Chak De again? The similarities between Indian women's hockey team's Tokyo Olympics campaign and Chak De! India

Even before the Indian women's hockey team had beaten Australia in a huge upset in the quarter final of Tokyo Olympics, #ChakDeIndia had been trending on Twitter. The phrase has come to be the catchphrase for Indian fans' support for all Team Indias over the years. The term was popularised by Shimit Amin's 2007 Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Chak De! India, which told the story of an Indian women's hockey team's unlikely triumph. And this time around, the Indian team's campaign so far bears quite a few similarities to the film. Even Sjoerd Marijne, the team's coach, acknowledged this when speaking to the press after the game. "This is like a dream come true. I think this is the true Chak de India," he said

In the film, the Indian team opened its World Cup campaign in a disastrous fashion, losing 7-0 to the mighty Australian team. At the Tokyo Olympics, the actual Indian women's team also began poorly, losing 5-1 to the Netherlands, before compounding their misery with losses against Germany and Great Britain

In the film, the Indian team bounced back after being written off to register successive wins against England, Spain, South Africa and New Zealand. In reality, the team's comeback was even more tense with wins against South Africa and Ireland, which allowed them to secure the last spot into the knockout rounds

Komal Chautala, played by Chitrashi Rawat in Chak De! India, was the pint-sized dynamo, who was one of the key strikers for the team. In Tokyo, that role was fulfilled by 5-feet-2 inches tall striker Vandana Katariya, whose hat-trick against South Africa turned it around for the team. Interestingly, Vandana and Chitrashi both hail from Uttarakhand and played age-group hockey together

He may not have the tragic backstory or international success of SRK’s Kabir Khan but the current women’s team coach Sjoerd Marijne does share a few parallels with the iconic character. For starters, the Dutch was a player himself, carving out a successful career for a decade in the Dutch league before turning coach

While Chak De pitted India against the mighty Aussies in the final of the World Cup, at Tokyo, the Indian girls ran into the hurdle in the quarter final itself. In the film, the Indian team won after a tense drawn game that led to a penalty shootout. In the Olympics, even though it didn't go to penalties, India won a topsy-turvy game 1-0. Just like in the film, shocked Australian player sank to their knees following the defeat

The architect of the Indian win against Australia in Tokyo was goalkeeper Savita Punia, who made nine saves throughout the match and kept a clean sheet against a team that had scored 15 goals in the tournament so far. #SavitaTheWall was trending on social media after the game. Similarly, it was the Indian goalie Vidya Sharma (played by Vidya Malavade), who won the game against the Aussies in the film, by saving a crucial penalty.