TOKYO, Aug 2: India’s undeniable woman power in sports also came to the fore in athletics where discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur finished a creditable sixth in her first Olympics in a rain-interrupted final today.
The 25-year-old Kaur, who qualified for the final as second best on Saturday, was never in the running for a medal in the eight rounds of competition which was interrupted by rain for more than an hour.
Her best throw of 63.70m in the third round saw her finish sixth and equal 2010 Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Krishna Poonia’s performance in the 2012 London Olympics.
The youngster, who was without her personal coach, looked nervous and short of confidence, perhaps due to lack of international exposure but she did hold her own in a field where the gold-medallist Valarie Allman produced a 68.98m throw.
Sprinter Dutee Chand, however, ended her campaign on a disappointing note by failing to qualify for the 200m semifinals.
Equestrian Fouaad Mirza, meanwhile, finished a creditable 23rd in eventing after he became the first Indian to reach the final of the event.
Mirza and his equine Seigneur Medicott sneaked into the top-25 in the morning to make the jumping finals.
In the final, Mirza incurred 12.40 penalty points for an overall 59.60 that included the points from the three rounds of qualifying events — dressage, cross country and jumping.
It was a creditable performance for the 29-year-old Bengaluru rider, who was the first equestrian to qualify for the Olympics since Imtiaz Anees in Sydney 2000.
It was finally an end to their misery as Indian shooters ended their campaign at the Games.
Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Sanjeev Rajput failed to qualify for the finals of the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions event , finishing 21st and 32nd respectively at the Asaka Shooting Range.
The Indian shooting team will be returning without a medal for the second straight time at the Olympics.
On Tuesday, the men’s hockey team will compete in its semifinal against world champion Belgium, aiming to book its first Olympic medal in over 40 years.
Also, the wrestling contingent will begin its campaign with medals expected from the likes of Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat.
Apart from Bajrang (65kg) and Vinesh (53kg), Ravi Dahiya (57kg) is expected to deliver at the biggest stage in the next few days.
The 19-year-old Sonam Malik will be first to take mat in the 62kg category, pitted against Mongolia’s Asian Championship silver medallist Bolortuya Khurelkhuu. (PTI).
Today’s fixture
Athletics: Annu Rani in women’s javelin throw qualification group A at 5:50 am.
Tajinderpal Singh Toor in men’s shot put qualification group A at 3:45 am.
Hockey: India vs Belgium in men’s semifinal at 7:00 am.
Wrestling: Sonam Malik vs Bolortuya Khurelkhuu (Mongolia) in women’s 62 kg, Seventh bout start at 8:30 am.
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