Tokyo 2020 Day 3: Few positives for India and Thomas Daley's emotional victory

The victory of diver Thomas Daley was an especially heartwarming moment, and not just for the fans of Great Britain.

Thomas Daley and Matty Lee after winning the gold medal. (Image: Twitter)
By Nilavro Ghosh | Jul 26, 2021 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

As Day 3 of the Tokyo Olympics came to a conclusion, India’s medal tally remained where it was after the first day. For the country, it was not a day that had much to offer in terms of positives. However, there were still a few impressive performances by the athletes. There were also a large number of other events which saw some of the best athletes in the world perform and make their dreams come true. The victory of Great Britain diver Thomas Daley was an especially heartwarming moment, and not just for the fans of Great Britain.

DEBUT IN FENCING

Although India did not win any medal on the day, history was made. Bhavani Devi became the first-ever female athlete from the country to participate in fencing at the Games. Devi cruised through the round of 64 tie against Tunisia’s Ben Azizi Nadia in the women’s sabre individual event. She did, however, lose to Brunet Manon of France in the round of 32.

BEATEN IN ARCHERY AND SHOOTING

In archery, the men’s team of Atanu Das, Tarundeep Rai, and Pravin Jadhav won their 1/8  elimination match against Kazakhstan. The trio could not repeat the victory in the following round as they were beaten quite comprehensively by eventual gold-medalists South Korea.

India did not have much luck in shooting, one of their strong points, on the day either. Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Angad Vir Bajwa failed to qualify for the finals in the skeet men’s qualifying round 2. Bajwa finished in the 18th position while Khan finished in 25th.

SHARATH KAMAL MOVES AHEAD

Table tennis saw three Indian athletes take part, Sharath Kamal, Sutirtha Mukherjee, and Manika Batra. Sutirtha lost her round 2 match against Fu Yu of Portugal in the women’s singles event. Batra fell short in round 3 against Austria’s Sofia Polcanova. For Kamal, however, there was a victory. He won his round 2 match against Tiago Apolonia of Portugal in the men’s singles event.

SARAVANAN AND KUMARAN FALL SHORT

In sailing, Vishnu Saravanan finished in the 20th position in the second men’s one-person dinghy laser race. He had also participated in the third race of the same category as he got a second chance to qualify to the next rounds, but he could only finish in 24th place. Nethra Kumanan was also in action in the women’s laser radial race but it was a rather disappointing result as she crashed out of the competition after finishing in 40th place.

EXITS IN TENNIS AND BOXING

The duo of Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty was handed a defeat by the Indonesian team of Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sukamuljo in a group stage encounter in the men’s doubles event.

Boxer Ashish Kumar was in action on the day as he faced China’s Erbieke Touheta in a round of 32 encounter in the men’s 69-75kg category. Unfortunately for Kumar, Touheta made short work of him as he beat the Indian with relative ease.

SAJAN PRAKASH MISSES OUT

Swimmer Sajan Prakash was involved on the day in the men’s 200m butterfly event. He was in the second of the heats and had to finish with a time good enough to get him into the top 16 in order to qualify to the next round. Prakash finished fourth in his heat and 24th overall and was eliminated from the competition.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY TEAM IMPRESSIVE IN DEFEAT

Hockey was the last sport on the day involving India. The women’s team had a group stage encounter against Germany. India lost 2-0 in what was an enthralling match. Despite the loss, the team looked strong and capable of creating dangerous chances.

THOMAS DELANEY’S EMOTIONAL WIN AND HIS POWERFUL MESSAGE

In what was an incredibly emotional moment, Great Britain athlete Thomas Daley won the gold medal in the men’s synchronized 10m platform event along with his teammate Matty Lee. Daley finally won a gold medal after competing at the Olympics four times. The victory will of course bring great joy to the fans of Great Britain, but it is also highly significant for the LGBTQ+ community. He signed off with a powerful statement after his victory.

“I feel incredibly proud to say that I’m a gay man and also an Olympic champion. I feel very empowered by that,” he said.