Paris Olympics: Borgohain, Sindhu and Sen keep medal hopes high

Paris/Chateauroux: There were no medals won or secured on Wednesday but Indian sporting heavyweights such as P V Sindhu, Lovlina Borgohain and Lakshya Sen remained firmly on course for historic podium finishes in the Olympics, where a new shooting star also emerged for the country at the far off ranges in Chateauroux.

On the medals table, India occupied the joint 38th position courtesy the two bronze medals in shooting.

Sindhu was not alone in setting the badminton court ablaze as Sen too turned on the style against old foe Jonatan Christie to win a knockout group game and join her in the pre-quarterfinals.

While Sen is chasing a Games medal on debut, Sindhu is in pursuit of her third medal in as many Olympic appearances.

Sindhu did not have to toil much before getting past Kristin Kuuba of Estonia 21-5 21-10 in her second and last Group M match.

Sen, on the other hand, was simply sensational in his 21-18 21-12 thrashing of Indonesia’s world number 4 Christie, the reigning All England and Asian champion.

In Chateauroux, some 300km away from bustling Paris, Swapnil Kusale became the first Indian to qualify for the finals of the 50m rifle 3 positions event after finishing seventh in the qualification round. Kusale shot 198 (99, 99) in kneeling position, 197 (98, 99) in prone and 195 (98, 97) in standing position as the top eight shooters in a field of 44 made it to the final round.Kusale finished with an overall score of 590 (38x).

The 29-year-old from Kambalwadi village near Kolhapur in Maharashtra has been competing in international events since 2012 but had to wait 12 years to realise his Olympic dream. His father and brother are teachers in a district school while mother is the sarpanch of Kambalwadi village.

However, the more established Aishwary Tomar missed out after ending 11th with a score of 589 (33x) with shots of 197 (98, 99) in kneeling position, 199 (100, 990) in prone and 193 (95, 98) in standing position.

In women’s trap, Rajeshwari Kumari and Shreyasi Singh shot 113 to finish 22nd and 23rd respectively.The boxing ring has thrown up mixed results for India so far, including the shock first-round exit of the fancied Amit Panghal in the men’s competition. But chasing her second successive Olympic medal, Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) showed just why she is among the strongest Indian medal contenders.

Borgohain made easy work of Norwegian rival Sunniva Hofstad to claim a 5-0 win in the pre-quarters. She is now just one win away from adding to her Tokyo bronze, which was claimed in the 69kg category, and achieved a feat that is unprecedented in Indian boxing.

But her path is not an easy one as she will take on top-seeded Chinese Li Qian in the last-eight stage on August 4. A win in this bout would ensure at least a bronze medal for the Indian.

Sreeja Akula rallied to enter the pre-quarterfinals after a hard-fought 4-2 win over Singapore’s Jian Zeng in a women’s singles round of 32 match as Indian table tennis continued to make history at the Games.

It was a perfect birthday for Games debutant Sreeja, who turned 26 on Wednesday, as she won the match 9-11 12-10 11-4 11-5 10-12 12-10 to become the second Indian paddler after Manika Batra to enter the ongoing edition’s pre-quarterfinals.

The performance is an unparalleled feat for Indian table tennis.

Batra’s journey, however, ended in the last-16 stage after she went down 1-4 to eighth-seeded Japanese Miu Hirano. Batra was seeded 18th in the competition, which was her second Olympic outing.

After being a complete letdown in the team competition, Deepika Kumari finally struck some form and entered the pre-quarterfinals of the women’s individual event with back-to-back wins.The former world number one first defeated Reena Parnat of Estonia 6-5 in a shoot-off before beating Quinty Roeffen of the Netherlands 6-2.

She will face Michelle Kroppen of Germany in the pre-quarterfinals on Saturday.