Three Indian Olympians at Moscow 1980 where women’s hockey made it debut at the Games, reacted to the coutry’s maiden entry into the semifinals against all odds in Tokyo on Monday. Eliza Nelson-Mendonca, who captained India to its only Asian Games gold medal at New Delhi in 1982, quite simply put the performance to beat formidable Australia 1-0 as “excellent”.

“The women’s team has improved in all departments. In particular, our goalkeeper (Savita Punia) was excellent and so was the rest of the defence,” Eliza said. “And hats off to Gurjit Kaur for the goal from a PC.”

A right-winger in her heyday, Eliza was all praise for the forwards. “They worked hard and their fitness levels look good since they’ve been coming back to help the defence,” she said from Pune where she is based. “I hope this performance inspires little girls to pick up the stick,” she added.

Namrata Shah, a dazzling left-winger in the Moscow 1980 team and a gold medallist at the 1982 Asian Games, commended the team over various parameters.

“The Indian women have shown huge mental strength in this victory. Knowing it was a do-or-die effort that was needed, they rose to the occasion. “The cohesion with which they played along with the teamwork of not only those on the pitch but the management as well. It played itself out in the form of this very convincing win,” Namrata said from New Zealand where she is based.

“They need to keep the focus and the same attitude. I’m sure captain Rani and her senior leadership group in the team are instrumental in keeping the girls fighting in spite of early losses in pool play,” Namrata said. “To have come this far is a massive step to bring glory back to our National Game,” she concluded.

Selma D’Silva, a former forward who also donned the national colours with Namrata and Eliza, wasn’t too surprised with the win over Australia. She said from Mumbai: “I had given them a 50/50 chance as their morale would have been high. After all, they came into the quarterfinals after recovering from losing three straight matches and winning two matches in a row.

“It’s an up from here onwards. They played well as a team today, each doing what was asked of them. Savita made some brilliant saves, that too in the last few crucial minutes,” Selma said. “They have been working very hard, even in the midst of the pandemic. Towards the end, they didn’t panic or lose composure and made it count. So all in all a fantabulous effort. Well deserved!”

Photos: Ashok Vahie, New Delhi