The Indian women's hockey team suffered a third successive defeat in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics as Great Britain won the encounter 4-1 here at the Oi Hockey Stadium -- South Pitch on Wednesday.
Great Britain got off the blocks very quickly as Hannah Martin opened the scoring from the team's first circle entry of the match inside just 75 seconds. The Indian team got better as the first quarter progressed to create few chances here and there, but GB's defence assured their team went ahead without conceding a goal into the next fifteen minutes.
In the second quarter, Hannah Martin again prevailed for GB as she scored her second goal of the match. Indian goalkeeper saved the first shot but Martin converted on the second chance as the ball crept in between the feet of Savita.
India responded in quite a fashion after Sharmila Devi came up with a poacher's finish from a PC. This was Sjoerd Marijne's team first goal in Tokyo 2020 Olympics as the Indian No. 7 waited at the goal-mouth to guide the ball in following the flick by Gurjit Kaur.
The second half gave Indians no respite despite winning multiple PCs as GBR extended their lead by scoring on the rebound. The fourth quarter had the same story in store for the Women in Blue as the defending Olympic Champions hit the final nail by scoring their fourth goal of the match.
This is India's third successive defeat after losing to Germany in their second match 0-2 on Monday. The Netherlands had thrashed India in their opening game on Sunday. India will now face Ireland (July 30, 2021), and South Africa (July 31, 2021) before the knockout stage, which begins on August 2.
( With inputs from ANI )
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