Women's hockey at Tokyo Olympics: Preview, Guide, Schedule, Indian players

Preview

Zimbabwe was the winner of the inaugural edition of women's hockey at the Olympics, contested by six teams. Since then, several countries like Netherlands, Australia, Spain, Germany, and Great Britain have won Gold medals in this event at the Olympics. Tokyo Olympics will be the 11th edition of women's hockey, and this time around, there will be twelve teams competing for the podium.

At Tokyo Olympics, it will be Indian women's third outing after the first one in the inaugural edition of the 1980 Summer Olympics and the second one at the 2016 summer Olympics. In the first edition, India performed decently by finishing 4th, and in the second outing, India languished in the last position of the group. This time around, there is some hope with a mix of youth and experience, making them the dark horses in this Olympics.

Guide

The women's hockey tournament will have twelve teams, and they are further divided into two groups of six nations, playing every team in their group once. Three points will be awarded for a victory, one for a draw. The top four teams in the group qualify for the quarterfinals. Let's look at the teams in each group:

Group A

1. Germany

2. Great Britain

3. India

4. Ireland

5. Netherlands

6. South Africa

Group B

1. Argentina

2. Australia

3. China

4. Japan

5. New Zealand

6. Spain

Schedule

The women's hockey tournament at Tokyo Olympics is scheduled from 24 July to 6 August 2021 at Oi Seaside Park in Tokyo, Japan. Let's look at the schedule

Day 1, Saturday, 24 July (15:00 – 18:45) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Group A – Netherlands vs India

Day 1, Saturday, 24 July (15:30 – 19:15) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Group A – Ireland vs South Africa

Day 2, Sunday, 25 July (06:00 – 09:45) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Group A – Great Britain vs Germany
• Group B – Japan vs China

Day 2, Sunday, 25 July (06:30 – 10:15) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Group B – Australia vs Spain
• Group B – New Zealand vs Argentina

Day 3, Monday, 26 July (06:30 – 10:15) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Group A – Netherlands vs Ireland
• Group B – Australia vs China

Day 3, Monday, 26 July (15:00 – 18:45) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Group A – South Africa vs Great Britain
• Group B – Japan vs New Zealand

Day 3, Monday, 26 July (15:30 – 19:15) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Group B – Argentina vs Spain
• Group A – Germany vs India

Day 4, Wednesday, 28 July (06:00 – 09:45) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Group A – Netherlands vs South Africa
• Group B – New Zealand vs Spain

Day 4, Wednesday, 28 July (06:30 – 10:15) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Group A – Great Britain vs India
• Group A – Germany vs Ireland

Day 5, Wednesday, 28 July (15:00 – 18:45) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Group B – Japan vs Australia

Day 5, Wednesday, 28 July (15:30 – 19:15) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Group B – Argentina vs China

Day 6, Thursday, 29 July (15:00 – 18:45) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Group B – Spain vs China
• Group B – Japan vs Argentina

Day 6, Thursday, 29 July (15:30 – 19:15) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Group A – Great Britain vs Netherlands
• Group B – New Zealand vs Australia

Day 7, Friday, 30 July (06:00 – 09:45) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Group A – South Africa vs Germany
• Group A – Ireland vs India

Day 8, Friday, 31 July (06:00 – 09:45) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Group B – China vs New Zealand
• Group B – Argentina vs Australia

Day 8, Friday, 31 July (06:30 – 10:15) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Group B – Japan vs Spain
• Group A – India vs South Africa

Day 8, Friday, 31 July (15:00 – 18:45) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Group A – Germany vs Netherlands
• Group A – Ireland vs Great Britain

Day 9, Monday, 2 August (06:00 – 10:15) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Women's Quarterfinals (2 matches)

Day 9, Monday, 2 August (15:00 – 19:15) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Women's Quarterfinals (2 matches)

Day 10, Wednesday, 4 August (07:00 – 08:45) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Women's Semi-final

Day 10, Wednesday, 4 August (15:30 – 17:15) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Women's Semi-final

Day 11, Friday, 6 August (07:00 – 08:45) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Women's Bronze Medal Match

Day 11, Friday, 6 August (15:30 – 17:40) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Women's Gold Medal Match
• Women's Victory ceremony

Indian players

Hockey India announced a 16-member team for the Tokyo Olympics. Let's look at the team

1. Rani Rampal (Captain)

2. Savita Punia (Goalkeeper)

3. Deep Grace Ekka (Defender)

4. Nikki Pradhan (Defender)

5. Gurjit Kaur (Defender)

6. Udita (Defender)

7. Nisha (Midfielder)

8. Neha Goyal (Midfielder)

9. Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam (Midfielder)

10. Monika Malik (Midfielder)

11. Navjot Kaur (Midfielder)

12. Salima Tete (Midfielder)

13. Navneet Kaur (Forward)

14. Lalremsiami (Forward)

15. Vandana Katariya (Forward)

16. Sharmila Devi (Forward)