By Daniel Leussink
TOKYO (Reuters) – Britain earned the bronze medal in the women’s hockey tournament after a hard-fought 4-3 win over India in hot conditions at the Tokyo Olympics on Friday.
Britain, who had won gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics, took a two-goal lead in the second quarter through goals by Elena Rayer and Sarah Robertson.
India, who have never won an Olympic medal in women’s hockey, pulled level after drag-flick specialist Gurjit Kaur scored twice off penalty corners.
Britain then conceded another goal that gave India a 3-2 lead going into the break, but kept fighting to turn the tables in the final leg of their Tokyo campaign.
Hollie Pearne-Webb equalised in the 35th minute, while Grace Balsdon scored Britain’s winning goal from a penalty corner in the last quarter.
In their bid to deal with the heat, officials doubled the usual two-minute breaks between quarters to allow players to cool down and rolled out extra one-minute water breaks during the final two quarters of the match.
(Reporting by Daniel Leussink; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)
