PM Modi lauds women's hockey team; Wishes luck for Olympics bronze medal tie

New Delhi, Aug 04: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday offered consoling words to the Indian women's hockey team after it went down fighting to Argentina in the Olympic semifinal, saying the players showed great skill and grit.

A brave Indian women's hockey team put up a gritty performance but it was not enough to secure a maiden Olympic final berth as it lost 1-2 to world no.2 Argentina in a hard-fought semifinal.

India still have a chance to win the bronze medal as they will take on Great Britain in the third-fourth place play-off match on Friday.

"One of the things we will remember #Tokyo2020 for is the stupendous performance by our Hockey teams. Today and through the Games, our Women's Hockey team played with grit and showcased great skill. Proud of the team. Best of luck for the game ahead and for future endeavours," PM Modi tweeted.

Indian women's hockey team chief coach Sjoerd Marijne revealed that PM Modi called him and gave an inspiring message for the side for its bronze medal tie against Great Britain on Friday.

"Thanks very much Sir @narendramodi for your inspirational phone call, I will bring over the message to the team, we will show resilience and also keep showing the Indian Shernis fighting spirit in the match for the bronze medal. @TheHockeyIndia #PMO," Marijne tweeted.