2020 Tokyo Olympics, Day 1: Complete report
Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, on Saturday, scripted history by winning India's first medal in the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The 26-year-old bagged silver in the 49kg category. However, India had a tough day with a mixed bag of results in Tokyo. Overall, China dominated the show as 28 nations were amongst medal winners across several events. Here we present the day's report.
Indian shooters disappoint big time
On Saturday, the Indian shooting contingent disappointed big time. World No 1 Elavanil Valarivan and world record holder Apurvi Chandela couldn't qualify for the finals of the women's 10m air rifle event. Saurabh Chaudhary topped the qualification of the men's 10m air pistol. However, he missed out on a medal by finishing seventh. Saurabh finished with a score of 137.4 in the final.
Sumit Nagal wins in tennis, to face Medvedev next
India's Sumit Nagal beat Denis Istomin in a thrilling three-set encounter. Nagal won the clash 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-4 in two hours and 34 minutes. He will take on world number two Daniil Medvedev next. Nagal became the first Indian to win a singles match since Leander Paes' historic bronze medal at the 1996 Olympics.
Batra, Mukherjee advance in women's singles, mixed-doubles pair loses
In table tennis, Manika Batra eased past Great Britain's Tin-Tin Ho in straight games to register an 11-7, 11-6, 12-10, 11-9 win in women's singles. Suthirtha Mukherjee won her tie against Linda Bergstrom. She beat her opponent 5-11, 11-9, 11-13, 9-11, 11-3, 11-9, 11-5. In the mixed doubles, Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra lost to third seeds from Chinese Taipei, Lin Yun-Ju/Cheng I-Ching.
Badminton: Mixed day for India
India's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty pulled off a thrilling victory in their Group A opening match against the world No 3 pair of Yang Lee and Chi-Lin Wang from Chinese Taipei. They sealed a 21-16, 16-21, 27-25 win over third seeds Lee and Wang. Meanwhile, Sai Praneeth lost 17-21, 15-21 in the men's singles badminton against Misha Zilberman (Group D).
Boxing: Vikas Krishan ousted in 69kg category
Indian boxer Vikas Krishan (69kg) was beaten convincingly by Sewonrets Quincy Mensah Okazawa in his opening bout. Okazawa won the bout 5-0 as Krishan was left with a bloodied eye. The 29-year-old Krishan sustained a cut below his left eye in the high-voltage clash. Okazawa dominated from start to finish and will take on Roniel Iglesias in the round of 16.
Mixed team archery event: India ousted in the quarters
India exited the mixed team archery event in Tokyo at the quarter-final stage as the Pravin Jadhav-Deepika Kumari pairing lost 6-2 to South Korea. Earlier in the day, Deepika and Pravin came from behind to knock out Chinese Taipei 5-3 and book a quarter-final berth.
Hockey: Men's team posts victory, women's team beaten convincingly
India beat a tough New Zealand outfit 3-2 in their first match of the men's hockey competition at the Olympics. New Zealand got the lead in the sixth minute before India fought back with goals from Rupinder Pal Singh and Harmanpreet Singh. Stephen Jenness pulled one back but India held on. Meanwhile, the women's team suffered a heavy 5-1 defeat against the Netherlands.
Weightlifter Chanu brings laurels for India
After finishing second in the snatch event by clearing the 84kg and 87kg marks, 26-year-old Chanu lifted 110kg and 115kg in the clean and jerk event to settle for silver. Chanu ended India's 21-year wait for a weightlifting medal at the Olympics. The 26-year-old lifted a total of 202kg (87kg+115kg) to better Karnam Malleswari's bronze medal effort in the Sydney Olympics (69kg).
A dream come true moment
China dominate the day with three gold medals
China dominated the show with four medals, winning three gold and a bronze. Italy and Japan won one gold and a silver each to claim two medals on Saturday. The Republic of Korea won three medals - one gold and two bronze. The likes of Ecuador, Iran, Hungary, Thailand, and Kosovo were the other nations with gold medal wins.
