Indian javelin thrower Annu Rani fails to qualify after finishing 14th at the Tokyo Olympics
Annu Rani’s Olympic campaign came to an end when she finished 14th in the Women’s Javelin Throw Group A with a highest throw of 54.04m on her third attempt. Her previous two throws reached a distance of 50.35m and 53.19m in a disappointing end to her Olympic dream.
Indian men overpowered by the Belgians in Hockey Semifinals
Indian men’s Hockey team lost to Belgium 5-2 in the first Semifinals match of the Tokyo Olympics. The Belgians started scoring early as in the first quarter Loïck Fanny Luypaert scored in the 2nd minute from a penalty corner shot, the Indians came back strongly as Harmanpreet Singh in the 7th minute netted a goal from a penalty corner shot. Mandeep Singh scored in the 9th minute and secured a lead for India, the tournament’s leading goalscorer Alexander Hendrickx leveled it in the second quarter by scoring in the 19th minute from a penalty corner shot.
The third quarter saw no goals as the score was 2-2, the fourth quarter saw Alexander Hendrickx continuing his fine run of the tournament by scoring his second goal of the match in the 49th minute from a penalty corner shot. He did further damage four minutes later as he got a hatrick by scoring a penalty stroke shot in the 53rd minute as the score read 4-2 and India’s chances of winning the match was getting slimmer. The final goal was scored in the final minute by John Dohmen as Belgium progressed towards the final which will be played on 5th August. The Indian men have a chance of securing a medal as they will be battling for the Bronze also on 5th August. The last time Indian men won a hockey medal was in the 1980 Moscow Olympics when they secured the Gold, they will look to grab the golden opportunity to end the medal drought.
Indian wrestler Sonam Malik loses 2-2 to Mongolia’s Bolortuya Khurelkhuu
Sonam Malik's 62kg freestyle pre-quarter final defeat started the country's wrestling campaign. Sonam's match versus Mongolia's Bolortuya Khurelkhuu did not end well. After the match ended 2-2, the Indian woman wrestler lost her 62kg freestyle pre-quarterfinal under a VPO (cautions, 1-3) regulation.
The 19 year old Indian wrestler led for the majority of the match, but the Mongolian earned a double point, allowing her to tie the match at 2-2. The score remained 2-2 till the end but since it was the Mongolian who scored the last point with her move, she was declared winner on criteria.
Fouaad Mirza finishes 23rd in individual eventing Jumping Final at the Tokyo Olympics
Fouaad Mirza, India’s 29 year old equestrian from Bangalore made history on Monday (2nd August) by becoming the first Indian to reach the final of the event in the Olympic Games. Earlier in the day, the duo of Fouaad Mirza and his equine Seigneur Medicott managed to finish in the top 25 to progress into the Jumping Final in which he incurred 12.40 penalty points for an overall score of 59.60, which included points from the qualifying events of dressage, cross country and jumping.
Tajinderpal Singh Toor crashes out of Men’s shot put qualification after finishing 13th
The Men’s Shot Put qualifications saw 16 competitors in Group A competing for a place in the final of the Tokyo Olympics. Tajinderpal Singh Toor finished 13th with a throw of 19.99m which he achieved in his first attempt as he fouled his 2nd and 3rd attempt. Tom Walsh from New Zealand finished first with a throw of 21.49m, Darlan Romani from Brazil finished second with a throw of 21.31m in his second attempt and Mostafa Amr Hassan from Egypt finished third with a throw of 21.23m in his third attempt. All three have confirmed their place in the final as their throws are above 21.20m and the rest of them will have to wait for Group B to finish.
