Victors through the day: Men's hockey team, Sindhu in quarters
Tokyo: There were no medals to trigger a frenzy but definitely some top-notch performances that India raised a toast to on day 6 of the Olympic Games, the highlight being the men's hockey team's march into the quarters.
The Manpreet Singh-led men's team hammered defending champion Argentina 4-1 in its penultimate group match to storm into the quarterfinals.
This was after badminton ace P V Sindhu set the tone for the day by advancing to the quarterfinals with a 21-15 21-13 win over Denmark's Mia Blichfeldt, expectedly topping her group in the process.
In the boxing ring, India's first super heavyweight (+91kg) to compete in the Olympics, Satish Kumar, eased into the quarterfinals of his debut Games, defeating Jamaica's Ricardo Brown in his opening bout. In the battle of the debutants, the 32-year-old Satish prevailed 4-1, a comfortable win for him despite the split verdict.
However, he did end up sustaining two cuts -- one on his forehead and the other on his chin -- during the bout and is due to take on reigning world champion Bakhodir Jalolov of Uzebkistan.
India started strongly in the golf competition as well with Anirban Lahiri, playing in his second Olympics, off to a solid start, carding a 4-under 67 in the first round to be placed tied 8th at the lightning storm-struck Kasumigaseki Country Club.
The former Asian Tour No.1 had six birdies against two bogeys and shared the 8th spot with Paul Casey (Great Britain) Alex Noren (Sweden) and Sebastian Munoz (Mexico) at the end of the day.
The other Indian in fray, Udayan Mane, who made the field of 60 at a late stage, had a fine start at 2-under after eight holes. But he finished at 5-over 76 and was last on the leader-board.
There was some decent news from the shooting range too after continuous disappointment. Manu Bhaker and Rahi Sarnobat were placed 5th and 25th respectively in the women's 25m pistol qualification (precision). In a field of 44 shooters, Bhaker scored 292 after 30 shots on target in the precision round while compatriot Sarnobat aggregated 287 in the qualifications at the Asaka Shooting Range. The second stage of the qualification -- the rapid round -- will take place on Friday. The top-8 shooters in the qualification will enter the final.
Indian rowers Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh ended their campaign in 11th position in the men's lightweight double sculls event, the best ever result for the country in the Olympics.
The pair clocked 6:29.66 to finish fifth in the Final B, which was not a medal round, and end at 11th overall at the Sea Forest Waterway.
The country's swimming challenge also drew to a close with Sajan Prakash failing to make the semifinals of the 100m butterfly event. He finished second in his Heat but that was not enough to advance as he attained that position in the second-slowest heat with a time
of 53.45s.
