Women Bag Olympic Berth, Hockey India Dreams Big
The Indian women's hockey team has qualified for Olympics after a gap of 36 years.
- NDTVSports
- Updated: August 29, 2015 10:50 PM IST
Hockey India on Saturday, applauded the historic achievement of the Indian women's hockey team for booking a berth in the upcoming 2016 Rio Olympics. The team will feature in the all important tournament after a gap of 36 years.
Congratulating the team, an elated Narinder Batra that it is a proud moment for Hockey India and the whole country. "We have been waiting for this for the last 36 years and this achievement is the sweetest and the most memorable among all our previous feats in recent times," said the Hockey India chief.
The team had posted a fifth place finish in the FINTRO Hockey World League Semi-Final 2015 in Antwerp, Belgium to ensure that they remained in contention for Olympics. The berth was confirmed when Spain lost the semi final clash between England and Spain during the Unibet EuroHockey Championships 2015 (Women) held on Friday. While the former already had a confirmed seat at Rio, a win for Spain would have meant they would have progressed through to the final and stayed in contention for qualification for the Olympic Games. Other semi-finalists of the EuroHockey Championships (Women) - The Netherlands and Germany - had also already sealed their places during the FIH Hockey World League Semi-Final Round 2015.
The 2016 Summer Olympics will start with an opening ceremony on fifth August at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro and the women's team will commence its outing from seventh August 2016.