Former captain of Indian men's hockey team Dilip Tirkey congratulated the women's hockey team for reaching the semi-finals of the Olympics for the very first time.
The Indian women's hockey team scripted the unthinkable on Monday at Oi Hockey Stadium -- North Pitch -- as they qualified for the semi-finals of the Olympics after defeating Australia 1-0.
"I would like to congratulate the women's hockey team. Our team has created history in Tokyo. This is for the third time we are participating in the Olympics and in any tournament including World Cup we weren't able to reach the semis," Dilip told ANI.
"I, personally was very surprised because this type of performance was unseen until now. Australian woman's team has won medals in Olympics many times and the way which Indian team started the match was marvelous. Indian goalkeeper made some great saves and played attacking hockey. It was a complete and fit team. And proved that our women's team is among the best."
"Team took on the field getting inspired by men's team. If the team continues with this performance then there is no stopping them from reaching the final of the Olympics. With both men's and women's teams in semis, these Games are proving to be lucky for us," pointed Dilip.
Gurjit Kaur scored the lone goal in the match during the first half through a penalty corner in a very tightly contested match.
Earlier on Sunday, the Indian men's hockey team reached the last four of the Olympics for the first time in 41 years as the team defeated Great Britain 3-1.
( With inputs from ANI )
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