Tribune Web Desk
Chandigarh, August 2
It was teamwork and "Chak de" moments for Gurjit Kaur and Savita Punia that helped Indian women's hockey team script history on Monday as it stormed into the semifinals of the Olympic Games for the first time.
Goalkeeper Savita Punia made nine crucial saves against Australia, while drag-flicker Gurjit Kaur rose to the occasion when it mattered and converted India's lone penalty corner in the 22nd minute to surprise the Australians.
India's best performance in the Olympics came way back in the 1980 Moscow Games where they finished fourth out of six teams.
Twitter is elated and below are the reactions:
The wall of Indian hockey - Savita Punia. When played one of the greatest game in history. #INDvsAUS #Olympics2021 pic.twitter.com/6zJZb4l2cY
— Smita Deshmukh ๐ฎ๐ณ (@smitadeshmukh) August 2, 2021
Scenes in #Tokyo2020 #Olympics from #hockeyindia women's team after beating Australia in quarterfinals. Savita Punia Take a Bow lady ๐. #ChakDeIndia ๐ฎ๐ณ
— Abhi (@Abhicricket18) August 2, 2021
- One of the greatest moments in Indian Sports. pic.twitter.com/LV8X6LlEFr
Savita Punia is the name to remember for generations. She saved 9 penalty corners.
— โก๏ธ ๐๐ช๐ท๐ฒ โก๏ธ ๐๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ผ๐ฎ๐ท๐ช โก๏ธ (@Nani__JanaSena) August 2, 2021
Take a bow Champ๐#OlympicGames #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/bgiepAtfko
A goal that will go in the history books! ๐
— #Tokyo2020 for India (@Tokyo2020hi) August 2, 2021
Watch Gurjit Kaur's brilliant drag flick that led #IND to a 1-0 win over #AUS in an epic quarter-final ๐#Tokyo2020 | #UnitedByEmotion | #StrongerTogether | #Hockey | #BestOfTokyo pic.twitter.com/MkXqjprLxo
"Gurjit Kaur" "History Created" Australia "Indian Girls" #Girlpower "Jai Ho" #เคเค_เคฆเฅ_เคเคเคกเคฟเคฏเคพ https://t.co/JXGlfYzYS0
— Anmol Lukkad (@AnmolLukkad) August 2, 2021