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India’s top gun
tribune exclusive interview with RAFAEL NADAL
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Vijender moves into Olympics quarterfinals
Om Prakash, Mayookha disappoint
Rowing golds for Kiwis, S Africa
Kiwi Drysdale takes single sculls gold
Kristina Sprehe sets new Olympic Dressage mark
Liu troubled by foot injury
China’s Liu Xiang.
S Korea’s Jin-hyek strikes gold in archery
India look to complete 4-1 drubbing over Lanka
India out of semi-final race Shivendra Singh vies with a German player on Friday. — AFP
Hit Vijay fit as fiddle
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India’s top gun
Vijay Kumar isn't your regular shooter - he's just a quiet man from the hills who, unknown and unheralded, kept his nerve under the greatest pressure imaginable to win a silver medal in the men's 25m rapid fire pistol event here on Friday. It was India's second medal of the Games, both coming in the shooting ranges of the Royal Artillery Barracks.
Vijay is not from a background that creates shooters at birth. He's not just a recreational or sports-shooter - his original training is in shooting down the enemy, for he's in the Army. The 27-year-old Subedar took to the sport in 2003, and soon enough it became abundantly clear that he could and should shoot only for sport. Vijay is the epitome of cool - soon after he won the silver, he presented an extremely serene picture, discussing his greatest feat with dignity and equanimity. Shooters work extremely hard to master emotion, to keep their heartbeat under check. Vijay did that even after winning the biggest medal of his life. In his usual regimented manner, he talked in terms of simply executing a plan in the prevailing situation. Hearing him, it seemed that it was just another day in the life of the armyman. It was an uncommonly excellent day for Vijay Kumar, of course. He'd begun it by qualifying for the final with a score of 293 in the second stage of qualifying. His total of 585 points from the two qualifying stages put him in the fourth place. Leading the pack was world champion Alexei Klimov of Russia, with a new world record of 592. In the last stage, the six finalists had 40 shots at the target in eight series of five shots each. The final proved to be a thriller, with Vijay Kumar hitting the target 30 times in his 40 shots. The start was brilliant for the Indian - five out of five in the first series. He followed it up with series of 4, 4, 3, 4, 4, 4 and 2. His lowest score in the last round came after Cuba's Leuris Pupo had ensured the gold medal for himself. Possibly, the armyman from Himachal Pradesh realised he had nothing more than a silver to shoot for and relaxed at this point. Pupo hit the target 34 times in 40 attempts to equal the world mark, while China's Feng Ding scored 27 points in the final round (39 shots, he stopped after being eliminated) to grab the bronze. A medal was certain for India after Klimov (23), Zhang Jian (17) and Christian Reitz (13) were eliminated. It was up to Pupo, Feng and Vijay Kumar to stand up and grab the gold. Vijay Kumar became certain of a silver medal in the seventh round when Feng hit the target three times and the Indian struck it four times. During his two qualifying rounds, Vijay Kumar was among the shooters who had broken the previous Olympic Games record of 583. Later, Vijay Kumar was calm and composed as he discussed the happiest day of his sporting life. He talked of planning and execution. "It was a big competition and we had certain plans for it... Today we performed according to the plan," he said. "This medal means such a lot to me. It has been my dream to win an Olympic medal," he added. "It is the highest you can get. I have a lot of medals on the wall but an Olympic one was missing until now."
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tribune exclusive interview with RAFAEL NADAL Rafael Nadal, the King of Clay, widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, talks about missing out on the Olympics where he was to defend his Gold medal, his injury and Spain's chances at the Games. How did you feel when you realized your knee injury would prevent you from defending your Olympic men's singles title? It was very difficult for me and one of the toughest decisions I have ever taken in my career because the Olympics was a big goal for me this year. I felt very emotional because we only get this Olympic chance one time every four years and it is the most important event in the world of sport. I was very excited to be representing my country and I was due to carry the flag at the opening ceremony, but that's what happened. That would have been one of the most special things, so you can imagine how difficult it has been making this decision. What finally prompted you to withdraw? I had to think about my colleagues. I could not be selfish, but rather think of the good of Spanish sport, especially Spanish tennis, and let a team-mate who is better prepared to compete. I waited until the final moment of my preparation and my training, but I could not do it. It was one of the saddest days of my career. Do you plan to visit London to watch the Olympic games in person? I will follow the Olympics because I love the Olympic Games and will be watching on TV, while also working hard every day to make my knee better. The most important thing is for my knee to recover and get better to so I can represent my country in 2016 in Rio. Meanwhile, I hope that Spain continue on the path of success it has been on for the past few years. What do the Olympic Games mean to you? The Olympics is the most important competition of the world of sport. So that's the first thing. For everybody, all the sports, all the people who are involved in sport, competing in the Olympics is something, probably the most special thing that can happen, no? What can you tell us about your experiences from competing in the Olympic games? The experience is great for me. I played two Olympics already. I have one record in Athens that I am the sportsman, who spent less time in one Olympic Games, because the week before I played in Sopot. I won my first tournament. I arrived that Saturday night, I lost on Sunday, and I went home. I don't remember a lot. What about Beijing four years later? In Beijing I was able to spend the week before and all tournaments there, all through the competition. I enjoyed the experience in the Olympic Village with the rest of the friends, of the colleagues of the sports family. It was great. That was probably one of the greatest experiences I ever had in this world. Do you think the other tennis players value playing in the Olympic Games when you already have the four Grand Slams to compete for every year? In my opinion it is an opportunity that everybody from the popular sports values. We are very lucky to have a circuit like tennis or basketball and football [all year round]. And I think is great we are able to go to join the real sport of the Olympics, because there are a lot of sports that don't have the luck that we have. You really experience what is really meant by sport - playing just for the passion of the sport, for nothing else. In my opinion, that's the real spirit of the sport. Its great for us that we have almost everything, go there, and enjoy that experience. You talked about the fascination of the Olympics. Are the Olympics more special for you this year because they are played at Wimbledon, the most historic venue in tennis? The Olympics are important for themselves. They are very important wherever they are played, no? But to play them at Wimbledon is going to be a little bit bigger because of what means this place means in the world of tennis - it is just the top. In my opinion, we can say it will be more special to play in Wimbledon, but not more important. Do you think its right that the Olympics tennis event should be staged on grass courts? Well, it's great that they are playing in Wimbledon. At the same time, it's not great that you play in a very important competition on grass the best of three sets. That makes the tournament a little bit more crazy. You know there is more of a chance that everybody can beat everybody - more so than on hard or clay courts - because playing a best of three sets can be decided in just a few points. So that's probably the negative thing. In every match, you are at the limit. Is it crazy for you or a crazy idea in general? No, I didn't say 'crazy idea'. Maybe I don't have the right word in English. But is a little bit more difficult to predict what's going to happen. That's what I wanted to say. I think it's great to have the Olympics in Wimbledon, but playing the best of three on grass in a very important competition makes the tournament more difficult for everybody because there are no favorites then. — PMG
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Vijender moves into Olympics quarterfinals
London, August 3 "I admit I was very excited but I felt I had the measure of him and just needed to be prudent in the final round to ensure I got through," Vijender said after the bout. Spurred on by a vociferous crowd which kept chanting 'India, India', Vijender took a slender one-point lead after the first round which ultimately proved decisive. In the second round, Vijender allowed his opponent to come back a little bit as he let his guard down and though he landed a few punches, it was not enough to give him a clear lead. As a result, the second round ended with a 5-5 scoreline. Vijender adopted a more attacking strategy in the third and final round but the American was equal to the task as he fended off the punches deftly and counter-attacked fiercely. As the two boxers waited for the result, the crowd kept cheering for Vijender and a roar erupted in the stadium when he was declared the winner. "The coaches were saying calm down, calm down otherwise you will blow the fight," Vijender said. "Everyone is tuning in to their TV's in India and watching me. It is a great honour but also puts on me a huge duty to reward their faith that they placed in me." Vijender, a former world number one, will now take on Abbos Atoev of Uzbekistan in the quarter finals. — PTI
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Saina goes down but not out
Saina Nehwal didn't seem dispirited or crushed after her 42-minute, straight-games defeat to top seed Wang Yihan of China, and that's good news for India. Wang won the match 21-13, 21-13 and it seemed that she wasn't really forced to play at the height of her powers - it seemed all too easy for her, to raise her game just a bit and keep herself easily beyond the reach of the Indian.
Saina is not crushed, and that means she might be in a good frame of mind on Saturday, when she'll take on another Chinese player, another Wang - Wang Xin, the second seed, who is the other losing semifinalist. In the first game, Wang Yihan was a runaway winner. The two players stayed together until 4-4, then Wang zoomed away, to 16-7 and 18-9, and it was all over. Wang Yihan is an excellent player - like all the best sportspersons, she's able to win in comfort, exerting herself to her top only when she really must. This was evident in the second game, when Saina did catch up with Wang at 9-9 and then led briefly at 11-10. At this point, the towering Chinese girl, 5'10 tall, changed some invisible gears and won 11 of the next 14 points. Saina seemed to be making unforced errors, hitting out of the sidelines or the back line. But the errors probably came because Wang's game is near-impenetrable - she's got a great smash, quick hands and feet, and is brilliant at the net. To beat her, her opponents have to do something extraordinary, they must try to use every inch of her side of the court. Saina was trying to go way beyond ordinary, trying to force her to move her into every side of the court - and that's a high-risk game, fraught with dangers of unforced errors. They stayed together until 12-12, and then Wang pulled away. She had not led by more than a point in the game until that stage, but now began to open up a gap, with excellent drops from close to the net. An amazing overhead smash, reaching out above her left shoulder, made it 15-12. With a mighty smash, Saina won her 13th point of the game, but it proved to be her last of the match. She continued to miss lines and the match was all over when Saina hit wide again to Wang's left. "Because I won the first game, there was more pressure on her, and I still had confidence so I believed I could win," she later said about the second game. Talking with the Chinese media, Wang said that this was the best match she played all year. "I was very well prepared for this," she said. Saina agreed wholeheartedly with her great opponent and nemesis - to whom she's lost each time in their six encounters. Does she have a mental barrier against Wang? "No, I think the way she played today was much better than the last two games she played in this tournament," Saina said. Wang had dropped a game in the first round, while Saina hadn't dropped any on her way to the final. "She was too much prepared for this match and I was not moving so well," Saina added. "I was not moving comfortably today and also she placed so many smashes down the line, so that made a huge difference." Saina was able to joke about the brevity of the match - she said with a laugh that the match was so short, there was hardly anything to learn from it. "She was too fast but I made too many errors in the beginning," the 22-year-old Indian said. "There were not many rallies, it was just too fast basically." Saina probably wasn't so crestfallen because she knew that this Wang was untouchable - she has a better chance against the second seeded Wang, Wang Xin. She has a 2-4 win-loss against her. "I have a good record... so that's not something to bother as of now," Saina said. |
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Om Prakash, Mayookha disappoint
London, August 3 Both Om Prakash and Mayookha failed to rise to the occasion as they came up with below-par performances, much Om Prakash, who trained for nearly two years at Szombathely in Hungary in the build-up to the Olympics, threw the 7.26kg iron ball to a distance 19.86m, which placed him 10th in Group B and 19th overall. His personal best is the national record 20.69m, which he recorded in May at his training base. Had he been even near his personal best, he would have easily gone through as the 12th and last final round qualifier threw a distance of 20.25m. Those who crossed the qualifying distance of 20.65m or the best 12 make it to the final round. — PTI
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Rowing golds for Kiwis, S Africa
London, August 3 Great Britain's pair made a promising start, leading the field after 250m and were in medal contention heading into the second half of the race. But New Zealand and Italy produced strong finishes to overhaul Slovenia and row Britain out of the medals. South Africa won gold in the men's Lightweight Four as Great Britain won a silver medal after being pipped to the line in a sensational final. In a thrilling sprint for the line, the British crew edged 2008 champions Denmark into bronze.
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Sun Yang fastest in 1500m qualifiers
London, Aug 3 Sun won the 400 gold medal on the opening day of competition at the Aquatics Centre and is the overwhelming favourite to win the 1500, the longest and most gruelling race in the pool, after setting the world record at last year's world championships in Shanghai. Churning through the water with seemingly effortless ease, Sun won his heat in a time of 14 minutes, 43.25 seconds, well outside his world record but nearly more than three seconds faster than anyone else.Tunisia's Oussama Mellouli, the defending Olympic champion, was second fastest overall, ahead of Canada's Ryan Cochrane and Italy's Gregorio Paltrinieri. "I had some problems with my shoulder bugging me for the last three years but it seems to be working pretty well thismorning," Mellouli said. "I woke up mentally not 100 per cent. The race went well, I'm feeling pretty confident for tomorrow." South Korea's Park Tae-hwan, silver medallist in the 400, qualified sixth as 10 men broke the magical 15-minute barrier. "I am happy with my time but it's slower than my PB," said Park. "It was an average race." Sun has been one of the outstanding swimmers in London, winning silver medals in the 200 freestyle and 4x200 relays, in addition to his gold in the 400. Just six men have completed the Olympic 400-1500 double with Russia's Vladimir Salnikov the last to achieve the feat, 32 years ago, in 1980. — Agencies
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Kiwi Drysdale takes single sculls gold
London, August 3 Drysdale won by a length to clock six minutes, 57.82 seconds ahead of Czech rower Ondreij Synek, the silver medallist in Beijing, who was 1.5 seconds back. Britain's Alan Campbell won the bronze in 7:03.28, pushing Lassi Karonen of Sweden into fourth. In Beijing four years ago, British rower Katherine Grainger was left traumatised after missing out on yet another gold medal and she wondered whether it was worth trying again. On Friday, all the pain and anguish finally disappeared as she won an gold at the fourth time of asking in front of home crowds on Dorney Lake.The 36-year-old Grainger had entered Games as a favourite. — Agencies
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Ennis delights crowd with early lead
London, August 3 The former world champion followed up with a solid 1.86metres in the high jump to top the standings after two eventswith 2,249 points, 25 ahead of Beijing silver medallist HyleasFountain of the U.S.Olympic champion Nataliya Dobrynska was 12th on 2,056 andworld gold medallist Tatyana Chernova equal 16th on 2,031although the Russian has a much stronger second day. British teenager Katarina Johnson-Thompson was a surprisethird on 2,146. Running in the fifth and final heat of the hurdles, thefirst of seven events in the heptathlon, Ennis stormed down thetrack towards the Olympic cauldron, which has been re-sited atthe end of home straight.Soaring across the hurdles in bright sunshine with thefull-throated roar of the 80,000 crowd driving her on, the26-year-old crossed the line in 12.54 seconds, the same timeDawn Harper ran to win 100 metres hurdles gold at the Beijing Olympics."I still can't believe I ran that time to be honest.Stepping into the stadium, the crowd just really lifted me," UKAthletics tweeted Ennis as saying.Canada's Jessica Zelinka was second behind Ennis in 12.65and Fountain third in 12.70.Dobrynska won her heat convincingly in 13.57 seconds, while Chernova, finished last in Ennis's heat in 13.48.With music pumping out of the stadium speakers and anenthusiastic crowd, the high jump competition had a partyatmosphere despite a heavy downpour that briefly interruptedproceedings.Chernova was the first of the big three to go out of thehigh jump, knocking the bar off on her third and final attemptat 1.83 to the distinctive beat of Queen's 'We Will Rock You'despite generous crowd support. Dobrynska cleared 1.83 beforefailing at 1.86.Ennis went on to clear that height on her third attemptafter brushing the bar off with her bottom on her previous go.The bar fell after she had hit the crash mat which cut thecrowd's cheer short. A groan resounded around the stadium andthe relief was evident on Ennis's face when she finally jumpedthe height.Lithuanian Austra Skujyte won the high jump with a personal best of 1.92 ahead of Johnson-Thompson. — Agencies
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Kristina Sprehe sets new Olympic Dressage mark
London, August 3 Sprehe, who is a part of a powerful German team alongside Helen Langehanenberg and Dorothee Schneider, scored 79.11 per cent with Desperados to move above Hester and Bechtolsheimer, who held the top two spots overnight. And that surpassed the previous best Olympic Grand Prix score of 78.20 per cent, set by Sprehe's countrywoman Ulla Salzgeber at Athens 2004. The Netherlands' second team rider, Edward Gal, gave his country the strong score it needed, posting 75.28 per cent on Undercover. Gal's medal-laden partnership with his previous horse, Totilas - it is now ridden by Germany's Matthias Rath - was the greatest Dressage has seen.But Gal showed he has lost none of his quality by conjuring a quality test out of his new partner. 'I hope we (Netherlands) will get a medal - but I don't know which colour yet,' Gal said. — Agencies
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London, August 3 Liu pulled out from the final of the 110 metres hurdles at the London Grand Prix last month as a precautionary measure due to a back problem. Sun Haiping was quoted by Xinhua as saying that Liu was now being troubled by an injury to his foot.
"His back problem is nothing to worry about, but his foot injury which has flared up is worrying me," Sun was quoted as saying at Heathrow airport upon their return from Germany where Liu had been training. One of China's highest-profile athletes, Liu won gold in Athens eight years ago but a foot injury robbed him of the chance to defend his title on home soil in 2008. Liu is a medal favourite at the Games but is likely to face stiff competition from Cuba's Olympic champion and world record holder Dayron Robles. "We are confident despite the injury," Sun was quoted as saying. "But I am a little bit worried." — Agencies
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S Korea’s Jin-hyek strikes gold in archery
London, August 3 The third-seeded Oh beat Japan’s Takaharu Furukawa 7-1 in the final archery match of the London Games for South Korea’s fourth medal at Lord’s cricket ground. Dai Xiaoxiang of China took bronze with a 6-5 victory over Dutchman Rick van der Ven following a shoot-off. Dai hit a 10 in the shoot-off, piling the pressure on Van der Ven, who only managed an eight. Favorite, top seed and new world record holder Im Dong-hyun of South Korea surprisingly was beaten by Van der Ven earlier Friday. Im set a 72-arrow world best in the Olympic ranking round last week but lost 7-1 to Van der Ven in the last 16. Two Koreas prepare to meet South Korea faces off against the northern neighbour it is still technically at war with at Olympic table tennis on Saturday in what is sure to be one of the most politically charged contests at London 2012. Uncertainty about secretive North Korea and its new leader and rumoured development of nuclear weapons have created a tense backdrop for the six players preparing to meet in the team event. Table tennis is one of the most popular sports in both countries and has in the past led sporting efforts to bring the two nations closer. However, a furore a week ago when South Korean flag was mistakenly shown before the North's women played a soccer match showed how far tensions have increased since the two countries marched together in Athens 8 years ago. — Agencies
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India look to complete 4-1 drubbing over Lanka
Pallekele, August 3 India have been consistent and have dominated the five-match series right from the start, barring the second ODI, which they lost by nine wickets, after coming into the tournament following a prolonged break. The visitors took an unassailable 3-1 lead after winning the fourth one-dayer by six wickets in their last outing and Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men will now aim to end the series on a high. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, never bargained to be 1-3 down with just one to play in the one-day series and Mahela Jayawardene's men will hope to salvage some pride by making it 2-3 rather than facing the 1-4 ignominy. Jayawardene was honest in his assessment that the hosts were simply not good enough against the world champions and blamed their inconsistency for the sorry state. The hosts came to Colombo with series level at 1-1. Given the consistent home favour in the history of games at the Premadasa, the expectations were high from the home team to press ahead the home advantage. But it was not to be. Rather, it was Dhoni's men who created history at Premadasa by comfortably winning the third and fourth ODI by five wickets and six wickets. For Sri Lanka, it was not just inconsistency but more of an under-performance which has never been seen in a home series of such high stake. Apart from Kumar Sangakkara's brilliant 133 in the first game at Hambantota, Sri Lankans have been below par. Take the case of Tillakaratne Dilshan. The opener has failed to fire at the top with only one 50 in the four outings. His partner Tharanga was slightly better getting two 50s. Jayawardene himself has been patchy. His decision to drop down the order to allow the young Dinesh Chandimal to take charge has not proved to be a wise option and the Sri Lankan captain would do well to return to his familiar position to see if he could inspire the team tomorrow. The middle-order of Angelo Mathews and Chandimal have produced only flashes of brilliance while Thisara Perera's all-round efforts were not at par with his performance against Pakistan. Sri Lanka also have been suffering from a series of injury worries. Losing in-form Sangakkara after the third ODI following his fracture in the little finger of his right hand has affected their cause. The fast bowling unit also looks bare with as many as six pacers being out through injuries. Lasith Malinga has been leading the attack but he has accounted for only five wickets in four games. — PTI
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India out of semi-final race While hope must and will jolly well go on springing eternal in the human breast, it’s clear that for an Indian to hope for a hockey medal at the Olympics was extremely unrealistic, verging on the delusional. It’s so 20th century to expect our hockey team to step on the podium – such hopes actually belong to the third quarter of the 20th century. This was yet again brought home in painful manner as India was thrashed 5-2 by Germany today. Having lost to Netherlands and New Zealand earlier, India needed to beat Germany – and then South Korea and Belgium also – to keep alive their hopes of reaching the semifinals. Germany led 4-1 at half-time and seemed to ease up in the second half – else the scoreline could have been more lopsided than the mere 5-2. The most worrying aspect of the thrashing was that all the German strikes were field goals – clearly, they benefitted from greater speed and organisation, which the Indians have been trying to imbibe. The Germans were powered by 20-year old Florian Fuchs, who scored three goals (in the 7th, 16th, 37th minutes). Oliver Korn (24th) and Christopher Wesley (33rd) were the others goal-scorers for Germany. India had equalised in the 14th minute off a penalty-corner when VR Raghunath sent the ball in, while Tushar Khandkar scored the second in the 62nd minute. Khandkar admitted that the Indians made elementary errors. "In the first half the marking was not proper,” he said. “We were leaving our men and they were receiving and converting their chances.” India now take on South Korea in their fourth match on Sunday.
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London, August 3 On the eve of his retirement, Phelps provided an unforgettable reminder of his incredible talent and determination when he came from seventh at the turn to overpower his rivals and win in a time of 51.21 seconds. South Africa's Chad le Clos, who beat Phelps in the 200 butterfly final, dead-heated for second with Russia's Evgeny Korotyshkin but neither man could hold Phelps off once he started to roll his giant shoulders and kick his powerful feet. By winning, he joined his American team mate Missy Franklin as the only triple gold medallists in London after she broke the world record in the 200 backstroke final a few minutes earlier and took his career tally to 21 medals, including 17 golds. He still has one more event to go before he hangs up his goggles, the 4x100 medley relay, an event the U.S. men have never lost at an Olympics they have attended. The United States' Katie Ledecky won the Olympic gold medal in the women's swimming 800m freestyle on Friday. Spain's Mireia Belmonte won silver and Britain's Rebecca Adlington took the bronze medal. — Reuters
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Hit Vijay fit as fiddle India's latest sensation Vijay Kumar may be relatively an unknown name among majority of sports fan in India but the ace marksman is known for his discipline, sincerity and extreme physical fitness among his fellow shooters. In a sport where mental strength gets precedence over physical, Vijay is markedly different in his approach to the sport. Whereas as top Indian athletes may be falling like nine pins every day in the Olympics for the lack planning and execution on the D-Day, Vijay had a plan in place and stuck to his guns in the face of adversity. "The score (585) he shot in qualification was not a big deal for him. He has been shooting 590 plus day in and day out in the run up to Olympics. He already had plan in place and just kept repeating it every day during his preparation. All he ensured on the final day was that he could execute his plans and it is here his discipline and sincerity counted, said, national coach Sunny Thomas on Friday. The 26-year-old shooter from Harsour in district Hamirpur of Himachal Pradesh is known be the fittest among the current crop of top-notch shooters. He runs eight kilometres every morning, does Yoga and then only picks up his pistol to fire countless rounds at the range. "He is fit as fiddle," says Thomas. Vijay's feat in an elite sport like shooting is remarkable as he hails from a rural background and had no support to pursue it. Of course, after years of toiling he now has a mini shooting range at his home but that is nothing more than a makeshift arrangement. When Kumar failed to qualify for men's 10m air pistol finals after finishing 31st on July 28 he was a bit dissapointed but even more determined to fightback. "He was bit disspointed with his performance but put it behind soon and got ready for next event," the coach said.
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Vijay Kumar isn't your regular shooter - he's just a quiet man from the hills who, unknown and unheralded, kept his nerve under the greatest pressure imaginable to win a silver medal in the men's 25m rapid fire pistol event here on Friday.
Rafael Nadal, the King of Clay, widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, talks about missing out on the Olympics where he was to defend his Gold medal, his injury and Spain's chances at the Games.
Star Indian boxer Vijender Singh inched closer to an unprecedented second successive Olympic medal by entering the middleweight (75kg) quarterfinals with a thrilling one-point triumph over American Terrell Gausha at the ExCel Arena here. The 26-year-old Indian, a bronze-medallist from the Beijing Olympic Games, is just one win away from being assured of another medal at the big event after he scraped past Gausha with a 16-15 verdict in a thrilling contest of skill and strategy.
India's athletics campaign began on a disappointing note with shot putter Om Prakash Karhana and triple jumper Mayookha Johny failing to advance to the final round after finishing 19th and 22nd, respectively in the qualifiers in the London Olympics here today.
New Zealand won gold in the men's Double Sculls and South Africa took top honours in the men's Lightweight Four after a close final. World champions Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan won the Double Sculls in 6:31.67, ahead of Italy and the Slovenian crew who were looking to reclaim the Olympic title they won 12 years ago in Sydney.
London, August 3
Pallekele, August 3
While hope must and will jolly well go on springing eternal in the human breast, it’s clear that for an Indian to hope for a hockey medal at the Olympics was extremely unrealistic, verging on the delusional. It’s so 20th century to expect our hockey team to step on the podium – such hopes actually belong to the third quarter of the 20th century.
Lochte 'pretty satisfied'