Mary Kom thought she had won – when she raised her arms in the ring, hugged her opponent, bowed, fist-pumped her coach, spoke to the media. The Indian was convinced she was the winner.
“When they took me for a dope test, Chhote (Lal, Mary’s coach) was telling me, ‘We have lost 3-2 but to me, you are a winner, don’t worry’,” Mary said, almost three hours after her bout against Colombia’s Ingrit Valencia. “I asked him, ‘what do you mean by that? I have won, no?’ It was at that point I realised I had lost. Then, I got notification of a tweet by (union minister) Kiren Rijiju sir, and I thought, ‘oh my God, what happened?’”
What seems to have happened is a series of misunderstandings in what eventually turned out to be Mary’s last Olympic bout. Mary was up against Rio bronze medallist Valencia in her Round-of-16 bout at the Kokugikan Arena. It was a close, at times cagey, affair with neither boxer really going all out. Out of the three rounds, Mary won two. Yet, when the scores of the individual referees were tallied, Valencia had more points and after a dramatic pause, the red corner – Valencia – was declared the winner. (Read Full Story)
PV Sindhu’s titanic contest with Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu-Ying is set to headline the list of Indians in action in the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday. On the other hand, a lot of eyes will also be on the boxing ring — for two reasons. One is Amit Panghal, who is considered to be the leading medal hope among the boxing contingent. The other is Pooja Rani, who could assure India of a third medal if she wins her quarterfinal match. Lovlina Borgohain already assured India of a second medal by winning her QF on Friday.
The athletics contingent, which began its campaign on Friday, will be fielding, among others, long-jumper M Sreeshankar and Kamalpreet Kaur, who would be looking to qualify for the final.
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Archer Atanu Das is the only Indian left in the fray, and he will play his R16 match in the first action of the day. Shooters Anjum Moudgil and Tejaswini Sawant will also be in action. As will the Indian women’s hockey team, who will be hoping they can qualify for the knockouts with a big win.
Tokyo Olympics, Day 8 India full schedule, timings:
Archery: Atanu Das vs Takaharu Furukawa (Japan) in Men’s Individual Pre-Quarterfinals Match: 7:18am IST
Athletics: Seem Punia in Women’s Discus Throw Qualification – Group A: 6:00am IST | Kamalpreet Kaur in Women’s Discus Throw Qualification- Group B: 7:25am IST | Sreeshankar in Men’s Long Jump Qualification – Group B: 3:40pm IST.
Badminton: PV Sindhu vs Tai Tzu-Ying (Chinese Taipei) in Women’s Singles Semifinal Match: 3:20pm IST
Boxing: Amit Pangal vs Yurberjen Herney Martinez Rivas (Colombia) in Men’s 52kg Round of 16 bout: 7:30am IST | Pooja Rani vs Li Qian (China) in Women’s 75kg quarterfinal bout. 3:36pm IST
Golf: Anirban Lahiri and Udayan Mane in Men’s Individual Stroke Play Round 2, which was suspended on Friday: 04:15am IST.
Hockey: India vs South Africa in Women’s Pool A Match: 8:45am IST.
Sailing: KC Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar in Men’s Skiff 49er Race 10, 11 and 12: 8:35am IST.
The Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev reacted angrily when a Chilean journalist asked him if Russian competitors were bearing the “stigma of cheaters” in Tokyo.
Medvedev replied that the journalist “should be ashamed of himself.”
The hosts Japan now have one more gold than what they collected in that emotional 1964 Games at home and in 2004 Athens. They won the gold in men's epee fencing competition to push the gold counter to 17. Without any home spectators to cheer for them, with pre-tournament protests against pandemics Olympics, it's not been easy. Nine golds have come from the Judokas.
Following are the results of Indian athletes participating in the Tokyo Olympics on Day 7 on Friday.
Achery
Deepika Kumari beat Ksenia Perova (Russian Olympic Committee) 6-5 (10-7) in a shoot-off in the pre-quarterfinals of the women's individual event; lost to An San of South Korea 0-6 in the quarterfinals.
Athletics
Avinash Sable 13th overall after finishing seventh in his men's 3000m Steeplechase heat, failed to qualify for final.
Dutee Chand 45th overall after finishing seventh in her women's 100m heat, failed to qualify for final.
MP Jabir 33rd overall after finishing seventh in his men's 400m Hurdles heat, failed to qualify for final.
Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Ravathi Veeramani, Subha Venkatesan and Rajiv Arokia were placed 13th overall after finishing last in their mixed 4x400m Relay Race heat, failed to advance to the finals.
Badminton
PV Sindhu beat Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) 21-13 22-20 in the women's singles quarterfinals, progresses to the semifinals.
Boxing
Lovlina Borgohain beat Nien-Chin Chen (Chinese Taipei) 4-1 in women's 69kg quarterfinal bout, progresses to the semifinals.
Simranjit Kaur lost to Sudaporn Seesondee (Thailand) 0-5 in the women's 60kg pre-quarterfinal bout.
Equestrian
Fouaad Mirza placed 7th after day 1 of Individual eventing dressage.
Golf
Anirban Lahiri tied 20th and Udayan Mane tied 57th after the second round of the men's individual stroke play, which was suspended due to persistent thunderstorms.
Hockey
India beat Ireland 1-0 in the women's Pool A match.
India beat Japan 5-3 in their final men's Pool A match, progress to the quarterfinals.
Sailing
Vishnu Saravanan 3rd and 15th in Race 9 and 10 in men's laser; 20th overall.
KC Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar 17th, 11th and 16th in Races 7, 8 and 9 in men's skiff 49er; 17th overall.
Nethra Kumanan 37th and 38th in Race 9 and 10; overall 35th.
Shooting
Manu Bhaker and Rahi Sarnobat finish 15th and 32nd in women's 25m pistol qualification after the rapid round, fail to advance to the final.
Four-time Olympic champions United States of America survived an almighty scare, before prevailing over the Netherlands in the tie-breaker (4-2) after the game was dead-locked at 2-2 at extra time.
The normal time was thrill-a-minute stuff, with both the Dutch and the Americans taking turns to enjoy the lead. The Netherlands netted the first goal of the game before the US struck twice to end the first half at 2-1. However, the Netherlands fought back strongly to enjoy a superb second half, wherein they equalised without much fuss and came close to finding the winner several times, but for lacklustre finishing, including a missed penalty in the 81st minute.
The US, though, were the more dominant side in extra time, and even ruffled the nets a once only for the VAR to deem the attempt offside, marginal though it was. Their opponents, too, had a goal adjudged offside. In the shootout, both teams were locked at 2-2, before Christian Press made it 3-2, and Aniek Nouwen stumbled. The composed Megan Rapinoe, who had come as a 64th-minute substitute, smashed home her country’s fourth effort to propel them to the semifinals. They join Canada, Australia, and Sweden in the semifinals.
India will play Britain in the hockey quarterfinals. 'Should be a tricky but an extremely open game with both teams fancying their chances,' says Mihir Vasavda.
Match on August 1, 6.30pm Tokyo time (3pm IST).
Other QFs:
Australia vs Netherlands,
Germany vs Argentina
Belgium vs Spain
Boxer Sarita Devi pays Mirabai Chanu a visit
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The Captain, Dictator, Dragon, and the Greatest of All Time - just some of the things Ma Long has been called in his career. The creative juices will have to flow again to give him another moniker. One worthy of him becoming the first male player in the sport to defend an Olympic singles title.
In Rio 2016 he beat Zhang Jike, the 2012 champion. Now the 32-year-old beat the current World No 1 Fan Zhendong 4-2 to win his second sngles Olympic gold medal.
He's only the third player after compatriots, in the women's singles field, Deng Yaping (1992 and 1996) and Zhang Yining (2004 and 2008) to have defended their title. And he did this with the likes of Ma Lin (three-time Olympic gold medallist) and Liu Guoliang (two-time gold medal winner) watching from the stands.
As Adam Bobrow repeated during commentary, "delete the word 'arguably.' Ma Long is the Greatest Player of All Time
In table tennis, men's single match for gold medal, second seed Ma Long of China created a minor upset of sorts by ousting top seed and compatriot Fan Zhandong 4-2 (11-4, 10-12, 11-8, 11-9, 3-11, 11-7). This is the second singles gold medal for Ma Long after his triumph in 2016 Rio Games.
It was Ma Long who had knocked out Achanta Sharath Kamal in Round 3.
India's athletics contingent started off today. Dutee Chand had a below-par show, in what would be a disappointment for fans. The mixed relay team recorded a season best timing. The brightest spark of the day came from Avinash Sable, though he too went out in unlucky fashion.
Japan had managed to claw back at 2-2 after India's early lead, but three goals in the second half settled matters India's way today. Now they wait to see who they will face in the Quarterfinals.
Bunched together on the medal's tally, the two sporting superpowers are making Tokyo 2020 a bitter battle. There have been allegations, counter-attacks and good old sarcasm. Russia Today reports that Rio gold-medalist US swimmer Ryan Murphy, after losing to Russian Evgeny Rylov, hinted at the dreaded D world. “I’ve got 15 thoughts, 13 of them would get me into a lot of trouble,” he told reporters.
In a cliffhanger, Australia overcome Great Britain 4-3 and progressed to the women’s football semifinals. A game that began in cagily sprung into life when Australia’s Alanna Kennedy nudged home the opener in the 35th minute. Twelve minutes into the second half, Britain equalised through Ellen White, the first of her three goals. Nine minutes on, she scored her goal to snatch the lead, which seemed adequate for the Brits before Samantha Kerr equalised in the 89th minute to stretch the game to extra time.
More drama ensued. Eleven minutes into extra time, Britain were awarded a penalty, only for Caroline Weir’s feeble shot to be clawed away by Teagan Micah. Adding salt to the wound, Australia reclaimed the lead with a stunning goal by teenager May Fowler, before Kerr added another to effectively seal the match. But then Britain threw the kitchen sink at Australia and even managed to pull one back. White completing her hat-trick. But another equaliser proved elusive, as Australia clung on, sturdily and stoically, reaching the semifinals of an Olympics for the first time in their history.
The other quarterfinal, between Brazil and Canada, was the exact opposite, dull and defensive, with both teams unable to pierce the nets even after extra time. Eventually in the shootout, Canada prevailed 4-3. Canadian goalkeeper Stephanie Labbé had taken a hard fall at the end of extra time, just before penalty kicks, when she jumped to catch a ball and a Brazilian player slid under her, making Labbé land hard on her hip and lower back. She lay on the ground for some time before getting up and resuming the game. However, Labbé held strong, making many dramatic saves to secure Canada’s victory.
India's golfers also began their Tokyo 2020 campaign today.
Anirban Lahiri endured an erratic day at the course and was even-par after 16 holes in the Olympic Games second round which was suspended due to persistent thunderstorms over the east course of the Kasumigaseki Country Club.
India's other player in the field Udayan Mane (69) shot 2-under 69 with the help of three birdies on the back nine after being 1-over for the front nine. He is Tied-57th.
Fouaad Mirza ended a very impressive 7th in Dressage today. He and his horse will return to resume India's Equestrian campaign tomorrow. Fouaad Mirza is India’s third-ever entry in Equestrian at the Olympics, after Indrajit Lamba’s appearance in 1996 and Imtiaz Anees in 2000.
That is it for Indian participation for the day. Stay tuned for updates on more Olympic events and news. We shall also let you know which matches you should look out for tomorrow.
India was the only Asian country in the 4X400 Mixed Relay event, which made its Olympic debut in Tokyo this time. Of course, India's Mixed Relay team finished 8th in their heats, but they had a season-best time of 3:19.93.
Ireland, however, will be clanging their bottles to the joys of a new athletics record.
India's heat begins. Anas is on the first lap. A great lap for him. He overtakes a few teams. A slightly slower 2nd lap for India as the Indian team is seen trailing by a long distance at the beginning of the 3rd lap. Subha is on the 3rd lap. Has a lot of distance to make up. Arokia Rajiv is on the anchor lap! Huge deficit to make up for him.
And it's a last place finish for the Indian team. With a time of 3:19.93. 7th, Brazil, just ahead of them, record 3:15.89. Top three are Poland (3:10.44), Netherlands and Jamaica.
India's mixed relay team are now set to take the field.
Here's how historic our Indian men's hockey team have performed so far though:
Hockey: Gurjant slots in yet another goal, and now India lead Japan 5-2 in the 4th quarter. With a little more than a minute left, Japan get a goal back. And it's 5-3 to India now. And the hooter goes off! That's the end of the group stages. They are going into the quarters on the back of three consecutive victories.
Athletics: Meanwhile, the Indian participation for the day is set to come to an end with a marquee event!
Nilakanta and Shamser have scored in the second half for India to give them a 4-2 lead, as the Indian men's hockey team's last group match gets into the last quarter. Japan get a PC, but Sreejesh puts himself on the line to save and keep the lead intact.
Meanwhile, Shivani Naik writes that "PV Sindhu had answers to every single poser thrown at her by Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi, even a 54-shot rally that went the other way," even though that rally was finally won by Yamaguchi.
Beats the generation's most graceful player, Thai Ratchanok Intanon, 14-21, 21-18, 21-18.
Ratchanok was a World Champion at age 17 in 2013. Her Olympics ends in tears, beaten by the one player who dared to match in deceptive sorcery. There was balletic beauty even in that breakdown.
For Sindhu, Tai has played a set more and will be just a touch more tired. The semifinals thence, start with the all-important overnight 'Recovery'.
Tokyo Olympics semis:
Chen Yufei vs He Bingjiao
PV Sindhu vs Tai Tzu Ying
Equestrian: Seventh! Woah! It's the first time an Indian is at the Olympics in equestrian, remember. Could Fouaad be to Tokyo what Dipa Karmakar was to Rio?
Hockey: India, still leading 3-2 in the third quarter, causing problems for Japan.
Badminton: Tai Tzu Ying has won the Quarterfinal. It's the World Number 2 who will be up against Sindhu in the semifinal tomorrow. Tai Tzu has beaten Intanon in 3 games.
One minute into the second half, Japan score an equaliser. Almost immediately, India strike back. It's 3-2 to India in the 3rd quarter now. They are already through to the quarters, set to finish 2nd in their group, behind Australia. Their QF opponents will be known after matches in the other group.
Meanwhile, Fouaad Mirza continues performing creditably in the Equestrian arena.
Tai Tzu does the ying thing. She's back in the game. Takes the second 21-18 after it was Intanon who took the first game 21-14. It's One set-all. The winner of this QF will face Sindhu. And what's more, this SF will probably be Sindhu's biggest match at Tokyo 2020 in terms of opponents' caliber.
Hockey: Japan have clawed a goal back. India now lead 2-1 in the second quarter. A long injury break is currently underway in the match, with the Japanese goalkeeper having been injured.
Sailing: Nethra Kumanan, who was the first Indian sailor to qualify for these Games, has her campaign come to an end too.
In tennis, men's singles semifinals top seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia was shocked by fourth seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany 6-1, 3-6, 1-6.
The Serbian superstar was aiming to become the first man to win all four grand slams and an Olympic gold medal in a season. He has already won the Australian Open, Roland Garros, and Wimbledon titles this year. Tennis legend Steffi Graf of Germany completed this achievement in 1988 by winning gold in Seoul Games.
Fouaad Mirza, riding Medicott, completes his Dressage with a score of 28.00 and currently stands 6th in the rankings. The Indian won an average of 72% from the three judges and will qualify for second round.
Meanwhile, India score a second goal in their hockey match against Japan. Gurjant Singh with the goal, Simranjeet with the assist. 2-0 up for the Men in Blue.
India score in the hockey match against Japan. They earned their first Penalty Corner of the game. Harmanpreet converts the PC and scores the opener for India. And the first quarter comes to an end with the home team trailing by 1 goal. India are already through to the knockouts, and this match is only going to determine their QF opponent.
Sindhu speaks to reporters after the game: "Today's second game was very crucial. Even though she was leading, I never lost hope, I was not that nervous...We have trained so hard for this. And my coach was telling me 'It's okay, it's not over yet, you can do it'. And yeah, I have done it."
"There were some really long rallies, and she came back. I always knew she would be coming back even though I was leading...There were a few erros from my side when I was hitting smashes, but apart from that, I'm happy to have finished the game in 2 games," she says.
Sindhu will face either Tai Tzu Ying or Ratchanok Intanon in the semifinals tomorrow. She is yet to drop a single game at Tokyo 2020. Her matches have been getting tougher everyday though, and tomorrow is set to be the toughest test of all. Will have to see who wins the Tai vs Intanon QF to know who she will face. In today's match, that rally which left both players on the floor gasping for breath has to be the most memorable point, a point to be replayed over and over for years.
The Indian men's hockey team is now set to take on Japan in their and inconsequential (in terms of qualifying for the knockouts) Pool match.
But what a match we just saw between Sindhu and Yamaguchi. That second game in particular. Breathless!
She was 6 points down in this game at 8-14 down. But what a fightback from Yamaguchi! She's brought up 2 game points now. Sindhu smashes! It's a sizzling smash. Yamaguchi left rooted. One game point saved. Another smash! Rocket! We are at deuce! What a game! Sindhu has saved 2 game points. She will be wanting to close this one out now!
Sindhu smashes! Yamaguchi tries to push her wide. Sindhu brings it back to the centre. And smashes again! Game point for Sindhu! Match point for Sindhu! The first match point. And she wins!
Yamaguchi lies flat on her back as she makes another defensive dive! What defence she has shown in this match. Challenges a Sindhu point while lying on her back. And wins the challenge. A 2 point lead to her. The first time in the game the Japanese has been in the lead in this game.
Game point for Yamaguchi at 20-18!
It's Yamaguchi who is now unstoppable. We are level in the second game. Now, Yamaguchi takes the lead! Sindhu suddenly on the back foot. We get level again as Yamaguchi hits the shuttle into the net. A change of tactics from Yamaguchi, who is looking to play the long rallies to tire Sindhu out, who was dominating otherwise. We are at 16-16!
Yamaguchi makes another full length dive! Sindhu has an open court to aim at. But hits it long. The Japanese takes the lead again!
It's now or never for Yamaguchi, who is responding to the challenge. Some more powerful smashes which Sindhu cannot do anything about. Sindhu commands another rally, but then smashes the final winner into the net. The gap down to 2 points! Is this the window of opportunity for Yamaguchi?
An insane rally! INSANE! Both players are on the floor! Extraordinary! Went on for a whole minute. It felt like an hour! Both players need a drink of water after that.
Six of the last 7 points have been won by Yamaguchi!
Sindhu pulls away more and more. Yamaguchi now stands with shoulders drooping, hands on knees. Sindhu keeps roaring! The errors keep coming from the home favourite and Sindhu clinically keeps playing the entire length and breadth of the court. The Japanese looks to fight back now. A tremendous smash to close the gap to 3 points.
She pocketed Game 1 in 23 minutes. And she looks to continue on her glorious run in this Game too. Yamaguchi now makes a few errors, three consecutive rallies end with her hitting it long. A 10-5 lead to Sindhu now! She's close...she can feel the safety of the last 4...a big 5-point advantage as we go into the mid-game break.
The secong game now. Yamaguchi floats a shot over Sindhu's head which still stays in. 2-2 in the initial stages. And like in the 1st game, Sindhu seems to be controlling most of the rallies in this game too. The shuttle is called out. Yamaguchi challenges. Then they both realize it's Sindhu's turn to challenge, who does oblige. The Review shows it was in. Point to the Indian. Who takes a 5-3 lead.
Again, Sindhu pushes Yamaguchi back and then finishes the point with a clinical smash. Then Yamaguchi hits one long. That's it. A tame finish to what was a relatively well contested first game. But it's Sindhu who still continues her rampaging run!
Yamaguchi being forced to throw herself around the court as Sindhu looks to use the entire side of her court. A full length dive from the Japanese! And she gets back up again for the next shot. What a fighter! But it's Sindhu who's dominating. She is using her bigger size and the entire length and breadth of the court to stretch Yamaguchi. Who is refusing to give up! A cross-court overhead smash which floors Sindhu now!
Yamaguchi is fighting back!
Sindhu continues dominating the first game. Yamaguchi now looks to keep her shots low, keeping their landing courts in the front part of Sindhu's court. It's again a very equal contest after the break, with both player having taken 3 points each. Oh Yamaguchi catches the net, and Sindhu draws away more.
Meanwhile, a very creditable finish by sailor Vishnu Saravanan.
And it's Sindhu now who takes the lead for the first time! Yamaguchi hits one into the net, Sindhu lets out a roar, she's up 8-6 now. And oh... she leaves one and this time it lands in. An error in judgement there. 8-7 to Sindhu. And now, she attacks. Dominates the rallies! Starts building up a lead from Yamaguchi. 11-7 at the break!
Yamaguchi takes a 2-point lead to go up 5-3. Then, there's a clever drop shot from Sindhu which disbalances Yamaguchi. Grimaces as she gets back on her feet. Both players now covering a lot more of their sides of the court. Sindhu leaves as Yamaguchi goes long. Well left. And we are back at 6-6
Aaaand...after a very long wait, we begin. Yamaguchi serves first.. It's a long rally. The Japanese wins it. Second point, Sindhu smashes a cross court forehand to get herself on the scoreboard. Both players still limbering into their full rythm. Yamaguchi takes a 2-1 lead with a smash into the Indian's body. The next one is long from the Japanese. 2-2 as he start.
Sindhu is in the building!
The Mixed doubles bronze medal medal ceremony is now over. Sindhu is set to take the court now!
Meanwhile, Deepika's vanquisher has just done something historic:
After Iran’s Javad Foroughi nailed gold in 10metre air pistol, South Korea’s veteran shooter Jin Jong-oh critiqued the International Olympic Committee for allowing a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which was labelled a terrorist organisation by the US in 2019, to compete in the Olympics. “How can a terrorist win first place? That’s the most absurd and ridiculous thing,” the former Olympic champion told The Korea Times.
His remark came after the Iranian human rights athletic organisation, United for Navid, issued a statement following Foroughi's victory. "We consider the awarding of an Olympic Gold Medal to Iran marksman Javad Foroughi not only a catastrophe for Iranian sports but also for the international community, and especially the reputation of the IOC. The 41-year old Foroughi is a current and longtime member of a terrorist organisation," it said in a statement.
“We call for an immediate investigation by the IOC, and until an investigation is completed the suspension of any medal award,” it further added.
Javed’s though is a fascinating story. While working as a nurse in a hospital, a guard gave him a pistol and taught him how to use it, before practising it in a hall in the basement of the hospital.
Sindhu vs Yamaguchi was already supposed to start, but the last match on their court was the Mixed Doubles gold medal match. That match went on for 1 hour and 9 minutes. It was a titanic match, where the third game went to 21-19. Which is why we are starting a little late in the Singles Quarterfinal.
Q: Who's made the biggest comeback at this Olympics?
A: The US vs Russia rivalry.
Bunched together on the medal's tally, the two sporting superpowers are making Tokyo 2020 a bitter battle. There have been allegations, counter-attacks and good old sarcasm. Russia Today reports that Rio gold-medalist US swimmer Ryan Murphy, after losing to Russian Evgeny Rylov, hinted at the dreaded D world. “I’ve got 15 thoughts, 13 of them would get me into a lot of trouble,” he told reporters.
There was more: “I do believe it (doping) is still big in swimming and it is what it is.” This comes a day after American rower Megan Kalmoe said he got a 'nasty feeling' watching Russians get silver.
One of the more famous faces representing Russia here, tennis star Daniil Medvedev, too wasn't spared. At a press conference he got a question that had an objectionable phrase 'stigma of cheater'. The reporter was told he should be 'ashamed of himself'. The rest of the world can bring out the pop-corns buckets and large plastic glasses.
Sindhu vs Yamaguchi might be the cynosure of attention right now, but Sindhu's not the only Indian chasing Olympic history right now. Fouaad Mirza, the first equestrian from India, is also set to take the field now.
U2 rings out across the arena. It's a beautiful day...don't let it get away...croons Bono. Sindhu and Yamaguchi, just stepping onto the court, would be hoping this beautiful day is not the last day for them at Tokyo 2020. They're 2 of the few strongest players left in the women's badminton singles draw.
Meanwhile, in some great news coming in from the open waters, a little while earlier, Vishnu Saravanan earned himself an impressive third-place finish in Race 9 of Men's One Person Dinghy - Laser. Overall he is placed 20th with one race left.
The Indian women registered their first points of Tokyo 2020 to bring themselves back into contention for the knockouts.
Meanwhile, the Chinese pair have won the Mixed Doubles gold. A three-gam final. 21-19 in the decider. A match which lasted 1 hour and 9 minutes. What a titanic battle! Will Sindhu be up against something similar? She's up next.
PV Sindhu is entering the Quarterfinals with a 21-15, 21-13 win over Denmark's Mia Blichfeldt. She has been in commanding form so far.She eased past Ksenia Polikarpova 21-7, 21-10 in her opener. The Games began in earnest for her, as Shivani Naik wrote, in her R16 match, which also she won is straight games. Now, she will up against her toughest opponent so far.
And in Akane Yamaguchi, Sindhu is also facing one of the strongest medal contenders. If she can get past this hurdle, the draw would seem a lot easier for her. Of course there is the other QF featuring Intanon and Tai Tzu Ying.
Two more wins and Sindhu can become the first Indian woman to win two medals at the Olympics. PV Sindhu and Akane Yamaguchi have faced each other 18 times. The Indian shuttler has defeated her Japanese opponent in 11 matches. Akane Yamaguchi has defeated PV Sindhu in the other 7 matches.
Saina - QF in 2008, Bronze medal in 2012
Sindhu - Silver medal in 2016
Now, for the fourth consecutive time, an Indian woman is through to the quarterfinals of the Olympics. It's a proud legacy being created by these two stalwarts of the game. Can Sindhu go a step beyond where Saina had finished 13 years ago today and get herself into the last 4 in Tokyo?
The Mixed Doubles gold medal match is happening now, after which Sindhu's match will begin. It is scheduled for 1:15 pm IST, in another 25 minutes.
To beat San was always going to be an arduous task, and often in these big games, it’s about getting to steady starts. Deepika did not, she stuttered straightaway, even as San hit the perfect 10 with the first three strikes, winning it 30-27. India had erred, with a 7 on her first strike. Though she fought back with a brace of perfect 10s, San was unrelenting and accurate, her bows hitting the sweet spot as though they were laser-guided missiles.
Imagine the pressure of deafening silence at your home Games. That aural gap filled with rushing voices of nervousness and doubt in your head. Imagine the underwhelming atmosphere and the hanging sword of cancellation as your country grapples with the prospect of hosting 10,000 visitors. Imagine being in the quarterfinals of the Olympics – the stage you lost at, last Games. Or just ask Akane Yamaguchi.
Then there is PV Sindhu, aggressive and a foot taller, who’s thinking of gold – euphemistically talking of “changing the colour of the medal.” (Read Preview)