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The Indian women's hockey team have kept their quarterfinal chances alive by getting the better of old rivals Ireland 1-0 in a Group A encounter in Tokyo.
With the win, the Indians now have three points from four games and will make the knock-outs if the permutations and combinations play out in their favor.
Check Out: Tokyo Olympics 2021 Schedule
Playing an absolute classic in the Oi Hockey Stadium, the Indians attacked the Irish from the opening minute and kept the pressure on the World Cup silver medalists for the entire duration of the match.
#3 Persistent pressure pays off for India
Sjoerd Marijne's team came onto the pitch with a sense of purpose and never took their feet off the pedal, testing the Irish defense with some clever moves from both flanks.
Despite being unable to score until three minutes from time, Rani and co let their body language do the talking as the shoulders never drooped in the heat of Tokyo.
The Indians retained a lion's share of possession, with twenty-one circle penetrations.
The Irish deep defense did well to soak up the pressure but it required an outstanding effort from a champion goalkeeper to keep the scoreline down to 0-1.
#2 Ayeisha McFerrin shows her class
The custodian, who won a World Cup quarterfinal shootout for her team against the Indians and repeated the feat against Spain in the semifininals of London 2018, stood between India and their chance to remain alive in the competition for a good 57 minutes.
Checkout: The Olympics 2021 Points Table
The Irish goalie left her mark to narrow the angle, dived both ways, flung herself in the path of the ball and stood like a rock in front of the net as the Indian team management looked on in desperation.
McFerrin stopped nine out of India's ten shots on target after their deep defense failed to cope with the Indian wave.
Navneet even struck the post after the Irish goalie cut off the angle in a split second as the Indians failed to get the PCs past a dogged defense.
#1 India consume too many PCs en route to victory
14 wasted PCs in a vital match does not augur well for any side. The Indians will be disappointed by the way their PC battery handled the short corners.
Sushila Chanu failed to stop the ball cleanly while Deep Grace struggled to get a powerful flick going as the Indians earned one PC after another to no avail.
Gurjit Kaur has looked off-color in Tokyo and Sjoerd Marijne's team are desperately short of options.
The strikers will need to raise their game as PCs will be vital in Saturday's game against South Africa.
The Indians need a win against South Africa and hope that Great Britain beats Ireland to be certain of making it to the quarterfinals in Tokyo.
A draw for India would suffice if Great Britain were to beat Ireland, but the Indians will have to aim for full points as their match precedes the GB-Ireland game.
