***********Rio Olympics 2016******************

[i_sudigadu]

lol shoba de

[Kool_SRG]

Vikas Krishnan won over American boxer Charles konwell 3-0..Progresses to Pre-quarter finals in 75 Kgs boxing category.Nice start.

[Kool_SRG]

Rio Olympics 2016 Archery Live Score: Bombayla Devi, Deepika Kumari Crash Out Of Olympics

 

18:06 IST: It's all over for Bombayla. She loses the fourth set 25-23 to crash out of the Olympics.

18:02 IST: Bombayla Devi loses the first half. She scores 27, but Valencia finishes with a 10 to take her score to 28. Bombayla trails 4-2.

17:59 IST: Bombayla Devi strikes back by winning the second set. She scores 26, but Valencia can only manage 23. It's all square at the Sambodromo!

17:57 IST: Bombayla Devi loses the first set after scoring 26 with a single 10. Valencia scores 28 with one 10.

17:55 IST: Bombayla Devi's pre-quarter match is about to start. If she wins, her quarterfinal match will be held after 11 pm.

17:48 IST: Bombayla Devi will shortly be in action in her pre-quarterfinal match against Alejandra Valencia. Can she keep alive India's hopes of a medal in archery?

17:36 IST: It's the end of the road for Deepika Kumari at Rio 2016. She manages three 9s in Set 3 to score a total of 27. Tan Ya-Ting scores a perfect 30 to take the set. It's an easy 6-0 win for World no. Ya-Ting.

17:33 IST: Tan Ya-Ting takes the second set. She scores a total of 29, with two 10s. Deepika's score is 26. Tan Ya-Ting leads 4-0.

17:30 IST: Tan Ya-Ting takes the first set. She scores 10, 9, 9 to score a total of 28. Deepika manages a 27 with a single 10.

17:28 IST: Deepika Kumari's pre-quarter clash against World no. 2 Tan Ya-Ting is set to begin. Can she pull off an upset here?

[TheBrahmabull]

very disappointing and sad Olympics so far for india

[Kool_SRG]

Rio Olympics 2016 Hockey Highlights: Netherlands Score Thrilling 2-1 Win Vs India To Stay Unbeaten

India put on a spirited display, but failed to get a result as they went down 2-1 to Netherlands in a Pool B hockey match in Rio Olympics 2016.

India failed to find an equaliser despite earning five consecutive penalty corners in the dying seconds, as they went down 2-1 to Netherlands in a men's Pool B match in Rio Olympics 2016. 

20:02 IST: Five penalty corners in the last minute and Netherlands manage to hold off the Indians in the dying seconds of the match. They win 2-1 to stay unbeaten. India still have a chance to make the quarters. India play Canada next.

20:01 IST: Rupinder with the final dragflick but the Dutch escape to victory.

20:00 IST: Yet another penalty corner. This is some sort of record.

19:59 IST: Fourth penalty corner in the last minute of the match. India loving it but can't score the equaliser.

19:57 IST: Another penalty corner for India.

19:55 IST: Close call for the Dutch and India win another penalty corner. This is heart-stopping!

19:54 IST: India win a penalty corner with six seconds remaining.

19:51 IST: India can't score. Good defending by the Dutch. They keep the 2-1 lead. Less than two minutes remaining.

19:50 IST: India have an extra forward now and they win a penalty corner now. Good chance for India to make it 2-2.

19:49 IST: Raghunath will also keep goals. Sreejesh has walked off. Raghunath will be the sweeper-keeper. This is a rare thing in hockey. Three minutes left.

19:47 IST: Netherlands take the lead. A brilliant flick to Sreejesh's right does the trick. The goal scorer is Mink van der Weerden (2-1).

19:44 IST: India concede another penalty corner. Less than six minutes left.

19:44 IST: India are soaking in a lot of pressure. The Dutch have been relentless for the lead. Six minutes left and the score is 1-1.

19:43 IST: Fine save by Sreejesh but Holland win another penalty corner. It has been wasted. India survive.

19:42 IST: Penalty corner for the Dutch.

19:42 IST: Eight minutes left. India need a draw to make the quarterfinals. India have all 11 men back on the pitch.

19:38 IST: Sreejesh has had 14 saves out of 20 shots on goal so far. That's an incredible record for any goalie.

19:37 IST: Sreejesh brings off a fine save diving to his right. Score remains 1-1.

19:36 IST: The Dutch win a penalty corner with 13 minutes remaining.

19:35 IST: The final quarter starts and Dutch are on the attack straightaway.

19:32 IST: With nine men, India manage to finish third quarter 1-1. They will start the last quarter with nine men as the five-minute punishment gets carried forward.

19:29 IST: India are down to nine men -- Sunil and Raghunath are yellow carded for cynical fouls. Three minutes to go.

19:27 IST: This was Raghunath's second goal of Rio 2016. The Indians are mounting pressure on the Dutch. It's 1-1 with four minutes left in third quarter.

19:22 IST: Rupinder Pal Singh hits straight to the Dutch goalie but India win another penalty corner and Raghunath scores to make it 1-1. Perfect flick to the goalie's left. Lovely goal!

19:21 IST: India get their first penalty corner in the 38th minute. Can they equalise?

19:16 IST: India concede their first goal. Rogier Hofman gives the Dutch the lead in the 32nd minute. He scored off a rebound after Sreejesh saved the dragflick.

19:15 IST: The Dutch earn their first penalty corner in the opening minutes of the third quarter.

19:12 IST: Third quarter starts. The Dutch are unbeaten in Rio.

19:02 IST: It's the end of the second quarter and the stalemate continues.

19:01 IST: The Indian defence and goalie are doing well. The Dutch are making sporadic attacks but the finish is missing. 0-0 after 28 minutes.

18:56 IST: Sreejesh has brought off two nice saves, but this period has been quite tepid. It's 0-0 after 25 minutes.

18:52 IST: Lot of Oranje supporters in the stands now. But the hockey has not been very attractive so far. It's still 0-0 after 20 minutes.

18:48 IST: Second quarter gets under way. Will we see a goal in this period? The Dutch scored seven goals against Canada in their last match.

18:45 IST: The first quarter comes to an end. It's 0-0. No team has had a proper look at the goal. No good moves either.

18:40 IST: This is the first time in the history of the Olympics that the 15-minute quarter system has been adopted. A match has four quarters.

18:33 IST: Both teams happy to hold on to the ball. Very cautious approach. Four minutes gone. It is 0-0.

18:27 IST: SK Uthappa will be playing his 100th international today. This Indian team is full of experience.

18:26 IST: Indian players get a rousing welcome from a handful of supporters at the Olympic Hockey Centre.

[Kool_SRG]

13 minutes ago, TheBrahmabull said:

very disappointing and sad Olympics so far for india

+1 doesn't look good at all & no further hopes as such although there are some names to be reckoned.

[Kool_SRG]

Rio Olympics: Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu Off To A Winning Start

 

Saina Nehwal edged past Brazilian Lohaynny Vicente in her first round, whereas ninth seed PV Sindhu beat Laura Sarosi of Hungary. However, Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy lost in men's doubles and the women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa too suffered the same fate

HIGHLIGHTS

• 1Saina Nehwal will now face Maria Ulitina of Ukraine on August 14
• 2Saina Nehwal won the bronze at 2012 London Olympics
• 3PV Sindhu will face Li Michelle of Canada on August 14

Rio de Janeiro: London Games bronze winner Saina Nehwal and two-time World Championship bronze medallist, P V Sindhu made a resounding start to their badminton campaign at the Rio Olympics but it turned out to be a dismal day for the Indian doubles players on Thursday. Former World No. 1 Saina staved off a spirited challenge from World No. 73 Brazilian girl Lohaynny Vicente 21-17 21-17 in a women's singles match which lasted 39 minutes at the Riocentro here.

The World Championship silver medallist Indian will next take on World No. 61 Maria Ulitina of Ukraine in a Group G match on August 14. The 26-year-old from Hyderabad took 20 minutes to pocket the opening game before sealing the issue by wrapping up the second game in 19 minutes. Ninth seed Sindhu too had a good day in office as she spanked Laura Sarosi of Hungary 21-8 21-9 in a Group M women's singles match that lasted for 27 minutes.

She will play against Glasgow Commonwealth Games champion Li Michelle of Canada on August 14 to complete the preliminary group engagements. Sindhu didn't break any sweat against her World No. 64 rival as she took 13 and 14 minutes to wrap up the first and second games. Earlier, the Indian combination of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa was off to a disappointing start in the women's doubles event, losing 15-21 10-21 to the World No.1 Japanese pair of Ayaka Takahashi and Misaki Matsumoto in a match which lasted 36 minutes in their Group A opener.

 

P V Sindhu will play against Glasgow Commonwealth Games champion Li Michelle of Canada on August 14.

© PTI

 

The Indians will next be up against the world No.11 Dutch pair of Eefje Muskens and Selena Piek in their second group clash tomorrow. In the men's doubles competition, Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy lost 18-21 13-21 to World No.2 Indonesian duo of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. Manu and Sumeeth fought hard in the opening game before running out of steam. They will be facing the World No. 5 Chinese pair of Biao Chai and Wei Hong.

Squandering a lead

Jwala and Ashwini opened a 4-1 lead but ended up blowing it away in no time after the Japanese pair put across some targetted deep returns which the Indians failed to judge. The world No.1s, in contrast, were quick on their feet and returned everything that the Indians threw at them. Jwala and Ashwini, who were struggling to coordinate their moves, trailed 8-11 at the first lemon break and could not bridge the gap even once.

The Japanese pair produced a couple of brilliant winners -- a backhand flick down the line by Matsumoto being particularly impressive -- to wrap up the opening game in 19 minutes without breaking much of a sweat. The second game followed a similar script with Takahashi and Matsumoto racing to a 6-3 lead. The top seeds capitalised on Jwala and Ashwini's apparent lack of rhythm and managed to send down winners in open gaps. Jwala and Ashwini were found wanting close to the net as well and ended up committing quite a few unforced errors to lose the match rather timidly.

After the match, Ashwini said: "It was a tough first round outing. I think we could have played a better match. Overall it's pretty okay. Now is the time to focus on the next match. We have played them before. Not going to take them lightly. They are a good pair as well. "We have to be a little more consistent tomorrow & hang in there. The two of us are going to give our best & fight all out to go and win." Jwala said: "We always knew the first one would be tough. Good to get over the tough one first up itself. I think the quality was pretty okay. They are World no 1 and Ashwini and I played quite good. Little more consistency needed. "Tomorrow our opponents standard won't be so high, so I am pretty confident. If we are able to continue the way we are playing, we will win tomorrow. We moved a lot today, long rallies."

Manu and Sumeeth, who also suffered a loss today, said: "We played really well. First set we played well, 2nd set many unforced errors. They are one of the world's top pair. We guys played well in the first match. It was a good game. On their next opponents World No. 5 Chinese pair, Manu said: "We have beaten them in the All England Championships last year. We still have a good chance of qualifying. We will give our best. It is their debut Olympics and Manu and Sumeeth said they are happy with their effort so far. "Really happy with the show," Manu said. Sumeeth: "I'm happy with the effort. These were tougher opponents but the Chinese (next opponents) we have beaten them. With the game we are not unsatisfied. The confidence is still there."

[Kool_SRG]

Rio Olympics 2016 Hockey: India Go Down To Netherlands But Stay In Hunt For Quarters

India men lost their second match in the Rio Olympics 2016 hockey competition vs the Netherlands

 

 

HIGHLIGHTS

• 1India wasted six penalty corners in three minutes
• 2Raghunath played the rare role of a sweeper keeper for India
• 3Netherlands stay unbeaten in Pool B

India wasted six penalty corners in the last three minutes of their Pool B encounter against the Netherlands to go down 2-1 on Thursday. This was India's second defeat in four matches in the Rio Olympics 2016 hockey competition.

The unbeaten Dutch rode goals from Rogier Hofman (32nd) and Mink Van Der Weerden (54th) but VR Raghunath's 38th minute goal kept India in hunt for a point that they needed to seal a berth in the quarterfinals.

With two wins and two defeats, India remain in fray for a quarterfinal berth. A win against Canada on Friday should suffice. Germany and Netherlands are already in the quarters and Argentina could be the other qualifier.

The India versus Netherlands match came to life after the half-time. No team had a clear look at the goal in the first two quarters but the Dutch scored early in the third quarter from their first penalty corner.

Hofman scored off a rebound after a stiff hit off the short corner was well-saved by Indian goalie and captain PR Sreejesh.

The goal injected a sense of urgency in the Indians. They forced back-to-back short corners and Raghunath was successful with the second with a powerful flick to the goalie's left. It was his second goal of the tournament.

The Dutch built a lot of pressure in the last quarter. But Sreejesh stood like a rock throughout, only to be beaten with six minutes remaining. Van Der Weerden's drag flick was just too good for the veteran Indian goalkeeper.

India were down to nine men towards the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth - SV Sunil and Raghunath saw the yellow card for foul play. But they did well to prevent a goal.

With less than five remaining, India took the gamble of taking off Sreejesh as goalie and added an extra striker. Raghunath, wearing a yellow beep over his blue shirt, played the role of sweeper keeper.

India then forced a spate of penalty corners but the Dutch survived the dying minutes of the match to pocket full points.

[Kool_SRG]

Rio Olympics 2016: India Boxers Survive Disqualification After Jersey Controversy

India's boxers were on the brink of disqualification from Rio Olympics 2016 for not wearing proper jerseys.

 

HIGHLIGHTS

• 1World body had pulled up Indian boxers for a technical flaw
• 2Boxers didn't have 'India' written on their vests
• 3Two boxers have made winning starts. Shiva Thapa to fight today

Threatened with disqualification for not wearing vests bearing their country's name, Indian boxers at the ongoing Rio Olympics 2016 have got their kits replaced as mandated by the International Boxing Association (AIBA) and will now compete without any fuss.

India's campaign at Rio 2016 could have gone from bad to worse, after the AIBA had threatened to ban Indian boxers for not wearing jerseys with their country's name written on them.

Manoj Kumar and Vikas Krishan have already won their first bouts while Shiva Thapa will fight in his first bout later today.

Soon after his win on Wednesday Manoj Kumar was warned by the AIBA officials that he will not be allowed to fight his next bout if he doesn't wear a jersey with the name of his country written on the back.

Wearing kit with your country's name is a statutory requirement in boxing during Olympics. NDTV had learnt that the Indian officials in Rio were making last-minute efforts to have new kits organised.

"It was pointed out to us and it has been sorted. It is a very normal issue, lot of countries face this problem of their kits not being up to it. In such instances, the organisers themselves provide the replacements," national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu told PTI.

"Our case has also been sorted and there is no risk of disqualification. Our boys will compete as scheduled and there is no need to worry," he added.

It is worth noting that the Indian boxing federations have been banned by the AIBA since June 2015 and were only provisionally allowed to participate at the Rio Games. Currently, Indian boxing is governed by an ad-hoc body.

[Kool_SRG]

Rio Olympics 2016 Shooting Live Score: Mairaj Khan Slips After Good Start In Qualification

Gagan Narang and Chain Singh crashed out of the men's 50m rifle prone event after disappointing performances in the qualification round.

 

Gagan Narang and Chain Singh both crashed out of the men's 50m rifle prone events after disappointing performances in the qualification round. Mairaj Khan, meanwhile, is in action in the men's qualification. Follow shooting live score of Rio Olympics 2016 here. (SCHEDULE | MEDAL TALLY)

19:15 IST: Meanwhile, more bad news for India as Manpreet Kaur finishes 20th in the shotput qualification round, and bows out of the event.

19:08 IST: Mairaj Khan has slipped after a good start, but he is still in the top 10 with a score of 24.

18:53 IST: India's Mairaj Ahmad Khan has started strongly in the men's qualification event. He has a total of 19 from the first round and is currently placed 3rd.

18:20 IST: Gagan Narang and Chain Singh have both crashed out of the 50m rifle prone event. Narang finishes with a score of 623.1 and finishes in the 13th spot. Chain Singh finishes in 36th place with a score of 619.6. It's a disappointing end to India's challenge in the 50m rifle prone event.

18:16 IST: A terrible Series 6 from Gagan Narang sees him go out of the top 10. His total score is 623.1.

18:13 IST: Gagan Narang has dropped to 9th after a couple of poor shots. He still has two more shots remaining.

18:11 IST: Russia's Sergey Kamenskiy leads the standings having scored 629 from this round.

18:05 IST: Gagan Narang finishes Series 5 with a score of 104. He is in 8th spot. Can he make it to the final?

17:58 IST: Gagan Narang has slipped after managing a score of 103 in Series 4. He is still in the 8th spot with a score of 458.2.

17:53 IST: Meanwhile, Chain Singh is down at 34th with a score of 340.3. His Series 2 score of 101 has hurt his chances badly.

17:48 IST: A strong Series 3 from Gagan Narang. He scores 104.6 in this series and follows with up with a good start in Series 4 to take his total to 344.3. He is currently in the fifth spot.

17:44 IST: Gagan Narang finishes Series 2 with a score of 104.4. He starts off well in Series 3 as well, and is currently 3rd with a score of 262.1.

17:39 IST: Chain Singh has dropped down to 22nd after managing 41 from his first four attempts in Series 2.

17:37 IST: Gagan Narang has scored 104.7 in Series 1 and is currently in the 7th spot. Chain Singh scores 104.1 to be placed 12th.

17:35 IST: Gagan Narang has made a decent start so far. He is tied 4th with a score of 94.6 in Series 1.

17:34 IST: Chain Singh, with a total of 51.5, is tied 25th in Series 1.

17:32 IST: Gagan narang starts off with a 10.5. He adds another 21 from his next two attempts to take his total to 31.5 in Series 1.

17:20 IST: Hello and welcome to our live coverage of shooting events from Rio Olympics 2016. The day will start with Gagan Narang and Chain Singh taking part in the qualifying of the 50m rifle prone event.

 

Gagan Narang is aiming to secure his second medal at the Olympic Games.

© PTI

 

India's Mairaj Khan Ahmad will be in action in the qualifiers of the event. That starts at 6 PM IST.

A fourth Indian will also be in show. Gurpreet Singh will participate in the qualifiers of 25m rapid fire event from 8:45 PM.

A lot of focus will be on Gagan Narang and Chain Singh. The final rounds of 50m rifle prone event will start at 7:30 PM IST. Will Narang and Singh make it?

Thirty-three-year-old Narang, who won a bronze medal in the 10m air rifle event in London 2012, finished seventh in the 50m rifle prone event at the World Cup in Baku in June this year. He had shot 621.1.

Narang will be up against Russia's Sergey Kamenskiy, who holds the world record in the event with a score of 633. Narang had won silver in this event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Twenty-seven-year-old Chain Singh from Jammu and Kashmir will be a dark horse of sorts. Chain Singh won the bronze medal at the 2014 Asian Games in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions event. He won the 50m prone gold in this year's South Asian Games in Guwahati.

He followed that up with a gold medal at the International Shooting Competition of Hannover (ISCH) in May 2015. This will be his maiden Olympics.

[Kool_SRG]

Rio Olympics 2016: Gagan Narang, Chain Singh Disappoint In 50m Rifle Prone Shooting

Gagan Narang blew away a strong start in the men's 50m rifle prone qualification, to crash out of the event at the Rio Olympics. Chain Singh too disappointed with a 36th place finish

 

HIGHLIGHTS

• 1Gagan Narang and Chain Singh both bowed out of the 50M rifle prone event
• 2Narang blew away a strong start to finish 13th
• 3Chain Singh started poorly and eventually finished in the 36th place

Indian shooters Gagan Narang and Chain Singh crashed out of the men's 50m rifle prone event at the Rio Olympics on Friday, after finishing out of the top 8 in the qualification round.

Narang started off well and event climbed to the 3rd spot at one point. He was within touching distance of qualification to the finals at the end of Series 5.

However, a terrible score of 102.4 in Series 6 saw Gagan Narang finish in the 13th spot, below the qualifying spots.

Chain Singh, on the other hand, never managed to recover from a poor start, and finished with a score of 619.6 to finish 36th.

[Kool_SRG]

Atanu Das Loses Thriller, India's Archery Dreams Ends In Rio Olympics 2016

Atanu Das lost to Korea's Lee Seung-Yun in the pre-quarterfinals of the Rio Olympics 2016 archery competition.

 

 

Atanu Das' ouster from the men's individual pre-quarters ended India's campaign at the 2016 Rio Games archery competition.

© Reuters

 

HIGHLIGHTS

• 1India's archery in Rio 2016 has ended
• 2Atanu Das crashed out in the men's individual pre-quarters
• 3Das lost a high-scoring thriller vs Korea's Lee Seung-Yun

In a high-quality contest, India's AtanuDas went down to Korea's Lee Seung-Yun 6-4 in a pre-quarterfinal match of the Rio Olympics 2016 archery competition on Friday

In Rio's rainy conditions, the match went neck-and-neck till the fifth and final set. Das and Lee were tied 3-3 after three sets.

The fourth set, which the Korean world No. 8 won 28-27, proved to be decisive. The two-point cushion helped the Korea scrape through after the fifth set finished in a tie 28-28.

In his first Olympic Games, Atanu Das held his nerves on the big points. The 24-year-old from Kolkata displayed good form, shooting three 10s in the second set which he won 30-28.

Das had finished fifth in the ranking rounds with a career-best score of 683. He defeated Nepal's Jitbahadur Muktan 6-0 and Cuba's Andres Perez 6-4 to make the pre-quarters.

Although Seung-Yun had finished 12 in the ranking rounds with a score of 676. The Korean's career-best is a 693. He has already won the team gold in Rio Olympics 2016.

But on Friday, he proved his class starting with three 10s and held his nerves in the fifth and final set to enter the quarterfinals.

[Kool_SRG]

Rio Olympics: Kidambi Srikanth Starts Campaign With Win Over Mexico's Lino Munoz

Kidambi Srikanth held his nerve as he fought off a tough challenge against Mexico's Lino Munoz to win in straight games in the 2016 Rio Olympics

 

 

HIGHLIGHTS

• 1Srikanth is the only Indian male shuttler to enter Rio 2016
• 2Srikanth won 21-11, 21-17 against Munoz
• 3Munoz is ranked 85th in the world

Kidambi Srikanth overcame some stiff resistance in the second game from lower ranked Mexican rival Lino Munoz before winning his group H clash in straight games in men's badminton singles at the Olympic Games.

Srikanth, the only Indian male shuttler in fray in singles, got past world No 85 Munoz 21-11 21-17 in 41 minutes to give a perfect ending to the sixth day of competitions.

Earlier, Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu had also won their opening group matches in women's singles while the combinations of Jwala Gutta-Ashwini Ponnappa (women's doubles) and Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy (men's doubles) tasted defeats in their respective group openers.

If Srikanth, who had defeated badminton super star Lin Dan to win the Chinese Open two years ago, had expected an easier outing than he encountered, it was belied by the Mexican's will to fight with good backing from the crowd, especially in the second game.

After taking the opening game comfortably, the cushion of a 16-9 lead proving handy, Srikanth was given a tough fight in the second as he had to rally from behind on quite a few occasions before using his better court craft and experience to see him through.

Srikanth led 6-2 but the Mexican drew level and then led 8-6 before the Indian fought back to restore parity. Srikanth was 11-9 ahead at the break but a series of poor returns of serve saw the Indian down 11-12.

Things were neck to neck from this point till 13-all before Munoz again went up to 16-13 with the help of some weak mid-court clears by the Indian that were "killed" without much ado by the Mexican.

Srikanth again caught up at 16, fell behind 16-17 through another weak mid-court clear, but finally brought his game back on track to level the scores at 17 with a superb smash to the forehand side of his rival.

From then on the superiority of the Indian shuttler came to the fore as he came up with successive cross court and down the line smashes to lead 19-17 which were followed by a netted shot by his rival to give Srikanth four match points.

The last point was won by the Indian with a bodyline smash followed by a push to the back court that caught the Mexican in no-man's land.

After two days' rest Srikanth will be up against Sweden's Henri Hurskainen, the world no 50 on August 14 in his second and last Group H clash.

 

[Kool_SRG]

Rio Olympics: Sania Mirza-Rohan Bopanna Enter Mixed Doubles Quarterfinal

Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna gave India something to smile as they entered the quarter-final of the mixed doubles tournament in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

 

HIGHLIGHTS

• 1Sania Mirza bowed out of women's doubles event
• 2Rohan Bopanna, along with Leander Paes, exited the men's doubles event
• 3Sania-Bopanna are seeded No.4

Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna entered the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles event of tennis competition at the Rio Olympics with a straight-set win over Australian pair of Samantha Stosur and John Peers.

Sania and Bopanna, who are being touted as India's medal hope at the Olympics, broke little sweat in their opening round match to post a 7-5 6-4 win in 73 minutes.

The fourth seeded Indian pair took a little time to settle down but once they got the rhythm, there was hardly any looking back.

"Personally for me it would be amazing to win a medal at the Olympics, which I don't have. It would mean the world us.

We would do whatever we can and put our best forward," the world number one women's doubles player Sania told reporters after the match.

On a chilly and windy evening at a small court of the Tennis Centre in Barra, a lot of Indian supporters waited patiently since 3.30pm local time for the match to begin. It was delayed by men's doubles semifinals featuring Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez, that took more than two hours to finish.

Waiting among the 'spectators' were Leander Paes, Sports Minister Vijay Goel and SAI director Injeti Srinivas.

In the first set, both teams did not drop a point till the ninth game before Peers' serve was broken by the Indians and they went 5-4 up. But it did not help Sania and Bopanna's cause as they conceded the advantage in the next game itself and were broken back with the scoreline levelled at 5-5.

But before it went out of their hand, the Indians capitalised on an unforced error from their rival to take four straight points and break Stosur's service and wrap up the first set in 36 minutes.

In the second set, the Aussie pair started to wilt under pressure and a double fault from Peers gifted the Indians an early break and they took a 3-2 lead.

Even as 'come on India' chants grew louder, Sania and Bopanna held on to their serve to surge ahead 4-2. Bopanna sealed the issue in the 10th game with three big aces, to which the Aussie had no answer.

 

[Kool_SRG]

Rio Olympics: Sania, Bopanna seal semis, Vikas enters quarterfinals

Sania Mirza, Rohan Bopanna subdued Britain’s Andy Murray, Heather Watson with remarkable ease to breeze into the mixed doubles semifinals of tennis

 

Sania Mirza, Rohan Bopanna during their match against S. Stosur and J. Peers of Australia during the 2016 Summer Olympics at Rio de Janeiro in Brazil on Thursday. Photo: PTI

Rio de Janeiro: While Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna on Friday subdued Britain’s Andy Murray and Heather Watson with remarkable ease to breeze into the mixed doubles semifinals of tennis, India boxer Vikas Krishnan stood a win away from an elusive Olympic medal as he outclassed Turkey’s Sipal Onder 3-0 to comfortably advance to the quarterfinals of men’s 75kg middleweight boxing of the Rio Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

The fourth seeded Indian pair dominated the quarterfinal contest, winning 6-4 6-4 in just 67 minutes. One more victory will ensure India a silver medal and a defeat in the semifinals would give Sania and Bopanna a chance to fight for the bronze.

Sania and Bopanna were a better team than the Britons, who never posed a threat to the Indians. Bopanna was solid with his booming serve while Sania played superbly from the back of the court.

BOXING

Boxer Krishnan, 24-year-old, started off with some counter punches in a fast-paced round one in Pavilion 6 at Riocentro, and he carried on the momentum throughout to emerge triumphant.

With 38 seconds to go the Turkish had to take a break to treat his bleeding eye, which reflected Vikas’s complete domination of the first round.

The second round was no different as Sipal, a 29-year-old veteran who had a close win over Benny Muziyo of Zambia in his opener, took a defensive stance and tried to keep a distance to avoid Vikas’ jabs.

The former Asian Games gold medallist, on the other hand, continued his steady progress and at the same time was cautious enough to thwart Sipal’s counter punches.

Track and Field

It was a disappointing start for India in athletics events as all the four competitors, including discus thrower Vikas Gowda, failed to put up a creditable performance today.

Gowda and women’s shot putter Manpreet Kaur fell by the wayside at the qualification stage itself while Jinson Johnson could not qualify for the semifinals in the morning session.

Later in the day, Manish Singh Rawat finished 13th while his two other compatriots Gurmeet Singh and Krishnan Ganapathi were disqualified early in the men’s 20km race walk road event.

The 33-year-old Gowda, in his fourth straight Olympics, produced an utterly below-par performance with a best throw of 58.99m to finish 28th overall out of 34 competitors. He finished 16th in a field of 18 in Group B qualification round.

In women’s shot put, national record holder Manpreet finished a disappointing 23rd overall out of 35 competitors with a best throw if 17.06m. She finished 13th in Group B qualifying round.