Tokyo 2020, day 3 as it happened: Rani Rampal & Co go down fighting on another tough day for India

7.40 pm: That will be a wrap for the day. Stay tuned for the confirmation of India’s schedule for Tuesday. We are not going to say anything about how massive it is. Nope. Not us.

We will leave you with this memorable moment: Bhavani Devi takes India to Olympic fencing.

7.30 pm: Before closing this live blog... an incredible moment in weightlifting today. Watch this video and try to hold back your tears. It’s a dare!

Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz made history on Monday when she became the first athlete from the Philippines to win an Olympic gold medal.

The 30-year-old Rio 2016 silver medallist from the southern city of Zamboanga realised her dream in the women’s 55kg class at the Tokyo International Forum, smashing her personal best to see off world record holder Liao Qiuyun of China who had to settle for silver.

With Liao setting a target of 223kg, just four kilogrammes shy of her own world record, Diaz was faced with a final clean and jerk of 127kg to win – fully 5kg more than she had ever achieved in competition.

With a massive effort she hoisted the huge Olympic record weight and the tears of joy began to flow even before she dropped the bar to the floor after a triumphant effort.

— via AFP

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 2-0 IND: Important thing to note with Indian women’s team is that they have gotten out the two toughest tests out of the way to start. GBR, IRL, RSA to come. Winnable matches and very much in control of finishing in top four if they can keep their level up from NED & GER games. Here’s how the group stands.

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 2-0 IND, FULL TIME: Might not get a better chance to beat a team like Germany, great third and fourth quarters from the Indians, the goal just wouldn’t happen – Viren Rasquinha’s take in the Sony sports studios. Spot on, you must say.

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 2-0 IND, FULL TIME: A heartbreaking defeat this! India had some big chances to get something out of this game. Even a draw would have been palatable if win was going to be tough. But the Germans clinical in the end.

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 2-0 IND, Q4: Time has all but run out. Less than a minute. Germany managing game now.

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 2-0 IND, Q4: The yellow card time off is over and India have 4 minutes with 11 on the field to try and make something happen. Not looking quite likely at the moment, Germany still carrying the threat on counter.

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 2-0 IND, Q4: Oh no! Yellow card for Sharmila Devi and she is going to off for five minutes with 9 mins to go in this match. She has been solid today but gets penalised for a rash tackle. She is evidently disappointed. LAST THING India needed now.

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 2-0 IND, Q4: Of course Germany have a PC immediately after India’s big chance, that’s how this game has gone! Lorenz however drags this one JUST wide. Oh in fact that’s a deflection from Monika.

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 2-0 IND, Q4: OFF THE POST! ANOTHER BIG CHANCE FOR INDIA! Good work down the right, the ball is pulled back, Vandana Katariya’s shot across goal is a bit high off the the metalwork.

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 2-0 IND, end of Q3: Germany will finish the quarter with 10 after a green card to them now. But India couldn’t do much with that. End of a breathtaking quarter of action.

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 2-0 IND in Q3: Back to 11 vs 11. India are actually doing well going forward now, forced into upping their attacking game too. Good open game now.

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 2-0 IND in Q3: BIG CHANCE! Vandana with a brilliant steal in Germany’s half, drives forward and tries to round the GK. Sonntag pulls off the save. India on the charge despite temporarily being down to 10.

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 2-0 IND in Q3: Such a good strike from Rani Rampal from the PC not so long back. Such a brilliant review from there to ask for a penalty stroke and get the call too. But the stroke is saved, and few seconds later, Germany score their second to potentially put the game out of reach. CRUEL. India are now down to 10.

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 2-0 IND, Q3: GERMANY SCORE! Oh what a blow this is for India. A superb drive by Schroder from the edge of the area, just out of Savita’s reach. BRILLIANT GOAL.

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 1-0 IND, Q3: GURJIT KAUR... she can’t score! Saved by the German GK Sonntag. Came at a good height for her. What a big missed chance for India to level things.

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 1-0 IND, Q3: PENALTY STROKE FOR INDIA! What a referral from Rani.

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 1-0 IND, Q3: The moment India have waited for, a PC! Can Gurjit or Rani make the most of it? It’s Rani.... it’s a good strike! BLOCKED! But Rani is adamant this is a penalty stroke. INDIA REFER!

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 1-0 IND, Q3: India would love for Rani Rampal to be given the chances to be involved in their game more. And a chance for Gurjit Kaur from a PC is yet to come.

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 1-0 IND, HALF TIME: Former India captain Viren Rasquinha is all praise in the Sony studios for India’s defensive effort and for Sharmila Devi’s driving runs. But she has lacked support going forward. Can that change in second half?

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 1-0 IND, HALF TIME! Nike Lorenz’s converted PC is the difference between the two sides in what has been a very watchable match of hockey so far. India defending well for the most part, strong tactical play from Germany to find spaces. The good news for Rani Rampal and Co is that they are still in this one very much.

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 1-0 IND, Q2: Better from India towards the end of this half, Vandana has been good down the left. They are keeping the ball longer. Germany had more than 60% possession in Q1 it’s not been that high here in Q2.

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 1-0 IND, Q2: The Netherlands match saw India be more energetic, creative going forward but either by design to keep things tight or by Germany’s relentlessness, it hasn’t happened yet. The Indian defence under constant pressure. Altenburg keeps popping up in dangerous positions.

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 1-0 IND, Q2: Another PC Germany. Powerful strike by Altenburg, saved by Savita but the parry is deemed high. India rush out brilliant to block the drag flick!

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 1-0 IND, Q2: good use of the referral by India, decision overturned. The importance of scoring next cannot be overstated for India, so a Germany PC being averted is good for them.

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 1-0 IND, Q2: PC given to Germany after some chaos in the D. India’s Monika quickly asks for a referral.

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 1-0 IND end of Q1: India had a couple of good moments going forward, Salima Tete looked energetic but otherwise it’s been Germany. It’s only 1-0 thanks to Savita.

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 1-0 IND in Q1, GOAL GERMANY: The skipper delivers! Nike Lorenz with a drag flick that is low and to the left of Savita and the onrushing defence. Great strike. Germany deservedly in the lead.

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 0-0 IND in Q1: Germany’s Altenburg with a sensational dribble down the right and wins a PC.

As an aside: Customary comment about hockey teams wearing a blue that is the same colour as the turf (mostly India, sometimes others teams like Argentina). Some day FIH should do something about it, you know!)

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 0-0 IND in Q1: BIG CHANCE! Savita called into action with 6 mins to go. That’s a sensational save from the Indian after a good pullback from left leads to a big chance for GER.

Hockey, women’s Pool A, GER 0-0 IND in Q1: First five minutes have largely been Germany possession and India defending, a pattern we should see most of the match.

Zenia D’Cunha: Another tough match for India against Germany, after going down to the Netherlands 1-5 in the opener. But what is watching hockey, if not hope.

Women’s hockey, Pool A India vs Germany: National anthems done! Here we go.

Tokyo Olympics: Meet the Indian women’s hockey team looking to write history at the Games

Women’s hockey, Pool A: INDIA VS GERMANY: Here’s a little bit about Rani Rampal and Co’s opponents.

GERMANY (women’s hockey) preview:

Following their wonderful Olympic bronze medal success at Rio 2016, Germany have continued to look like a team that can challenge the very best in the world. A bronze medal in the inaugural FIH Hockey Pro League and silver medals at the two most recent European Championship events prove that Die Danas – coached by former Belgian international Xavier Reckinger – really are a class act, and they will be looking to get amongst the medals in Japan. Germany faced Italy in the 2019 FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers, comfortably winning both matches to create an emphatic 9-0 aggregate score-line to reach Tokyo 2020.

Player perspective – Charlotte Stapenhorst: “We have a really good pool! We know that we have to look at ourselves and make sure that every pool game, we come out a little better. We’ll proceed from game to game, I think.” 

One to watch: Charlotte Stapenhorst. This lively attacker is always an impressive performer, with her magical 3D skills and creativity being a constant scourge to opposition defences.  

Very few people cover Indian wrestling as well as Vinay Siwach does, here’s a feature he has done for Scroll.in about the brilliant Vinesh Phogat.

Table tennis, mixed doubles: Cheng I Ching and Lin Yun Ju, the right-left combo that defeated Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra, have gone on to win the bronze medal. Defeated Korea, lost to JPN in semis, won vs FRA in playoff. (That was the kind of path some had in mind for, to avoid China or Japan till semis and go for that bronze shot. That’s how it played out for TPE)

Hockey: India went down to the Netherlands 1-5 in their first match while Germany got the better of Great Britain 2-1. The Netherlands are the only team to have won both their matches so far. This is what Pool A looks like:

Next up: India vs Germany in women’s hockey at 5.45 pm

Swimming: Prakash fails to qualify to the semi-finals. He finishes 24th fastest, only the top 16 go through.

Swimming: A fine swim by India’s Sajan Prakash in his Men’s 200m Butterfly Heats. He finished fourth but was pushing for third place for a while. Prakash had created history recently by becoming the first Indian swimmer to achieve Olympic ‘A’ qualification after clocking a time of 1:56.38 at the Sette Colli Trophy in Rome (the Olympic qualification time was 1:56.48). He was a bit slower today.

Next up: India’s Sajan Prakash is set to compete in the Men’s 200m Butterfly Heats at 3.50 pm today.

The future?

Boxing: Ashish Kumar loses to Erbieke Tyoheta
Round 3: It wasn’t for lack of effort. Ashish Kumar threw everything he had in his tank at the 24-year-old Chinese there. But Tyoheta was just more clinical in the first two round. The third round to the Indian but the Chinese wins it.

Boxing: Ashish Kumar vs Erbieke Tyoheta
Round 2: Ashish Kumar has a good work rate but is he getting enough punches on target. Tyoheta is taller and he seems to be picking his moments to attack. Lots of action in the round with some pretty wild swings from Ashish. Second round to the Chinese boxer too. The Indian needs an inspired third round.

Boxing: Ashish Kumar vs Erbieke Tyoheta
Round 1: Ashish Kumar (in red) and Tyoheta (in blue) in a fairly even round but Ashish Kumar landed some decent blows but all the judges gave it to the Chinese boxer. A bit surprising.

Next up, boxing: India’s Ashish Kumar will be up against China’s Erbieke Tyoheta in Round of 32 clash of Men’s Middle weight category.

13 years old and an Olympic gold medallist!

Japan’s Momiji Nishiya became one of the youngest individual Olympic champions in history when she won the inaugural women’s skateboarding gold at the age of 13 years and 330 days on Monday.

Nishiya finished ahead of Brazil’s Rayssa Leal – who at 13 years and 203 days could have become the youngest ever individual Olympic champion – and Japan’s Funa Nakayama, 16.

Nishiya starred in the tricks section to score 15.26 and give the hosts a clean-sweep of the street discipline as skateboarding makes its Olympic debut.

US diver Marjorie Gestring remains the youngest individual Olympic champion after winning the 3m springboard at the 1936 Berlin Games at 13 years and 268 days.

30 extra seconds without the mask?

Olympic athletes have received an extra incentive for winning a medal after organisers said they could remove their masks for 30 seconds for photos on the podium.

Medal-winners were urged not to abuse the relaxation in the rules at the Tokyo Games, which have been marked by their strict anti-coronavirus measures after opening a year late.

“The idea is to give those athletes who have been competing, when everyone else has stepped back, the chance to remove their mask for 30 seconds, staying on those steps for photos,” International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams said on Monday.

“I think everyone appreciates, one, that the risk is very, very, very, low, and two, completely understandable.”

A look at some of the other medal winners from Day 3 –

Great Britain’s Tom Daley and Matty Lee won gold in the men’s men’s synchronised 10m platform diving.

USA swept the men’s and women’s skeet medals with Amber English winning with an Olympic Record score of 56 and veteran Vincent Hancock winning with another record 59.

From one Olympian paddler to another:

Badminton, men’s singles: Here’s why Sai Praneeth’s debut campaign is over after just one group stage match

Sai Praneeth had lost his opening match to Misha Zilberman of Israel in the men’s singles in straight games but there was a slim chance of progression if other results went his way. But on Monday, Zilberman won the first game and then lost in three against Mark Caljouw from Netherlands. That result ensured that Zilberman cannot finish below Sai, even if the Indian won his match against Caljouw on Wednesday in straight games. As a result, the Indian can’t top the group. His result against Caljouw will decide whether the Dutchman or the Israeli will progress to the round of 16.

Sailing, Women’s One Person Dinghy - Laser Radial - Race 04: A 40th place finish for Nethra Kumanan in the 4th Race of her event and that’s her lowest placing so far. Pushes her down the overall standing.

How Sailing works: Race points = The position you finish. (If you finish 1, you get 1 point). There are 10 races first to decide finalists. The points are added for NINE races with lowest score discarded at the end. And the top 10 from that final standing will contest for medals.

Korea’s gold tally for archery so far: 

 Mixed: Gold 

Women’s team: Gold 

Men’s team: Gold 

Women’s individual: ? 

Men’s individual: ?

Men’s team archery round-up: A historic bronze for Japan, their first ever medal in the event. It was ANOTHER SENSATIONAL SHOOTOFF. Muto Hiroki, who could have beaten Korea with a 10 with his final arrow in the previous shootoff of the semifinal, did it this time around. It was a 10 to win by levelling the scores if he could get closest to centre. He did it!

And then in the final, KOREA just went ballistic in the first 2 sets scoring 59 and 60. A 56 was enough to clinch the third and win yet another GOLD MEDAL.

Table tennis, women’s singles, round 3, IND 8-11, 2-11, 5-11, 7-11 AUT: Polcanova, the world no 17, was too good against Batra. The Austrian was always in control and didn’t allow the Indian to get in the match at all. A commanding performance. End of a fine run for Manika Batra.

Meanwhile in the men’s archery team final, Korea have shot a set of 10-10-10-10-10-10!

Ashish Magotra: Polcanova just hasn’t allowed Batra to settle. Nice use of angles and change of pace. She takes the third game too — 11-5. Batra’s forehand letting her down today.

Table tennis, women’s singles, round 3, IND 8-11, 2-11, 5-11 AUT: It was a closer start to this third game but once again the 10th seed races through it.

Table tennis, women’s singles, round 3, IND 8-11, 2-11 AUT: The 10th seed storms through the second game 11-2 to put the pressure on Batra.

Table tennis, women’s singles: Ashish Magotra - First game to the Austrian. Batra got it to 8-9 but then the Austrian won a point to make it 10-8. Two game points for the Austrian. And that’s it. The Austrian takes the first game 11-8. Batra staged a rally but it wasn’t enough.

Table tennis, women’s singles, round 3, IND 2-2 AUT: Points exchanged to start this match. The Austrian is a leftie.

Table tennis, women’s singles, round 3: Manika Batra in action against Austria’s Polcanova. 10th seed at these Games.

How Sailing works: Race points = The position you finish. (If you finish 1, you get 1 point). There are 10 races first to decide finalists. The points are added for NINE races with lowest score discarded at the end. And the top 10 from that final standing will contest for medals.

A quick explainer on sailing coming up.

Sailing, Women’s One Person Dinghy - Laser Radial - Race 03: A Solid finish by Nethra Kumanan, finishing 15th in the 3rd race. She had finished 16th and 33rd in races 01 and 02. She is the first Indian woman to qualify in sailing for Olympics. This is an event with multiple races over multiple days before the top 10 make the cut for final race to decide medals.

Correction to previous updates, it was the archery men’s event semifinal that Korea win. (Incredible because it means they were *THAT* close to not reaching the final)

Archery men’s event semifinal SHOOTOFF: Korea go first because Japan won the previous set. KOR 9, JPN 10. KOR 10 (17-year-old!!!), JPN 9. 19-19 now with one arrow each! It’s a 9 from Jinhyek. It’s a 9 from Japan too! KOREA WIN! THAT 10 BY KIM JE DEOK!!!! WOW!!! WOW!

Archery men’s event semifinal: Three arrows to decide *finalist. Each team will shoot one per archer. More points, gold easy. Same points, closest to centre wins.

Archery men’s event semifinal: We are heading for a shootoff! Japan have a 56 in the final must-win set and that is enough to go to sudden death. A brilliant 10-10-10 from Japan to start the final set. Korea didn’t recover from a 9-9-8. BRILLIANT!

Archery men’s event semifinal: Japan have taken the second set against Korea! We are at 2-2 after 2 sets. The first set that Korean men have dropped in the event so far. They duly take the next set 58-55 though. Japan in must-win territory for the 4th set.

Pause, rewind, play: End of a long wait – when Leander Paes made India proud at the 1996 Olympics

Tennis, men’s singles, India 2-6, 1-6 ROC: That’s it for India in the tennis competition at Tokyo.
World No 2 Daniil Medvedev beats Sumit Nagal 6-2, 6-1 in the second round of men’s singles in just over 66 minutes.
The Indian saved a couple of match points on serve but anther match point is offered with a double fault, the game goes to deuce a third time and this time Medvedev clinches it.

A look at he numbers tell you that it was the Russian all the way.

A message from Bhavani Devi

Tennis, men’s singles, India 2-6, 1-4 ROC: Nagal is broken in the first game of the second set as well. The Indian is looking for ways to get back in the match but the world No 2 has a lock on the serve and getting good returns in.
Th Russian gets a double break soon after as Nagal’s errors pile up.

Zenia D’Cunha will bring you tennis updates for a while here. No other Indian event at the moment. Nethra Kumanan’s event in sailing is underway currently as well. Manika Batra will be in action at 1 pm.

Sailing, Men’s One Person Dinghy - Laser RACE 03: After finishing 20th and 14th in his previous two races, India’s Vishnu Saravanan finished 24th in race 03. Consistently in the middle of the pack on his Olympics debut. That will be it for this event today. There are a total of 10 races over the course of this week followed by a medal race in the end.

Tennis, men’s singles, India 2-6 ROC: Daniil Medvedev takes the first set 6-2 in about 30 mins against Sumit Nagal. Just a clean, consistent game from the Russian star. Nagal hit a couple of good forehand winners, but that was about that.

FIRST SET STATS:

REPLUG: The story off Archery domination by South Korea

Skeet, men’s qualification: NO FINALIST FROM INDIA. So, a little while earlier we had told you the qualification hopes were over for India. Here are the scores. There is a shootoff needed after a 6-way tie on 122 to determine top 6. But Angad finished with 120. A 23, 24 today hurt him.

Badminton, Men’s doubles Group A: Here we go, this is how the group looks at the moment. Everything to play for (well, except the top spot)! Satwik-Chirag should fancy their chances against Lane-Vendy and/or hope the top seeds can see of Lee-Wang. Top two progress to quarterfinals, remember. The Indian pair must win their final match to be completely sure of progression, but can still go through with a defeat if Lee/Wang don’t beat the Minions.

Zenia D’Cunha: Sumit Nagal is broken in the very first game. He takes Medvedev to deuce in the next game, but he holds for a 2-0 lead

Zenia D’Cunha: Here we go! Nagal vs Medvedev (shown on TV today!) Not the best of clashes for the Indian but Sumit has played quite a few top 10/Slam finalists and it’s always served a learning curve. This is best-of-three and there is always a chance.

Men’s archery quarterfinal recap: Look at the Korean scores! One 8 from Kim Woojin but that was when it didn’t really matter much. Atanu Das would have wanted to do better but that is really nitpicking. It wasn’t about today. It was about Friday.

A special mention to Pravin Jadhav who went 10-9-10-10-9-10 with his six arrows! Superb. (Look for arrows 2 & 5 for him below).

Skeet is almost done and both Indians are already out of finals contention. Scores to be updated soon.

Ashish Magotra: Game 2: The same as the first game. The Minions are very good at the net and they just kept Satwik/Chirag off balance throughout the match. The angles they produce made it difficult for the Indian pair to get into their stride. The flat game worked once again. No lifts for the Indians to exploit. The Indonesian pair won 21-13, 21-12 in 32 mins. A routine win in the end.

Badminton, men’s doubles Group A, India 13-21, 12-21 Indonesia: TOP SEEDS WIN! Kevin/Marcus make it NINE WINS OUT OF NINE against Satwik/Chirag. That win against the Minions is proving elusive for the Indian pair who have otherwise developed a wonderful knack of pulling off upsets.

Men’s archery team, quarterfinal, India 0-6 Korea: KOREA WIN! Never in doubt. This is the problem with a bad qualification in archery. Despite not doing too badly in this match (Jadhav was especially brilliant), Koreans have walked away with a super cool win.

Men’s archery team, quarterfinal, India 0-4 Korea, SET 3: Another 10 from Jadhav, superb from him. But Korea need just 26 to win after a 9-10-9 from India.

Men’s archery team, quarterfinal, India 0-4 Korea, SET 3: Better from Das to start with a 9 but a 8 from Rai means it is already too low a score to trouble Korea. Woojin does land a 8 but still 28-26 for the top seeds.

Men’s archery team, quarterfinal, India 0-4 Korea, SET 2: 10-10 from Rai and Jadhav! But Das hits a 8 when a 10 would have put serious pressure on the Koreans. Or not. They respond with 10-10-10. PERFECTION! Two 59s in two sets. WOW.

Men’s archery team, quarterfinal, India 0-2 Korea, SET 2: Superb response from India there. Das starts with 9 and then Pravin and Rai go 10-10. BIG CHEERS from the Indian camp! But Korea respond with 10-9-10. It’s 29-29 midway. Great shooting from both teams.

Men’s archery team, quarterfinal, India 0-2 Korea, SET 1: What do you when you score 28 with three arrows and still find yourself out of contention before the second round!? Korea go 10-10-10 and it is over before India respond with 9-9-8. It’s 59-54 to Korea.

Men’s archery team, quarterfinal, India vs Korea, SET 1: Korea start with 10-10-9 for a 29 and India respond with 8-10-10 (An 8 from Das but the other two step up there!).

Men’s archery team, quarterfinal: TIME FOR INDIA VS KOREA

Ashish Magotra: Game 1: As expected, this match has been all about short, sharp exchanges. We haven’t seen any long rallies. Satwik/Chirag started well and took it to 5-5 before the Indonesian pair came into their own and started to pull away. They went into the mid-game break at 11-7 and eventually took the first game 21-13. The Indians have to find a way to get the Minions to lift more.

Badminton, men’s doubles Group A, India 13-21 Indonesia: Fast and furious from the Minions.

Badminton, men’s doubles Group A, India 12-20 Indonesia: Eight game points for Kevin/Marcus.

Badminton, men’s doubles Group A, India 11-19 Indonesia: Kevin-Marcus don’t allow their opponents the time to smash very often, Satwik got a chance there and made the most of it. But not much else going for the Indian. Very sharp court coverage from Minions as usual.

Badminton, men’s doubles Group A, India 9-13 Indonesia: Lengthy break this but not quite sure what is bothering Chirag. He slid hard in the previous rally, might be something to do with the big toe. Anyway, all good for now. Carrying on.

Badminton, men’s doubles Group A, India 9-13 Indonesia: Can Satwik-Chirag stem the flow here? Miscommunication at the net for Indians as the Minions set the tempo. It’s a break in play and Chirag is sitting on the floor holding is toe. Hope it is nothing serious.

Badminton, men’s doubles Group A, India 7-11 Indonesia: On a run of a few straight points for the top seeds after a close start. The Indonesians can be slow starters sometimes but they have come out of the blocks racing, from 6-7 down to 11-7 at the mid-game interval

Badminton, men’s doubles Group A, India 2-2 Indonesia: Let’s go, then. Quick exchanges to start the match. It’s 3-3 to start.

Badminton, men’s doubles Group A: SATWIK-CHIRAG time! The Minions, Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo are their opponents. Top seeds, world No 1. Nothing to lose for the Indians, hoping they play a cracking game

Sailing, Men’s One Person Dinghy - Laser RACE 02: Another impressive performance on debut for the Indian sailor Vishnu Saravanan. He finishes 20th here, moving through the positions over time, from 29 to 20 at the landmarks, went as high as 14th. In race 01 too, he improved his position steadily through his race, moving from 29 to finish 14th. Race 02 was postponed from yesterday to today.

Badminton, men’s singles: So after defeating Sai Praneeth and losing in three games against Mark Caljouw, there is now a real chance Misha Zilberman can progress out of this group. It would be something else! Vinay Siwach had written this story in 2019.

India Open: Svetlana and Misha Zilberman, the mother-son duo, play badminton against all odds

Badminton, Men’s singles Group D: Sai Praneeth’s Olympics campaign is over even before the 2nd match for him (scheduled for Wednesday). Misha Zilberman managed to take a game from Mark Caljouw and that’s that for the Indian because he can’t finish top of group even if he wins his match in straight games. (GD will be 0 at best, Zilberman is at +1). All England semifinalist Caljouw will have to win against Sai to seal his progress.

SWIMMING: Stop everything and watch this!

Table tennis, women’s singles round 2, IND 0-4 POR: Fu Yu wins! Yu was relentless. Just didn’t give Mukherjee a way back into the match even when this fourth game started close enough. She wins in straight games. The Indian paddler didn’t find her feet in this match at all unfortunately. End of her debut campaign.

Table tennis, women’s singles round 2, IND 0-3 POR, Game 4: 3-3 in the fourth game. One game at a time here for Mukherjee, if she can force her way back.

Table tennis, women’s singles round 2, IND 0-3 POR, Game 4: Just too easy for Fu Yu at the moment, 11-5 in the third game.

Table tennis, women’s singles round 2, IND 0-2 POR, Game 3: A time out taken by Mukherjee at the start of game 3 (bit odd to do it just after a game break but if it helps her get a footing, perhaps that is ok). Yu is still in command, has opened up a 6-2 lead now.

Table tennis, women’s singles round 2, IND 0-2 POR: Yu proving to be too strong for Mukherjee in the second game too. The 42-year-old takes the game 11-3, the same score as the first game. Not quite the same as the previous IND-POR match we saw anymore.

Table tennis, women’s singles round 2, IND 0-1 POR: The Portuguese paddler has taken the opening game with ease. Not going Mukherjee’s way. Yu closes it out 11-3. (Similar start to the other IND-POR match we saw earlier today!)

Table tennis, women’s singles round 2: TT action coming up. Portugal’s Fu Yu (a veteran, ranked 55) vs India’s Sutirtha Mukherjee. The Indian got a brilliant victory in her last match that lasted an hour.

Badminton, Men’s doubles Group A: World No 3 pair Lee/Wang bounce back from their defeat against Satwik/Chirag to defeat Lane/Vendy keep their QF alive. Keeps the group superbly poised.

Zenia D’Cunha: India’s Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Angad Vir Singh Bajwa both score 23/25 in the fourth round and are currently placed 25th and 19th A tough ask to make the final (top six only)

Shooting, skeet men’s qualification, day 2: The veteran Mairaj too shoots a 23 and as such he had little to no chance of reaching the final after 71/75 on day 1. Not looking good for the skeet shooters.

Badminton, men’s doubles Group A: Interest for India in this one as Lee/Wang and Lane/Vendy go up against each other after defeats in their opening matches. Must-win for both and it’s the No 3 pair Lee/Wang who take the first game 21-17. Satwik/Chirag take on top seeds in a little while.

Shooting, skeet men’s qualification, day 2: Angad had a chance, a real chance, to do well today and reach final but he has made 23 in his fourth round and has slipped well behind the top 6! Mairaj is shooting his 4th series.

BIG RESULT IN THE POOLS: Ariarne Titmus of Australia has pipped Katie Ledecky to gold in the women’s 400m freestyle.

Fencing, women’s sabre individual, table of 32: Bhavani Devi’s Tokyo 2021 journey comes to an end. But for her and Indian fencing, this is just the beginning.

Fencing, women’s sabre individual, table of 32: Brunet ends that run of points to go 13-6. She is 2 points away. Devi then goes on the charge but Brunet with a counter to make it 14-6 and one point away. Another point for Devi to make it 7-14 but the fourth seed seals the deal next up. Manon Brunet wins.

Fencing, women’s sabre individual, table of 32: A point for Bhavani to make it 11-3. And another after a review to make it 4-11! Make that 5-11. The Indian is not going down without a fight. A lovely counterattack by the Indian and it is 6-11!

Fencing, women’s sabre individual, table of 32: Very tough battle this for Bhavani of course, but the Indian did well to pick up a couple of points. She thought she had a couple more but not so. End of first period as Brunet reaches 8 points.

Fencing, women’s sabre individual, table of 32: First period will go till the first player reaches 8 points. Big roar from Devi as she makes it 1-1.

Fencing, women’s sabre individual, table of 32: Time for Bhavani Devi to take on World No 3 and the 4th seed Manon Brunet of France. EN GARDE!

07.35 am: If you are just joining us, India had wins in Fencing (women’s sabre table of 64, Bhavani Devi), Archery (men’s team, round of 16) and Table tennis (men’s singles round 2, Sharath Kamal).

Table tennis, men’s singles, round 2: (Correction to previous updates made as well, this was round 2 match and not round 3).

Sharath Kamal wins 4-2 against Tiago Apolonia. Stats from the match.

Table tennis, men’s singles, round 2, IND 4-2 POR: Sharath Kamal wins! A big roar from the Indian. He started with a 2-11 in the first game but was largely in control once he found his footing.

Table tennis, men’s singles, round 2, IND 3-2 POR: Match point, Sharath.

Table tennis, men’s singles, round 2, IND 3-2 POR: Apolonia wins a point right out of the timeout and we are 9-9! “These 2 complete each other right now,” the commentator quips.

Table tennis, men’s singles, round 2, IND 3-2 POR: Apolonia calls timeout with Sharath edging ahead 9-8! The Indian 2 points away from winning and the Portugal paddler wants to slow it down.

Table tennis, men’s singles, round 3, IND 3-2 POR: Apolonia takes a lead here and there and Sharath pushes back. The Indian makes it 8-8 and pumps himself up. He doesn’t want a decider.

Table tennis, men’s singles, round 2, IND 3-2 POR: It is not easy. It is a battle alright. Apolonia keeps fighting back. 6-6 in this game at the towel break.

Ashish Magotra: Sharath takes the vital fifth game. He has employed the side spin very well in this game. Lots of feints thrown in as well. Finishes it off with a superb backhand. (Correction to previous update, it was 11-6).

Table tennis, men’s singles, round 2, IND 3-2 POR: Game 5, India! The Sharath Kamal backhand in all its glory! A superb winner to take fifth game 11-6 and put himself one game away from wrapping this match up.

Table tennis, men’s singles, round 2, IND 2-2 POR: The timeout has helped. Terrific from Sharath on the attack, and he has 5 game points.

Table tennis, men’s singles, round 2, IND 2-2 POR: The timeout helps Sharath win the next two points, he would want to take this game and not be left playing catchup for the last two if needed.

Table tennis, men’s singles, round 2, IND 2-2 POR: Game 5 is a tight affair too. Apolonia wins 3 in a row to make it 4-4 and a timeout is taken by the Indian veteran.

Table tennis, men’s singles, round 2, IND 2-2 POR: A long stride from Sharath helps him win a point on backfoot. A couple of “CHOLE!”s and he is up 4-1 in game 5.

Table tennis, men’s singles, round 2, IND 2-2 POR: Game 4, Apolonia! The net helped a tiny bit there on game point and the Portuguese takes the fourth game 11-9 to level things up. Ebbs and flows of best-of-seven table tennis in all its glory here.

Ashish Magotra: Apolonia was trailing 5-7. Then he took four points in a row to make it 9-7 before Sharath got a point back. Tight game.

Table tennis, men’s singles, round 2, IND 2-1 POR, Game 4: This is a really close battle now in game 4 as Apolonia, no spring chicken himself, bounces back. Neither player reading more than by 2 points, but Apolonia goes ahead 9-7. Sharath pushes back immediately and it is 9-9.

Shooting, skeet men’s qualification: Day 1 on Sunday saw India finish with hopes of a finalist. Angad is 11th but just one point behind the top 6 (six qualify for final). Still in with a shot to enter final if he finishes strongly. Mairaj is on 71/75 and is 25th. They will be shooting in a while, the first round of shooters are in action and not the Indians yet.

Ashish Magotra: Sharath has taken his game up a level. Playing at a much faster pace. Apolonia had no answer in the third game. The Indian took it 11-5. He leads 2 games to 1 in the match.

Table tennis, men’s singles, round 2, IND 2-1 POR: Game 3, Sharath! One game point is all he needed and Sharath has continued to look in control after that game 1 blip. A kit change for Apolonia, can he change his fortunes too? Sharath in command but this is best of 7.

Table tennis, men’s singles, round 2, IND 1-1 POR, game 3: A 9-3 lead by Sharath but again like in game 2, Apolonia not giving up without a fight. Makes it 5-9, but Sharath has game points to take a 2-1 lead.

Table tennis, men’s singles, round 2, IND 1-1 POR, game 3: Another fast start to the game by Sharath! He starts with a brilliant backhand down the line winner on the move. The commentator was pumped after that hot. He goes up 5-0. Similar to game 2.

Table tennis, men’s singles, round 2, IND 1-1 POR: Much better game for Sharath, moving better and his push game was in order. Warmed up properly now. The Indian takes the second game 11-8. The match is level at 1-game all.

Table tennis, men’s singles, round 2, IND 1-1 POR: Apolonia not quite letting Sharath run away with this, makes it 6-9 and there is a small change in momentum again. A big forehand gives Sharath 4 game points though.

Table tennis, men’s singles, round 2, IND 0-1 POR: Well, he had to bounce back from that first game. Sharath starts with 5 straight points. The streak ends there but he regathers and takes a 7-2 lead.

Table tennis, men’s singles, round 2, IND 0-1 POR: Well, that was fast. For the game and from the Portuguese too. Apolonia RACES THROUGH game 1 and takes it 11-2. Sharath never got going there but now a chance to rest.

Table tennis, men’s singles, round 2: SHARATH KAMAL vs TIAGO APOLONIA (POR, world N 59)

Commentator on broadcast: These 2 have met 3 times before, first match in 2006 which Sharath won and then 2014 and 2016 Apolonia won. Could be uphill battle for Sharath, he adds.

Archery, men’s team event: Here’s a quick look of how that round of 16 went. It was nice to see Atanu Das pumped, relaxed and trying to lead from the front. That ranking round result and missing out on mixed cannot have been easy for him. The draw for men’s team, though, is a result of what happened Friday and ultimately makes things difficult.

ARCHERY: Atanu Das took the lead, shooting the first and last arrows of each set. And he led from the front too. A good win in four sets for the men’s team to reach QF. Korea next. Apparently they are decent in this archery business.

Archery, men’s team event round of 16, set 4: PRAVIN with 10, ATANU with 10! Atanu needed 9 or above. And he nails a 10 too! “Kuch nahi hai,” Das tells to Rai as they pump themselves up at the end.

Archery, men’s team event round of 16, set 4: Gankin starts with a 7 for KAZ! That will hurt. KAZ post 54 and India should seal this. Rai has a long hold and hits a 8. Need 19 from the next two.

Archery, men’s team event round of 16, set 4: KAZ start with 9-9-10! Pressure on India, then. Atanu goes 10. (Where was this in qualification, Atanu!) Pravin with a 8 and that puts the onus on Rai...9. So it’s 28-27 to KAZ as they go again.

Archery, men’s team event round of 16, set 3: KAZ pull one back! 29-28 at the halfway mark. KAZ go 9-10-9 and have their best round yet with 57. Rai starts with a 8 and that means this set is done with before Pravin and Atanu can even shoot. They do 10-10 but Rai’s 8 took the set away from India. 4-2 lead for India.

Archery, men’s team event round of 16, set 3: The trailing team starts off in archery and it is KAZ again. KAZ start with 10-10-9. Setting the pace!

Archery, men’s team event round of 16, set 2: INDIA take set 2! 8-8-8 for the KAZ archers and the Indians are in good spirits while going for their first rounds 10-9-9. KAZ then go with 9-9-8 and this should go India’s way. India have made things harder with Rai and Pravin going 8 and 7! ATANU steps up and finishes with 9.

Archery, men’s team event round of 16, IND 2-0 KAZ: The weather advisories are all out and about in Tokyo today. There are gusts of wind at the range here too. But India did so well to bounce back in that first set.

Archery, men’s team event round of 16: FIRST SET AND TWO POINTS TO INDIA. KAZ start with 10-9-9, India return with 9-9-8. Deficit in the first set. KAZ then go 8-8-10 to give India a chance back. A brilliant 10 from Pravin and then Atanu goes last this time around and nails a 10!

Archery, men’s team event round of 16: India go with Atanu, Pravin and Tarundeep as the order KAZ start off, 2 arrows each in rotation for the three archers in each set.

Archery, men’s team event round of 16: We are underway!

Fencing, women’s sabre individual: If you are looking for a quick primer on Fencing ahead of Bhavani Devi’s second bout.

Fencing, women’s sabre individual, table of 64: Bhavani Devi wins India’s first ever fencing match in the history of Olympics. The Tunisian youngster, ranked lower than the Indian, did not stand a chance from the start. Bhavani Devi was pumped from the first ‘En Garde’ and led all the way through. She will face the 4th seed next.

Fencing, women’s sabre individual, table of 64: BHAVANI DEVI IS THROUGH!

Fencing, women’s sabre individual, table of 64: The Tunisian just delaying the inevitable. Makes it 3-14.

Fencing, women’s sabre individual, table of 64: Bhavani Devi now leads 13-1.

Fencing, women’s sabre individual, table of 64: First period is complete with the first fencer reaching 8 points. And it is Devi without a reply from Tunisian youngster! Indian leads 8-0 ahead of a break.

Fencing, women’s sabre individual, table of 64: SIX straight points for Bhavani Devi. She is pumped for this,

Fencing, women’s sabre individual, table of 64: We are off! The winner being either the first to reach 15 points or whomever has the most points after the rounds are complete. Devi starts with 4 straight points.

Fencing, women’s sabre individual, table of 64: It is a sport that is supposedly as fast to watch as it is to compete! But, ironically, we are delayed and are set for a slow start. The electrical wirings are checked and we are set.

Fencing, women’s sabre individual, table of 64: Bhavani Devi is competing in the women’s individual sabre. Her official FIE rank is 42 and she is seeded 29 at the Games out of 36 competitors in her category. TUN Ben Azizi Nadia (ranked 384) is her opponent in this early round.

Fencing, women’s sabre individual: If you are not in the mood for reading words about the event, how about two short videos?

05.20 am: India’s day at the #Olympics begins with a slice of history. In a sport that has been around in every edition of the modern Games, an 🇮🇳 athlete will compete for the first time. It’s Bhavani Devi in the sabre event.

Tokyo 2020: Ahead of Bhavani Devi’s debut, a primer to fencing – one of Olympics’ oldest events

05.15 am: Hello all and welcome to the live coverage of Monday’s action at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. It’s a Monday that doesn’t especially scream out “medal!” from India’s point of view... and especially after a deflating Sunday. There were heartbreaks, close calls, and disappointments through the day for Indians. There were some good moments too with wins for PV Sindhu, Mary Kom, Manika Batra as well as an impressive outing the rowers.

Monday witnesses more Indians in action of course and there are some potentially exciting moments in store, even if there are no medal favourites in play.

July 26: Full schedule