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regular-article-logo Saturday, 20 April 2024

Tokyo Olympics: Deepika Kumari, PV Sindhu, Pooja Rani stand out for India

Here's a round-up of all that went down at the Games on day five

Our Bureau Published 28.07.21, 06:53 PM
Deepika Kumari.

Deepika Kumari. File Photo.

Going by all that's happened at the Tokyo Olympics today, there's hope for more medals for the Indian contingent. And the forerunners are PV Sindhu, Deepika Kumari and pugilist Pooja Rani. But there's a dissapointing twist to the tale as well. The Indian hockey women's team slumped to their third straight defeat, going down 1-4 to Great Britain, and B Sai Praneeth collapsed 14-21 14-21 to Mark Caljouw of Netherlands in 40 minutes for his second defeat in Group D.

Here's a round-up of Indian athletes participating in the Olympics on day five of competitions:

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Archery:

Deepika Kumari beats Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez (USA) 6-4 in second round

The world number one archer survived some anxious moments before getting past the US teenager and keep Indian medal hopes alive. Deepika lost the first set by one point but she bounced back strongly with three 10s in a row to take a 4-2 lead. She, however, failed to wrap up the match in the fourth set as she misfired a six in her second arrow. The 18-year-old American made it 4-4, winning the set by one-point (25-24). In the winner-takes-all fifth set, Deepika had two 9s to start with before finishing with a poor 8. Needing a 10 in her last arrow to force a shoot-off, Jennifer signed off with a nine in what was a promising campaign for the American teenager.

Tarundeep Rai beat Oleksii Hunbin (Ukraine) 6-4 in men's individual first round match, and then lost to Itay Shanny (Israel) in the shoot-off in second round.

Pravin Jadhav beat Galsan Bazarzhapov (Russian Olympic Committee) 6-0 in men's individual first round, but lost to Brady Ellison (USA) 0-6 in the second round.

Badminton:

PV Sindhu qualifies for the pre-quarterfinals, Praneeth bows out

Reigning world champion PV Sindhu stormed into the pre-quarterfinals of women's singles badminton event but B Sai Praneeth's maiden Olympic campaign ended in agony in the men's competition. Sindhu, who had claimed a silver medal in the last edition in Rio, beat world No. 34 Hong Kong's NY Cheung 21-9 21-16 in a 35-minute match to top Group J. However, 13th seed Praneeth failed to bring his 'A' game to the table once again, going down 14-21 14-21 to Mark Caljouw of Netherlands in 40 minutes for his second defeat in Group D. The world no 15 Indian had earlier lost his opening round to Israel's Misha Zilberman. World no 29 Caljow, with this win, topped the group to qualify for the knockout stage. Only the group toppers advance to the knockout stage.

Boxing:

Pooja Rani storms into the quarters

Two-time Asian champion Indian boxer Pooja Rani (75kg) out-punched Algeria's Ichrak Chaib in her opening bout to enter the quarterfinals of her maiden Olympic Games. The 30-year-old Indian clinched it 5-0, thoroughly dominating a rival 10 years her junior. The Haryana-boxer was in command with her right straights and also benefitted immensely from Chaib's lack of balance in the ring. All three rounds were a story of Rani's domination as Chaib, also appearing in her maiden Olympics, just could not figure a way to connect cleanly. All Rani had to do throughout the bout was counter-attack as Chaib failed spectacularly in trying to hit powerfully, her wild swings mostly missing the target area.

Hockey:

Third straight loss for India eves

The Indian women's hockey team wasted chances galore to lose 1-4 against defending champions Great Britain, their third consecutive preliminary stage defeat which reduces the side's chances of qualifying for the Olympic quarterfinals. The Indians were guilty of wasting opportunities in their first two games and the trend continued on Wednesday at the Oi Hockey Stadium as Great Britain punished them through strikes from Hannah Martin (2nd and 19th minute), Lily Owsley (41st minute) and Grace Balsdon (57th minute). This Great Britain's second consecutive win in Pool A. For India, Sharmila Devi scored the lone goal in the 23rd minute. The Indians needed at least a point from this game to be safe but they now will have to win their remaining two matches to have any chance of qualifying for the knockout stage.

Rowing:

Arjun, Arvind fail to qualify for medal round

Indian rowers Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh failed to qualify for the men's lightweight double sculls final after finishing sixth and last in the second semifinal. Arjun and Arvind clocked 6:24.41 to finish last in the six-team semifinal 2 at the Sea Forest Waterway. The top three pairs in each of the two semifinals qualify for the final. Arjun and Arvind have, however, produced the best-ever Olympic performance by Indian rowers by reaching the semifinals. They will finish at least at the 12th spot. While Arjun assumes the role of the bower, Arvind is the team's stroker. The two had finished fifth in their heats on Saturday. The event includes two rowers in a scull boat using two oars each. The long, narrow and broadly semi-circular in cross-section boats help to reduce the drag.

Sailing:

KC Ganapathy, Varun Thakkar languish

The Indian pair of K Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar languished at 18th after four races in the men's skiff 49er sailing event.
The Indian duo finished 18th, 17th and 19th in the three races on Wednesday. They finished 18th in the first race on Tuesday in 19-team race at Enoshima Yacht Harbour. Eight more races and a medal round remain in the competition. On Tuesday, Vishnu Saravanan and Nethra Kumanan finished way behind the leaders, ending at 22nd and 33rd spot in the respective events after six races. Saravanan finished 23rd and 22nd in the fifth and sixth race in the men's laser event while Kumanan was 32nd and 38th in the two races of the women's laser radial event.

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