A good day at the Tokyo Olympics for the Indian contingent on Wednesday. But the search for the second medal continues. Deepika Kumari looked in great touch, PV Sindhu continues her top form, Pooja Rani proceeds to the quarterfinals on Day 5.
Let’s look at India’s performance on Day 5 at Tokyo Olympics in each event.
Badminton
PV Sindhu continued her great form at the Tokyo Olympics. She defeated Hong Kong’s Ngan Yi Cheung in her second Group J match of the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday. The Silver Medalist of Rio Olympics, won in straight sets 21-9, 21-16.
PV Sindhu will face Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt in the round of 16.
Sai Praneeth lost in straight games 2-0 against Mark Caljouw of the Netherlands in a Group D encounter in men’s singles badminton.
Archery
Tarundeep Rai lost to Israel’s Itay Shanny in the second round on Wednesday. The game was tied with a 5-5 score after five sets and in shoot-off, Shanny hit a perfect 10 to seal the victory. Tarundeep won his first game against Ukraine’s Oleksii Hunbin.
Pravin Jadhav
Pravin Jadhav stunned the world No. 2 Galsan Bazarzhapov of the ROC in straight sets (29-27, 28-28, 28-24) in the first eliminator. However, he went down in straight sets to Brady Ellison, the Rio 2016 bronze medallist in the next round.
Deepika Kumari
The World number one archer kept the Indian medal hopes alive at the Tokyo Olympics. Deepika Kumari defeated Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez of USA 6-4 and advanced in the pre-quarterfinals of women’s individual archery.
“Maybe I was nervous and was not able to adjust to the tricky wind conditions. I tried very hard and that was the reason I could not get consistent scores.” Deepika said after the win.
Boxing
Boxer Pooja Rani defeated Ichrak Chaib of Algeria 5-0 in the Round of 16 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the women’s Middle (69-75kg) category. Pooja is now a win away from securing a medal.
Pooja Rani will face China’s Qian Li in the Quarterfinals on July 31 at 3:36 pm.
Hockey
The women’s hockey team suffered its third straight defeat at the Tokyo Olympics. Defending champions Great Britain defeated India 1-4 on Wednesday. The Indian team kept losing chances and also failed to convert the Penalty corners. Hannah Martin (2nd and 19th minute), Lily Owsley (41st minute), and Grace Balsdon (57th minute) were the goalscorers for Great Britain. For India, Sharmila Devi scored the lone goal in the 23rd minute.
Rowing
Indian rowers Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh failed to qualify for the men’s lightweight double sculls final at the Tokyo Olympics. The duo finished sixth with a timing of 6:24.41, creating an Olympic record for India in the rowing event.
“All is not lost. We refuse to believe that we finished last or so until the event is completed. It’s part and parcel of the life of a sportsperson and that’s not an excuse either. We have one more chance to make amends and I’m sure both Arvind and Arjun will do a better show in the final B for the positions,” Ismail Baig, the national coach said after the loss (To Indian Express)