Though India finished fourth in Moscow 1980, the knockout format didn’t exist back then with the top-3 in the league phase winning medals.
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The Indian campaign in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics witnessed history on Saturday, after the national women’s hockey team qualified for a maiden quarter-finals berth in the history of the Olympics. Kamalpreet Kaur has directly qualified for the Women’s Discus Throw final, after three successful throws to her name. However, the day’s action witnessed its fair share of disappointments with PV Sindhu and boxer Pooja Rani suffering vital defeats, that will halt their surge once and for all.
Anirban Lahiri finished at T28, while Udayan Mane secured a tied 55th in Round 3 of the Golf-Men’s Individual Stroke Play. Seema Punia failed to reach the finals of the Women’s Discus Throw. Atanu Das was the last remaining medal contender for India in Archery in Tokyo Olympics 2020. After the exit of Deepika Kumari on Friday to An San and with Pravin Jadhav losing to Brady Ellison, Atanu was the last hope. He put up a fantastic fight in the game against Japan’s Takahuru Furukawa in the 1/8th elimination round in the Yumenoshima Final Field venue on Saturday. But, Atanu lost 4-6. With his loss, India’s journey in the Archery competition in Tokyo Olympics 2020 has come to a close.
In such a scenario, Kamalpreet Kaur made her presence felt directly qualifying for the Women’s Discus Throw final. Kaur came in heavily strapped on her throwing arm and threw the discus at 60.29 meters, breaching the 60-meter mark. From that moment onwards, she only got better. Her second attempt came in at 63.97 meters, and her coach in the stands looked satisfied. With a reassuring nod from the official, her coach became more satisfied and knew the final attempt by Kaur would be a miraculous one. Needless to say, it wasn’t anything short of near perfection. Kamalpreet Kaur finished second behind USA’s Valarie Allman who threw the discus a whopping 66.42 meters far.
Amit Panghal, one of India’s biggest medal hopes at the Tokyo Olympics, was shockingly knocked out of the tournament in his Round of 16 bout. Panghal took on Colombia’s Yuberjen Martinez, who won silver at Rio 2016. The match was expected to be tough but Panghal was also seen as the favourite coming in. However, the Indian failed to make his presence felt, presenting a weak response to a number of well-aimed jabs from his opponent. Anjum Moudgil and Tejaswini Sawant did not qualify for the finals of Women’s 50m Rifle 3 position. Sailors KC Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar finished at 17th Spot after the penultimate round, though the experience will hold them in good stead for the future.
The Indian women’s hockey team has qualified for the quarter-finals in an edition of the Olympics for the first time ever. The Asian nation needed a win for Great Britain against Ireland, having kept their hopes of reaching the knockouts alive with a 4-3 triumph against South Africa at the Oi Hockey Stadium on Saturday. However, Great Britain’s triumph against Ireland saw them go through to the quarter-finals with a fourth-place finish in Pool A. Pooja Rani (75kg) went down 0-5 in her quarterfinal bout against China’s Li Qian. Long jumper Murali Sreeshankar failed to qualify for the final, finishing 13th in his group and 25th in the overall standings.
