NEW DELHI: Hailing the Indian women's hockey team's performance at the Olympics, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said it narrowly missed a medal but it reflects the spirit of new India, "where we give our best and scale new frontiers".
The history-making Indian women's hockey team's dream of securing its maiden Olympic medal remained unfulfilled as it lost 3-4 to Great Britain in a hard-fought bronze play-off match at the ongoing Games in Tokyo on Friday.
"We narrowly missed a medal in Women's Hockey but this team reflects the spirit of New India -- where we give our best and scale new frontiers," Modi tweeted after the match.
"More importantly, their success at #Tokyo2020 will motivate young daughters of India to take up Hockey and excel in it. Proud of this team," he said.
Modi said people will always remember the great performance of our women's hockey team at the Tokyo Olympics.
"They gave their best throughout.
Each and every member of the team is blessed with remarkable courage, skill and resilience.
India is proud of this outstanding team," the prime minister said.
The team had already created history and surpassed all expectations by entering the semifinals of the Games for the first time.
But the maiden Olympic medal remained out of bounds as world no. 4 Great Britain, who were gold-winners in the 2016 Rio Games, came out on top in the pulsating encounter.
The heartbreak came a day after the Indian men's team ended a 41-year-old medal drought by clinching a bronze with a 5-4 win over Germany.