New Delhi: India didn’t taste any success in terms of increase in medal tally on the ninth day of the ongoing Paris Olympics but medal hopes continue in hockey and badminton after the results fold up on Sunday (August 4). The Indian men’s hockey team advanced to the semifinal of men’s hockey after defeating Great Britain 4-2 in the penalty shootout.
Despite being reduced to 10-member side after Amit Rohidas was shown red card for a delibarate challenge against Great Britain forward William Calnan, India displayed dogged resistance to keep the opposition at bay. The Indian players dropped back support PR Sreejesh in a complete defensive game and only feeding on counterattacks. Sreejesh was the man on the song after he made several of saves to force the match to the penalty shootout as both teams were tied at 1-1 with goals from Harmanpreet Singh (India) and Lee Morton (Great Britain).
On the other hand, young and sensational shuttler Lakshya Sen went down to reigning Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in the semifinal. Despite being in a commanding position in the first game, Sen dropped three game points before conceding the game to miss the advantage.
A 7-0 lead wasn’t capitalised in the following game as Axelsen rode on his shrewd judgement and immense experience to overcome the gap and eventually seal the contest in 54 minutes with a margin of 22-20, 21-14. Lakshya will face Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia in the bronze medal playoff on Wednesday.
Lovlina Borgohain’s exit from quarters marks Indian boxers end at Paris Olympics
India’s boxing campaign, which never quite looked like taking off, came to a medal-less end after Tokyo edition bronze-winner Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) bowed out following a hard-fought quarterfinal loss to China’s Li Qian in the women’s competition. Borgohain, the reigning world champion in the category, went down 1-4 to the Tokyo Games silver-winning 34-year-old in a messy contest during which both the boxers were repeatedly cautioned for clinching and holding.
This was after Nishant Dev was ousted from the men’s 71kg quarterfinals on Saturday night, also a close contest. A six-strong boxing contingent, comprising four women and two men, was representing the country in the Games. Out of these, four had crashed out in the preliminary stage itself.
Indian shooters Vijayveer Sidhu and Anish Bhanwala gave a good account of themselves in the qualifications but could not enter the final of the 25m rapid fire men’s pistol event in Chateauroux. Vijayveer and Anish shot brilliantly over two stages of qualification, staying in contention till the final 10 shots of the second rapid-fire stage, only to shoot scores of 92 and 93, finishing ninth and 13th respectively.
Only the top six shooters make the final cut. In the women’s skeet competition, Maheshwari Chauhan and Raiza Dhillon ended in 14th and 23rd place respectively in the qualification. Maheshwari aggregated 118 across five series with the first three series taking place on Saturday. She recorded scores of 23, 24, 24, 25, 22. Raiza aggregated 113 after a sequence that read 21, 22, 23, 23, 24. Here too, only the top six in the qualifications make it to the final.
(With inputs from PTI)
India didn’t taste any success in terms of increase in medal tally on the ninth day of the ongoing Paris Olympics but medal hopes continue in hockey and badminton after the results fold up on Sunday (August 4) Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
