Commonwealth Games: India women's hockey team wins bronze medal after beating New Zealand in shootouts

India women have won a historic bronze medal in hockey at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Sunday, after defeating New Zealand in what transpired into another shootout after the teams ended tied at 1-1 in the regulation 60 minutes.

In a match that was dominated by India for the most part of the four quarters, New Zealand scored a goal off a penalty stroke with just 18 seconds left on the clock. India’s Navneet tried to kick the ball away after the Kiwis tried to score off a penalty corner, and the umpire rightly awarded a penalty stroke.

India had scored in the second quarter of the match on the back of Salima Tete’s brilliant attacking spree. India then kept their lead till the end of the match, before surrendering to end-moment pressure which saw Kiwis score an equaliser.

🥉 Bronze Medal for India

A thrilling match results in a victory for the #WomenInBlue in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games!#IndiaKaGame #HockeyIndia #B2022 #Birmingham2022 @CMO_Odisha @sports_odisha @IndiaSports @Media_SAI pic.twitter.com/mwXRCwNw2y

— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) August 7, 2022

Similar to the two semi-finals, the bronze medal play-off also went to a penalty shootout. New Zealand started the shootout on a positive note as they defended India’s first attempt after Megan Hull scored in their first attempt.

India’s Sonika and Navneet Kaur then scored back-to-back in the second and third attempts and ensured India’s lead. Captain and goal-keeper Savita then brought her A-game to the display and with some brilliant tactics, defended the remaining attempts and disallowed Kiwis any further score.

India were able to keep aside the shocking ‘clock’ controversy in shootouts in the semi-final against Australia and display some brilliant performance to win the bronze medal.

This team is just so special ❤️ Goosebumps & tears of joy!! This bronze means so much👏🏾🇮🇳 Congrats ladies, each one of you is a superstar⭐️ #India #Hockey #BronzeMedal #CWG2022India pic.twitter.com/2uu5I9xvot

— Neha Aggarwal Sharma OLY (@nehaaggarwal) August 7, 2022

New Zealand women were left gutted after inching close to the bronze medal but losing towards the end.

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