No quarter given

Tokyo, July 29

There were no medals to trigger a frenzy but definitely some top-notch performances from the Indians on Day 6 of the Olympic Games, the highlights being the men’s hockey team’s march into the quarterfinals and archer Atanu Das’ stunning triumph over a two-time Olympics champion South Korean.

A big heartbreak was boxing legend MC Mary Kom’s pre-quarterfinals exit despite the fact that the London Olympics bronze medallist had actually won two of the three rounds in her flyweight (51kg) bout against Colombia’s Ingrit Valencia.

Before India celebrated her grit, some fantastic news from the Oi hockey stadium came. The Manpreet Singh-led men’s team hammered defending champions Argentina 3-1 in thier penultimate group match to storm into the quarterfinals.

This was after badminton ace PV Sindhu set the tone for the day by advancing to the quarterfinals with a 21-15 21-13 win over Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt, expectedly topping her group in the process.

But the biggest triumph of the day was without doubt Atanu. Hardly anyone gave him a chance against two-time Olympics champion Oh Jin Hyek but he definitely knew what was needed to be done, displaying nerves of steel as his wife and fellow archer Deepika Kumari screamed her lungs out from the stands to support him.

Atanu is now in the pre-quarters after he edged out the legendary South Korean in a one-arrow shoot-off. Oh started the shoot-off with a 9 but Atanu delivered a perfect 10 to seal the issue 6-5 (10-9).

Strong start from Lahiri

India started strongly in the golf competition as well with Anirban Lahiri, playing in his second Olympics, off to a solid start, carding a 4-under 67 in the first round to be placed tied-8th at the lightning storm-struck Kasumigaseki Country Club.

The former Asian Tour No.1 had six birdies against two bogeys and shared the eight spot with Paul Casey (Great Britain) Alex Noren (Sweden) and Sebastian Munoz (Mexico) at the end of the day.

The other Indian in fray, Udayan Mane, finished at 5-over 76 and was last on the leaderboard.

Blues shot down

There was some decent news from the shooting range too after continuous disappointment. Manu Bhaker and Rahi Sarnobat were placed fifth and 25th respectively in the women’s 25m pistol qualification (precision).

In a field of 44 shooters, Bhaker scored 292 after 30 shots on target in the precision round while compatriot Sarnobat aggregated 287 in the qualifications at the Asaka Shooting Range.

Rowers’ campaign ends

Rowers Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh ended their campaign in 11th position in the men’s lightweight double sculls event, the best-ever result for the country at the Games. The pair clocked 6:29.66 to finish fifth in the Final B, which was not a medal round.

Meanwhile, the country’s swimming challenge also ended with Sajan Prakash failing to make the semifinals of the 100m butterfly event. He finished second in his heat but that was not enough as he attained that position in the second-slowest heat with a time of 53.45s. The cut was placed at 51.74s. — PTI

Satish wins

In the boxing ring, India’s first superheavyweight (+91kg) to compete in the Olympics, Satish Kumar, eased into the quarterfinals of his debut Games, defeating Jamaica’s Ricardo Brown in his opening bout. In the battle of the debutants, the 32-year-old prevailed 4-1, a comfortable win for him despite the split verdict.