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Preview Day 13: Day 12 of Tokyo Olympics came with its fair share of challenges and opportunities and Indians lived up to comes, succumbed at others. A medal was assured, another clinched, in wrestling and boxing respectively. Lovlina is coming back to India with a bronze and Ravi Kumar isn’t coming back without a silver at least. Deepak Punia tried his best but he had a massive hurdle to cross in form of David Taylor in 86 kg bout. He still has the chance to clinch the bronze on day 13 though. Anshu Malik too got a second life as she will play in the repechage round now. Women’s hockey team, like the men, failed to make the cut for the final as they lost 1-2 to spirited Argentina. But Indians too fought till the last second. On Day 13, men’s hockey team meet Germany for a bronze medal. It will not be easy for Indians as Germany were among the gold medal contenders in the Olympics. They will give a stiff fight for sure. Not to forget, the gold medal match too will played in the afternoon India time. All eyes will be on star India wrestler Vinesh Phogat who will open her campaign in wrestling. She will taking on Sofia Mattsson of Sweden in Round of 16 contest. If she continues to win, she will play the quarterfinals and then semis the same day. This is Vinesh’s time to shine as she has been waiting long since her exit in Rio in 2016 due to injury to fulfil her dream of winning a medal. In Athletics, we will again have three Indians in action. Sandeep Kumar, Rahul Rohila & Irfan K. Thodi will be taking part in the 20 km race. Not much is expected from the Indians in this event but hopefully, they will do better. Athletics alongwith shooting have been the two most disappointing campaigns for India so far. While shooters are done at Games, athletics contingent is hoping for a good show from Neeraj Chopra. You can check the complete Day 12 schedule here . For full Tokyo Olympics coverage, click here .
Tokyo Olympics 2020 Day 13, Highlights: Wrestler Ravi Kumar wins silver, India men’s hockey team end 41-year wait with bronze
Check out live scores and updates from India’s Tokyo Olympics 2020 campaign on Day 13 in our live blog.
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That brings us to the end of Day 13 in the Tokyo Olympics 2020, the day being made all the more memorable by the men’s hockey team ending the nation’s 41-year wait for another medal in the sport with a terrific come-from-behind win over Germany in the bronze medal playoff. Also adding to India’s tally and becoming only the second Indian wrestler to win a silver medal was Olympic debutant Ravi Kumar Dahiya, who ultimately fell short of ultimate glory after losing to ROC"s Zaur Uguev in a hard-fought bout.
Can India add another medal or two tomorrow and equal ther best-ever display of six medals at London 2012? With the women’s hockey team and wrestler Bajrang Punia in action tomorrow, we certainly are hopeful!
Another positive day in the office for the Indian contingent at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as they add two more medals to their tally, courtesy the Indian men’s hockey team’s historic bronze and Ravi Kumar Dahiya’s 57 kg freestyle silver. India extend their haul to five medals (two silver, three bronze) and currently are 62nd on the table, which continues to be led by China with 33 gold, 24 silver and 16 bronze.
Deepak Punia loses 3-2
Stunning comeback from Myles there. With less than 10 seconds on the clock and trailing 1-2, Myles effects a two-point takedown. India challenge the decision but to no avail. Deepak was guilty of being too defesive and Myles finally got hold of his left leg. It was only a matter of time theerafter. San Marino’s brilliant run in Tokyo 2020 continues.
Period 1: Deepak 2 – Myles 1
An attritional first period until Punia gets a double leg hold and grabs an early 2-0 lead. Now Myles grabs Punia’s left leg but the Indian defends well. Still, Myles gets a point for pushout.
Deepak Punia to wrestle for bronze
Coming soon is the 86 kg bronze medal playoff featuring India’s Deepak Punia and San Marino’s Myles Amine. Punia is a 2019 World Championship silver medallist. Amine has won medals at the European level and made it to the 2019 World Championships semis.
Ravi goes down to Uguev, claims silver
Uguev beats Ravi 7-4 to take home a gold. Clearly the better wrestler, Uguev showed excellent defence in Period 2. Ravi tried his best but Uguev continued to slip away. Uguev, the two-time world champion, is now the Olympic champion.
Period 1: Uguev 4 – Ravi 2
Ravi goes for the leg hold early bur Uguev defends, instead he pushes out and grabs a point. Now Uguev goes or legs but Ravi defends. Ravi on the attack, gets two points, but Uguev gets hold and wrests the 4-2 initiative. Ravi goes for the single leg hold but Uguev defends.
Wrestling
Right, so Ravi time now. The grapplers make way to the mat. Ravi has made it to his maiden Olympics final, and he’ll have to wrestle at his very best to stop a red-hot, two-time world champion Uguev. Exciting six minutes on your way!
Wrestling
Right, coming soon is India’s Ravi Kumar Dahiya who will take on ROC’s Zaur Uguev in the 57 kg final. It is a big bout in the context of the overall Indian wrestling campaign as medal contender Vinesh Phogat crashed out of the quarter-finals. Ravi meanwhile will look to end India’s 13-year wait for an Olympics gold. Stay tuned.
No repechage lifeline for Vinesh Phogat
Qianyu Pang beats Vanesa Kaladzinskaya with attack in the last 10 seconds in the Women’s Freestyle 53kg semi-final. That means, no repechage for Vinesh Phogat. The two wrestlers 2-2 at the end of the six minutes but it was Pang who had the higher points in a single move
Wrestling
In the women’s freestyle 53kg bout, Vanesa Kaladzinskaya leads Qianyu Pang 2-0 at the interval. If the Belarusian wins, Vinesh Phogat gets a chance at bronze medal via the repechage round
Italy clinch gold in race walk
Athletics, 20km race walk
Sandeep Kumar finishes 23rd with a timing of 1:24:46.
Rahul Rohila is 47th in 1:32:06.
KT Irfan finishes 51st. His timing reads 1:34:41.
Athletics, 20km race walk
India’s Sandeep Kumar drops further down to 23rd place. 17 kms are done so three more to go.
Athletics, 20km race walk
After 12 kms, India’s Sandeep Kumar dropped to 12th place. Rahul is 47th at the moment and KT Irfan is ranked 52nd.
Athletics, 20km race walk
Sandeep is still in second place after 8kms. China’s Kaihua Wang is ahead of him.
Athletics, 20km race walk
India’s Sandeep Kumar is in the second spot after four kms. Still a long way to go but this is encouraging to see.
Golf
Round 2 is done and dusted in women’s golf. Aditi Ashok is tied second with her 9-under score (67, 66 over two rounds) and Diksha Dagar is tied 53rd with 6-over par (76 and 72). Nelly Korda leads the pack with a 13-under for a four shot lead over Ashok and Madsen Koerstz
Men’s 20 km race walk
The event has started and India’s KT Irfan, Sandeep Kumar, Rahul Rohila are in action.
India hockey coach Graham Reid speaks
Read: “It takes a long time to get where these athletes have gotten. All the sacrifices that go unseen… I know that apart from the country, this group has been waiting for a medal for a fairly long time and I know how much hockey means to India and I am privileged to help play a part in that.”
Families rejoice
There’s reason to celebrate for everyone in India as the men’s hockey team end 41-year wait for medal. But more so for the families of the team members. A look at how families of PR Sreejesh, Mandeep Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Manpreet Singh celebrated the bronze medal. [Watch]
India’s Olympic medal a huge W for IOC broadcast team
Odisha CM congratulates hockey team
Chief Minister Sri Naveen Patnaik spoke to Indian hockey team over telephone and congratulated them for the spectacular victory
Job of a hockey goalkeeper
How to switch on and off during a match? What do goalkeepers think during a penalty corner? How to master shoot-outs? PR Sreejesh, a big contributor to India’s success over the years and in Tokyo, answered all these and more in the Firstpost Masterclass last year. [Read/listen]
‘Proud of you all’: PM Modi speaks to Manpreet Singh, coaches
PM Modi spoke to the Men’s Hockey Captain Manpreet Singh, Head Coach Graham Reid and Assistant Coach Piyush Dubey. He congratulated the team for emerging victorious and bringing home the Bronze. The PM told Manpreet Singh: “you have scripted history”. He remarked that today Manpreet’s voice is loud and clear, whereas it was slightly muted the other day (when India lost to Belgium). Manpreet thanked PM for his constant encouragement to the team.
Abhinav Bindra pens a note to the Indian hockey team
Do walls smile? If they could, today would be the day
Golf
Diksha Dagar is done with her second round and moves two places up to tied 54th. She is 6-over after two rounds with scores of 76 and 72.
A team of legends!
India women’s hockey team’s historic run forged with self-belief and determination
For a team that finished last (12th) at the Rio Games in 2016, a final, a gold medal was always too big a task, one would say. But try telling that to Rani Rampal and Co who not only created history in Tokyo by becoming the first Indian women’s team to reach the semi-finals but also made people of the cricket-crazy country forget Virat Kohli and his men who were playing at Nottingham, as they waited with bated breath for the outcome of the India-Argentina hockey match.
Read Ujwal Singh’s article on a special team and their special players.
One for the future. Where were you when India won a medal at Tokyo Olympics?
‘Golden moment for Indian hockey and sports’
Here’s how people on Twitter have reacted to India’s bronze medal in hockey. A long-awaited medal in hockey!
Historic indeed!
Athletics
Elsewhere, Ryan Crouser broke his own Olympic record on his way to defending his shot put title on a hot day in Tokyo. On his last attempt, Crouser went 23.30 meters (76 feet, 5½ inches) to earn the first track and field gold medal for the American men at the Tokyo Games. US teammate Joe Kovacs finished second and Tomas Walsh of New Zealand was third.
(The Associated Press)
One from the archives
Wrestling
Vinesh, the no 1 seed, will not bring back the gold but she’s still in contention for the repechage round if her opponent reaches the final.
Wrestling
Vanesa pins Vinesh and it’s over for the Indian. The Belarusian is through to the semi-final by fall.
Wrestling
Vanesa scores two more points. Vinesh trailing 3-7. Less than a minute remaining.
Wrestling
Vinesh’s coach opts for a challenge. The judges are taking their time and it’s a successful one for the Indian. So it’s 5-3 to Vanesa.
India’s rich history in hockey continues