Javelin Through
India started their campaign today with Javelin’s throw and Neeraj Chopra topped the qualification mark with 86.65 meters. This wasn’t his best show but because the rest all too couldn’t raise the level, he finished at the top. Shivpal the other Javelin thrower failed to make it count but Neeraj Chopra who was one of the medal contenders has topped the qualification.
He will be in action on the 7th of August. Aditi Ashok finished round 1 at the number 3 spot and since this is her second Olympics one can expect magic from her as well. It then came to wrestling where Anshu Malik lost her bout and was rather disappointing. All said and done, it was to men’s wrestling where a medal is confirmed now by Ravi Dahiya entering the final in Men’s 57 Kg freestyle wrestling. He lost all his bout and the first two rounds he won convincingly.
In the semifinals, he was behind 9-2 but in the last minute, he won the match by fall and has now at least confirmed a silver medal for India. He will be playing his gold medal match tomorrow. Deepak Punia qualified for the semifinals but lost his bout and will now play for the Bronze medal match tomorrow. India’s boxer Lovolina Borgohain lost her semifinal match 5-0 but bagged a Bronze medal for India.
So, plenty of good news for the Indian fans today as India now has 4 medals confirmed. We just need 3 more from 7 events to surpass the London Olympic mark. India is a firm favorite to do so as Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat are seeded numbers 2 & 1 respectively in their category. They will be starting their challenge tomorrow and all eyes will be on them.
Some disappointment came from Hockey as just like the Indian men’s team, the women team too lost their semifinal match against Argentina. India scored the goal in the 2nd minute but conceded more and that resulted in their semifinal loss. They will be playing their bronze medal match a day after against Great Britain against whom they lost their Group match 4-1.
A Bronze Madel will be highly beneficial as that will get their campaign going ahead with momentum. Rani Rampal and her girls were gutted after the loss and along with that a billion prayers too went unanswered. A late surge from the Indian campaign has boosted the camp and 3 medals is what Indian fans want from their contingent. Shooters are back in India and a lot of change will be happening their as Jaspal Rana has been fired from his job.
If we managed to get one medal from the shooters, India’s campaign would have been a successful one. Nevertheless, though as he has fared much better than Rio and will be heading to Paris with a lot of hope. Ravi Dahiya if manages to win gold for the country he will become the second men after Abhinav Bindra to do so. Fingers crossed and hope for a better Wednesday as we have quite a few medals matches lined up.