GB women beaten by Netherlands in hockey quarters

PARIS (Agencies): Great Britain’s women will leave the Olympics without a hockey medal for the first time since 2008 after a 3-1 quarter-final loss to the Netherlands.

GB won bronze at London 2012, took a memorable gold in Rio in 2016 when they beat the Netherlands in a shootout, and claimed bronze in Tokyo three years ago.

However, they faced a tough task in Paris against the defending Olympic champions, who are the world’s top-ranked side.

Great Britain came back from an early 1-0 deficit, having conceded inside the first minute, but their opponents’ high tempo and attacking play ultimately won through.

Several of the British players fell to their knees as the clock ticked down, both emotionally and physically drained on a hot evening at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium.

“I am devastated for the team,” Rio gold medallist Helen Richardson-Walsh said on BBC 5 Live.

“Coming in to it, their form wasn’t great, they didn’t have many results going their way.

“They have maybe just not been quite ready when they have needed to be and seeing out quarters is really key in big games.”

The Netherlands, who are heavy gold-medal favourites, will play Argentina – who beat Germany earlier on Monday – in the semi-finals.

Britain’s men also suffered a narrow quarter-final exit, losing 4-2 to 10-man India in a shootout on Sunday.

The women’s quarter-final could not have started worse for GB.

With just seconds on the clock, Dutch captain Xan de Waard controlled the ball out of the air and slammed it past keeper Miriam Pritchard.

The Dutch had much of the possession but GB defended admirably before forcing an equaliser.

Hannah French found herself in the right place to pop home a rebound from a penalty corner, pushing the ball over Anne Veenendaal to briefly silence a crowd which was dominated by Dutch fans.

However, the Netherlands regained the lead with just 29 seconds left on the clock before half-time.

Pritchard was unable to deny Luna Fokke, who put in a rebound from a penalty corner for a goal that was upheld after a British referral.

The Netherlands barely let up in attack, with their third coming as Maria Verschoor drove into the circle and again Fokke was there to score the rebound.

Britain had a late opportunity, with Veenendaal forced into a late save against Tess Howard, but the dominant Netherlands deservedly progressed.