Tokyo: It was a terrible start to India's women's hockey Olympic campaign as they lost 1-5 against the Netherlands. Despite scoring the equalising goal in the first quarter of the game, the Dutch scored back four goals in the subsequent three quarters. Rani Rampal was the only goal scorer for India.
The Netherlands scored first, but Rampal scored one back quickly. The Indians didn't let loose their hold on the match till the end of the second quarter but it was in the third quarter that the Dutch scored three goals and one more in the fourth quarter. The Dutch attack on the Indian backline was relentless and the Indian defenders eventually succumbed to the pressure.
Felice Albers scored twice for the Netherlands, while van Geffen, Matla and van Maasakker scored one goal each for the Netherlands. India will now play Great Britain, Ireland, Germany and South Africa in the next matches.
The Olympic Games are based on a round-robin format where 12 teams are divided into two pools of six teams each where the top 4 teams from each pool go ahead in the knockout stage of the tournament.
India must not lose hope as there is still ample opportunity to stage a comeback.
Meanwhile, India's men's team will play against Australia at 3 pm on Sunday. Catch all the Live-Action of Tokyo Olympics 2020 on Sony Liv App.