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The Indian women's hockey team will take on Great Britain in their third Group A game on Wednesday morning at the Olympics 2021.
Desperate for points after two contrasting defeats against the Netherlands and Germany, Sjoerd Marijne's team are expected to go all out for a win against the defending champions.
At Rio 2016, Great Britain surprised the hockey world by defeating the Netherlands in the final to win their first Olympic gold, after having bagged bronze in Barcelona 1992 and London 2012.
The fortunes of the team then slumped somewhat as they failed to replicate the magic of Rio, but they beat the Indians to win bronze at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
The Indian girls stunned the England team by winning the group fixture 2-1 but were comprehensively beaten 0-6 in the medal match.
England's troubles against the Indians were to continue even as Sjoerd Marijne took over when Neha Goyal gave her side the lead during their 2018 World Cup opener in London.
The Indians held on to a one-goal lead with aplomb before Lily Owsley saved her team the blushes by scoring with six minutes remaining on the clock. However, her team went on to finish a disappointing sixth at the end of the competition.
The Indian Eves ended a five-match series against Great Britain with a win, a loss, and three drawn matches in October 2019 but the GB side have improved a fair bit since.
England, who compete as Great Britain in the Olympic Games and the Hockey Pro League, did well enough in the second edition of the HPL to finish third, winning five of their twelve matches.
Now coached by former Aussie international Mark Hager, Great Britain managed to hold the Netherlands to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their HPL clash last October, which speaks volumes about the quality of the side who are now clawing their way back to the top.
Hager's team walloped South Africa by a 4-1 margin after losing their Olympic opener to Germany 1-2. They will begin as the favorites when they take on India at the Oi Hockey Stadium.
The Medal Tally for Tokyo 2020 is out now. Check out the Tokyo Olympics Medal Tally.
The Indians will need to take heart from some remarkable performances against England in the past. The talismanic captain Rani Rampal and livewire Vandana Katariya, who excelled against Germany, can inspire the team to greater heights in Tokyo.
Do not miss the action that begins at 0630 IST on Wednesday, July 28.
Check Out: Tokyo Olympics 2021 Schedule
FIH Rankings:
Great Britain (England) - 6
India - 10
Prediction: If the Indian girls continue to play an attacking game against Great Britain like they did against Germany, a draw is a distinct possibility.
Goalkeeper Maddie Hinch will be tough to get past and the Indian strikers need to click as it's a case of now or never for Marijne's chargers.
Score Prediction: India 2 - Great Britain 2
