Wrestler Ravi Kumar Dahiya staged a dramatic comeback against Kazakhstan's Nurislam Sanayev to make his way to the men's freestyle 57kg wrestling final.
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Wrestler Ravi Kumar Dahiya on Wednesday staged a dramatic comeback against Kazakhstan’s Nurislam Sanayev to make his way to the men’s freestyle 57kg wrestling final. Dahiya becomes only the second Indian wrestler to enter the finals in an edition of the Olympics. “It feels like Diwali today. He has made Haryana, our village Nahri & the nation proud. Ravi’s win is India’s win. It’s indeed a big deal to come so far. History will be scripted tomorrow, he will clinch a gold medal for us,” said his father Rakesh in an interaction with ANI. Dahiya was down 2-9 at one point but did not give up, pulling off a stunning comeback to assure India of another silver in a worst-case scenario.
Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian to top qualification in any athletics event at the Olympics, after qualifying for the javelin final with his very first throw in qualification. Neeraj’s throw of 86.65m places him ahead of Johannes Vetter who was considered the gold medal favourite going in. Ace Golfer Aditi Ashok finished Day 1 on a tremendous note by being tied at 2nd spot. However, Javelin thrower Shivpal Singh failed to qualify for the final. Golfer Diksha Dagar finished 46th after Round 1 of women’s individual stroke play.
Wrestler Anshu Malik will now fight for the bronze medal (repechage) tomorrow, as the opponent who defeated her reached the finals. She went down fighting to double World’s medalist Iryna Kurachkina 8-2 in the first round, and now needs to pull off two wins to win the bronze medal. However, Deepak Punia was defeated in the men’s freestyle 86kg semi-final bout against former World Champion David Taylor by a 0-10 margin. It was almost like Deepak was fighting against an opponent from a higher weight category. The Indian failed to register a single point. However, he is still in contention for a bronze medal with the bout scheduled for tomorrow. The semi-final encounter lasted less than the first period of three minutes.
Boxer Lovlina Borgohain went down fighting against Turkey’s Busenaz Sürmeneli in the women’s welterweight semi-final on Wednesday. Borgohain’s bronze is India’s third medal at the Tokyo Games. She was defeated by a 0-5 margin.
The dream run enjoyed by the Indian women’s hockey team was finally ended by a spirited Argentinian side in the semifinals of the Tokyo Olympics. After going in front in the first quarter, the Indian side were not able to hold on to their lead as they ended up losing the last four match 1-2 at the Oi Hockey Stadium. Gurjit Kaur scored the only goal for India while Maria Noel Barrionuevo netted twice for Argentina in a high-octane semifinal match. India will now play Great Britain for the bronze match. In the other semifinal, the Netherlands had trounced Great Britain 5-1 on Friday to reach the final. Fans will be optimistic of a splendid performance against Great Britain.
