PANAJI: Day 12 at Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games turned out to be the peak performance day for Team India with wrestler Ravi Kumar Dahiya storming into the final after snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Javelin Throw medal prospect Neeraj Chopra eased into the final with a monstrous effort in his first attempt of the morning, while Lovlina Borgohain fought hard in the semi-final, but was unable to change the colour of her medal. Nevertheless the Assam talent added her bronze to India’s tally that now reads one silver and two bronze medals. Moreover, wrestler Deepak Punia and Indian women’s hockey team are also in with a chance to bag third places respectively. Meanwhile, Indian men’s hockey team will be in action in the bronze medal playoff against Germany on Thursday morning at 7am IST.
Here are the highlights of the memorable day’s action for Team India, courtesy https://olympics.com/en/
*India’s Ravi Kumar Dahiya stormed into the Tokyo 2020 Olympics men’s 57kg freestyle wrestling event’s gold medal match after a victory by fall over Kazakhstan’s Nurislam Sanayev in the semi-finals.
Ravi Kumar Dahiya is the second Indian wrestler in history to enter the gold medal match at the Olympics. Sushil Kumar made it to the final at London 2012 but won silver.
The Indian wrestler on his Olympic debut will face ROC’s Zavur Uguev, a two-time world champion, in the final.With just 50 seconds left on the clock, Ravi Dahiya scored a two-point takedown and converted it to a pin – exposing both his opponent’s shoulders to the mat – and won the bout by fall.
*India’s Lovlina Borgohain bagged the women’s 69kg boxing bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics after losing to reigning world champion Busenaz Surmeneli of Turkey in the semi-finals.
Lovlina Borgohain had earlier beaten Germany’s Nadine Apetz in the round of 16 before overcoming Chinese Taipei’s Chen Nien-chin in the quarter-finals. In Olympics boxing, both the losing semi-finalists get the bronze medal.
The 23-year-old Lovlina Borgohain, fighting from the blue corner at the Ryogoku Kokugikan arena, lost her bout by unanimous decision.
*Indian track and field star Neeraj Chopra kick-started his Tokyo Olympics campaign by sealing his place in the final of the men’s javelin throw event.
At the Olympic Stadium, the 23-year-old Neeraj Chopra cleared the qualifying mark of 83.50 metres in his first attempt to book a place in Saturday’s final. He topped the overall standings with a throw of 86.65 metres.
The former world champion and the man with the world leading throw of the season, Johannes Vetter of Germany, was second with 85.64m, taking all three attempts before he could make the cut. Neeraj Chopra made only a single attempt.
*India fought until the very last minute but Argentina held on to their 2-1 advantage to win the semi-final of the Tokyo Olympics women’s hockey event at the Oi Hockey Stadium.
Rani Rampal’s India, ranked No. 7, will now face Great Britain in the bronze medal match, while Argentina will take on the Netherlands for the gold on Friday.
In the semis, the Indian women’s hockey team had taken the lead as early as the second minute of the semi-final with a penalty-corner conversion by Gurjit Kaur. World No. 2 Argentina hit back with quicker, aggressive play, putting pressure on the Indian defence, which fell short after the first quarter. India tried hard for the equaliser in the fourth quarter after twin goals from Noel Barrionuevo (18th and 36th minutes) but the Argentinian defence stayed firm to close out the game.
*India golfer Aditi Ashok got off to a flying start at the Tokyo Olympics.
The 23-year-old Aditi, along with the reigning women’s PGA Championships winner Nelly Korda of the USA, were tied-second with a score of four-under 67 after the opening round at the Kasumigaseki Country Club.
Sweden’s Madelene Sagström, meanwhile, led the field by one shot with a score of five-under 66.
*India’s Deepak Punia couldn’t stand up to the guile and guts of USA’s Daniel Taylor as the American romped home to a 10-0 win on technical superiority in the semi-finals of the 86kg freestyle category at the Tokyo Olympics.
The former world champion Daniel Taylor meant business at the Makuhari Messe as he was quick to attack his opponent and find openings to score the points.
Though the Indian wrestler tried his best, he was no match for the American as a gut wrench followed by a few flips shut the doors on Deepak Punia’s hopes of making the final at Tokyo 2020.
The 22-year-old Deepak Punia will now head into the bronze medal bout on Thursday. He will face the winner of the repechage match between Myles Amine of San Marino and Belarus’s Ali Shabanau.
*Indian wrestler Anshu Malik, the reigning Asian champion, lost to two-time world championship bronze medallist Iryna Kurachkina of Belarus 8-2 in the women’s 57kg category.
The 27-year-old Belarussian proceeded to the final later in the day and Anshu,19, secured a re-entry into the competition through the repechage round.
