The year 2021 was a memorable one for India men's and women's hockey teams capped off by some remarkable performances.
International Hockey Federation (FIH) are conducting a poll to give fans a chance to vote for their Favourite Match of 2021 and India men's hockey team, women's hockey team and junior men's hockey team have all been featured in the prestigious category.
India women's hockey team's 1-0 win over World No. 2 Australia in the quarterfinal match at the Tokyo Olympics was a major achievement for the team and the thrilling encounter is the first nomination for India.
Recalling the game, Gurjit Kaur, who scored the decisive goal in the match described it as one of the best moments of her career.
"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," said Gurjit Kaur as per the official Hockey India release.
India men's hockey team also scripted history at the Tokyo Games beating Germany 5-4 in a thrilling contest to win the Bronze Medal. The historic match has also been nominated in the Favourite Match of 2021 category by FIH.
Simranjeet Singh, who scored two goals in the match, recalled the close contest and praised the mental tenacity shown by the team.
"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.
India women's team bronze medal match against Great Britain at the Tokyo Olympics was also nominated in the list. While India had lost the affair 3-4, the team was widely praised for giving the 2016 Rio Olympics Gold-medal winning team a tough competition the high-pressure match. Gurjit, who had scored a brace in the match, said, "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."
India men's junior team's brave performance against France at the FIH Odisha Hockey Men's Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021 has also been nominated. Facing off against France in their opening match of the tournament, Team India, led by Vivek Sagar Prasad, lost 4-5 but were widely praised for their efforts in the tight contest. "It was a valiant effort from the team," Skipper Vivek Sagar Prasad said. "We kept finding ways to get back in the match and pushed France to their limits. We may not have won, but it was a great learning experience for us," he added.
The voting lines will be closed on January 10 and the results of the poll will be declared on subsequent days.
( With inputs from ANI )
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