Olympics: Odisha’s Deep Grace & Indian Teammates Fade Out After Fine Start, Lose 1-5

Tokyo: The Indian women’s hockey team flattered to deceive at Tokyo on Saturday evening.

They matched world champions and three-time Olympic winners Netherlands till the halfway stage of their Olympic opener and were level 1-1. But three goals in the third quarter and one in the fourth helped the Dutch women beat India 5-1.

Netherlands took the lead after six minutes through Felice Albers as they raided the Indian citadel in the early stages of the game. But the likes of goalkeeper Savita Punia, Deep Grace Ekka, Gurjit Kaur and the tireless Sushila Chanu defended stoutly to prevent a second goal.

India put pressure on the Dutch defence through some speedy counter-attacks and their redoubtable skipper Rani Rampal levelled scores. Netherlands tried to hit back and earned four penalty corners, but Savita pulled off a couple of great saves, while Deep Grace and Gurjit stood tall.

The Dutch upped the ante in the second half, going all out to regain the lead. They stormed the Indian citadel and went 2-1 up through Margot van Geffen in the 33rd minute through a penalty corner. Albers got her second in the 43rd while Frederique Matla (45th) and Caia Jacqueline van Maasakker (52nd) completed India’s misery.