Last year was very memorable for Indian Hockey and especially for the Indian Women’s Hockey team. The Indian Eves were exceptional at the Tokyo Olympics as they finished in the fourth position. International Hockey Federation (FIH) are conducting a poll to allow the fans to chance to vote for their Favourite Match of 2021.
Among all the nominees the Indian Men’s Hockey team, Women’s hockey team and Junior Men’s Hockey team’s matches have all found a place among the nominees for the prestigious awards.
Indian Eves’ historic 1-0 win over Australian Women’s hockey team at the Tokyo Olympics has been nominated for that award. The Indian Women’s team were sensational in that game. It can surely be the game to change the narrative of Women’s hockey in India.
It was Gurjit Kaur who scored the solitary goal for India. Recalling the historic game Gurjit Kaur said, “It has to be one of the proudest moments for our team. We did not have the best of starts in Tokyo, so to win against a very strong Australia side and reach the semi-finals was one of the best moments of my career.”
Indian men’s hockey team also scripted history at the Tokyo Olympics as they clinched th bronze medal by defeating Germany 5-4 in the third place match. That historic match also is nominated for the prestigious award.
Simranjeet Singh who was exceptional in that game as he scored two important goals in that game and lauded India’s mental tenacity to keep going even late during the game. “It was a very close contest against a really strong team. But when the going got tough, our team proved their mental tenacity and kept finding ways to get back into the match. We all feel really proud of our achievement in Tokyo, and hopefully there will be more such moments in the future,” Simranjeet said.
Indian Women’s team bronze medal match against Great Britain was also nominated for the award. India lost the game 4-3 and missed out on the historic Olympic medal by a whisker.
Gurjit Kau who scored a brace in that crucial game, recalled, “We were disappointed because we came so close to winning an Olympic medal. But the love and praise that we received from the Indian fans made us feel that our efforts were recognised. Tokyo Olympics was a great learning experience for our team.”
