All Eyes on Men's Hockey Team
The Indian men's hockey team will face Belgium in the second semi-final of the Tokyo Olympics at 7 am. The Indian men have been in good form, winning their last four matches, scoring 14 goals. The men-in-blue had finished second in Group A, with four wins from five matches.
Belgium had a similar outing in Group B but had topped the group and had a better goal difference than India. Both teams posted 3-1 victories over Great Britain and Spain in their respective quarter-final matches on Sunday and will go into the semi-final full of confidence.
The difference between the two teams, however, would be their attacking capacity. Belgium scored 26 goals in the group stage alone, while India managed 15. The pressure will be on the Indian defence, which will surely be tested by the Belgian attack. The fact that they will be playing in an Olympic semi-final match after 49 years and have not won an Olympic medal in 41 years will add pressure on the Indian team. Never mind the hopes of a billion people eagerly watching the match back home.
Annu Rani will be seen in action in the Women's Javelin Throw Qualification Round at 5.50 am IST. Also, wrestler Sonam Malik's will compete in the Women's Freestyle 62kg 1/8 Final at 9.12 am IST. Later in the afternoon, Tajinderpal Singh Toor will participate in the Men's Shot Put Qualification Round at 3.45 pm IST.
Disappointing Day 11 for India
Tuesday, 3 August, was a disappointing day for India. The biggest heartbreak came in the form of men's hockey team's 5-2 loss against Belgium in their semi-final match. However, they still have chance at the bronze medal tomorrow, when they take on the loser of the Australia-Germany match.
Earlier, Annu Rani failed to enter the Women's Javelin Throw final. Wrestler Sonam Malik also lost her Freestyle 62kg Round of 16 match. Later in the day, Tajinderpal Singh Toor failed to make the Men's Shot Put final by finishing 13th.
Men's Shot Put: Tajinderpal Singh Toor getting ready for his third attempt. It is an illegal throw. His best throw, which was his only valid throw, is 19.99m. Disappointing. Is 13th on the table. And his Olympic journey has come to an end.
Men's Shot Put: Brazil's Darlan Romani becomes the first athlete to qualify for the final. He registers a 21.31m in his second attempt. Tajinderpal is 11th now.
Second attempts are over. Tajinderpal singh Toor is currently 12th on the table. Eleven athletes have registered a better score than Tajinderpal's 19.99m and have crossed 20.0m. A qualification in the final looks extremely difficult for him now.
Men's Shot Put: All athletes have finished their first attempts. Tajinderpal Singh Toor is currently 6th with a throw of 19.99m.
He is now getting ready for his second attempt. It's much shorter than his previous attempt. In fact, it is an invalid attempt. Just one more attempt left for him.
Reminder: 21.20m is the qualifying mark. So far no athlete has managed to cross it. Brazil's Darlan Romani tops the table with a throw of 21.00m.
Tajinderpal moves further down the table. Is 9th now.