After the archers blew hot and cold on the first day of the Olympics in Tokyo on Friday, there is a lot of Indian interest on Day 2 of the Games. The Indian shooters will compete in their qualification round, and the Indian hockey team will play New Zealand in their opening game. In the Men’s Singles first round, India’s tennis talent Sumit Nagal will face Denis Istomin. Later in the day, the table tennis players will compete as well.
Mirabai Chanu, who won a silver medal in the women’s 49kg weightlifting category on Saturday, kicked off India’s medal tally at the Tokyo Olympics. The 26-year-old lifted a total of 202kg (87kg+115kg), becoming the second weightlifter to earn a medal in the Games after Karnam Malleswari (2000 Sydney Olympics). Hou Zhihui of China won gold with a 210kg effort, and Aisah Windy Cantika of Indonesia took bronze with a 194kg effort.
Saurabh Chaudhary placed eighth in the 10m air pistol final after winning the qualification rounds. Deepika Kumari and Pravin Jadhav advanced to the quarterfinals of the mixed team event in archery but were defeated by South Korea. The men’s hockey team defeated New Zealand 3-2 in their opening group match to get off to a winning start. In badminton, B Sai Praneeth lost his men’s singles opening, but Satwiksairaj Reddy and Chirag Shetty defeated Chinese Taipei’s Yang Lee/Chi-Lin Wang in their men’s doubles opener, 21-16, 16-21, 27-25. Sumit Nagal, on the other side, became the first Indian to win a tennis singles match since Leander Paes at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Elavenil Valarivan and Apurvi Chandela were eliminated from the 10m air rifle final. In the mixed doubles round, Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra were defeated by third seeds Lin Yun-Ju and Cheng I-Ching of Chinese Taipei. After placing sixth in the men’s lightweight double sculls heat, rowing duo Arvind Singh and Arjun Lal Jat qualified for the repechage round. Sushila Devi’s challenge ended prematurely when she was defeated by Hungarian Eva Csernoviczki.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined the country in celebrating Mirabai Chanu, who ended India’s 21-year wait for an Olympic weightlifting medal by winning silver in the 49 kg category at the Tokyo Games on July 23.
