With silver lining in the Youth Olympics, India’s men and women hockey team clinch silver medal
Argentina, October 15: With India performing exceptionally well at the international podium of Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Indian hockey team grabbed the silver medal taking the country’s tally to 10. India’s men and women team won silver medal each in the Hockey 5s competition. The two medals on Day 8 push India’s medal count to 10 – 3 golds and 7 silver medals. India are 10th in the medals tally with Russia leading the way (43) ahead of Hungary (21) and China (25).
India men’s team went down 2-4 to Malaysia in the Final of the Hockey 5s competition at the Parque Polideportivo Roca on Sunday. Later in the day, India women’s team suffered a similar fate in the final against Argentina. The U-18 Women’s Hockey team suffered a heart-breaking 1-3 loss to hosts Argentina.
In the men’s hockey team, Captain Vivek Sagar Prasad (3′, 6′) scored twice within the first six minutes of the match to give India a 2-1 lead, but the Malaysians struck thrice in the second period through Akhimullah Anuar (14′, 19′) and Arif Ishak (17′) to secure the victory, after Firadus Rosdi (5′) had equalized for them in the first period.
In a fiercely contested final, both teams started well but it was India who struck first through Prasad in the 3rd minute. However, Malaysia were not behind for long as Rosdi threatened the Indians in the 5th minute, and struck the equaliser in his second attempt to make it 1-1. Then, Prasad forced a save from the Malaysian goalkeeper Shahrul Saupi in the sixth minute and managed to beat the Malaysian in the same minute to give India the lead again. India ensured no change to the scoring up until the half-time whistle. Having taken a 3-2 lead, it was the Malaysian team who now started to dominate, and it was Anuar who popped up in the 19th minute to seal the Gold Medal win for his team.
For women, India’s Mumtaz Khan (1′) opened the scoring in the match after just 49 seconds, but the hosts scored thrice through Gianella Palet (7′), Sofia Ramallo (9′) and Brisa Bruggesser (12′) to secure the Gold Medal.
India women started the first period well as they attacked hosts Argentina from the opening whistle, and were rewarded after just 49 seconds with in-form Mumtaz scoring to give the team a crucial lead. The second period saw Argentina extend their dominance by holding the ball and not allowing the Indian team to find space or create chances. It was Argentina’s Brisa Bruggesser who had the first real chance of the second period in the 12th minute, and the midfielder made sure to extend the lead to make it 3-1. Argentina, backed by their home support in numbers, made sure that they managed the game well, as they kept possession and saw themselves through to the final whistle to register a historic Gold Medal.