Gymnast Dipa finishes fourth on disastrous day for India

Gymnast Dipa Karmakar narrowly missed the bronze by finishing fourth in the women’s vault event even as shuttler Saina Nehwal, the men’s hockey team and tennis pair of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna crashed out on a dismal day for India at the Olympic Games here.

Dipa, from the north eastern state Tripura, emerged as one of the few shining spots on a disastrous campaign as she ended up just outside a medal bracket with 15.066 points after putting on a superb display in the eight-woman vault final.

The gold expectedly went to favourite Simon Biles from the US who topped the table with near-flawless execution which fetched her the highest score of 15.966.

The silver went to Russia’s Maria Paseka (15.253) and the bronze was bagged by Giulia Steingruber of Switzerland (15.216).

Dipa’s superb show in a sport that is not popular in the country lit up the gloomy day which started with the the exit of London Games bronze medal winner Saina to further dampen the spirits of the contingent on the ninth day of competitions.

Saina, who was carrying a knee injury into the quadrennial sports spectacle, lost 18-21 19-21 to lower ranked rival Maria Ulitina from Ukraine to make a shock exit.

Two other shuttlers remaining in the fray, K Srikanth and P V Sindhu, atoned somewhat for Saina’s exit by reaching the pre-quarterfinals from their respective groups in men’s and women’s singles.

But more disappointment was in store for the contingent when mixed doubles medal hopes – Bopanna and Sania – lost in the bronze medal play-off in straight sets to the Czech pair of Radek Stepanek and Lucie Hradceka.

To add insult to injury, the men’s hockey squad, which had qualified for the knock-out phase after 36 years, was bundled out of the competition by Belgium which inflicted a 3-1 defeat.

A lackluster India squandered a one goal advantage and blew away a great opportunity to create history after a hiatus of 36 years to climb the medal podium.

Belgium, on the other hand, scripted history as they progressed to the semi-finals of the Olympics after a gap of 96 years.

The shooters continued to misfire as rifle shooters Gagan Narang and Chain Singh failed to make the final of the 50m 3-position event, finishing a lowly 23rd and 33rd respectively, to end the country’s dismal campaign.

Women marathoners O P Jaisha and Kavita Raut were also out of depth and finished way behind in 89th and 120th spots clocking unimpressive time of 2 hours, 47 minutes, 19 seconds and 2:59:29 respectively.

Boxer Manoj Kumar lost 0-3 to Uzbek rival Fazliddin Gaibnazarov in the light welter (64kg) pre-quarterfinal bout.

The former Commonwealth Games gold-medalist Manoj Kumar put up a spirited show but could not match the power of fifth seed Fazliddin Gaibnazarov and bowed out.

The biggest talking point before Dipa’s stupendous show was the shock ouster of world no. 5 Saina, who created history four years ago in London by winning a bronze medal which was the first by an Indian in the sport.

She later revealed that she played with pain in her knee.

“I had a knee pain and could not give my best. It was heavily strapped, and I tried my best. My movements were not smooth and were painful. It’s heartbreaking loss. I also feel very bad about it,” said the former world no. 1 after her shock loss to the tall Ukrainian, who qualified from Group G.

According to the star Indian shuttler, the injury happened during training before the Olympics and it got worse after she reached Rio.

“It happened just before the Olympics about one and half weeks back. It happened during training and got aggravated after coming here,” she said.

Srikanth, the lone Indian in men’s singles, kept himself in the hunt by reaching the knock-out pre-quarterfinals from Group H by defeating Sweden’s Henri Hurskainen 21-6 21-18 in his second match to make the grade.

Lanky Sindhu later brought some cheer to the dejected Indian camp by making it to the pre quarters of women’s singles from her Group M after getting the better of Michelle Li of Canada 19-21 21-15 21-17.

Saina crashes out of Rio Olympics

In one of the biggest upsets for the Indian Olympic contingent, medal hope Saina Nehwal today crashed out of the Rio Games after suffering an upset straight-game loss against lower-ranked Maria Ulitina of Ukraine in her second Group G match here today.

The London Olympics bronze medallist and world no. 5 who had inflammation on her right knee, lost 18-21 19-21 to World No. 61 Maria in a match that lasted 39 minutes at the pavillion 4 Riocentre here.

The Indian star, a former world no. 1, had won the opening match against Brazil’s Vicente Lohaynny on August 11.

Maria, who had beaten Vicente in the opening match, reached the knockout stage from Group G at the expense of Saina and the Brazilian girl.

Saina looked totally rusty as she squandered an initial 6-1 lead to allow Maria level the scores at 8-8 with the Indian burying the shuttle in the net.

The Ukraine player posed a lot of questions as Saina missed a few shots in the forecourt and back. The Indian, however, managed to enter the short break 11-9 in front with a drop which Maria could not return from the forecourt.

Maria caught up again at 13-13 when Saina hit long. She infact took a slender lead at 16-15 and 17-16 as Saina struggled with her movements.

With Saina continuing to be sluggish, Maria reached 19-17 and then reached game point with a cross court round-the-head smash which caught Saina napping.

The Indian then hit wide to allow Maria earn the bragging rights after clinching the opening game.

In the second game, Maria used her height to good use as she played some sharp and stiff smashes and half smashes which Saina failed to negotiate. The Indian mamaged to stay ahead with a slender 11-10 lead at the break.

But Maria dominated the pace of the rallies even as Saina seemed restricted in her movement as the Ukraine player led 14-13.

The script didn’t change much after that as Maria managed to reach match point with a cross court smash and then entered the knock-out pre-quarter final round with a lucky net chord.

Could not give my best because of an injured knee: Saina

After a shocking group league exit from the Rio Olympics, Saina Nehwal cited an inflammation in her right knee as the reason which hampered her on-court movement.

World No 5 lost her second group league encounter 18-21, 19-21 to World No 61 Ukraine’s Maria Ulitina to crash out of the competition.

“I had a knee pain and could not give my best. It was heavily strapped, and I tried my best. My movements were not smooth and were painful. It’s heartbreaking loss. I also feel very bad about it,” Saina said.

The injury according to her happened during training before the Olympics and it got worse during the match.

“It happened just before the Olympics about one and half weeks back. It happened during training and got aggravated after coming here,” she said.

Saina agreed that she was not able to move well but credited her opponent for playing well.

“She played better but I was not able to move on the court. I tried for improvement but was not successful.”

Saina administered dexamethasone injection to curb pain: Vimal

A knee inflammation affected Saina Nehwal’s movement as the star shuttler crashed out of the Rio Olympics, said her personal coach Vimal Kumar here today after the huge setback for India’s medal hopes.

According to Vimal, Saina had to be administered a dexamethasone injection after the opening round match to curb the pain but it didn’t have desired results.

In one of the biggest upsets for India’s sagging medal hopes, Saina was knocked out of the Games after suffering an upset 18-21 19-21 loss to World No. 61 Maria Ulitina of Ukraine in 39 minutes in her second Group G match here.

Heartbroken to see his ward lose due to an injury, Vimal said: “I feel very sad for her as she did put in her best efforts in her preparations for this event. Sports at times is very cruel.”

Asked how did she suffered the injury, Vimal said: ” This comes when you are training hard regularly. Unfortunately for Saina she developed this towards the last week.”

The former national coach said Saina had to take a dexamethasone injection to curb the pain, but none in the media covering the Games was aware of this development.

“Saina developed more pain on her knee after her first round match and had been administered dexamethasone injection on that day. This is to bring down the inflammation and pain.

She has fat pad inflammation of the knee and has been taking treatment one week prior to our departure,” he said.

“She herself decided to take the injection after consulting the IOC doctors here and they have given her that in the Olympic village clinic.

“All the team members are aware of it and not any one in the media. Hoped she would be getting relief from pain today but did not get the desired relief while the injection was taking effect.” PTI TAP ATK SSR

Jaisha, Kavita finish way behind in women’s marathon

O P Jaisha and Kavita Raut, considered among the best distance runners in India and medalists at the Asian Games in the past, found themselves out of depth in the Olympic Games women’s marathon and finished way behind in the 150-plus field here today.

National record holder Jaisha, bronze medalist in the 5,000m and 1,500m respectively at the 2006 and 2014 Asiads in Doha and Incheon, ended up 89th by finishing the energy-sapping 42.1-km race in two hours, 47 minutes, 19 seconds.

The 33-year-old Kerala-born runner’s time was more than 23 minutes behind the gold medal winner Jemima Jelegat Sumgong (2:24:04) of Kenya.

At the half way mark she was lagging behind the leader by three and a half minutes but then slowed down further, unable to sustain her early pace. She was well off her personal best of 2:34:43 as well as behind season’s best of 2:42:26. She was 67th after 30 kms and slipped to 87th with 2kms to go.

Jaisha had achieved her personal best at the World Championship at Beijing last year where she finished 18th overall.

Kavita, who won medals in the 5000m and 10,000m six years ago in the Guangzhou Asian Games, finished further behind in the 120th spot by clocking a shade under three hours (2:59:29).

The 31-year-old Maharashtra athlete finished 35 minutes behind the champion from Kenya after being nearly ten minutes off the leader’s pace at the half way stage of the gruelling race.

Kavita started off much slowly and had a woeful first 30 kms which she crossed in 2:02:24 and was in 122nd place at that stage. By the 40km mark, she improved her position by 2 places.

The silver was won by Bahrain’s Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa (2:24:13) while the bronze went to Mare Dibaba of Ethiopia (2:24:30) in a sprint finish.

Twenty three runners who started the race could not finish it.

Sania, Rohan blown away by Czechs in bronze medal match

By Tapan Mohanta

India’s tennis campaign at the Rio Olympic Games ended in dejection as Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna were blown away by the Czech team of Radek Stepanek and Lucie Hradceka in the bronze medal Play-off, here today.

The Indian pair, who raised hopes of a medal with two consecutive wins to make the semis, suffered a 1-6 6-7 humiliation in the mixed doubles contest that lasted one hour and 13 minutes.

Mixed doubles was India’s best bet for a medal as it featured only 16 teams and winning three matches would have ensured a medal.

Sania and Prarthana Thombare had lost first round in the women’s doubles while Bopanna and Leander Paes had also made a first round exit from the men’s doubles.

43-year-old Paes, who has now appeared in seven Olympics, now remains the only Indian tennis player to have won a medal in the biggest sporting extravaganza. He had won a singles bronze at 1996 Atlanta Games.

Stepanek was all class in the bronze medal contest as the Czech unleashed his powerful strokes, constructed the rallies and finished points with his superlative display.

The Czechs sprayed the winners all over, catching the Indians by surprise, giving them no breathing space in the opening set. Both Sania and Bopanna lost serve to trail 0-5.

Bopanna saved two set points in the sixth game to save ignominy of being bageled. Lucie came out to serve out the opening set.

It was a disastrous start in the second set too for the Indians with Bopanna dropping serve in the very first game but they broke back Stepanek.

The Indians fought a bit and broke Lucie in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead but Bopanna again lost his serve to allow Czechs to make a comeback in the set.

At 5-5, Sania came to serve a must-win game but committed two double faults to be down by three break points. The Czechs converted the third when Bopanna’s half volley soared over the baseline.

A nervous Lucie served a double fault but Stepanek supported her with his tremendous presence of mind. Lucie smashed a backhand winner in open court to earn two match points and the Czechs sealed the match when Sania netted the forehand. THis was Stepanek’s first Olympic medal while Lucie won her second medal having won one in women’s doubles meet in London.

Narang, Chain fail to progress to end India’s campaign

Rifle shooters Gagan Narang and Chain Singh failed to progress to the finals of the men’s rifle 3-position to crash out of the competition and end India’s campaign in Olympic Games shooting on a dismal note here today.

Narang, a bronze medalist in the London Games four years ago in men’s 10m air rifle, ended up even behind Chain Singh, who was 23rd, in the 33rd spot out of 44 shooters with a three-phase tally of 1162 while Chain accumulated 1169.

Chain, who looked very much in the running for a slot in the finals after the first two phases, shot 391 out of 400 in kneeling, a superb 398 with three perfect 100s in prone and 380 in standing to get knocked out of the competition.

Narang, on the other hand, never looked in contention and fired 383, 395 and 384 in the three stages of the competition.

The experienced shooter from Hyderabad, who runs an academy now, thus ended his Olympic campaign by drawing a blank in all three events he took part in – 10m air rifle, rifle prone and in 3-position.

Belgium dashes India’s dream of hockey medal

A lacklustre India squandered a one goal advantage to go down 1-3 to Belgium in the quarterfinals and crashed out of the men’s hockey competition of the Rio Olympics, here today.

Eight-time gold medallist India, thus, blew away a great opportunity to create history after a hiatus of 36 years to climb the medal podium.

Belgium, on the other hand, scripted history as they progressed to the semi-finals of the Olympics after a gap of 96 years.

India took the lead through a fine field effort from Akashdeep Singh (15th minute) before Belgium pumped in three field goals from Sebastien Dockier (34th, 45th) and Tom Boon (50th) to dash India’s hopes of their first medal after the gold in 1980 at Moscow.

Having topped Pool A, Belgium were the favourites to win the encounter and they played like champions dominating the proceedings for most part of the game barring a few minutes in the second quarter after India took the lead late in the first quarter.

India, on the other hand, looked completely out of sorts as they played catch-up hockey.

The forwardline cut a sorry figure as they hardly created any chances which could be gauged from the fact that India failed to earn a single penalty corner in the entire 60 minutes.

The defence too found it tough to keep check of the rampaging Belgium forwardline, who mounted relentless attacks on the Indian goal.

With Belgium strikers on full press, India adopted a defence approach and relied more on counter attacks.

Belgium had the first shot at goal in the 13th minute when a try by Dockier, their best player of the day, was saved by Indian goalkeeper PR Sreejesh.

But India broke the deadlock in the final minute of the first quarter against the run of play through Akashdeep who got a deft deflection to a Manpreet Singh pass inside the circle to go into the break on a high.

Leading 1-0, India made a composed start in the second quarter and controlled the game for a brief period.

In this small passage of time India created a two good scoring chances.

In the 22nd minute, Ramandeep’s perfect lob found SV Sunil on the left flank but his cross was just out of reach of Nikkin Thimmaiah.

Sunil was again in the thick of action when his perfect cross found an unmarked Akashdeep inside the circle but his reverse hit went just wide.

One-and-a-half minutes from the end of second quarter, Belgium had two chances to draw level — first their captain John-John Dohmen was denied by Sreejesh and then 15 seconds from half time they wasted a penalty corner as India went into the breather with a one-goal cushion.

That was all India could manage in the match as thereafter it was all Belgium.

Two minutes into the third quarter, Sreejesh made a brilliant save to deny Thomas Briels but minutes later Belgium equalised when Dockier scored from the top of the circle after dribbling past three Indian defenders.

If not for Sreejesh India could have lost the match by a bigger margin as he came out of his line to again deny Dockier.

Belgium then secured their second penalty corner late in the third quarter but once again Sreejesh came to India’s rescue to keep out Loick Luypaert’s flick.

But 30 seconds from final break Belgium’s relentless efforts bore fruit courtesy some sloppy defending by the Indians.

The Indian defence got ample time but failed to cut Cedric Charlier’s cross from left and Dockier was at the right place at the right time to deflect the ball in.

Trailing, India pressed hard in the final quarter but failed to create an open chance. The Belgian defence too was upto the task to thwart any danger to their goal.

Belgium earned their third penalty corner three minutes into the final quarter but Sreejesh once again made a great save.

Pressing hard for the equaliser, India left spaces in the their backline and Belgium pounced on the opportunity to extend their lead through Boon’s strike.

Desperate for goals, India withdrew Sreejesh in favour of an additional foward but all their efforts went in vain as Belgium defended in numbers to keep their lead intact.

India’s campaign, thus ended in the Rio Olympics as there are no classification matches this time.

Earlier in the day, Argentina defeated Spain 2-1 to book their place in the semifinals.

PTI