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

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Rio Olympics 2016 Shooting Live Score: India Hopes On Gurpreet Singh, Mairaj Ahmad Khan

India will pin their Rio Olympics 2016 medal hopes on shooters Gurpreet Singh and Mairaj Ahmad Khan in the 25m rapid fire and events today.

 

India are without a medal so far. In London Olympics 2012, India had won two medals. Can the Indians end with a bang?

At 5:30 PM IST, Gurpreet Singh will start stage 2 of the 25m rapid fire qualifiers at 10th position. He ended Day 1 on Friday with 289. There are four shooters on 290 and with a little more focus today, Singh can make the cut.

Germany's Christian Reitz, who holds the world record in the event, leads with a score of 296. Interestingly, the Olympic champion Alexei Klimov of Russia is at 11th position. Klimov also holds the Olympic record of 592 scored in London 2012.

Mairaj Ahmad Khan will head India's challenge on Day 2 of the qualifiers, starting at 6 PM IST. He will also start in the 10th position with a score of 72. He is also not far off the leaderboard where Sweden's Marcus Svensson is in No. 1 position with 75.

Finals of both the 25m rapid fire and events will be held on Saturday evening. While the 25m rapid fire finals start from 9 PM IST, the final rounds of the event begins 11:30 PM IST with the gold medal round scheduled at 11:55 PM IST.

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Rio Olympics 2016 Gymnastics: Dipa Karmakar Takes On The World's Best In Vault Final

Dipa Karmakar will take part in the women's vault final in the gymnastics event at Rio Olympics 2016. She is the first ever Indian gymnast to qualify for an Olympic medal event

 

HIGHLIGHTS

• 1Dipa Karmakar is the first Indian ever in an Olympic final
• 2Dipa will face a high-class field in Sunday's women's vault final
• 3Dipa's father Dulal Karmakar says the family is 'very tensed'

It was a DIY (Do-It-Yourself) apparatus, made from the discarded parts of a scooter, that Dipa Karmakar first built her gymnastic skills on.

The Agartala-born athlete has certainly come a long way from her humble beginnings, as she prepares to participate in the biggest event of her life on Sunday, August 14.

It was last Sunday when Dipa Karmakar's score of 14.850 in the qualifiers proved to be enough, after a tense few hours' wait, to take her to the final of the women's vault event inRio Olympics 2016.

In the process, Karmakar, who is the first female Indian gymnast at the Olympics, became the first Indian, across both genders, to qualify for a final event in gymnastics at the Summer Games.

Tensed household

With only a day remaining for the big final, the Karmakar household in Agartala has been buzzing with excitement. Dulal Karmakar, father of Dipa, has admitted that the wait is causing a few nerves in the family.

"We are very tensed. With the day of the final nearing, the tension has been building up," he told NDTV.

Karmakar senior said he has been receiving phone calls from all over the country following his daughter's achievements in Rio.

Hailing coach Bisweshwar Nandi's contribution to Dipa Karmakar's career, her father added that the 23-year-old gymnast refused to hire a foreign coach in order to continue training under Nandi's supervision.

"Dipa's coach has a huge contribution in what she has achieved. I had suggested her to train under a foreign coach, but she refused saying she was happy with him (Nandi).

 

A tough final awaits Dipa Karmakar

In Sunday's final, Dipa Karmakar will be up against a star-studded line-up. While USA's Simone Biles, widely regarded as the best gymnast in the world, will be favourite for the gold, the likes of Hong Un-Jong, Maria Paseka, Oksana Chusovitana, et al. are all expected to fight it out for the podium places.

North Korean Un-Jong and Uzbek Chusovitana are both former Olympic gold medallists, while Russia's Paseka won World and European titles last year.

In fray will also be Shallon Olsen of Canada and Giulia Steingruber of Switzerland, while Chinese 16-year-old sensation Wang Yan and Dipa will start as the underdogs.

The gymnast from Tripura, famous for the scary Produnova vault, has already beaten the odds by making it to the finals. If she manages to upset the applecart and clinch a medal in Sunday's final, Dipa Karmakar's place in the history books will be guaranteed.

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Rio Olympics: Lalita Babar Qualifies For Women's 3000m Steeplechase Final

India's Lalita Babar put in a sterling performance in Heat 2 to finish fourth with a time of 9:19.76

 

 

HIGHLIGHTS

• 1Lalita Babar qualifies for women's 3000m steeplechase final
• 2Lalita finished 4th in Heat 2
• 3Lalita qualified for the final as one of the fastest losers in the Heats

Not only did Lalita Babar break the national record on Saturday at the 2016 Rio Olympics but she qualified for the women's 3000m steeplechase final as one of the fastest losers in the Heats, thus becoming the first Indian to reach the final of a track event at the Olympics in 32 years.

The Indian athlete put in a sterling performance in Heat 2 to finish fourth with a time of 9:19.76.

Following a slow Heat 3, Lalita reached the final after being placed 7th overall. She was the fastest loser and will now compete in the final to be held on Monday (19:45 IST).

Lalita, in fact, clipped nearly seven seconds off the national mark standing in the name of Sudha Singh (9:26.55), clocked in Shanghai in May.

Meanwhile, the other Indian in the fray, Sudha Singh failed to qualify after finishing ninth in Heat 3 with a time of 9:43.29. Her time was too slow to be categorised as one of the fastest losers, thereby end her campaign at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Earlier, Lalita, who had won the bronze medal in the event in the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, ran a brilliant race and was in third position with just a lap left but failed to hold onto that position.

Just to put into perspective, had Lalita run Heat 3, she would have won the race with the top qualifier from that group clocking 9:24.61.

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Rio Olympics 2016 Shooting Highlights: Mairaj Khan Crashes Out, Gurpreet Singh Exits Too

Mairaj Khan and Gurpreet Singh both bowed out of the men's and men's 25m rapid fire pistol events, respectively, after failing to make the cut from their qualification rounds on Saturday.

 

21:39 IST: Mairaj has dropped to 9th with a +3 in the shoot-off. He has failed to qualify for the semifinals.

21:30 IST: The shoot-off has begun in Rio. Can Mairaj Khan make it to the semifinals?

21:05 IST: We are still awaiting official word on the timing for Mairaj Khan's shootoff. It is likely to start shortly.

20:45 IST: So it will be a shoot-off between Mairaj Khan and four other shooters tied with him to decide the two remaining semifinal spots.

20:18 IST: Mairaj Khan could be involved in a shoot-off for deciding the 5th and 6th spots in the qualifications. It is going to be a tense few minutes for the Indian shooter now.

 

 

 Follow

 

19:55 IST: With other shooters yet to complete their rounds, Mairaj Khan now faces a nervous wait to know whether he has qualified for the semifinals. 

19:48 IST: Mairaj Khan jumps to 5th with a score of 24 in Round 5. His overall total is 121.

19:47 IST: 22 from Mairaj in Round 5 so far. His total is 119.

19:43 IST: Mairaj Khan has scored 18 in his last round so far. He stays at 7th with a score of 115.

19:39 IST: Mairaj Khan, with a score of 110, is currently 7th. Can he make it to the semifinals?

19:30 IST: Mairaj Ahmad Khan has begun his final round. He is currently 7th with a score of 100.

19:15 IST: Gurpreet Singh has bowed out of the men's 25m rapid fire pistol event by a whisker. He finishes 7th in qualification with a score of 581. Only the top 6 go to the final.

19:01 IST: Meanwhile, the Indian hockey team is down 5-0 to Argentina in Quarter 2 of their Group B match.

18:51 IST: Gurpreet Singh's 581 may not be enough to see him qualify to the final. Only the top 6 will qualify, and five shooters have already finished with higher scores than him.

18:50 IST: Meanwhile in women's hockey, India have conceded a goal to Argentina in the second quarter, and are trailing 1-0.

18:43 IST: Gurpreet Singh finishes with a 97 in his final series. He is in 8th place with a score of 581, but other shooters haven't finished yet. It remains to be seen whether he has qualified or not.

18:38 IST: Gurpreet Singh shoots 98 in his penultimate series. He climes up to 8th with a score of 484.

18:30 IST: Gurpreet Singh has started well with a score of 97 from his first series in Day 2 of men's 25m rapid fire qualification. He is 9th with a score of 386.

18:18 IST: Gurpreet Singh is yet to shoot in his fourth series in men's 25m rapid fire pistol. In , meanwhile, Mairaj Ahmad Khan has scored 25 in Round 4. He climbs to the 6th place with an overall total of 97.

18:11 IST: Mairaj has added five more to his total. He has a score of 86, and stays 7th in the leaderboard.

18:06 IST: With a score of 9 on Day 2, Mairaj has taken his overall total to 81, and is currently 7th in the standings.

18:00 IST: Mairaj Ahmad Khan will shortly be in action in men's qualification Day 2. He stands a good chance of making the cut to the semifinals.

17:45 IST: Gurpreet Singh is yet to begin his first series of the day. He is currently placed 9th. Can he climb up the leaderboard?

17:25 IST: Hello and welcome to the live coverage of shooting at Rio Olympics 2016. India's Gurpreet Singh will be in action in men's 25m rapid fire pistol qualifying stage 2 shortly.

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balio rapulu kadupulu lo farticifation anta ... tombra bannerlu ready sesthunnadu

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Rio 2016: Juan Martin Del Potro Stuns Rafael Nadal, Faces Andy Murray For Gold

Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro shocked Spain's Rafael Nadal's hopes of a second gold medal at Rio Olympics by defeating him in the men's singles semi-final

 

 

HIGHLIGHTS

• 1Juan Martin del Potro beat Rafael Nadal in the men's singles semi-final
• 2Del Potro will face defending champion Andy Murray for the gold medal
• 3Murray beat Nishikori in the final

Rio De Janeiro: Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro ended Rafael Nadal's hopes of a second Olympic singles title when he edged a gruelling semi-final on Saturday, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6, (7/5) to face defending champion Andy Murray for the gold medal.

The world number 141 Del Potro, whose career was almost ended by a series of wrist surgeries, triumphed after three hours and eight minutes of epic action.

Second seed Murray reached his second successive Olympic final with a ruthless 6-1, 6-4 demolition of Japan's Kei Nishikori.

 

Rafael Nadal is consoled by Juan Martin Del Potro.

© AFP

 

Nadal, the 2008 singles champion, had won the men's doubles on Friday with Marc Lopez but playing his 10th match of the tournament finally told on him.

Murray can become the first player to defend an Olympic singles title on Sunday but he must get past a resurgent Del Potro, who also shocked world number one Novak Djokovic in the first round.

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Rio 2016: Sania Mirza-Rohan Bopanna Lose Mixed Doubles Semis, To Fight For Bronze Next

Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna lost the mixed doubles semi-final to Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram. They will now play for bronze medal at Rio Olympics

 

HIGHLIGHTS

• 1Sania Mirza/Rohan Bopanna lost to Venus Williams/Rajeev Ram in semis
• 2The Indian still has a chance to win the bronze medal
• 3Sania and Bopanna had won the first set but then fizzled out

Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna lost to Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram 6-2, 2-6, 3-10 in the semi-finals of mixed doubles at 2016 Rio Olympics on Saturday. The Indian pair still has a chance to win a bronze medal.

The Indian pair will face Czech Republic's Radek Stepanek and Lucie Hradecka in the bronze medal play-off.

Sania and Bopanna suffered a sudden mid-match slump to fritter away a great opportunity as they lost from a position of strength to Americans Venus and Ram.

"Tough to get over loss like this and find positives out of it. Still have a shot at a medal. Our opponents will also be coming off a loss and that's the only positive. Think we played well in 2nd set as well," Sania told after the loss.

Her teammate Bopanna also said that they were looking forward to the next match. "Weird for us, given that you get to play a match even after a loss. Need a good night's sleep. Still have a shot at a medal, " he said.

Good start

The Indians were cruising at one stage but once Sania's serve was broken in the fourth game of the second set, the tide turned in the favour of the Americans.

Bopanna's game also crumbled under pressure in the match tie-breaker. His strong serve deserted him and his ground strokes also fell apart when it mattered most.

Second set disaster

Venus could not believe that they have won and continued jumping with joy and disbelief after the match was over.

Sania and Bopanna made a strong start as the Indians broke Venus at love in the third game to seize the initiative. Sania then served well to make it 3-1.

Powerful serves from the racquet of Bopanna meant that the Indians only consolidated the break. Bopanna's serves were almost untouchable. The Americans could not find the appropriate returns to his serve.

Venus again struggled and handed a breakpoint to the Indians after losing the forehand battle with Sania. That was saved but the Indians soon had a second chance which got converted when Venus buired a backhand to the net.

Sania served out the set in the eighth with Bopanna finding a cross court backhand winner, bisecting the two Americans.

Rajeev and Venus nosed ahead in the second set when Sania could not pull away her racquet from a Ram return that could have flown out of the courts. That was the second break chance of the game for the Americans.

That break of serve worked like a tonic for Venus and Rajeev as the Americans raced to a 5-2 lead in no time after that and forced a match tie-breaker by breaking the doubles world number one again in the eighth game.

The match-tie-breaker completely belonged to the Americans.

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India Roots For Dipa Karmakar

Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar will take part in the vault finals of the Rio Olympics on Sunday.

 

 

HIGHLIGHTS

• 1Dipa Karmakar will take part in the artistic gymnastics vault final
• 2She is the first Indian woman gymnast to participate at the Olympic Games
• 3She won bronze medals at the Commonwealth and Asian Games

India's northeast may once again provide a moment of pride as Dipa Karmakar from Tripura in the north east competes in the gymnastics finals at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar told NDTV in an exclusive interview: "A girl who is from a small state, small and tiny, is beautiful. Our Dipa has proved it. She will not miss any chance to prove it further."

With the chief minister describing Dipa's feat in an eloquent manner, perhaps it is the produnova effect that has made her a household name these days.

Today Dipa is the toast of the nation as she is one of the five women in the world to have completed the produnova vault successfully. The vault is one of the most dangerous and risky and is named after Yelena Produnova of Russia, the first woman to complete the vault successfully.

Dipa started gymnastics at the age of eight in Agartala at a time when there were no proper facilities to practice her skills. She still managed to continue and achieve, winning bronze medals in the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.

Gymnastics coach Rathindra Roy says she had access to proper infrastructure only after 2010 Commonwealth Games where she won a bronze medal. It's her grit and determination that has got her this far, people who've known her, say.

"She took a lot of interest in her practice and she was very sincere since childhood," Ray told NDTV.

Dipa's father, Dulal Karmakar, who was a weightlifter himself, is a proud man today. He is happy his daughter is on the cusp of creating history but also anxious about how his daughter will perform in the finals on Sunday.

When asked if he was a little tense, Karmakar said, "As the final draws near, we are very tensed."

Young gymnasts in Tripura like Abhishek Sinha point out how difficult it is to be like Dipa 'didi'. Dipa didi is what children who are training in gymnastics fondly call her.

Sinha, a gold medallist at the National School Games told NDTV, "To do difficult moves we need a rubber pit. If we have that, only then we can move forward, do difficult moves and perhaps win medals for the country." But all these children want to emulate Dipa Karmakar's success and achieve Olympic glory.

As Dipa is just one solid performance away from an Olympic medal, a billion Indians hope she wins a medal. Tripura hopes she fulfils their wish and does them proud.

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Rio Olympics 2016 India Schedule On Sunday

India would hope Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna to bring home a bronze medal in tennis mixed doubles on Sunday, while gymnastics sensation Dipa Karmakar will compete in the vault finals.

 

 

Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna, after losing the tennis mixed double semi-finals on Saturday, would hope to make amends in the bronze medal play-off on Sunday. Also, the Indian men's hockey team faces Belgium in the quarter-finals, while gymnast Dipa Karmakar competes in the vault finals. Find below the Rio Olympics 2016 India schedule for Sunday.

ATHLETICS

6:00 PM - Women's Marathon

Kavita Raut, OP Jaisha

BADMINTON

5:25 PM - Women's Singles (Group Stage) - Saina Nehwal

7:10 PM - Men's Singles(Group Stage) - Kidambi Srikanth

7:45 PM: Women's Singles (Group Stage) - PV Sindhu

BOXING

9:45 PM - Men's 64kg - Manoj Kumar

GOLF

Men's Individual Final Round

3:30 PM - Anirban Lahiri

4:00 PM - SSP Chawrasia

GYMNASTICS

11:17 PM - Women's Vault Finals - Dipa Karmakar

HOCKEY

9:00 PM: Men's Quarter-Final - India vs Belgium

SHOOTING

5.30 PM: Men's 50m Rifle 3 Position

Gagan Narang, Chain Singh

TENNIS

8:30 PM: Mixed Doubles Bronze Medal Play-Off - Sania Mirza/Rohan Bopanna

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Women's Singles Badminton

Saina Nehwal  out of Olympics lost to Maria Ulitina from Ukraine in straight sets 18-21, 19-21..

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• 19:49 (IST)

  Shooting update! 
  
  Chain Singh scores 94 in series 2 of the men's 25 m standing rifle rounds. Currently in 12th spot.

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• 19:27 (IST)

  Women's Marathon Update! Kavita Raut 125th, while OP Jaisha 59th at the half-way mark in the Women's marathon Final

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• 19:22 (IST)

  Shooting update
  
  Chain Singh and Gagan Narang have now started their 50m standing rifle rounds.

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• 19:13 (IST)

  Badminton updates: India's Srikanth Kidambi up next against Henri Hurskainen of Sweden for their group H preliminaries encounter. Kidambi had previously beaten Lino Munoz of Mexico 2-0.

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• 19:05 (IST)

  Women's Marathon Update! OP Jaisha ranked 56th after 15 kms. Kavita Raut in 118th place

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• 18:58 (IST)

  Men's 50m air rifle 3 positions Update! Chain Singh ends Prone stage with a 98 in the fourth series. He ends the Prone stage with 398. Gagan Narang ends Prone stage with 395

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• 18:51 (IST)

  Men's 50m air rifle 3 positions Update! Chain Singh in the qualifying slots after scoring 34 consecutive 10s in the Prone stage. That's some shooting

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• 18:47 (IST)

  Women's Marathon Update! India's OP Jaisha in 47th place after 10kms. Kavita Raut in 107th place after the same mark

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• 18:45 (IST)

  Men's 50m air rifle 3 positions Update! Chain Singh scored another hundred in the Prone stage in the third series. What a comeback from the Indian shooter

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19:54 IST: Chain Singh manages a 96 in Series 3. With one more series remaining, he is currently 16th with a total of 1074.

19:50 IST: Gagan Narang scores 95 in Series 3 of the final stage. He is 36th with a total of 1064. He has one more series remaining.

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20:00 IST: Chain Singh's qualification hopes more or less over now. He is 21st with a score of 1131. Gagan Narang is already out of contention, having finished with a total of 1162.

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20:10 IST: It's all over for Chain Singh in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions event. He finishes with a score of 1169, well out of the qualifying positions.

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India's Srikanth Kidambi against Henri Hurskainen of Sweden for their group H preliminaries encounter..

Srikanth won first Set 21-6 nice start..