Gurjit Kaur gave India the lead but Argentina captain Maria Barrionuevo scored twice to give the World No.2 team a 2-1 win. India will now face Great Britain in a bid to win a first ever Olympic medal.
The Indian women’s hockey team were not able to pull off a second consecutive upset at the Tokyo Olympics as they lost 1-2 to Argentina in the semi-finals on Wednesday. India, who stunned gold medal favourites and three-time champions Australia in what was their first-ever Olympic quarter-final, still have a chance to win an unprecedented medal at the Games as they will now face Great Britain in the bronze medal match on Friday.
Gurjit Kaur, who scored the sole goal that helped India beat Australia, put them ahead in the first quarter, converting their first penalty corner of the match. India defended the lead, going into the second quarter with a 1-0 scoreline in their favour.
Argentina equalised with a PC of their own through captain Maria Barrionuevo. They were dominant for much of the quarter after that but India absorbed the pressure and forced a couple of PCs of their own with four minutes to go.
Argentina took their pressing to a different level in the third quarter and Barrionuevo converted a second penalty corner to give them the lead.
India came out all guns blazing in the fourth quarter, keeping possession of the ball and concentrating on quick, short passes.
India were chasing an unprecedented Olympic medal in the match. They pulled off what has been called one of the biggest upsets of the Tokyo Olympics when they beat Australia 1-0 in what was their first-ever appearance in the quarter-final stage of the Games.
India started out with a hat-trick of defeats to Netherlands, Germany and Great Britain but have since got a hat-trick of wins against Ireland and South Africa in the group stage and Australia in the quarters.
Drag-flicker Gurjit Kaur rose to the occasion when it mattered and converted India’s lone penalty corner in the 22nd minute to surprise the Aussies.
India finished 12th at the 2016 Rio Olympics out of 12 teams. They started the Tokyo Olympics with three back-to-back defeats. They then edged into the quarter-final with wins over Ireland and South Africa.
News Source: India Today
