Both the Indian men’s hockey team and women’s hockey team scripted history by defeating their respective opponents and reaching the semifinals at the Tokyo Olympics. Amidst the euphoria and jubilation following the twin victories, a screenshot of a tweet, apparently posted by the official Twitter account of senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, is doing the rounds on the internet.
In the screenshot that has gone now viral, the Gandhi scion seems to claim that if both the men and the women’s team manage to reach finals, then they will play against each other and regardless of who among them emerge victorious, India will win both, 11 gold as well as 11 silver medals.
“Both Indian men & women reached Hockey semifinals. If they both reach finals, that means they will play against each other and hence we will get both, 11 Gold as well as 11 Silver…Awesome. #Olympics” the tweet in the screenshot read.
The screenshot shows the tweet posted by the official Twitter account of Rahul Gandhi. The timestamp of the tweet says it was posted on 2 August 2021 at around 10:55 AM. Some netizens wondered if it was real.
The truth behind the Rahul Gandhi viral screenshot
Soon after the screenshot where Rahul Gandhi appears to have tweeted about the Indian hockey men’s team squaring off with the women’s team at the Olympics surfaced on the internet, a bevy of netizens started sharing the picture on various social media platforms, assuming that the post was indeed uploaded by Rahul Gandhi.
The various incidents of gaffes committed by Rahul Gandhi in the past only added to the suspicions among people about the tweet being posted by the Gandhi scion. As a result, they started sharing it in earnest, believing that the tweet was uploaded by none other than Rahul Gandhi.
However, the tweet, amusing as it seems, is not posted by Rahul Gandhi. It is a photoshopped image where Rahul Gandhi’s Twitter account has been superimposed on the account that actually tweeted about a possible match between the men’s and women’s hockey teams at Olympics.
The actual tweet was made by a Twitter user as a joke.
Indian men’s and women’s team create a history by entering semis at Tokyo Olympics
Earlier yesterday, the Indian Men’s Hockey team today vanquished Great Britain 3-1 to reach the semi-finals in Tokyo Olympics. This happened for the first time in 49 years.
Hours later, the Indian women’s hockey team aped their male counterparts and stormed into the semi-finals by defeating the three-time champion Australia. This is the first time that the Indian women’s hockey team qualified for the semifinals.
India scored the victory goal in the 22nd minute of the match when drag-flicker Gurjit Kaur scored from a penalty corner. India showed immense grit and determination, along with their spectacular defensive might to hold on to the lead through the rest of the match.
The men’s team is all set to square off with the Belgium hockey team in the semifinals while the women’s team will face Argentina in their semifinals fixtures at the Tokyo Olympics.
