Hockey

Speaking after the bronze-medal match, the former Australian Olympian attributed the team’s success to the hard work put in by everyone in the last one and half year.

PR Sreejesh was a picture of poise and composure. He thwarted the Germans and kicked the ball out of the German’s reach sending the team into jubilations.

India had played Germany in two back-to-back matches where they were able to put to test all the hard work that went in during the national camps in Bengaluru.

India still have a chance to win the bronze medal as they will take on Great Britain in the third-fourth place play-off match on Friday.

Led by Rani Rampal, the Indian team will count on their recent experience of playing against the Argentinians during their extensive tour of Argentina in January this year.

Belgium's Alexander Hendrickx (19th, 49th and 53rd min) scored a hat-trick.

Reid praised the fighting spirit of the Indian team in their win over Great Britain on Sunday, particularly when the team received two green cards and one yellow card.

India took the lead through Gurjit Kaur’s goal in the 22nd minute and kept the Aussies women at bay to go into the break. But the Australians were relentless in their pursuit for the equaliser.

The women's team had left Indian shores for Tokyo with the target of reaching the quarters and it managed that by finishing fourth with two wins and three defeats in the six-team Pool A.

The last time India won a medal was in 1980. India will now take on Belgium on Tuesday in the semis for a place in finals.

A semifinal berth has eluded Indian men's Hockey team since the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games

India finished their group A league proceedings in fourth place with six points, riding on back-to-back wins over Ireland and South Africa and will now face pool B toppers Australia in the quarterfinal on Monday.

Vandana Katariya (4th, 17th, 49th minutes) scored a hat-trick while young Neha Goyal (32nd) was the other goal getter for India.

The team did that splendidly with a 5-3 win over hosts Japan to finish second in the table after Australia with four victories from five matches

This is India's best performance in the league phase in the last four decades as they had last finished second in the group in the 1980 Moscow Olympics when they won their eighth and last gold medal so far