SPORTS

India started off its Olympic campaign on a high note with Mirabai Chanu winning a silver medal in women's 49 kg weightlifting on Day 1 of the events. However, the days that followed have been tough for Indian athletes and fans. Many athletes ended up on the losing side and were eliminated from the race to the podium. Day 6 of the Tokyo Olympics brought in some hope for medals for the Indian contingent as badminton star PV Sindhu won her second match beating Hong Kong's NY Cheung in a Group J match to qualify for the pre-quarterfinals.

Boxer Pooja Rani (75KG) also showed the power of her punch and entered the quarterfinal round in her maiden Olympic Games. Meanwhile, archer Deepika Kumari defeated USA’s Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez to book her place in the pre-quarters.

India's hopes of the second medal at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics continues after Mirabai Chanu clinched Silver Medal in Weightlifting in the 49 kg category on Saturday. Since the Indian athletes have performed well but they haven't been able to go all the way to the finals of their respective games. 

Meanwhile, Day 5 of the Tokyo Olympics has been a mixed day for the Indian athletes. India's men hockey team bounced back in style after their ignominious defeat against Australia (7-1) as the Manpreet Singh-led team defeated Spain by 3-0 in their third match of Tokyo Olympics 2020.

With a few articulately timed slashes and thrusts of the blade, headlines were being written on the fencing piste on Monday.

World No 1 Olga Kharlan, a woman so popular that she has a Barbie doll fashioned after her, lost to China’s world No 45 Yang Hengyu. World No 4 Shao Yaqi lost to Zaynab Dayibekova, the world No 121. American Anne-Elizabeth Stone was sent home by Anna Bashta, ranked 30 places below her. Maria Belen Perez Maurice lost her bout, and then found her partner and coach waiting with a note reading, 'Want to marry me?' in Spanish.

But the story of the day around the piste at Makuhari Messe Hall in Chiba was an Indian fencer making it to the grand stage of the Olympic Games. There was nothing dramatic about Bhavani Devi’s Monday. No giant-slaying exploits on the piste. Certainly, no proposals. Only the small matter of a woman going where no one—woman or man—from a country of 1.3 billion has gone before.

The remainder of IPL 2021 in the UAE will resume in Dubai on September 19 with MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings taking on Rohit Sharma's Mumbai Indians. The fixtures were unveiled on Sunday, with a total of 31 matches spread across 27 days.

The Super Kings will return to these same shores where they finished second from last on the points table in IPL 2020. However, they have bounced back this season to be placed second, with five wins in seven matches.

That opening fixture of the second leg will be followed by the Royal Challengers Bangalore taking on the Kolkata Knight Riders in Abu Dhabi. Like the Super Kings, the Royal Challengers are in contention for the playoffs, and are currently placed third. The Knight Riders, meanwhile, need a succession of wins to remain in the race.

Boxing great MC Mary Kom and Indian men's hockey team captain Manpreet Singh led the Indian contingent out as they marched through Tokyo's National Stadium during the opening ceremony of the 2020 Olympics. 

The number of athletes who walked out for India was reduced to 19 due to Covid-19 restrictions.

The athletes were clad in blazers with the name of the country on it. All the members of the contingent waved small Indian flags themselves in addition to Mary and Manpreet carrying the Indian flag up front. Manpreet was the only hockey player in the contingent as athletes were kept down to a minimum in the parade.

Mary, on the other hand, was accompanied by fellow boxers Lovlina Borgohain, Pooja Rani, Amit Panghal, Manish Kaushik, Ashish Kumar and Satish Kumar.