Saturday was a big day for Indian hockey. The Indian women’s hockey team qualified for the quarter finals beating South Africa 4-3 thanks to Vandana Kataria’s hat-trick and Great Britain beating Ireland 2-0.

The last time both the men’s and women’s team played in a knock-out round was in the 1980 Moscow Olympics. But the field in both the categories was very depleted. After the Saturday high, India can have a Super Sunday if Manpreet Singh & Co. beat Great Britain in the quarters. I feel India have a clear edge over Great Britain this time around. We are better tactically, more disciplined and extremely talented.

Great Britain also do not look that experienced as most of the players are Olympic debutants. Still we cannot afford to take them lightly because complacency can have a cruel laugh on you. Captain Manpreet, Gurjant Singh, Shamsher Singh and Simranjeet Singh should perform well to take India to the last-four stage. Mandeep, in particular, hasn’t been able to play to potential till now. On Sunday, he has to join the gang, otherwise India will find it difficult.

We did well by finishing second in the group behind Australia and luck also played a role that Great Britain finished third in Pool B. If we had run into Germany or Netherlands, things would have been much tougher. Coach Graham Reid has also done well to motivate the players after the humiliating 1-7 drubbing against Australia on July 25.

Defeats like those can play havoc with the mental make-up of a squad. India should be lauded for sticking to their game plan and record back-to-back wins against Spain and Argentina. Those wins and the 5-3 victory against Japan on Friday have done a world of good to the morale of the team.

The women have a mountain to climb against Australia who finished on top of Pool B. Australia are overwhelming favourites but nothing is impossible in the Olympics.

A former India captain, Gurbux Singh was a member of the 1964 Olympic gold medal-winning side