India's Double Dhamaka! Women's hockey team beats US, Men's conquers Russia in Tokyo Olympic qualifiers
Total Views |
New Delhi, Novemer 2: Indians elevated the hopes of olympic medal by a great degree yesterday. The Indian men's hockey team defeated Russia 4-2, while the women's team beat USA 5-1 in the first-leg of two-legged Tokyo Olympic qualifiers in Bhubaneswar on Friday. It's indeed a historic victory for the nation.
Women's side led by Rani Rampal played confidently and score goals in quick succession to take home four-goal advantage going into the second leg. Manpreet Singh-led men's team got tough competition from their Russian counterpart but managed to sneak in a close win.
In Men's Hockey, Mandeep Singh's brace and goals from Harmanpreet Singh and Sunil steered India to a comfortable victory over Russia in Friday's match. Andrey Kuraev and Semen Matkovskiy scored one goal each for Russia. India captain Manpreet Singh was adjudged Player of the Match. Mandeep Singh scored twice while Harmanpreet Singh and SV Sunil found a goal each as India foot one foot into the 2020 Tokyo Games. India, who are ranked fifth in the world, are taking on world No.22 Russia for a place in the next year's Summer Olympic Games.
Indian women's team also took giant leap towards Olympic qualification with a near-flawless performance to hammer United States of America 5-1. Dragflicker Gurjit Kaur struck brace while Lilima Minz, Sharmila Devi and Navneet Kaur were the other scorers. USA's consolation goal came from a penalty stroke converted by Erin Matson. India began with a high-press but the USA were sharp in creating chances and getting its shots away. The USA earned a lot of penalty corners but the Indian defence stood firm before, completely against the run of play, India took the lead in the 29th minute. India scored four goals in 11 minutes after halftime to kill the tie as Gurjeet Kaur scored a brace.
Indian men and women teams will play their respective second leg matches against the same opponents today. The winners at the end of the two-match qualifier will seal their places in the 2020 Tokyo Games.