Tokyo Olympics 2020 Day 1 Highlights: Mirabai Chanu wins silver, opens India’s medal account

At first, Mirabai Chanu thought it was a dream. “I forgot where I was standing,” she laughs.

The piercing voice of the emcee jolted her back into reality. “I thought, ‘oh, that’s an Olympic podium!’” The 10 seconds that followed – when she flashed a big, wide smile, waved to an empty auditorium and stepped on the podium – are a blur for Chanu. “The next thing I saw was a silver medal hanging around my neck.”

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Finn Florijn, a 21-year-old vaccinated Dutch rower, tested Covid positive after his single sculls race. " I was hopeful to improve in the rematch. Now it's over in an instant."

India struggled against World Champions Netherlands in the last two quarters and ended up conceding a string of goals. Only Rani Rampal managed to score for India. Also, India failed to earn a penalty corner in the game compared to several by Netherlands. After losing the match by 1-5, India will take on Germany on July 26 to keep their Olympics hopes alive. 

Final score: IND 1-5 NED

India gifted Netherlands a penalty corner and paid the price for it. The Indian defender failed to clear the ball properly after Savita denied a goal. Netherlands are completely dominating India with a four-goal lead. With more than 7 minutes to go, India are unlikely to make a comeback. IND 1-5 NED

There was a chance for India to narrow down the lead but the shot was not on target. India are not even taking the free hit properly which led to losing possession. So far, India have not earned a penalty corner. IND 1-4 NED 

India are desperately looking for goals after conceding three in the third quarter. Two minutes into the last quarter but Netherlands players were not troubled. 

Matla scores again as the ball goes between Savita Punia's pads. All of a sudden, the defenders have lost their intensity and Netherlands are making full use of it. Very difficult for India to make a comeback from here. IND 1-4 NED

The attack came from the right flank and Netherlands stretch their lead over India. Felice Abers scores her second goal in a similar way she scored her first. IND 1-3 NED

India waste their only referral. Vandana was not sure but the referee had to signal for the TV umpire to check body contact since the appeal was made. Meanwhile, India are still looking for equaliser with few minutes to go in third quarter. 

The country which self-declared itself as independent state after war against Serb-dominated Yugoslav forces in 2008 but not officially deemed independent by India, Russia, China won its second ever gold when Distria Krasniqi clinched the women's 48kg judo.

A couple of spirited counter-attacks from India but they could not convert them into goals. India are yet to earn a penalty corner in this contest. They need one here to equalise. IND 1-2 NED

Finally, Netherlands manage to convert penalty corner into a goal in the 33rd minute. It was good referral from Netherlands and they have taken a lead now. Van Geffen helps deflect the shot and it beats Savita Punia. IND 1-2 NED

Netherlands earn their penalty corner after challenging the referee's decision. 

Second half/third quarter is now underway. So far, it has been a brilliant effort from India so far. In the 32nd minute, Savita Punia denies Netherlands two goals. IND 1-1 NED

India were mostly on the attack in the second quarter after conceding a penalty corner. However, there was no shot on target. No goals were scored in the second quarter. IND 1-1 NED

Sloppy defending from India resulted in another penalty corner for Netherlands. Savita Punia does well to fend off the first flick and then slides to his right to save another. India launch a counter-attack but it was stopped in its tracks. The referee pulls out for a harsh challenge by Laura Nunnik. IND 1-1 NED 

The second quarter underway and India throw away possession twice in the first two minutes. India are under pressure. It seems like Savita's goalkeeping skills will be tested even more in this passage of play. IND 1-1 NED

Rani Rampal has helped India equalise after an early error to concede a goal. So far, Netherlands have had more possession. IND 1-1 NED

A harsh challenge by Kaur leads to a penalty corner. The goalkeeper does well to fend off two shots on target. Indian defenders manage to push back and avert the danger. IND 1-1 NED

The pressure pays off. Rani Rampal hits that one into the top right corner and the goalkeeper had no chance. A super field goal from Rampal and the scores are level in the 10th minute. This may turn out to be a high-scoring encounter. IND 1-1 NED

And the Netherlands take the lead in the sixth minute. Felice Arbers nets that one in on the rebound. Problems for India early on. 

India Women vs Netherlands Women game's first quarter begins and the Dutch are dominating possession straight away. 

Lineups-

India XI - Savita Punia, Deep Grace Ekka, Gurjit Kaur, Udita, Neha Goyal, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, Monika Malik, Salima Tete, Rani Rampal, Navneet Kaur, Vandana Katariya.

Netherlands XI - Josine Koning, Caia van Maasakker, Pien Sanders, Lauren Stam, Laurien Leurink, Marloes Keetels, Laura Nunnink, Eva de Goede, Maria Verschoor, Lidewij Welten, Frédérique Matla.

With that Vikas Krishan bout, today's action in individual events comes to an end. Mirabai Chanu is the pick of the bunch with the sliver in women's 49kg weightlifting with a lift of 202kg. In shooting, only Saurabh Chaudhary qualified for the finals but he finished 7th in 10m air pistol. In table tennis, women's singles, both Manika Batra and Sutirtha Mukherjee registered wins. The badminton men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty pulled off an upset and in tennis, Sumit Nagal registered a first singles win for India in 25 years. In hockey, the men's team won... and now it's time for the women's to take on Netherlands next!

After a chaotic third round with Krishan charging ahead and Okazawa keeping his distance, the latter comes out victorious. Okazawa is named as the unanimous winner by the judges as he wins 5:0 and progresses to the R16 in welterweight category.

Krishan is still on the backfoot, defending himself from Okazawa's flurry of punches. He suffers a cut near his left-eye too... and the ref stops the fight to receive some treatment. Okazawa takes the second round too... Krishan needs a KO to win.

All five judges indicate that Okazawa has taken the first with five ten pointers. Krishan, who is fighting on the blue corner, gets five nine-pointers. He was pushed back to the ropes by the Japanese too. The Indian has some way to go now...

Vikas Krishan is back for his third Games and he will be aiming to repeat his 2012 finish of reaching R16. Round 1 begins...

The boxing competition is a single-elimination tournament. A match lasts three rounds, each of three minutes. Five judges award individual points for successful hits. A match can be won on points or if the referee ends it on the basis of difference between the fighters. A bout can also end if a competitor receives three warnings or if a boxer is unable to resume a fight within ten seconds.

In about 20 minutes, welterweight boxer Vikas Krishan will be in action against Serorets Okazawa of Japan in a R32 bout.

“Its really a dream come true for me. I would like to dedicate this medal to my country and would like to thank the billion prayers of all Indians which were with me during this journey,” said Mirabai Chanu in a statement on her Twitter account.

In what was a sensational third deciding set, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty switched triple gears against Taiwanese Yang Lee and Chee-lin Wang to win 21-16, 16-21, 27-25 at the Musashino Forest Plaza. | READ MORE |

Sixty-year-old Saikhom Tombi Devi still remembers the days when her youngest daughter Mirabai Chanu would collect firewood and carry it on her head to their contracted half-acre paddy field in village Nongthong Kakching near Imphal. | READ MORE |

What a win! Right from the start, she leads Bergstrom. From 5-1, Sutirtha races to 9-2 and wins the seventh game 11-5. She advances to the second round after beating the higher-ranked Swede 5-11, 11-9, 10-12, 9-11, 11-3, 11-9, 11-5!

From being dow 1-4 early on, Sutirtha bites back and takes six straight points. From 7-4, she takes it home and wins it 11-9!

Sutirtha finds back her groove and completely dominates Bergstrom throughout. She wins the fifth game 11-3!

Sutirtha is forced to be on the backfoot the entire game but she fights back to 8-9. In the end, she loses the fourth game 9-11.

Sutirtha loses her momentum and goes behind early on. But from 4-7, she makes it 9-9! From deuce, Sutirtha fails to make use of a gamepoint and hands over the advantage later on to her Swedish opponent. Bergstrom wraps it up and goes ahead by 2-1!

-- Far away from Tokyo, in a village Nongthong Kakching in outer Imphal, Mirabai Chanu was watched on by parents Saikhom Tombi Devi and Saikhom Kriti Singh, besides her five siblings and cousins. | READ MORE |

-- Rice, sports club culture, and killer instinct helps Manipur produce world-class lifters like Mirabai Chanu. | READ MORE |

-- Winning a gold at the World Championships in 2017, finishing atop the podium at the Commonwealth Games to missing the Asian Games because of a back injury, Mirabai Chanu has seen the highs and lows. | READ MORE |

Sutirtha starts well in the second game, taking the first two points. She continues to dominate at 8-2 but suffers a lapse in concentration, conceding seven straight points. The Bengal paddler makes it 9-9. And she wins it! 11-9! 1-1 after two games!

Sutirtha doesn't enjoy a good start as Bergstrom races to a 5-0 lead. She makes her way to 4-8, but loses the first game 11-5. 

Next, all eyes will be on Sutirtha Mukherjee, who will take on Linda Bergström in table tennis women's singles first round.

Manika Batra overcame Tin-Tin Ho of Great Britain 11-7, 11-6, 12-10, 11-9. The Indian saved four game points in the third game and sealed the win after taking the lead at 8-8 in the fourth game. Batra will face Ukraine's Margaryta Pesotska in second round.

Manika Batra takes the opening two games against Great Britain's Ho Tin-Tin! She wins the first one 11-7 and then another 11-6!

Shock! Saurabh Chaudhary, who topped in the qualification round, finishes creditable 7th place in men's 10m air pistol men event at Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games with a score of 137.4. Iran's Javad Foroughi takes the gold with an Olympic record score of 244.8.

After 11 shots, Saurabh Chaudhary continues to stay seventh, with a score of 107. And he survives the first elimination round. shoots 10.2 to stay in the hunt. He lives to fight another day. In sixth place now.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty rallied to beat world No. 3 Chinese Taipei duo of Lee Yang-Wang Chi-Lin  21-16, 16-21, 27-25 in their first match of men's doubles group stage.

SILVER FOR CHANU! She lifts 87kg in snatch and then 115kg in the clean and jerk of women's weightlifting in 49kg category! She becomes only the second weightlifter after Karnam Malleswari in 2000 Sydney Olympics to win a medal. Mirabai had failed to lift weight in any of her three attempts in clean & jerk at Rio 2016. China wins gold with Indonesia taking bronze.

Mirabai Chanu makes a good first lift in her first clean and jerk! 110 kg! Medal confirmed for India!

Sumit Nagal becomes first Indian since Leander Paes at 1996 Atlanta Games to win a tennis singles match at the Olympics, beating Asian Games 2018 champion Denis Istomin 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-4 at the Ariake Tennis Centre.

So far, no one has come close to Mirabai Chanu's world record clean & jerk of 119kg. All attempts around the 96-99kg mark so far. Japan's legendary weightlifter Miyake Hiromi's Olympic dream is over as she fails to lift 99kg in one of her three attempts.

In the men's badminton doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have won the first game 21-16 against Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin of Chinese Taipei.

After losing the first two sets, the mixed doubles pair of Deepika Kumari and Pravin Jadhav win the third set against An San and Kim Je Deok. But Korea bite back to win the quarter-final 6-2 in the mixed team archery event. 

The 2018 Tour de France champion hit the deck in Tokyo, along with fellow Team GB rider Tao Geoghegan Hart. Five years ago, Thomas was set for gold before crashing with 10km remaining in the road race. He also suffered a crash at the Giro d'Italia last year and the Tour earlier this month.

Former world number one in doubles tennis, Australia's Sam Stosur, who became a mother last year with her partner Liz Astling, has lost to Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina 6-4, 6-2.

Mirabai Chanu fails to lift 89 kg in her third attempt. If Chanu would have lifted this weight, it would have been her personal best. China's Hou Zhihui is the leader with a third attempt lift of 94kg. Following her is Chanu, who stands second with a lift of 87kg. USA's Jourdan Delacruz is third with a lift of 86kg in her second attempt.

B Sai Praneeth has lost his opening men's singles Group D match, going down to Israel's Misha Zilberman 17-21, 15-21.

Mirabai Chanu makes it two in two! On to her second attempt at 87kgs, and she clears successfully. She made a clean snatch in her first attempt of 84 kgs. Absolutely brilliant control by the Indian!

After failing to serve out the match at 6-4, 5-3, Sumit Nagal loses second set to Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin in a tie-break. It's one-set all.