Nirendra Dev
Gurjit Kaur scored the all-important goal to give the ticket to her team for the Semi-Final.
New Delhi: It may be premature, but India's "dream" is virtually becoming a reality as the Indian Women Hockey team made it to the Semi-Finals in the Tokyo Olympics.
In the crucial and tough quarter-final match against Australia, Indian 'women in Blue' beat Aussies by one goal to nil.
Australians are three-time Olympic champions, and thus the win was certainly a major achievement and a milestone for the team.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi wasted no time and tweeted: "Congratulations India."
He further wrote: "Woman #hockey India Team Beats Australia 1-0, For The First Time In Olympics History India Women Hockey Team Has Qualified For The Semifinals."
The Prime Minister had a few words of encouragement as well -"Well Played Australia," he wrote.
Gurjit Kaur scored the all-important goal to give the ticket to her team for the Semi-Final.
It was a touching moment for the players on the ground, and as soon as the 60-minutes battle was over, they ran into each other's arms.
On the other side, shell-shocked Australian Hockey team players were left even wailing and trying to console each other.
Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur also could not conceal his happiness.
"Splendid Performance," he tweeted, adding – "Women’s Hockey #TeamIndia is scripting history with every move at #Tokyo2020! We’re into the semi-finals of the Olympics for the 1st time beating Australia. 130 crore Indians congratulate India's Women’s Hockey Team. We are right behind you!,” he wrote.
"India's dream is coming to reality! Our Women's Hockey Team has defeated Australia! India's Men's and Women's teams have reached semi-finals at #Tokyo2020 Olympics! I have no words to express my excitement and happiness," tweeted India's Law Minister Kiren Rijiu, a former Sports Minister.
As expected, social media has gone gaga, lauding the performance of the players.
One such message pointed out – a total of 9 women's team hockey players were tested Covid positive just before the Olympics. They had to recover and get match fit quickly.
Another tweet went – "Chak de moment for real! Flag of IndiaFlag of IndiaFireFire History has been made!
Good Going: Men's Hockey Team also in Semis
Going has been good for India in the Tokyo Olympics for the last two days.
On Sunday, Badminton star P. V. Sindhu won Bronze and Men Hockey and made it among the top fours (Semi-Finals).
"We are all elated by the stellar performance by P V Sindhu. Congratulations to her on winning the Bronze at @Tokyo2020. She is India’s pride and one of our most outstanding Olympians," Prime Minister tweeted.
Indian Hockey team men will play in the Olympic Semi-Finals for the first time since 1972.
The Men in Blue on Sunday beat Great Britain 3-1 in the Quarter Final.
Of course, India won Gold in Moscow Olympics 1980, beating Spain in the final.
Earlier, barring the disappointment against Australia (1-7) in their second game in the Pool A match, the Indian men's hockey team did well to finish second in their pool with convincing wins against New Zealand (3-2), Spain (3-0), Argentina (3-1) and Japan (5-3).
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