Rio Olympics Day 9: Big Guns Disappoint; Medal Chances Squashed
India had a disastrous day 9 at the Rio Olympics as the contingent's best bets to win an Olympic medal stumbled in shocking fashion. The Indian men's hockey team was knocked out of the quarterfinals and medal contention as they suffered a 1-3 loss to Belgium in the men's field hockey tournament of the Rio Olympics.
India, who were looking to secure their first semi-final berth since 1980, started off strong by scoring first. However, their endurance was broken by the scorching sun, and a resilient Belgian side. India failed to capitalize on their first half chances. They paid for it in the second half, which saw Belgium come out as a completely different side.
India scored through Akashdeep Singh who intelligently deflected a long ground pass from Manpreet Singh. Belgium's Dockier belted two past Indian captain PR Sreejesh and later Tom Boon scored towards the later stages to establish an unassailable lead.
This was one of India's finest runs in Olympic hockey in the recent past.
So close, and yet so far
Dipa Karmakar, India's only Olympic gymnast, finished fourth in the final of the women's vault competition, missing bronze by a meagre 0.15 points.Dipa had an average score of 15.066 points while the three time gold winner Simone Biles score 15.966.
However, Dipa could've been in medal contention had she not landed on her haunches after attempting the risky ‘Prudnova' vault, which even established gymnasts fear to attempt. She scored 15.266 from her Prudnova attempt. According to Dipa, this was also her highest score in any Prudnova she's attempted before.
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August 15, 2016While Dipa lost the medal, she won over a billion hearts as social media was filled with praises showered for her.It wasn't the story of a small town girl who united a country even in defeat, but rather the humility of Karmakar which impressed the world. Even after this exceptional performance, she wrote an apology to her fans and supporters on Twitter.
Mirza-Bopanna and a case of service breaks
Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna were completely outclassed in their bronze medal play-off against Czech Republic's Radek Stepanek and Lucie Hradecka in the mixed doubles tennis tournament.
The Indian duo lost 1-6, 7-5 after a Czech onslaught took the first set with ease. The Indians rallied briefly in the second set after losing the first game to take a 3-1 lead. However, Stepanek and Hradecka broke the Indians back to level the set. It was a tight game from there but the Indians succumbed to pressure and eventually gave away the set.
It was a tragic downfall for the Indian duo who had beaten Britain's Andy Murray and Heather Watson to reach the semifinals. They lost the semis to United States' Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram, who went on to win the silver medal.The loss means that the Indian tennis team will return empty handed from Brazil.
Saina crashes, but badminton campaign alive
Saina Nehwal crashed out of the group stages of the women's singles badminton competition after a shocking defeat to world no. 61 Maria Ulitina of Ukraine. The Indian shuttler's 18-21, 19-21 loss is one of the biggest upset for India as Saina was expected to bring home a medal.
Both, Ulitina and Nehwal were tied on points before the match, so it was clear that the winner would advance to the elimination stages. Saina put up a poor display as she squandered a 6-1 lead in the first game to let her opponent back. Maria, then dominated the game by restricting Saina's quick movement. She took the match after a fortunate tumble of the shuttle cock off the net.
However, Saina's loss doesn't mean the end of the badminton campaign for India. PV Sindhu and Srikanth Kidambi, both won their respective matches to advance to the Round of 16.
PV Sindhu came back to defeat Michelle Li of Canada 19-21, 21-15, 21-17 in a fiercely contested match of the women's singles badminton event. She will now face Tai Tzu-ying of the Chinese Taipei.
Srikanth Kidambi overpowered Henri Hurskainen of Sweden in straight sets winning 21-6, 21-18 in the group game of the Men's singles badminton event. He advanced to the pre-quarters and will encounter Denmark's Jan O. Jorgensen.
The boxer, the golfers and the runners
Indian boxer Manoj Singh was narrowly defeated 0-3 by Fazliddin Gaibnazarov of Uzbekistan in his Round of 16 match of the Men's 64kg light welter boxing competition. The judges scored 10-9 in favour of Fazliddin in all the three rounds.
Manoj Kumar gave everything he had but his opponent who enjoyed a physical advantage kept shrugging off any threats. With that, Vikas Krishnan Yadav remains India's only hope in boxing.
In golf, India's campaign at the Rio Olympics today ended on a disappointing note as SSP Chawrasia and Anirban Lahiri finished a tied 50th and tied 57th respectively after going through contrasting days at the Olympic golf course.
In athletics, India saw no hopes as both the long distance runners OP Jaisha and Kavita Raut finished outside the top 50. OP Jaisha finished 89th with a time of 2 hours 47 minutes and 19 seconds, while her Indian peer Kavita Raut ended 120th after covering the distance in just under three hours.
End of the road for shooters
India's dismal performance in shooting events continued as both Gagan Narang and Chain Singh failed to qualify for the final round of the Men's 50m Rifle 3 positions event.
Narang, who hasn't found his rhythm even once at this year's games, was again off target as he finished 33rd with 1162 points. He couldn't go past the qualification phase in any of the three competitions he participated in.
Chain Singh was looking set for a place in the final round, however a loss of focus in the standing round cost him as he finished 24th overall with a total score of 1169 points.
Day 10 Heads Up
5:30 pm IST
Men's Singles Badminton Round of 16 - Srikanth Kidambi vs Jan O. Jorgensen
6:00 pm IST
Renjit Maheshwari will be in action in the Men's triple jump athletics event.
Srabani Nanda will be running in the Women's 200m track running event. She will be in Heat 5 of the first round.
7:02 pm IST
Wrestler Ravinder Khatri will be involved in the Round of 16 of the Men's 85kg greco-roman wrestling competition. His opponent will be determined by the qualifying rounds which will be conducted earlier in the day.
7:45 pm IST
Lalita Babar will be looking to create history as she participates in the final of the Women's 3000m steeplechase event.
2:00 am IST
PV Sindhu goes up against Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu-ying in the Round of 16 of the women's singles badminton competition.
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