Tokyo Olympics: Netherlands thrash India 5-1 in women's hockey Pool A opening game

Tokyo [Japan], July 24 (ANI): India women's hockey team suffered a crushing 1-5 defeat in their first match at the hands of The Netherlands in the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Saturday.
The two teams remained locked at a goal apiece at the halfway stage after both India and Netherlands scored in the first 10 minutes of the match.
However, in the second half of the game, Netherlands came all gun blazing and didn't allow the Indian team any chance of scoring the goal.
The Dutch then fired four goals in the second half to seal their opening match of the Olympics.
India started the match on backfoot as The Netherlands took a lead in the sixth minute of the game. But India struck back as skipper Rani Rampal scored a sensational goal in the 10th minute.
No goals were scored in the second quarter as India and Netherlands went into the third essay with a score of 1-1.
In the third quarter, Netherlands came firing on cylinders and scored three goals to dent India's hopes of winning the game.
Riding on the confidence, Netherlands scored another goal as Caia van Maasakker netted in the 52nd minute. The Netherlands thrashed India 5-1 in the opening match on Saturday.
Indian women's Hockey team will next take on Germany (26 July 2021), Great Britain (28 July 2021), Ireland (30 July 2021), and South Africa (31 July 2021) before the knockout stage, which begins on August 2. (ANI)