Shuttler P V Sindhu was having a dream run at the Olympics with her masterful performances; often winning in straight sets to ensure a semifinal berth. Both the Indian hockey teams – men and women reached the semifinals. Among the boxers, Mary Kom and Satish Kumar were knocked out, however Lovlina Burgohain is assured of a medal. Our shooters and athletes did not perform up to expectations but an Indian rider made a mark in equestrian for the first time.
After storming into the semifinal, she faced heartbreak. However, we saw another dazzling performance in the match for the bronze medal. Sindhu beat China’s He Bing Jiao 21-13, 21-15 to win the bronze medal in the women’s singles.
She is only the second Indian to have won two individual medals at the Olympics. Before this, wrestler Shushil Kumar had won a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics and then a silver medal at the 2012 Olympics.
There was a time when India was the reigning force in the world of hockey. However, the last time the Indian men reached the semis was in 1972 and the last time they won a medal was in 1980. This time the Indian men’s team reached the semis by defeating Great Britain 3-1.
After a disappointing start when the women lost their opening match of the tournament, they came back strong to make it to the semifinals. This is the first time the Indian women’s team has made it to the semifinals.
The chief coach of the Indian women's hockey team Sjoerd Marijne tweeted this delightful picture with the comment ‘sorry family, I coming again later’.
Bring us some gold on the way back, tweeted Shah Rukh Khan who played Kabir Khan in the movie Chak De India.
The Indian team could not sustain against the world champion team of Belgium and lost 2-5. However there is still a medal hope here – the men can still win a bronze when they take on the losing team of the second semifinal.
India had never reached the final before this in the discus throw event, however Kamalpreet Kaur managed this. Though a medal remained elusive, she landed at a very creditable 6th position.
Annu Rani’s own personal best would have qualified her for the final but performed below par on the day; her Olympic campaign ending in disappointment.
In the athletics arena, Dutee Chand and other medal hopes were disappointed. However, there is still hope in the Shot Put event with Tajinderpal Singh Toor. Right now, we have Lovlina Borgohain who is assured a medal in boxing. The wrestling events are still to begin, where we are fairly confident of possible medals for Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogak and Ravi Dahiya among others.
Meanwhile, all eyes are on the Indian women hockey team as they go into their semifinal match against Argentina on 4 August. Many of these women have overcome poverty and great hardship to get to where they are today. For many of us, Indian hockey’s giant-killers are already winners when they upset Australia.
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