Lovlina Borgohain became India's second medalist at the Tokyo Olympics as Sindhu inched one step closer to an Olympic medal.
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Friday proved to be a productive day for India at the Tokyo Olympics. The country might have seen ace archer Deepika Kumari crash out of her competition in the quarterfinals, but also saw boxer Lovlina Borgohain guaranteeing India’s second medal in Tokyo, while PV Sindhu moved one step closer to winning her second Olympic medal. The men’s hockey team also finished their group stage campaign with a good win over hosts Japan, while the country’s sailors did a good job despite not winning a medal. The elimination of Dutee Chand might be seen as a negative along with that of Deepika, but there were more positives on the day for the nation.
Equestrian was the first sport of the day in which India participated. There were two sessions of the dressage event throughout the day. Athlete Fouaad Mirza did a fine job in the first session as he finished in seventh place out of 63. He started the event from the 22nd spot. Mirza finished in the same position in the second session as well. Overall, it was a good performance by the athlete in a sport that India has not had much success.
It was not a particularly good day for the Indian golfers at The Games on Friday. The event was interrupted but until that point, the performances of Anirban Lahiri and Udayan Mane were not spectacular. Mane, who was in the last place after the previous day’s play, rose three places to finish the day in 57th. Lahiri, on the other hand, dropped 12 places to finish in 20th.
Shooter Manu Bhaker seemed primed to qualify to the final of the women’s 25m shooting event after she finished in 5th place following the precision round on Thursday. However, she could not keep her momentum in the rapid-fire round. Bhaker dropped to 15th with 292 points in precision and 290 in rapid. Rahi Sarnobat also failed to qualify as she finished in 32nd with 287 from precision and 286 from rapid.
India’s ace archer Deepika Kumari was in action in the women’s individual event next. She dispatched Ksenia Perova in the pre-quarterfinal but crashed out in the quarters to South Korean archer San An. Deepika was beaten quite comprehensively but she can be proud of her overall brilliant performance at The Games this year.
Avinash Sable might not have won a medal, but his excellent performance in the men’s 3000m steeplechase is something that he and the fans can be proud of. Sable set a national record with a time of 8:18.12 at the event and finished in an impressive seventh place in the heat. Sprinter Dutee Chand also could not qualify from the heats in the women’s 100m event. She finished in seventh place in her race with a time of 11.54. MP Jabir was also one of the athletes in India’s track team to be in action. Unfortunately, he was eliminated in the men’s 400m hurdles heat. He finished in seventh place with a time of 50.77. It was not a good day for India in the mixed 4x400m relay either as the team finished in eighth place in the heat.
The India women’s hockey team finally got a win under their belt at the Olympics this year. They beat Ireland 1-0, with the sole goal of the match being scored by Navneet Kaur. The men’s team also had a very good performance as they made short work of the hosts, Japan. India won the match 5-3, thanks to goals from Gurjant Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh, and Harmanpreet Singh. They finished in second place in their group.
Indian boxer Simranjit Kaur bowed out of the Olympics after she was beaten 5-0 in the round of 16 of the women’s lightweight category. Kaur was beaten by Thai boxer Sudaporn Seesondee. On the other hand, it was sheer joy for Lovlina Borgohain who managed to win her quarter-final bout against Nien-Chin Chen of the Chinese Taipei. Borgohain moved on to the semi-finals of the women’s welterweight event and is now guaranteed to win a medal for the country.
The Indian sailors might not have bagged a medal, but their performance was good nonetheless. KC Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar participated in the 49ers men’s races 7, 8, and 9. In the first one, the duo finished in 17th place. The duo did a great job in the next race as they moved up six places to finish in 11th. In the final race, Ganapathy and Thakkar finished in 15th. Nethra Kumanan was also in action in the women’s laser radial races 9 and 10. She finished in 37th place in the first race and 36th in the second. Vishnu Saravana was in action in the men’s laser races 9 and 10. He displayed an incredible performance to finish in third place in the first race but slipped up in the second one as he finished in 15th.
Shuttler PV Sindhu roared into the semi-final of the women’s individual event as she beat Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in the quarter-final match. Sindhu is now India’s best bet for a gold medal, and given her recent performances, she can very well go all the way.
