File photo courtesy: Hindustan Times
Bhubaneswar: Hockey fans could not have asked for anything more on this Saturday evening as both the Indian men and women teams sealed their spots in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics at Kalinga Stadium here.
The hockey men’s team, which have won Olympic gold for a record eight times, qualified for the 2020 games after they trounced Russia 7-1 (11-3 on aggregate) in the FIH Qualifiers.
About an hour back at the stadium, the women’s team too had booked their place in the Olympics by defeating USA 6-5 on aggregate despite losing the match 1-4 in the double-leg FIH Qualifier, delivering bountiful of joy to the crowd.
The men’s team had defeated Russia 4-2 on Friday in the two-legged FIH qualifiers. Similarly, the women’s team had defeated USA 5-1 the same day and managed to score a single goal on Saturday to book their place in the Olympics.
At one point of time, the women’s side looked down and out when the USA dominated the match and took a lead of 4-0. However, seconds before the half-time, skipper Rani Rampal scored the qualifying goal, sending the crowd into a tizzy.
This is the second successive time when the women’s team will be heading for the Olympics.
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