Tokyo Olympics: Indian women look to create hockey history against mighty Argentina

With history already made, a rampaging Indian women’s hockey team would aim for what was considered unachievable when it takes on the mighty but beatable Argentina in the semifinals of the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday.

A group of 18 Indian women did the unthinkable when they stunned three-time champions Australia 1-0 on Monday to enter the Olympic semifinals for the first time ever.

Drag-flicker Gurjit Kaur rose to the occasion when it mattered the most and converted India’s lone penalty corner in the 22nd minute to surprise the world number two side.

Coming into the quarterfinal, the odds were totally against India but the side led by talismanic Rani Rampal and coached by master tactician Sjoerd Marijne exceeded expectations. Indian women’s team’s previous 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 top two teams qualifying for the final.

The women in Blue would look to surpass the achievements of their more-admired male counterparts here by reaching their first-ever Olympic final. The men’s team fell short against world number one Belgium, losing 2-5 in the semifinals on Tuesday.

By virtue of their performances here, the Indian women’s team also got a major boost when it jumped to seventh in world rankings, their best-ever ranking.

But in Argentina, the Indian women will up against tough opponents who are hungry for Olympic success after missing out in Rio five years back.

The Indian defence, led by goalkeeper Savita, had a brilliant outing against the Australians, stoutly defending their 22nd minute goal to register the narrow win.

The likes of Gurjit, Deep Grace Ekka, Monika, and Udita will have to come up with similar efforts to stop the Las Leonas, who will be eyeing their maiden Olympic gold here.

The Argentina women have won two silver medals at the 2000 Sydney and 2012 London Games but a gold has eluded them.

And they are on course for the yellow metal after reaching the semifinals for the first time since 2012, stunning 2016 Olympic bronze medallist Germany 3-0.

But having registered three wins on the trot after as many losses, the momentum is in India’s favour.

The recent head-to-head record, however, gives Argentina the edge.

Before the Olympics earlier this year, the Indian women’s team toured Argentina as part of the preparation for the Games.

India played seven matches there — the first two against the Argentine youth team which the visitors drew 2-2 and 1-1.

India then played two matches against Argentina’s B team and lost both 1-2 and 2-3 respectively. Against Argentina’s senior side, India played three games, managing a 1-1 draw and losing 0-2 and 2-3 respectively.