Tokyo Olympics 2021 Highlights: Ind beats Japan in hockey; Sindhu in semis

Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) assured India of their first boxing medal while Sindhu steps closer to a medal as she enters the semifinals at Tokyo Olympics 2021

Reigning world Champion P V Sindhu kept India's hopes of winning a first-ever Olympic gold in badminton alive as she reached the semifinals of women's singles with a fighting straight-game win over world no 5 Japanese Akane Yamaguchi at Tokyo Olympics 2021 today.

Tokyo 2020 Medal Tally

ALSO READ: Tokyo Olympics 2021 India contingent: List of Indian athletes, officials

The 26-year-old Indian, who won a silver in the 2016 Rio Olympics, defended brilliantly and rode on her attack to outclass the fourth seeded Yamaguchi 21-13 22-20 in a 56-minute quarterfinal clash at the Musashino Forest Plaza here. She will next face the winner of the other quarterfinal between Thailand's Ratchanok Inthanon and Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying.

ALSO READ: Olympics 2021: India men's and women's Hockey full schedule, squad, timings

India in boxing today

Debutant Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) assured India of their first boxing medal at  Tokyo Olympics 2021 when she upstaged former world champion Nien-Chin Chen of Chinese Taipei to enter the semifinals today. The 23-year-old Assam boxer prevailed 4-1 to make the last-four where she will square off against reigning world champion Busenaz Surmeneli of Turkey, who hammered Anna Lysenko in her quarterfinal bout.

Earlier, Simranjit Kaur (60kg) lost to Thailand's Sudaporn Seesondee in the pre-quarterfinals to make an early exit from the Games here. The 26-year-old Indian, seeded fourth, went down 0-5 despite a gritty performance.

RESULTS: India on July 30

BOXING - LOVLINA BORGOHAIN IN THE SEMIS. MEDAL ASSURED

HOCKEY: India beats Ireland 1-0

GOLF: Men's individual stroke play round 2 (to be continued on Saturday) has Anirban Lahiri T-20 and Udayan S Mane T57 at the end of Friday.

Sailing: Nethra in W laser radial, Ganapathy/Varun in 49-er skiff

Archery: Deepika Kumari advances to quarterfinals

Athletics: Avinash Sable breaks the National Record in 3000m steeplechase, finishes seventh in heats; Jabir out in 400m H heats. Dutee Chand out in 100m heats. Mixed 4x400m Relay Race Round 1 Heat 2: India's finishes last 

Shooting: Manu Bhaker and Rahi Sarnobat out in 25m pistol qualifying

Boxing: Simranjit Kaur out in r-o-16

Badminton: PV Sindhu enters semifinal

Equestrian: Fouaad Mirza stands 6th in the rankings, will qualify for second round.

Hockey: India defeats Japan 5-3

 

India in Archery today

World number one archer Deepika Kumari's quest for an Olympic medal ended in heartbreak for the third time as she surrendered tamely to Korean top seed An San in straight sets in the quarterfinals at Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games .

Deepika misfired four 7s as An, who had broken a 25-year-old Olympic record en route to topping the ranking round, wrapped up the women's individual match 6-0 in less than six minutes.

Deepika's husband Atanu Das is the only Indian left in contention for a medal as he made the pre-quarterfinals on Thursday with a stunning shoot-off win over two-time Olympic champion Oh Jin Hyek. In his last-16 match slated on Saturday, Das will face home favourite Takaharu Furukawa, an individual silver medallist at the 2012 Olympics and a team bronze winner at Tokyo Olympics 2021

India in Athletics today

Avinash Sable broke his own national record in the 3000m steeplechase while finishing sixth in his heat race at the Olympics on Friday morning. Sable, 26, ran an 8:18.12 in heat 2 to break his previous national record of 8:20.20, which he set during the Federation Cup in March. 

The top three competitors from each of the three heats, as well as the next six quickest athletes from all of the qualifying heats, advance to the final, and Sable is a surprise qualifier.

Dutee was nowhere near her best as she clocked 11.54 seconds in 100m, well outside her national record of 11.17 seconds -- also her season's best -- to finish seventh in heat 5 and 45th overall out of 54 competitors.

The first three in each of the seven heats and the next three fastest advance to the semifinals.

India in Hockey today

The Indian women's hockey team scored a late goal to eke out a narrow 1-0 victory over Ireland in a must-win penultimate pool match to stay alive in the Olympics here on Friday. India will now need to win their final Pool A match against South Africa on Saturday and hope for Ireland to face defeat at the hands of Great Britain to seal their quarterfinal berth.

On the other hand, India's men's team defeated Japan 5-3 to cruise into knockout satges. .

India Badminton schedule today

India's medal hopeful PV Sindhu defeated Japan's Akane Yamaguchi in the quarter-final today at Tokyo Olympics 2021.

India schedule today at Tokyo Olympics
 
India's Archery event today:
 
COMPLETED: Deepika Kumari vs Ksenia Perova (Russian Olympic Committee) in Women's Individual Pre-quarterfinals Match: WINS.
 
Athletics:
 
Completed: Avinash Sable in Men's 3000m Steeplechase Round 1 Heat 2: 6:17 am IST.
 
Completed: M P Jabir in Men's 400m Hurdles Round 1 Heat 5: 8:27 am IST.
 
COMPLETED: Dutee Chand in Women's 100m Round 1 Heats: 8:45 am IST Start.
 
COMPLETED Mixed 4x400m Relay Race Round 1 Heat 2: India's finishes last (3:19.93).
 
ALSO READ: Olympics 2021: India men's and women's Hockey full schedule, squad, timings

Badminton:
 
COMPLETED: P V Sindhu defeats Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) in Women's Singles Quarterfinal Match: 1:15 pm IST.
 
Boxing:
 
COMPLETED: Simranjit Kaur vs Sudaporn Seesondee (Thailand) in Women's 60kg Round of 16 Bout: 8:18 am IST.
 
COMPLETED: Lovlina Borgohain vs Nien-Chin Chen (Chinese Taipei) in Women's 69kg Quarterfinal Bout: 8:48 am IST.
 
Equestrian:
 
COMPLETED: Fouad Mirza finishes 7th in Eventing Dressage Day 1 Session 2:.
 
Golf:
 
Men's individual stroke play round 2 (to be continued on Saturday) has Anirban Lahiri T-20 and Udayan S Mane T57 at the end of Friday..
 
Hockey:
 
COMPLETED: India wins 1-0 against Ireland in Women's Pool A Match:.
 
COMPLETED: India defeats Japan in Men's Pool A match.
 
Shooting:
 
COMPLETED: Manu Bhaker and Rahi Sarnobat in Women's 25m Pistol Qualification Rapid: 5:30 am IST.
 

8:40 PM

Tokyo Olympics 2020: India's schedule on Saturday, July 31

 

 

All eyes will be on Equestrian Fouuad Mirza as he takes the field with his favourite horse to stake a claim in a sport that has seen only two players before him at the Olympics.

 

Besides, India’s Women Hockey team will be eyeing a much-needed victory against South Africa after winning their previous match 1-0 against Ireland to stay in quarter-finals contention.

 

Hopes will be high from Atanu Das in archery after India's medal hopeful Deepika crashed out of the marquee event on Friday.

 

Meanwhile, Indian athletes will be in action in Sailing, Golf, Badminton, Archery, Boxing, etc.

 

Here's India's schedule on Saturday, July 31 at the Tokyo Olympics 2020

 

 

Boxing

 

Round of 16: Amit Panghal vs Y. Martinez (Colombia) – 7:30 am

 

Quarterfinal: Pooja Rani vs Li Qian (China) – 3:36 pm

 

Shooting qualification – 50m rifle 3 – Tejaswini Sawant, Anjum Moudgil – 8:30 am

 

Final – 12:30 pm

 

Athletics

 

Women’s discus throw Group A – Seema Punia – 6:00 am

 

Women’s discus throw Group B – Kamalpreet Kaur – 7:25 am

 

Men’s Long Jump – M. Sreeshankar – 3:40 pm

 

Sailing – 49er Race 10 – Ganapathy Kelapanda, Varun Thakkar -- 8:35 am

 

Archery men's individual Pre-Quarterfinal – Atanu Das vs T. Furukawa (Japan) – 7:16 am

 

Semifinal – 11:15 am onwards

 

Medal rounds – 1:00 pm onwards

 

Badminton women’s singles semifinals – PV Sindhu vs Tai Tzu Ying (Chinese Taipei) – 2:30 pm onwards

 

Hockey – India women vs South Africa – 8:45 am

 

 

 

7:23 PM

Second Olympics gold for Ma Long

 

China's Ma Long defeated Fan Zhandong  4-2 (11-4, 10-12, 11-8, 11-9, 3-11, 11-7) to win gold in men's table tennis. This is the second singles gold medal for Ma Long after 2016 Rio Games.

7:05 PM

Tokyo Games: Mirza & Seigneur Medicott conclude dressage round with 28.00 penalties

India's first Equestrian to qualify for the Olympics in last two decades, Fouaad Mirza astride his horse 'Seigneur Medicott' put on an exciting show on the first day of individual eventing at the Tokyo Olympics here on Friday.

 

Following a spectacular horse and rider performance, Fouaad sits on the 7th place with 28.00 penalties with 21 riders yet to compete, a statement issued by the Embassy Group, which has backed the rider, said on Friday.

 

A total of 42 out of 63 riders participated on day 1 of the "Individual eventing dressage" round.

 

The second day will see the remaining 21 riders compete, concluding the dressage competition.

 

Fouaad's next event after the dressage round which is Cross Country is scheduled on August 1.

7:04 PM

On winning Olympic gold, Punjab hockey players to get Rs 2.25 crore each: Sports Minister

Punjab Sports Minister Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi on Friday announced that the hockey players from the state participating in the Tokyo Olympics would get Rs 2.25 crore each if the team wins a gold medal.

Earlier, an amount of Rs 2.25 crore had been announced to be given to the entire team if it won a gold.

Sodhi, as per an official statement, said that out of total 20 players from Punjab, 11 players are giving their best in the Indian hockey team competing in Tokyo Olympics.

The men's team has raised hopes of a medal by qualifying for the quarterfinals in Tokyo, winning four of their five league matches.

India last won an Olympic medal in hockey in 1980 when they won the last of their eight gold medals.

6:20 PM

Ethiopia's Barega wins 1st track gold of Tokyo Olympics

 

 

Ethiopian runner Selemon Barega won the first track and field gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics on Friday with victory in the men's 10,000 meters.

 

Barega broke clear on the last lap and won in 27 minutes, 43.22 seconds, upsetting world champion and world-record holder Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda, who took the silver medal in 27:43.63. Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda was third for bronze.

 

Barega won the 10,000 title back for Ethiopia after Mo Farah of Britain claimed gold at the last two Olympics. Farah isn't running in Tokyo after failing to make the British team.

 

Barega won at a largely empty Olympic Stadium. The men's 10,000 was the only medal event on the first day of track competition.

6:19 PM

Olympic first: Men, women to swim together in the same race

Swimming is nothing if not orderly. Get ready for a little chaos.

Here comes the 4x100-meter mixed medley relay making its Olympic debut in Tokyo on Saturday: Two men and two women per country doing backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle.

The teams get to decide who swims each stroke, so a woman from one team and a man from the other could be doing the butterfly, say, at the same time.

FINA, the sport's world governing body, added two mixed relays to its program at the 2015 world championships in Kazan, Russia, where the 4x100 mixed freestyle relay also debuted.

While there are no restrictions on whether a man or woman swims which stroke, there are some general strategies that teams follow at the highest levels for the mixed relay.

Most teams put a woman on the final freestyle leg because the time difference between women and men is generally less on that stroke than the other three. All 16 teams anchored with a female in the Olympic preliminaries.

Likewise, a man generally swims the breaststroke, where there's a larger gap between the fastest men's and women's times roughly 7 1/2 seconds for the gold medalists in Tokyo. All but one team in the preliminaries went with a male on the third leg.

There's more wiggle room on the backstroke and butterfly legs. In the preliminaries, 10 of 16 teams used a man on the backstroke, while the butterfly leg featured nine females and seven men.

6:15 PM

Olympics 2021 live updates: India's results on Friday

BOXING: Lovlina Borgohain beats Chen Nien-Chin of Chinese Taipei 4-1 in the women's welterweight quarterfinal. Lovlina is now assured of a medal, She will play her semifinal on August 4.

 

BADMINTON: PV Sindhu beat Japan's Akane Yamaguchi 21-13, 22-20 to advance to the women's singles semifinals.

 

ARCHERY  Deepika Kumari beat Ksenia Perova (ROC) 6-5 to advance to the women's quarterfinals, where she lost 0-6 to top seed An San.

 

EQUESTRIAN: Fouaad Mirza is tied 7th at the end of the day from 42 competitors, with a score of 28. 

 

HOCKEY: India's women's team defeated Ireland 1-0 to stay in QF race. 

 

India's men's team beat Japan 5-3 Men's Pool A.

 

GOLF: Men's individual stroke play round 2 (to be continued on Saturday) has Anirban Lahiri T-20 and Udayan S Mane T57 at the end of Friday.

 

SHOOTING: Manu Bhaker and Rahi Sarnobat finish 15th and 32nd, respectively, in the women's 25m pistol qualification.

 

ATHLETICS: Men's 3000m steeplechase: Avinash Sable finished seventh in heat 2 with a time of 8:18.12, bettering his own national record of 8:20.20 in the process. However, he couldn't make the final as the top three from each heat, plus the next six fastest times across all heats, advance to the 15-man final.

 

ATHLETICS:

 

Women's 100m preliminary heats -- Dutee Chand finished 7th in her heat with a timing of 11.54 seconds. She did not make it to the semifinals.

 

Men's 400m hurdles -- MP Jabir finished seventh in heat 5 with a time of 50.77 seconds. He didn't make it to the semifinals.

 

SAILING: Nethra Kumanan is 35th after 10 races in the women's one person dinghy laser radial event. Vishnu Saravanan is 20th overall after 10 races in the men's one person dinghy laser event. The men's skiff 49er duo of KC Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar are in 17th position after 9 races.

 

BOXING: Simranjit Kaur lost 5-0 on points to Sudaporn Seesondee (Thailand) in the women's lightweight round of 16.

 

ATHLETICS: Mixed 4x400m relay -- Revathi Veeramani, Subha Venkatesan, Alex Anthony and Sarthak Bhambri finished 8th in heat 2, 13th overall.

5:43 PM

Olympics 2021 live updates: Equestrian

Fouaad Mirza ended 7th in Equestrian Dressage today. He will again be in action tomorrow. 

5:01 PM

Olympics 2021 live updates: India in Athletics Mixed Relay

 

 

India's Mixed relay team eliminated. it's a last place finish for the Indian team with a time of 3:19.93. Poland (3:10.44), Netherlands and Jamaica tops it.

4:49 PM

Olympics 2021 live updates: India in Athletics Mixed Relay at 5:00pm

India's mixed relay team are now set to take the field.

4:41 PM

Olympics 2021 live updates: Men's Hockey: India defeats Japan

4:34 PM

Olympics 2021 live updates: Men's Hockey: India vs Japan

 

4th Quarter: Japan is mnaking last-ditch efforts to close in the gap but it al looks futile as India dominates. Meanwhile, Japan scores and it's 5-3. Up goes the bell and it's 5-3 as India seals a hat-trick of wins after losing 1-7 to Australia in its campaign opener.

 

4:28 PM

Olympics 2021 live updates: Men's Hockey: India vs Japan

 

4th Quarter: A penalty corner for India and GOAL!! It's 5-2 now and India looks set to win this game!

4:27 PM

Olympics 2021 live updates: Men's Hockey: India vs Japan

 

 

4th Quarter: Penalty corner for India but defended well by the Japanese keeper. It's Japan turn for a penalty corner and Sreejesh saves it but the ball hits him hard on just above the knee. Down to last five minutes.

4:20 PM

Olympics 2021 live updates: Men's Hockey: India vs Japan

 

4th Quarter: The last 15 minutes of the match and Japan looks to level the score while India looks to seal the match by extending its lead. The Japanse keeper suffers a blow just as Hardik strikes. Both Japan and India were close to score another goal but the keepers does a greab job. GOAL!! India scores finally and it's 4-2 lead now over Japan.