The Indian women’s hockey team narrowly missed out on a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics by finishing fourth, losing to Great Britain. Captain Rani Rampal felt that they had a good chance of winning a medal.
The Indian women’s hockey team’s fourth-place finish in Tokyo is the best achievement in the Olympics so far. But Rani still cannot forget the pain of not getting the medal. “We had a good chance of winning a medal at the Tokyo Olympics,” he said on Friday’s podcast. Everyone has the pain of coming back empty-handed even after getting very close to the goal. It’s very difficult to accept it.” But the result in Tokyo is motivating the whole team for the next Olympics, feels Rani. “2021 was a very good year for us,” he said.
The Indian women’s hockey team qualified for the Rio Olympics in 2016, ending a long wait of 36 years. Although finished in twelfth place. Rani says, “In 2016, we were ranked twelfth in the Rio Olympics. Finished fourth in Tokyo. It shows that the Indian women’s hockey team has made great progress. Everyone showered us with so much respect and love because we succeeded in doing something good. That inspires me to play better in the future.”
India women beat Australia 1-0 in the quarter finals. But in the semi-final, they lost 1-2 to Argentina, which is ranked second in the world ranking. Rani still feels that the Indian team deserved to win this match and put them on the podium. Said, “I think one hundred percent, I could have beaten Argentina in the semi-finals. In the beginning, I went ahead and put them under pressure. But they paid the price for giving away the penalty corner.” India missed out on the bronze after losing 3-4 to Great Britain in the third and fourth place decider. Despite that disappointment, Rani said, “We have learned a lot from the Tokyo Olympics. One of them is how to stay calm during the knock-out phase. “
Rani also said how unfavorable the situation had become during the lockdown due to the Corona epidemic before the 2021 Olympics. He also thanked the coaching staff and Sai for being by their side during this difficult time.
