The Indian women’s hockey team may have missed the chance of winning the gold or silver in Tokyo Olympics but it can still grab the bronze medal.

That was the common sentiment at Barki Chhapar, a nondescript village in Simdega district of Jharkhand that had a local girl, Salima Tete, in the Indian team that lost the semi-final match against Argentina by 1-2 on Wednesday.

“Our girls played well and lost by a slender margin but the results would be different if they could perform a little better,” said Salima’s father, Sulakshan Tete, who was also a hockey player once.

“Our girls played well but the Argentines performed much better in all aspects, so losing the match against such a powerful team was perhaps natural,” said Manoj Konbegi, the president of Hockey Simdega who watched the match with Salima’s neighbours at her village.

“Not only the villagers, we all are keeping our fingers crossed, with the hope that Indian girls would grab the bronze,” he further said when asked how Salima’s neighbours reacted to the defeat.

Earlier, chief minister Hemant Soren had directed the district administration of Simdega to install a television set at Salima’s home so that her parents and relatives could witness the match live and the same was done before the match, informed the chief minister’s office in Ranchi.

“The parents and relatives of the girl who is toiling so hard to make the country proud must get to see her in action,” the CMO quoted Soren as saying.

“It was like a festival at Barki Chhapar today,” Konbegi informed when asked about the mood at Salima’s village, adding the villagers had gathered in front of the TV set that was placed at a pandal specially erected for the purpose and where chairs were also arranged for the villagers.

“Salima would inspire others and thus help promote sporting activities,” said Simdega deputy commissioner Sushant Gaurav who got the television set installed at Salima’s place.

“The form of any team can change, so the possibility can't be ruled out,” Konbegi argued when pointed out if the Indian women could grab the bronze by defeating the same Great Britain team that won against the Indians by 4-1 in the pool match a days ago.

“We all are keeping our fingers for Friday when the match for the bronze will take place,” he added.