Shuttler P.V. Sindhu, archer Deepika Kumari, and boxer Pooja Rani stole the show for the Indian contingent on Wednesday in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics, but the women’s hockey team disappointed and their road to the knockout stage is now looking difficult.
Shuttler P.V. Sindhu and archer Deepika Kumari
Boxer Pooja Rani
It was shuttler Sindhu who brought respite to the entire nation as she stormed into the pre-quarterfinals in the women’s singles in the ongoing Olympics. Sindhu defeated Hong Kong’s Ngan Yi Cheung in her second Group J match. The 26-year-old defeated Ngan Yi Cheung in straight sets 21-9, 21-16 to cruise into the elimination round of women’s singles. Archer Deepika Kumari defeated USA’s Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez at Yumenoshima Ranking Field on Wednesday. The India archer defeated her opponent from the US 6-4 in the 1/16 eliminations round. The match was on a knife’s edge, but Deepika’s composure was amazing to watch, and she ended up winning the match.
Boxer Pooja Rani registered a dominating performance as she stormed into the quarter-finals of the women’s middleweight (69-75kg) category after defeating Ichrak Chaib of Algeria in the Round of 16 here at the Kokugikan Arena. Rani defeated Chaib 5-0.
The day had started off on a bad note for the Indian contingent as the women’s hockey team stumbled to a 1-4 defeat against Great Britain. This is now the third consecutive match that the Indian women’s hockey team has lost. The side earlier suffered defeats at the hands of the Netherlands and Germany.
This is India’s third successive defeat after losing to Germany in their second match 0-2 on Monday. The Netherlands had thrashed India in their opening game on Sunday. India will now face Ireland (July 30, 2021), and South Africa (July 31, 2021) before the knockout stage, which begins on August 2.
Archer Tarundeep Rai had shown an amazing fighting spirit to make a comeback and win against Ukraine’s Oleksii Hunbin 6-4 to march into the round of 16. However, his campaign ended on the very same day as he lost to Israel’s Itay Shanny in the 1/16 eliminations round.
A similar fate was in store for archer Pravin Jadhav as he crashed out of the men’s individual event in Tokyo Olympics after losing to USA’s Brady Ellison. The 25-year-old suffered a 6-0 defeat in the Round of 16 match against Brady Ellison — also the current World Record holder.
India shuttler Sai Praneeth lost his second Group D match against Mark Caljouw of the Netherlands in the Tokyo Olympics at the Musashino Forest Plaza Court 3. Caljouw defeated Praneeth 21-14, 21-14 in straight games.With this loss, Praneeth has failed to qualify for the next stage as he lost both his group stage matches. In the first game, Praneeth was the one in the lead, but Caljouw staged a comeback and he took the first game 21-14. A similar story unfolded in the second game, as Praneeth was not able to capitalise on a good start, and in the end, he ended up losing the match in straight games.