Rani Rampal during the first leg of Olympic Qualifiers match against USA
The Indian women's hockey team has confirmed a place in the Tokyo Olympics after surviving an extraordinary fightback from the US in the second leg of their Olympic qualifier at the Kalinga stadium even as an elated skipper Rani Rampal on Sunday credited her team members, coaches and support staff for the achievement.
In their game against the US, the opponents fought back from a 5-1 deficit in the first leg to level the score 5-5 in the first half. However, India put up an improved performance in the second half with skipper Rani Rampal scoring what turned out to be the winning goal in the 49th minute on Saturday.
Taking to Twitter, the India skipper also said her team will give their best in the preparations for the mega event in Tokyo next year.
"With a collective effort of our team members, coaches & support staff we have qualified for Tokyo Olympics but we will work hard for next 8 months to perform our best in Tokyo 2020," she tweeted on Sunday.
The skipper also thanked the Union Sports Minister and the national federation for showing faith in her team.
"Thanks to Hockey India, Kiren Rijiju Sir, Sports Authority of India (SAI), friends, family and fans for believing in us," she added.
