the ball possession again but no further damage. India got another PC and a great shot by Harmanpreet Singh by saved. Another PC was awarded to team Australia, but the score at the end of the first half remained IND 0-2 AUS.

Quarter 3 – In the third quarter as well PC was awarded to team Australia but saved by Vivek Sagar. Both the teams gave great shots but were unable to score a goal and the score remained the same at the end of the third quarter as well at IND 0-2 AUS.

Quarter 4 – In the final quarter, team India holds on to possession showing a great team spirit. A great shot by Rupinder Pal Singh but saved by the Australian goalkeeper. In the last minutes, two back to back goals by Australia thereby making the score IND 0-4 AUS. Team India tried hard and gave great shots as well by missed this time. Better luck next time.

The next match of the series is going to be held on 17th May 2018 at 14:30 hrs IST.

Keep watching this space for the further updates of the matches.

The post India Men’s Hockey Team’s First Defeat in the Fourth Match of Australia Tour first appeared on The History Book of Indian Hockey.

Below are the highlights of the match:

Quarter 1 – The first quarter started with full enthusiasm, with both the teams striving to give a shot at the goal. In the early minutes, team India got the ball possession but missed scoring a goal. Team Australia ‘A’ took the next opportunity and made their first circle entry. In the following minutes PC was awarded to India, but great shots at the goal were missed. Team Australia tried hard to score the first goal but saved by Krishan B Pathak. The next PC was awarded to Australia ‘A’ but all the great shots were saved. India got another circle entry but missed a goal. Both the teams were aggressive to record a goal first, but unfortunately, at the end of the first quarter, the score remained IND 0-0 AUS.

Quarter 2 – India Team seemed too focused on the goal and made another circle entry, but the opposing team showed great defensive skills and saved. Team Australia gave an excellent shot in the next minutes and finally scored a goal in the 21st minute. India team gave another great shot to equalize the score, before the first half end but unfortunately unable to. So the score at the end of the first half was IND 0-1 AUS.

Quarter 3 – In the early minutes of the 3rd quarter, India got the PC and there was a great shot by Akashdeep Singh, but again saved. Australia team give the next shot but saved by Surender Kumar. PC was awarded to India, but despite great efforts of Rupinder and Manpreet, no goal was recorded. The team got the possession as well, but Australian goalkeepers saved every shot and the score at the end of the third quarter remained the same IND 0-1 AUS with Australia having the lead.

Quarter 4 – Again the team India got the possession and a circle entry was made by Sumit Kumar but then a counterattack by opposing team and got the possession and a circle entry was made but unable to score a goal. In the next minutes, India’s another circle entry by Akashdeep Singh and then a PC took by Harmanpreet Singh and a great shot but again saved. In the last minutes, again PC was awarded to India and took by Harmanpreet Singh and finally a goal at the 56th minute. So, finally the score equalized, and there was a draw between the teams.

Well done teams!

The next match of the series is scheduled to be held on 15th May at 14:30 hrs IST.

Keep watching this space for further updates of the match.

The post Third Match of Men’s Hockey India Vs Australia Ended at a Draw first appeared on The History Book of Indian Hockey.

Please find the below updates of the match:

Quarter 1 – In the first quarter, Indian players gave a great shot in the early minutes without wasting any time, but saved by the opposing players. The next shot was by Mandeep Singh but missed. In the following minutes, a PC was awarded to India and finally a goal by Rupinder. Team Australia also seemed focused, not to miss any of the goad scoring opportunity, but all the shots were saved. In the next minutes, there was another goal by Sumit Kumar followed by one more goal in the very next minute. The score at the end of the first quarter was IND 3-0 AUS.

Quarter 2 – The next quarter started again with team India’s great shots towards the goal. The opposing team seemed in pressure to score a goal before the end of the first half but missed, and the score at the end of the first half remained the same IND 3-0 AUS.

Quarter 3 – Third quarter again started with players of team India finding goal scoring opportunities. In the early minutes, there was a great shot by team Australia but saved by Sreejesh. Then, a PC was awarded to team India but saved. Another back to back shots by team Australia but unable to score a goal. In the last minutes, there was again a great shot by Mandeep Singh by missed. A PC was also awarded to team India but saved, and the score remained the same at the end of the third quarter as IND 3-0 AUS.

Quarter 4 – The last quarter started with the great shots by team Australia but team India continued to play defensive. Team Australia kept giving counter-attacks but failed to score a goal. Krishan Pathank showed his defensive skills by saving great shots of the opposing team. Finally, the match ended with another win of team India with a score of IND 3-0 AUS.

Well Done! Team India. We are looking forward to many more wins.

The next match will be on 13th May at 7:30 IST between Australia ‘A’ and India.

Keep watching this space for further updates.

The post Another Win of Men’s Hockey Team India Against Australia with a Score 3-0 first appeared on The History Book of Indian Hockey.

Let’s have a look at the quick highlights of the match:

Quarter 1 – In the first quarter, both the teams were finding out the ways to score a goal first. A first fantastic shot at the goal was by team India but missed. Moving on with full enthusiasm, the Akashdeep Singh takes another shot the goal but unfortunately saved by the WA goalkeeper. So, the first quarter ends with a score of IND 0-0 WA.

Quarter 2 – In the second quarter, again the teams were concentrating on goal scoring opportunities. Harmanpreet Singh makes an early attack towards the goal but missed. And then finally in the 23^rd minute, Birendra Lakra gave a fantastic shot and yes, there’s a goal. Team WA also gave great shots at the goal but the Indian team saved and gave another shot to strengthen their lead. Even PC was awarded to team India. But, at the end of the first half, India was leading the match with a lead and a score of IND 1-0 WA.

Quarter 3 – Team WA were too committed to scoring a goal and gave a great shot in the early minutes of the third quarter, but missed. In the next minutes, India got possession but Gursahibjit Singh charges into the opponent circle and lost the possession. Both the teams tried hard to score a goal but at the end of the third quarter, the score remained the same at IND 1-0 WA.

Quarter 4 – In the final quarter, the team WA gave a great shot in the early minutes at the goal, but the team India saved it and focused on playing defensive along with strengthing their lead. In the 50^th minute, Harmanpreet Singh gave a fantastic shot and scored a goal by making the score IND 2-0 WA. Team WA got two back to back PCs but failed to score a goal.

Well played team India. All the very best for the upcoming matches as well. The next match will be on 10th May at 7:30 IST between Australia ‘A’ and India.

Keep watching this space for further updates to the next matches.

The post Men’s Hockey Team India Won the Match with 2-0 Against WA Thundersticks first appeared on The History Book of Indian Hockey.

The post Australia stand in India’s way to Finals first appeared on The History Book of Indian Hockey.