Tokyo Olympics 2021 Day 13 India Live Updates: Ravi Dahiya and Deepak Punia (l) will be playing their Medal matches on Thursday.Tokyo Olympics 2021 India, Day 13 Highlights: There was plenty of events in an action-packed Wednesday as India won two medals to take their overall tally from Tokyo 2020 to five. It all began with the men in blue defeating Germany 5-4 to win Olympics bronze. In an emotional day for India, Manpreet Singh’s men fought well and made a brilliant comeback to end their 41-year old medal drought, adding their 12th hockey medal to their history.
The most important clash of the day was between Ravi Dahiya and Zavur Uguev as India hoped for a historic gold medal. Dahiya was ruthless on Tuesday making an exciting comeback to qualify for the final. Ravi put on a massive fight in the final, just like in the semi, but eventually the Russian did enough to win 7-4. Deepak Punia, in a heartbreaking result for India, was leading in his Bronze medal match till the last 10 seconds, before losing 4-2.
It was also the end of the road for Anshu Malik, who lost the repechage round. Vinesh Phogat also lost her quarterfinals and also had her chances of a Bronze dashed after her vanquisher Kaladzinskaya lost in the semi. In the men’s 20km racewalk final, Sandeep Kumar finished highest for India at 23rd, while Rahul Rohilla and KT Irfan ended at 47th and 51st.
Nurislam Sanayev of Kazakhstan reacts after losing against Ravi Kumar of India (Reuters)
In wrestling, men’s freestyle 65-kg category, India's meda hope Bajrang Punia is scheduled to meet Ernazar Akmataliev of Kyrgyzstan in the first round at the Makuhari Messe Event Hall on Friday (7.30 am approx).
Bajrang, 27, will be making his Olympic debut, and the three-time World championship medallist and a gold medallist at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games is recovering from knee injury see suffered early last month.
The grapplers in 65-kg category are considered tough ones but Bajrang's draw is found to be easy. In the second round, the second seed will take on the winner of the fight between Morteza Ghiasi of Iran and Haithem Dakhlaoui. In the semis, the Indian is on course to meet third seed Daulet Niyazbekov of Kazakhstan.
The semifinals (2:45pm) and final (3.45pm) are scheduled to take place on Saturday.
Meanwhile, in the women’s 50kg category, Seema Bisla will take on Tunisia’s Sarra Hamdi and is set to take on top seed Mariya Stadnik of Azerbaijan for a place in the last four.
China's Quan Hongchan, 14, from a farmer's family in Guangdong province, won Gold with three perfect dives in the women's 10 metre platform diving at the Tokyo Olympics. She took up diving at age 11 to help pay for her mother’s medical bills.
After an action-packed Thursday, when India’s medal tally from Tokyo 2020 went up to 5 — just one short of the best-ever medal haul of 6 from London 2012 — Friday offers another chance for India’s elite athletes.
The women’s hockey team will be up against Great Britain in the Bronze medal match (7 am IST) in the first medal match of the day. The spotlight will then shift to Wrestling. Bajrang Punia (starts at 8 am), who is one of the top contenders for a medal, and Seema Bisla will begin their campaigns.
The day will end with the thrill of Athletics, where the Indian men’s 4x400m relay team — Mohammad Anas, Amoj Jacob, Arokia Rajiv and Nirmal Noah Tom — will be competing in the heats (5 pm).
There are two prime candidates for the biggest disappointment for the day. One - Vinesh Phogat, top medal hope, crashing out in the quarters. Two - Deepak Punia losing his Bronze medal match in the last 10 seconds of his bout. Till when, his defence had been good enough to keep the score at 2-1.
Spanish teenager Alberto Gines Lopez has won the first Olympic gold medal in sport climbing, riding a win in the speed discipline to the top of the podium.
The 18-year-old opened the finals with the speed win, then showed off his all-around skills by finishing seventh in lead and fourth in bouldering. He finished with 30 points - the finishes are multiplied together - to edge American Nathaniel Coleman by two.
“This (bout) is right up there with Sushil’s semifinal in London when Sushil was trailing and then lifted his opponent (Akzhurek Tanatarov) on his shoulder to awe the world. That was incredible to watch and this (Ravi’s bout)was too a super fight!,” says Mahabali Satpal, who has seen wrestling fights for 52 years.
There is a small story behind why villagers think that Nahri's destiny will change if the 24-year-old Ravi Dahiya wins a medal in the Tokyo Olympics.
The village struggles to get potable drinking water, gets two-hour electricity supply in the day, does not have proper sewage lines and was desperately waiting for Ravi Dahiya to return from Tokyo with a medal. Ravi, son of a farmer, is the third Olympian to emerge from this village after Mahavir Singh (1980 Moscow, 1984 Los Angeles) and Amit Dahiya (London 2012).
The hockey team and its Wall in goal, PR Sreejesh:
Congratulating Ravi Dahiya on his historic silver, PM Modi said India is proud of him. He also said he looks forward to personally congratulating him on the 15th of August.
How the fight went:
Norman Pritchard (2 in 1900), Men's Hockey (in 1960), Rajyavardan Rathore (Shooting, 2004), Vijay Kumar (Shooting, 2012), Sushil Kumar (Wrestling, 2012), PV Sindhu (Badminton, 2016), Mirabai Chanu (2021)...and now...
The Men's hockey medal ceremony is going on. The Indian players are lined up to receive their bronze medals. Not a dry eye in the house if you've been a fan of hockey in the last 41 years. Australia get Silver. Belgium get a Gold, won in a shoot-out in the final.
Ravi Dahiya won a Silver medal after losing the Men's Freestyle 57-kg Wrestling final, taking India's overall medal tally from Tokyo 2020 to 5. This medal comes after some memorable wins by Mirabai Chanu (Silver), PV Sindhu, Lovlina Borgohain and the Indian men’s hockey team (Bronze).
When PR Sreejesh was in primary school, at a village 30 kilometres east of Kochi, his physical education teacher was convinced that he had unearthed the next sporting sensation. Sreejesh was good at everything — he could hurl the discus and javelin a fair distance, he could leap, smash and spike, he was in both volleyball and basketball teams, could perform the long jump as well as high jump. Sometimes, he could run too, though he himself despised running.
He revelled in every sport, expect hockey that is...as Sandip G writes. Today, Sreejesh was instrumental as India won their first hockey medal in the Olympics after 41 long years.
Belgium emerge Olympic champions in Men's hockey, pipping Australia 3-2 in shoot-out in the final. This is also their maiden gold medal in hockey in the Olympic Games. They are also the reigning World champions.
Everyone stands in wait. The celebrations are on hold. Officials peer over screens. Amine walks around restlessly. And here's the decision....2 points have been given. The challenge has been lost.Amine wins bronze, wins by 4-2 after the unsuccessful challenge
Defence from Deepak! Amine goes on attacking ! First the lefs! Last 30 seconds.....he picks up Deepak's right leg!! Deepak Punia is in a split trying to defend! He can't do enough! Amine gets on top of him. A 2 pointer with less than 10 seconds left.....Deepak loses 3-2.
The Indian coach is furious!
Second half: Amine goes for Deepak's left leg. Great defence! Swerved out of the way again. Again Amine goes for the legs, left rolling on the floor as again Deepak swerves away.
2 minutes left...Deepak seems to be slowing down... could this be Amine's chance? Just a point between them. Both wrestlers locked, both standing....
1 minute left...
Now onto the legs! And asserts pressure as well! Attack from Deepak! The San Marino wrestler moves away from the centre. No points awarded. No, cancel that, the judges decide Amine will get a point for taking Deepak out of the circle. 2-1 to Deepak. Half Time hooter!
Deepak Punia on course for a 5th medal for India in Tokyo 2020!
Deepak manages to get away from an ankle lock as the first minute ends. It was an ankle lock that was his undoing in his semifinal. Amine from San Marino attacks! Goes for the legs. Deepak swerves away. Now, he waits for his moment and gets Amine on the mat. 2 points. We are on the board!
It's time for the next big event! Deepak Punia, second seed, 2 years younger than his opponent, against his opponent from San Marino. It begins!
What an effort it was from Ravi! Across 2 whole days in general (according to Viren Rasquinha, he had his phone switched off all day after his win yesterday, possibly working out to lose weight before his Gold medal bout) and today in that last minute in particular. He reduced the margin to 3 points from 5 points in the last minute. But then the Russian did just enough to block the Indian out.
Down to seconds....Uguev defending. Tries to clamp down from above on the Indian. 30 seconds.... 20 seconds left .. Ravi attacks! Can't do it. Uguev defends again. He has done enough! It was a superb effort from the Indian...but the Russian just holds out...just does enough.
Uguev wins 7-4. The players shake hands. Ravi bows to the sparse crowd with folded hands. His Tokyo 2020 is over. What a memorable campaign it has been!
Ravi almost manages to push out the Russian, but just fails to. The Russian manages to get behind him and holds from behind. 2 more points! Look of anguish on Ravi's face. The Russian pulling away now. 5 points to make up! Ravi gets a 2-pointer! Is this the resurgence.
1:07 left...Last minute...
2nd period: Ravi tries to push the Russian, he outmaneouvres and pushes Ravi out of the circle. No score. The Russian coach asks why! A mistake from Ravi! The Russian pushes him out again. Just a point. 5-2 to the Russian with 2 minutes left.
A tussle! Both break free. No points. 1:54 left. A break in play. Ravi behind by 3 points.
Gas tank! Ravi has the best gas tank! 2 minutes left...
Uguev gets 2 points bu getting Ravi onto his back now. 4-2 to the Russian. Ravi retaliates! Just falls short of getting into an attacking position. The Russian in a 2-point lead. The half-time hooter goes off. Exciting wrestling, but the aggression is only going to go up by ten times in the 2nd half.
The first point goes to ROC. Only one minute gone. Long way to go. In the second minute, the Russian pushes out Ravi of the centre circle again. Another point to him. Ravi gets him on his back as the 2nd minute ends. 2-2 with 4 minutes left.
Nurislam Sanayev wins bronze in the 57 kg category. The one who Ravi beat to get here. Uguev had beaten Ravi at the 2019 Worlds, his breakthrough event, but a lot of water has flown under the bridge since then. Uguev is the 2nd seed. Ravi is the 4th seed.
Ravi and Uguev to now take centrestage. It's time for the historic event. Ravi enters the arena. The mark on his right bicep, he suffered from the bite in the semifinal, still visible. Uguev follows him.
It's time. Ravi Dahiya will now fight ROC's Zavur Uguev for Olympic gold (Men's Freestyle 57 kg Final). The last fight on the Mat B is happening now before Ravi steps in.
Fasten your seatbelts, folks!
One of the remarkable things about Ravi's win yesterday was that he did not celebrate after it! For even 1 second! He even looked a little distracted. It came out later that he complained to the referees about a bite (Suarez style) he suffered during the match, which could have been one reason. Another possible reason, as seen when he won his Asian Championships medal as well, is that Ravi is always calm. Let us wait and watch if the Olympics Gold medal can break through his stoicism.
'Ravi was a very quiet boy. He wouldn't even talk loudly. But during the 2008 Olympics where Sushil won a bronze medal, he got up and said - he would do the same as well,' Ravi's father told ESPN. Ravi was apparently the quietest student in the wrestling academies of his childhood, before he finally graduated to the Chhatrasal academy.
Even among the Tokyo wrestling contingent from Ravi, he was far for being the most celebrated wrestler, as Mihir Vasavda and Gaurav Bhatt dissected in their Olympics preview series.
Indian wrestlers who have so far won Olympic medals are: KD Jadhav (1952), Sushil Kumar (2008 & 2012), Yogeshwar Dutt (2012), Sakshi Malik(2016), Ravi Dahiya(2021). None of them were gold. Can Ravi turn the colour today? His opponent will be Zavur Uguev of ROC (Russia).
Ravi has the best 'gas tank' in the business, according to wrestling experts. His best chance is if he can take the game deep. As he showed in his Semifinal victory, he was 2-9 down till the last minute, till the world turned upside down in a second. MS Dhoni would appreciate.
Ryan Crouser wrote the note, stuck it in his backpack and brought it out to the field just in case. "Grandpa. We did it. 2020 Olympic champion!" it said.
The world's best shot putter had a feeling he'd win. After he did just that on Thursday, he pulled out that piece of paper and showed it to the world. Crouser's second straight Olympic gold medal was a tribute to his grandfather, Larry, who died shortly before Crouser left for Tokyo."To lose him the week before the Olympics was obviously sad," Crouser said. "But I feel like he was able to be here in spirit." - AP
Abhinav Bindra, India's only individual gold medal winner at the Olympics, had a reaction after his win not many expected. Definitely not out reporter Uthra Ganesan, who wrote this 2008 piece.
"It feels empty," he said, three words that were enough to take the huge gathering of reporters by surprise. "It's like being at the top of a mountain, you keep climbing and then suddenly there is nothing — it's just a kind of emptiness."
“I am hoping for young Indian athletes to join me. I am quite positive and, as an athlete, I am conditioned to remain hopeful. Hopefully, we will have some Olympic champions in a couple of years,” Bindra had said in a 2018 interview. Can Ravi give him some company at the top?
Vinesh Phogat's chances of bronze are over. Her vanquisher Vanesa Kaladzinskaya of Belarus loses in the semis, thus ending chances for a Repechage round for Vinesh. She ends her campaign at #Tokyo2020 without a medal. The Belaruisan lost to Pang of China in the semis of the women's 53kg division.
Vinesh going out without a medal can be called an upset. Can Ravi make another upset on the mat within the next hour?
Bajrang Punia, who will begin his long-awaited campaign tomorrow, is backing Ravi to create history before him:
Indian sports fans are hesitant to dream of Gold - after all, we have had 9 in 121 years, of which only 1 was won by an individual and not the Hockey team - but if there's any justification for hope required in the lead-up to Ravi's gold medal match, it is how he won his Semifinal! It was the stuff of dreams -- the stuff of multi-crore-rupees blockbusters on theatres -- how he turned around his semifinal against Nurislam, his Kazakh opponent, with 2-9 down and a minute left to go to save his Olympics campaign.
Meanwhile, the wrestling action has started in the evening session in Tokyo. Ravi's fight is scheduled for 4:20 pm IST, he will fight in Hall A Mat B.
Dahiya's SF win was so sensational it got the whole of India dreaming:
Florian Wellbrock of Germany added a gold medal in marathon swimming to his bronze at the pool, romping to a dominant win in the men's 10-kilometer race at Tokyo Bay today.
Wellbrock sprinted out to an early lead, was up front most of the way and won by the biggest margin in Olympic marathon swimming history on another sweltering morning in Japan's capital. "Florian was unbeatable today," said Kristof Rasovszky of Hungary, who finished more than 25 seconds behind for the silver. - AP
Asian record-holding shot Putter Tajinder Pal Singh Toor, who failed to qualify for the finals in the Olympics with a disappointing performance, on Thursday said he was competing with a wrist injury in his throwing arm which would require a surgery now.
Toor could only manage one legal throw of 19.99m, in his first attempt, to finish 13th in Group A qualification and 24th overall.
“I intended to enhance my personal best and not wanted to be just a participant, but I could not give my best at the Olympics,” Toor, who had competed with a heavily bandaged shoulder, wrote in an Instagram post which shows a bandaged left wrist.
Megan Rapinoe opened the scoring with a goal directly from a corner. Sam Kerr restored parity for Australia afterwards. Rapinoe restored the lead with a volley and then veteran Carli Lloyd made it 3-1 for the world champions right before the break.
Italy's Massimo Stano takes gold with a timing of 1:21:05, Japan's Ikeda and Yamanishi complete the podium. Meanwhile for India, Sandeep Kumar finishes at 23rd with a timing of 1:25:07. Rahul Rohilla and KT Irfan end at 47th and 51st respectively.
Tokyo reported 5,042 new daily coronavirus cases on Thursday, hitting a record since the pandemic began as the infections surge in the Japanese capital hosting the Olympics. The additional cases brought the total for Tokyo to 236,138.
The early hope of an athletics medal has all but faded away now! With just five kilometres left to go, Sandeep drops further back to 19th after maintaining at second for quite a while. On the other hand, Rohilla is 48th and Irfan is 51st.
After USWNT captain Megan Rapinoe set the stage on fire with a goal from a direct corner, Australia striker Sam Kerr equalised in the 17th minute with an acutely angled finish. But four minutes later, Rapinoe restores the lead with a first-time volley.
At the halfway mark, Sandeep falls behind and is now placed 12th. Rohilla is 47th and Irfan is still 50th.
At the 8km mark, Sandeep is placed second behind China's Wang, with a lead of 11 seconds on the third-placed Yamanishi of Japan. Just took 35 minutes for 8 kilometres, wow! On the other hand, Rohilla is 45th and Irfan is 50th.
Still almost an hour to go but Sandeep Kumar is currently second, Rahul Rohilla is 12th and KT Irfan is 45th.
After USA's Nelly Korda at the top, Aditi Ashok is tied second with two Danes — Nanna Koerstz Madsen and Emily Kristine Pedersen. On the other hand, Diksha Dagar is also done for the day. She is 6 over par and is tied 53rd at the end of Round 2.
'He is widely considered to be the greatest sports climber in the world, but Adam Ondra of Czech Republic will be an absolute underdog for the inaugural sport climbing event on Thursday. While most events at the Olympics are hyper-specific and require a particular set of skills, the inaugural sport climbing competition is being contested under a controversial format. The medals will go to athletes who fare well in a hybrid of speed, bouldering and lead climbing; three disciplines vastly different with their own separate world championships,' explains Gaurav Bhatt. Read why Ondra is an underdog for a medal here.
Hockey players Vivek Sagar and Nilakantha will be awarded Rs 1 crore each for their performance in Olympics, announced Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
The men's 20km racewalk is underway! Three Indians are in action -- K.T. Irfan, Sandeep Kumar and Rahul Rohilla. Sandeep Kumar is the highest-ranked among the three at 42nd while Irfan and Rohilla are 77th and 78th respectively.
With the Olympics medal sealed, Ravi Dahiya’s father Rakesh and the villagers of Nahari, Haryana now hope that their long-standing demand of a hospital and regular electricity supply will be fulfilled.
The Nahari village, about 10 kms off the Sonepat highway, gets only two hours of electricity during the day and about six hours in the evening. (Read Full Story)
The celebrations at Nahari in Haryana would have echoed at the iconic Chhatrasal stadium in Delhi, which is considered to be the spiritual home of several wrestlers, including Ravi, who have trained under the famous coach Satpal Singh. The stadium, of late, has found itself in the shadow of infamy after its most famous son and two-time Olympic medallist, Sushil Kumar, was arrested on charges of murder. (Read Full Story)
On Wednesday, inside a mega convention hall just outside Tokyo, far removed from the dust bowls of Haryana, Dahiya added to his legend. The wrestler from Nahari, near Haryana’s Sonepat, ensured India’s fourth medal in Tokyo, a wrestling medal at the fourth successive Olympics, and a first final appearance in the sport since Sushil Kumar fought for gold in London in 2012.
Down 9-2 with less than two minutes to be played in the semifinal of the 57kg weight class, Dahiya also scripted a turnaround that will go down as one of the great Olympic moments in wrestling. (Read Full Report)
In wrestling men’s freestyle 86-kg category bronze medal match, Deepak Punia will take on Myles Nazem Amine of San Marino at the Makuhari Messe Event Hall.
Deepak had lost to David Taylor of the US in the semifinals. The Haryanvi from Jhajjar is a 2016 world cadet champion and a silver medallist at the 2019 senior world championships. Deepak, 22, beat Ekerekeme Agiomor of Nigeria and Lin Zushen of China before reaching the last-four stage.
Meanwhile, before meeting Deepak, Taylor defeated Myles and Ali Shabanau of Belarus. Myles, 24, a European Championship silver and bronze medallist, is fiery on the mat and is known for his fighting capacity till the final whistle.
With the Indian men’s hockey team winning a medal after 41 years at Olympics, defeating Germany with 5-4 for a bronze, Punjab Sports and Youth Services Minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi Thursday, announced that Punjab government would bestow state hockey players with Rs 1 crore each.
Aditi Ashok keeps her consistency to stay tied 2nd with 9-under par after Round 2 of Women’s.She cards an impressive 66 to remain T-2nd at the end of her Round 2 of women's individual golf. Meanwhile, Diksha Dagar her compatriot is on 54th position.
With poor weather conditions expected on Day 4, game-play may be reduced to 3 days increasing our prospects of a medal! Third round tomorrow, if Aditi manages to hold her spot, the final day will be spicy.
PM Modi spoke to the Men’s Hockey Captain Manpreet Singh, Head Coach Graham Reid and Assistant Coach Piyush Dubey. He congratulated the team for emerging victorious and bringing home the Bronze. PM told Manpreet Singh- you have scripted history. He remarked that today Manpreet’s voice is loud and clear, whereas it was slightly muted the other day (when India lost to Belgium). Manpreet thanked PM for his constant encouragement to the team.