Ranchi, 13 January (HS). The fourth and last match of the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers was played between India and America on Saturday. In this match played at Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Astro Turf Hockey Stadium in Morabadi, America won 1-0 and took another step towards Mission Olympics. Also, it took revenge for the defeat against India in the Olympic qualifier match played in the year 2019 at Kalinga Stadium, Odisha for Tokyo Olympics 2020. During this period, the Indian team had booked the ticket for Tokyo Olympics by defeating the American team.
Abigail Tamer scored a goal for the American team in the match played at Jaipal Singh Astro Turf Ground. The Indian team could not convert the penalty corner on many important occasions. The Indian team looked colorless throughout the match while the American team continued to put pressure on it.
Before the start of the match, Governor CP Radhakrishna, Home Secretary Avinash Kumar, Hockey India’s Bholanath Singh and others encouraged the players of the Indian and American teams on the ground.
Earlier, in the third match played on Saturday, New Zealand defeated Italy 3-0. Before this, in the second match, Japan defeated the Czech Republic team 2-0. Even before this match, there was a match between Germany and Chile in the first match for the Olympic qualifiers, in which Germany started the campaign by winning 3-0.
During the match, entry was kept free for the spectators at Jaipal Singh Munda Astro Turf Stadium, Morhabadi. For security reasons, police force personnel and officers were also present at various places.
On Sunday also, four matches will be played throughout the day for the Olympic qualifiers. These include the matches of Chile-Czech Republic, Japan-Germany, America-Italy. The last match will be between India and New Zealand.
