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regular-article-logo Thursday, 09 May 2024

Disappointing day for India at Tokyo Olympics

Hockey team left high and dry by mighty Australia; Sania Mirza and Ankita Raina crash out; Pranati Nayak fails to make the all-round final; Shooters fail to fire

Our Bureau Published 25.07.21, 06:43 PM
Sania Mirza and Ankita Raina.

Sania Mirza and Ankita Raina. File Photo.

Expectations soared after Mirabai Chanu won India its first medal in the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday. But things didn't really go according to plan for the Indian contingent in Japan. Among the women, Manika Batra, MC Mary Kom and PV Sindhu stood out but there was disappointment from Sania Mirza and Pranati Nayak's quarters. The women’s tennis doubles team -- Mirza and Ankita Raina -- crashed out after a first round defeat while Nayak failed to qualify for the all round finals. After managing a win versus New Zealand in the opener, the Indian hockey team succumbed to Australia 7-1 in their second group stage clash.

Let's take a look at all that happened for India today:

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Hockey: Australia leave India high and dry

The Indian hockey contingent doesn’t look like they’ll end their 41-year-old medal drought at the Games. The hero of the previous game versus New Zealand, goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, was a bundle of nerves against Australia, and conceded as many as seven goals in India’s 7-1 rout. To add to that, India’s defence was not at its best as India This morale-shattering loss has probably exposed every possible chink in India’s armour. The world no. 1 side simply toyed with the Indian defence after the first quarter and scored goals at will to comfortably secure their second consecutive win in the competition. For India, it is their biggest loss since Australian Graham Reid took charge of the team as coach in April 2019. India’s lone goal came from the stick of Dilpreet Singh in the 34th minute, and that was the only thing to relish for Reid’s men.

Artistic Gymnastics: Pranati Nayak does not qualify

India's lone gymnast at Tokyo Olympics, Pranati Nayak failed to qualify for the All Round finals of Artistic Gymnastics competition. The 26-year-old from West Bengal recorded a total score of 42.565 over the four categories -- floor exercise, vault, uneven bars and balance beam -- at the Ariake Gymnastic centre. She is now ranked at 29th overall at the end of subdivision 2. There are a total of five subdivisions, from which top 24 gymnasts (best score across all four apparatus) qualify to the all-round final, which will be held on July 29. The top eight gymnasts in each event qualify for the respective individual event finals to be held from August 1 to 3. However, Nayak finished at the bottom half in all the events.

Badminton: PV Sindhu eases past Israel's Ksenia Polikarpova

It was a good start for India’s prime medal hope. Sindhu thrashed Israel’s Ksenia Polikarpova in straight games in the women's singles group J match. The 26-year-old Indian, seeded sixth, beat the 58th ranked Polikarpova 21-7 21-10 in a lop-sided opening match. “Even though it was an easy first match I didn't take it in an easy way. It wasn't like I wasn't prepared. Every time, it is very important to be focused and be prepared for every single point in every single match,” Sindhu said after the match. The world number seven Indian will next play Hong Kong's world number 34 Cheung Ngan Yi in the group stage.

Boxing: MC Mary Kom wins opener, Manish Kaushik disappoints on debut

Kom is 38 years old, but does not want to stop. The six-time world champion Mary Kom (51kg) powered into the pre-quarterfinals with a superb tactical victory over Dominican Republic's Miguelina Hernandez Garcia but Kaushik’s (63kg) Games debut ended in disappointment following a hard-fought opening-round loss. The 38-year-old Mary Kom, who is a 2012 Olympic bronze-medallist and a multiple-time Asian champion, prevailed 4-1 against a rival who is 15 years her junior and a Pan American Games bronze-medallist. But Manish, a Commonwealth Games silver-medallist and a world championship bronze-winner, went down 1-4 to Britain's Luke McCormack in an edge-of-the-seat clash.

Rowing: Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh in semi-finals

Indian rowers Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh qualified for the semifinals of the men's lightweight double sculls repechage. The Indian duo clocked 6:51.36 to finish in third place at the Sea Forest Waterway. Poland’s Jerzy Kowalski and Artur Mikolajczewski finished at the top with a timing of 6:43.44, followed by Spain's Caetano Horta Pombo and Manel Balastegui, who clocked 6:45.71 in the repechage 2. The semifinals will be on July 27.

Sailing: Kumanan 27th, Saravanan 14th

Nethra Kumanan was placed 27th after two races while Vishnu Saravanan was at 14th after his first race as the Indian sailors opened their Games campaign. Kumanan finished 33rd in the first race of the women's laser radial before recovering a bit by taking the 16th spot in the second for an overall 27th place with 49 net points. Saravanan then finished 14th in the men's laser event before the second race was postponed due to bad weather conditions at the Enoshima Yacht Harbour. Each event consists of a series of races. Points in each race are awarded according to position: the winner gets one point, the second-placed finisher scores two and so on.

Shooting: Shooters dissapoint, unfortunate day for Bhaker

The fancied Indian shooting team drew a blank for the second day running, with a major weapon malfunction leading to a heartbreaking exit for the young Manu Bhaker in the women's 10 air pistol event. Appearing in her maiden Olympics, the 19-year-old finished a creditable 12th, despite losing nearly 20 minutes during the qualifications after the cocking lever in her pistol broke down, forcing her to go to a designated area for getting it fixed. Manu shot 575, while the cut-off was 577. Yashaswini Singh Deswal, the other first-timer at the Games, recovered from a subdued start to end 13th, with a total score of 574. In the men's 10 air rifle event, both the experienced Deepak Kumar and the teenaged Divyansh Singh Panwar finished a lowly 26th and 32nd, respectively.

Deepak aggregated 624.7 while Divyansh shot 622.8 over the six series, scores which were never going to be enough to make the final. India's Angad Vir Singh Bajwa missed two targets out of 75 to be placed 11th on count back at the end of the third round in men's skeet qualifications. He looks to be in search of a top-six finals spot. Angad had scores of 25, 24, 24 in the first three series and will come back on Monday to shoot the final two series. Compatriot Mairaj Ahmad Khan shot 71 and was placed 25th out of the 30 shooters in fray.

Swimming: Patel, Nataraj fall short

Indian swimmers Srihari Nataraj and Maana Patel’s Olympic campaign came to an end as the two youngsters failed to qualify for the semifinals of their respective events. Competing in their maiden Olympics, both swimmers were unable to match their personal best performances in the 100m backstroke events. Srihari managed a time of 54.31s to finish his men's 100m backstroke heat in a creditable sixth place. The 20-year-old has a personal best of 53.77s that he had clocked at the Sette Colli Trophy in Italy to qualify for the Tokyo Games in June. Overall, Srihari was ranked 27 among the 40 swimmers. The top 16 swimmers qualify for the semifinals.

Table Tennis: Batra impresses, Sathiyan flops

India’s table tennis star Manika Batra made a stunning comeback against world number 32 Margaryta Pesotska to reach the women's singles third round but G Sathiyan succumbed to the pressure on his Olympic debut to exit the men's singles competition. While the 26th seed Sathian was expected to beat world number 94 Hong Kong's Siu Hang Lam in his second round match after getting a first round bye, the same cannot be said about Manika, whose gritty approach under pressure proved decisive against her higher-ranked opponent from Ukraine. Manika, ranked 62, made a remarkable comeback after losing the first two games to prevail 4-11, 4-11, 11-7, 12-10, 8-11, 11-5, 11-7 in a second round match that lasted 57 minutes.

Tennis: Sania-Ankita crash out

Sania Mirza and debutant Ankita Raina were knocked out of the Games despite dominating a large part of their women's doubles opener against Ukrainian twin sisters Nadiia and Liudmyla Kichenok. Sania and Raina were running away with the contest after bageling their opponents but in a dramatic turnround, the Kichenok sisters came back from the dead to pull off a 0-6 7-6(0) 10-8 win at court 11 of Ariake Tennis Centre. Sania was serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set but perhaps nerves got the better of her and ended up dropping her serve. From there on, it was not the same match, in which the Ukrainians looked out of sort, struggling with their serves and returns. The Indians became the prey and Ukrainians pounced on them.

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