1) Ravi Kumar Dahiya makes it five in Tokyo as India eyes record medal tally
In the Men’s Freestyle 57kg wrestling Final, Ravi Kumar Dahiya won the Silver medal after he lost to Zaur Uguev of the Russian Olympic Committee. Zaur Uguev scored four points in the first period while Ravi scored two points, in the second period Zaur scored three more points as Ravi scored two. The final score read 7-4 as India secured its fifth medal of the Tokyo Olympics. Ravi is the fifth Indian Wrestler to win an Olympic medal.
2) Indian men’s hockey team win first Olympic medal in four decades, defeat Germany 4-5
History was made at the Oi Hockey Stadium as India defeated Germany 4-3 to win a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Germany started off strongly, scoring in the second minute through a field goal to lead 1-0. Germans dictated the game for the most part in the first quarter and India was forced to survive a number of penalty corners. However, Simranjeet found the back of the net in the second quarter with a reverse strike to level the scoring, but the celebrations were short lived as Germany restored their lead shortly after.
India’s defensive mistakes led to a third goal for the Germans, and just when it seemed that the game might be slipping away from India, Hardik Singh scored off a PC to make the score 2-3 and Harmanpreet levelled the scoring in the dying minutes of Q2 to get his team back in the game. From then on, India continued their goal scoring momentum with Rupinder scoring from a penalty corner to extend India’s lead 4-3 in the third quarter and Simranjeet scored his second of the match in a dramatic comeback that saw India trailing from 1-3 to turn the tables around with a score of 5-3.
It was a nervy final 15 minutes of the fourth quarter for India, as Germany managed to pull one back from a penalty corner for the deficit to be reduced by one, but India held their nerves to win a historic men’s hockey bronze medal, their first in 41 years.
3) Indian golfer Aditi Ashok tied 2nd in Women’s Individual round 2 at the Tokyo Olympics
It was a fantastic round 2 for Aditi Ashok as the Indian golfer finished 2nd, tied with two Danes Nanna Madsen and Emily Pedersen. The reigning Women's PGA Champion Nelly Korda from the United States finished in first place with 13 under par at the end of Round 2.
Despite the extreme heat and the threat of a summer storm, it is still expected to be a four day event. However, contingency plans have come into effect with Round 3 beginning on split tees and holes 1 to 10 will be played at 7:30 am (Japan time) due to extreme heat. Tokyo Olympics officials are hoping to begin Round 4 earlier than usual to avoid the impending tropical storm disrupting the golf proceedings. The event also faces the possibility of being reduced to 54 holes with the final round being cancelled.
4) Deepak Punia loses fight for Bronze in the final 10 seconds
In a tragic conclusion for India, Deepak Punia led his Bronze medal match until the final ten seconds before succumbing to a 4-2 defeat. After Myles Amine scored two points with less than 5 seconds remaining, India decided to challenge. However, the jury ruled against Deepak Punia, and the points, as well as the final result, stood. Deepak's victory was bittersweet, as he had led the competition from the outset until his opponent's final move.
With less than 1 minute left, Deepak Punia was leading 2-1 against Myles Amine of San Marino in the men's freestyle 86kg bronze medal match but the odds were not in the former’s favour as he conceded 2 points towards the end of his fight for a medal.
5) Vinesh Phogat starts off in thumping fashion in Women’s Wrestling; but loses to wrestler Vanesa Kaladzinskaya in the quarter-finals at the Tokyo Olympics
In Women’s Freestyle 53 kg Wrestling Vinesh Phogat began her run for the title by defeating Sofia Mattsson 7-1 in the Tokyo Olympics today. Sofia Mattsson had won Bronze in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. With this victory, Vinesh Phogat has advanced to the Quarterfinals.
Injury ended her aspirations in the quarter-finals in Rio, and five years later, Vinesh Phogat, the no. 1 seed in the women's 57 kg, lost in the quarter-finals once more. Venesa Kaladzinskaya, a Belarusian wrestler, got out to a fast start and never let Vinesh recover, who is no longer in contention for a gold medal, but still has a chance in the repechage rounds.
Vanesa gained victory by fall. No. 1 seed Venesa Kaladzinskaya upset VInesh Phogat by pinning Phogat with 35 seconds left on the clock causing the latter to be out of contention for the gold medal.
6) Wrestler Anshu Malik’s Olympic campaign comes to an end after losing repechage round
In Women's Freestyle 57kg Anshu Malik lost her repechage round 5-1 to Valeria Koblova from Russian Olympic Committee in the Tokyo Olympics. After losing her first match yesterday, there was hope in the repechage round but the 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalist proved too good for the youngster.
It was a tough draw for the young Indian and did her best to overpower her opponents. This is Anshu Malik’s first Olympics and the 20 year old has a lot to look forward to, this experience would surely come in handy for her next tournament.
7) Tokyo heat takes its toll on 20km Men’s walk as Indians struggle to make a mark
Men's 20km Race Walk saw three Indians participating in the Tokyo Olympics which featured one debutant. K.T Irfan finished a disappointing 51st with a timing of 1:34:41, he had previously finished 10th in the London 2012 Olympics. Debutant Rahul Rohilla finished 47th with a timing of 1:32:06 and Sandeep Kumar who broke the national record this year gave some hopes as he finished 23rd with a timing of 1:25:07, he had competed in 50km Walk in the 2016 Rio Olympics. He was placed second till the 8km mark and soon started slipping away after that.
The Men’s Race Walking has one more Indian left in the competition as Gurpreet Singh will be competing tomorrow in the 50km Race Walk.
