Indian women's hockey team loses bronze medal match to Great Britain, check highlights

India's dreams were shattered after suffering a close 4-3 loss at the hands of the Rio Olympics gold medalists Great Britain in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 women's hockey bronze medal match as they failed to ensure a podium finish.

The high-scoring thriller saw Great Britain come out on top with a goal that mattered the most in the final quarter to win the consolation prize.

Tokyo Olympics 2020: India vs Great Britain women's hockey highlights

Goalie Savita Punia had made an outstanding in the early minutes of the first quarter when the ball was struck directly at the goal and thereby ensured that India did not concede a goal instantly. India did enjoy a lot of possessions which they could not convert as the first quarter ended in a stalemate and while Great Britain did get a penalty corner, they could not find the back of the net courtesy of some good work from the Indian defence.

The deadlock was broken by Great Britain immediately in the second quarter when midfielder Sarah Jones got a lucky breakthrough as she took a penalty corner.  GB struck et again in the same quarter Sarah Robertson perfectly found the back of the net to put pressure on India. However, India struck back when star defender Gurjit Kaur scored a drag flick to restore her team's hopes. 

In a dramatic turn of events, the Indian women's team found the equaliser in the half-time itself and it was Gurjit Kaur yet again by successfully converting a penalty corner. Just a couple of minutes before the second quarter ended, forward Navneet Kaur seemingly missed the back of the net but, Vandana Katariya showed a great presence of mind as India took the lead by scoring their third goal. 

The Indian women's hockey team on Wednesday failed to qualify in the finals of the Tokyo Olympics as the Rani Rampal-led side were defeated by world no. 3 Argentina by 2-1. In fact, their heartbreaking loss meant that they could not compete in what would have been their maiden appearance in an Olympics gold medal match.

Great Britain found that much-needed equaliser as defender Hollie Pearne-Webb scored one by taking a shot from the front of the goal. 

The Brits took the lead in the fourth and final quarter when defender Grace Balsdon scored off a penalty corner. India could have found an equaliser had it not been for a simple miss near the goalpost. 

Indian women's hockey team's journey to bronze medal match 

On Monday, the Indian women's hockey team had already done the unthinkable by knocking out three-time gold medalists Australia in the quarterfinals with a 1-0 win and seal a semi-final berth for the first time since the 1980 edition of the Olympic Games that were held in the Russian capital of Moscow.

The Indian eves had finished fourth at the 1980 Moscow Olympics that was played in a six-team format. 

Earlier, both the teams had locked horns during the group stage of the Tokyo Olympics. The Indian women's hockey team suffered a one-sided 1-4 defeat at the hands of Great Britain during their pool stage match.  Meanwhile, Great Britain had come into this loser's final match after being hammered by the Netherlands  5-1.

The Indian women's hockey team has not played as many Olympic matches as its British counterpart. However, both teams have clashed multiple times in bilateral and other events. In the very few matches that they have clashed against each other, including in the Pool games at the 2021 Olympic Games, Great Britain has always held the edge with two wins in four matches. The remaining two matches were drawn by the Indian women.