Tokyo Olympics: Shooters crash out, debutant boxer a win away from medal

India’s shooters failed to hit the mark and the country suffered heartbreak in badminton as well on Tuesday, but day 5 of the Tokyo Olympics was salvaged by wins in boxing and hockey.
 
Considered India’s best bet for a podium finish, the duo of Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker caved in under pressure and failed to qualify for the final of the 10m air pistol mixed team event.
 
They finished seventh in the second phase of qualification.
 

The other Indian team, Abhishek Verma and Yashaswini Singh Deswal, failed to clear qualification 1 and finished in the 17th place.

 
In the 10m air rifle mixed event, too, the two Indian pairs crashed out at the qualifications stage. The duo of Elavenil Valarivan and Divyansh Singh Panwar finished 12th, while Anjum Moudgil and Deepak Kumar ended 18th out of 29 pairs.
 
Chirag-Satwik’s win not enough
 
Shuttlers Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy emerged victorious against the England pair of Ben Lane and Sean Vendy in their final Group A match but still missed out on qualifying for the quarterfinals. Ranked 10th in the world, the Indians beat their opponents 21-17 21-19.
 
However, they couldn't make it to the knockout stage as they finished third in Group A behind the top-ranked Indonesian team and the world number three pair from Chinese Taipei.

 
All three teams finished on the same points with two wins each and when the number of games won was considered to identify the qualifiers, the Indians lost. Only the top two pairs of a group make it to the quarterfinals.
 
Lovlina makes it to quarters
 
Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) is one win away from winning a boxing medal after defeating German veteran Nadine Apetz in a closely-fought last-16 stage bout. The 23-year-old debutant prevailed 3-2 over her rival, who is 12 years older, by the thinnest of margins claiming all three rounds on split points.
 
Borgohain, a two-time World and Asian championships bronze-medallist, will face off against former world champion and fourth-seeded Nien-Chin Chen of Chinese Taipei on July 30.

 
Men’s hockey team stages comeback
 
Dragflicker Rupinder Pal Singh scored a brace as the Indian men’s hockey overcame a demoralising defeat in the previous match to cruise past Spain 3-0 and inch closer to a quarterfinal berth.
 
Drubbed 1-7 by Australia in their last match, India produced a spirited performance against world No 9 Spain and scored through Simranjeet Singh (14th minute) and Rupinder Pal Singh (15th and 51st) to record a comfortable win in their third Pool A match. India, ranked fourth in the world, had earlier defeated New Zealand 3-2 in their opening fixture. Spain, meanwhile, are yet to register a win in the competition. The Indians will next play reigning Olympic champions Argentina on Thursday.

 
Sharath tests mighty Ma Long
 
Sharath Kamal matched the legendary Ma Long stroke for stroke in the first three games before making a third round exit from the table tennis competition, ending India’s medal-less yet impressive run at the Tokyo Olympics.
 
The way 39-year-old Sharath played against Long has convinced him to think about competing in his fifth Olympics in Paris. He fought tooth and nail in the first three games against the reigning Olympic and world champion before going down 7-11, 11-8, 11-13, 4-11 and 4-11 in 46 minutes.
 
Following the unprecedented gains made from the 2018 Asian Games, where India won a table tennis medal for the first time ever, the performance of Sharath and Manika Batra in the round of 32 added significantly to the sport’s growing popularity. They both achieved a first by reaching the third round at the Summer Games.

 
Sailing on
 
Vishnu Saravanan finished at 12th spot at the Laser Race 6, with two more races to follow on Wednesday. With this he has moved to 22nd in the overall table, moving up three positions. Only the top 10 qualify for the medal race. In the women’s Laser Race 6, Nethra Kumanan — India’s first woman sailor to qualify for the Olympics — finished 38th, with four races left.