Indian Men's and Women's Hockey teams bag Silver medals at Youth Olympic Games
Buenos Aires, Oct 15 : The Indian men's and women's hockey teams went down in their respective finals but managed to script history by picking up their maiden silver medals in the five-a-side competition of the Youth Olympic Games here.
While the men lost 2-4 to Malaysia, the women's team suffered a 1-3 defeat at the hands of Argentina in match that took place Sunday night. The silver medals claimed in the Argentine capital are India's first set of hockey medals in the Youth Olympics.
The Malaysian men and Argentina women made history of their own by winning their first-ever Youth Olympic Games Hockey5s gold medals.
Argentina men and China women secured the bronze medals respectively following 4-0 and 6-0 wins over Zambia and South Africa. In the men's gold medal match, India took the lead after only two minutes through captain Vivek Sagar Prasad.
However, just about two minutes later Malaysia levelled through Firadus Rosdi, but the lead was short-lived as Prasad grabbed his second goal of the match for India in the fifth minute. India took a 2-1 lead at the half-time stage.
After the break, Malaysia came out all guns blazing as Akhimullah Anuar brought the teams level again in the 13th minute before Amirul Azahar steered Malaysia to a lead three minutes later.
With only two minutes left on the clock, Anuar sealed the gold by scoring Malaysia's fourth and his second goal of the day to win their first-ever Youth Olympic Games medal.
Later in the women's final, hosts Argentina were inspired by yet another capacity crowd. Having not lost a match in this event, Argentina were stunned as India took an early lead after only 49 seconds through Mumtaz Khan.
But once the early nerves settled, Argentina got into their stride and Gianella Palet levelled after six minutes. Sofia Ramallo then edged Argentina ahead with nearly nine minutes on the clock to give the hosts a 2-1 lead at half-time.
In the second half, Brisa Bruggesser made it 3-1.
While India tried their best to get back in the game, Argentina held on to win their first Youth Olympic Games Hockey5s gold medal in front of a jubilant home crowd.
Despite India's loss in both the finals they will be pleased to have picked up the silver medals -- their first hockey medals in the history of the Youth Olympic Games.
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I am back home: All England missed, Sindhu lands back in Bengaluru from Dubai
Bengaluru (PTI): Two-time Olympic medal-winning Indian badminton star P V Sindhu, who was stranded in Dubai due to closure of airspace in the Gulf region, has returned to the country after pulling out of the All England Championships in Birmingham.
Sindhu posted on X to announce that she is back in the city.
"Back home in Bangalore and safe. The last few days have been intense and uncertain, but I'm truly grateful to be back to my house," she posted.
"A heartfelt thank you to the incredible ground teams, Dubai authorities, airport staff, immigration, and every single person who stepped up and took such good care of us during a very difficult time. The empathy and professionalism meant more than words can say.
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"For now, it's time to rest, reset, and figure out the next steps," she added.
The former world champion was on her way to Birmingham via Dubai, when she was stranded after the flight operations were suspended in the Gulf region following the US and Israeli bombing of Iran.
Iran subsequently retaliated, hitting Dubai as well.
"Moments like these remind you how fragile normal life really is," she had posted on February 28 while revealing some details of her ordeal, which included an explosion near her place of stay.
She had described the experience as "extremely tense and scary moment" for her and her team, including Indonesian coach Irwansyah Adi Pratama.
