Tokyo Olympics 2020 | India women lose 1-5 to Netherlands in hockey opener

The Indians defended bravely in the first two quarters to go into the half time locked at 1-1 but the break seemed to have broken their momentum as the Dutch came out all guns blazing

July 24, 2021 07:16 pm | Updated 07:16 pm IST - Tokyo

Felice Albers of the Netherlands shoots to score their first goal, Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Hockey - Women's Pool A - Netherlands v India - Oi Hockey Stadium, Tokyo, Japan - July 24, 2021.

Felice Albers of the Netherlands shoots to score their first goal, Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Hockey - Women's Pool A - Netherlands v India - Oi Hockey Stadium, Tokyo, Japan - July 24, 2021.

The Indian women's hockey team fought valiantly in the first two quarters before losing the steam to go down 1-5 against world no. 1 Netherlands in their opening pool match at the Tokyo Olympics here on Saturday.

Felice Albers gave Netherlands the lead in the sixth minute before the advantage was evened out by India skipper Rani Rampal in the 10th minute.

The Indians defended bravely in the first two quarters to go into the half time locked at 1-1 but the break seemed to have broken their momentum as the Dutch came out all guns blazing after the change of ends and pumped in three goals to nip any chance of an upset in the bud.

Margot van Geffen (33rd minute) restored Netherlands' lead soon after resumption before the three-time Olympic champions and reigning silver medallist scored two goals in quick succession through Albers (43rd) and Frederique Matla (45th) to take control of the proceedings.

If that was not enough, there was more agony in store for the Indians as Caia Jacqueline van Maasakker slammed home from their sixth penalty corner in the 52nd minute.

India will play Germany in their next Pool A match on July 26.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.