Tokyo Olympics: All eyes on Rani Rampal and Co, Lovlina Borgohain

The Indian women’s hockey team. Pic/Hockey India

In what promises to be one of the most exciting days for Team India at the Tokyo Olympics, the women's hockey team and boxer Lovlina Borgohain (69 kg) will be battling in their respective semi-finals on Wednesday to earn a spot in the gold medal match.

A historic feat already achieved, a rampaging Indian women's hockey team take on the mighty but beatable Argentina, while Lovlina, who has already assured herself of at least a bronze medal in the 69 kg category, will be in pursuit of history when she takes on reigning world champion Busenaz Surmeneli of Turkey.

India's welterweight boxer Lovlina Borgohain. Pic/AFP

Brilliant bunch of 18

A bunch of 18 fearless and determined Indian women did the unthinkable when they stunned three-time champions Australia 1-0 on Monday to enter their maiden Olympic semis. Drag-flicker Gurjit Kaur converted India's lone penalty corner in the 22nd minute to surprise the World No. 2 side.

Coming into the match, the odds were totally against India but the side led by the talismanic Rani Rampal and coached by master tactician Sjoerd Marijne exceeded expectations.

India's best performance in the Olympics came at the 1980 Moscow Games, where they finished fourth out of six teams as women's hockey made its debut there.

By virtue of their performances here, the Indian women's team also got a major boost when it jumped to seventh in the world rankings, their best-ever position. But in World No. 2 Argentina, they face a tough opponent, who have won two silver medals (Sydney 2000 and London 2012) and are desperate for their maiden gold.

The Indian defence, led by goalkeeper Savita, had a brilliant outing against Australian, stoutly defending their 22nd-minute goal. Gurjit, Deep Grace Ekka, Monika and Udita will have to defend well again to stop the aggressive Las Leonas.

Argentina have won two silver medals (at 2000 Sydney and London 2012) but a gold has eluded them. But having registered three wins on the trot after as many loses, the momentum is in India's favour. The recent head-to-head record, however, gives Argentina the edge.

Before the Olympics, earlier this year, the Indian women toured Argentina where they played seven matches. The first two, against the Argentine youth team, ended 2-2 and 1-1. India then lost 1-2 and 2-3 to Argentina's B team. Against the Argentina senior side, India managed a 1-1 draw before losing 0-2 and 2-3.

India captain Rani's eyes are already on the final. "We made history by reaching the semis but we don't want to just finish there," Rani had said on Tuesday.

A boxing first here

Boxer Lovlina, 23, meanwhile, will be aiming to become the first Indian boxer to advance to the Olympics final. The Assam girl, is only the third Indian boxer to ensure a podium finish at the Games, after Vijender Singh (Beijing 2008) and MC Mary Kom (2012). "Since this bout is in the afternoon, we have been training in the afternoon everyday for the past two days. These two have never faced each other before, so it's an unchartered territory for both. The strategy has been conveyed to Lovlina and she's ready and confident about a good performance. I am sure she will deliver," national coach Mohammed Ali Qamar told PTI on the eve of the
big fight.

Lovlina beat former world champion Nien-Chin Chen of the Chinese Taipei in the quarters but current world champ Surmeneli, 23, has already collected two gold medals this year internationally.

Lovlina though is no novice either and has secured two world championship bronze medals so far in her career. In fact, both Borgohain and Surmeneli competed in the 2019 world championships, where the Indian settled for bronze while the Turkish boxer won gold.

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