The Indian women’s hockey team had to settle for the silver medal on Friday (31 August) after it lost to Japan 2-1 in the gold medal match. This also means that the team has to go through a qualification process to play in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
A closely fought encounter, Japan first took the lead in the eleventh minute which was equalised in the twenty-fifth minute by India’s Neha Goyal. Japan though again took the lead in the forty-fourth minute and successfully defended it despite a continuous push by India.
The Indian team can take a lot of positives from the tournament which saw them reach the final for the first time in 20 years.
For Indian hockey fans, this defeat was a double blow following Malaysia’s 2-1 victory over the men’s team on Thursday (30 August). The men’s team would face-off against Pakistan on Saturday (1 September) for the bronze medal.