A gold lost on Thursday but a bronze won on Saturday. The gloom in the Indian women's hockey camp made way for cheers as Savita Punia and her team eked out a hard-fought 2-1 win over Japan to win the bronze. Incidentally, the two teams had met in the final of the previous edition and Japan had edged India by a similar scoreline.
While India return with a medal, they will need to wait until January next year for the only other opportunity to qualify for the Paris Olympics. Also, chief coach Janneke Schopman has her hands full. First, she will have to answer the tough questions Hockey India is expected to pose to her. The Olympian from the Netherlands will then have to go back to the drawing board to iron out some basic flaws in the squad.
