Category: SPORTS

 The Indian men’s hockey team’s dream of an Olympic gold after 41 years remained unfulfilled as it lost 2-5 to world champions Belgium in the last-four stage but the side is still in the hunt for a bronze in the Tokyo Games here on Tuesday. Alexander Hendrickx (19th, 49th, 53rd minutes), the tournament’s highest goal getter, scored a hat-trick while Loick Luypaert (2nd minute) and John-John Dohmen (60th) also struck to hand the reigning silver-medallists their second successive entry into the final of the Olympics. India’s goals came from the…

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The 2-5 loss to Belgium in the Olympic semifinals on Tuesday is disappointing but Indian men’s hockey team captain Manpreet Singh and star custodian P R Sreejesh said the side has no time to dwell on the heartbreak as it has to refocus for the bronze medal play-off on Thursday. The eight-time winners of Olympic gold, the last of which came way back in 1980, fell short against world champions Belgium, losing 2-5 in the semifinals here on Tuesday. “It is really hard for me right now because we came…

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Olympic medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar and his associates beat up former junior national wrestling champion Sagar Dhankar and others with sticks, hockey and baseball bat for 30-40 minutes after bolting the gate of Chhatrasal Stadium from inside, according to the Delhi Police charge sheet in the murder case. Dhankar and his four friends were allegedly assaulted by Kumar and others at the stadium on the intervening night of May 4 and 5 over a property dispute. Sagar succumbed to injuries later. Police investigation showed that Sagar and his friends were…

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A brave and determined Indian women’s hockey team etched its name in the history books by entering the Olympic Games semifinals for the first time, stunning three-time champions and world no.2 Australia 1-0 in an intense last-eight tie here on Monday. A day after the Indian men’s team entered the Olympic semifinals following a 49-year gap, the world no. 9 women’s side also produced a phenomenally gritty performance to make it way into the last four. Coming into the match, the odds were totally against India as in world no.2…

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 Seeking to steer away from “negativity”, Indian pistol ace Manu Bhaker says she will continue to shoot in three events, including the 25m, vowing to make a strong comeback after enduring a hat-trick of heartbreaks in her maiden Olympics. Speaking to PTI after arriving from Tokyo, the 19-year-old Manu said there was negativity around her shooting and preparations in the run-up to the Olympics, due to the conflict with former coach Jaspal Rana, who had insisted that she withdraws from the 25m pistol event. “I will continue to shoot in…

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Star Indian boxer Amit Panghal (52kg) bowed out of the Olympics with a stunning 1-4 loss to Rio Games silver-medallist Yuberjen Martinez, beaten by the Colombian’s relentless attacks and pace in a draining pre-quarterfinal bout here on Saturday. The world number one Indian, who was making his debut in the Games and was seeded top, had got an opening-round bye. One of India’s strongest medal contenders, Panghal was put under pressure by the sprightly Colombian in the opening round itself but the pre-bout favourite ensured that he connected better to…

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“Wo aaram se jeetegi, koi tension nahi hai (She will win easily, no reason to worry),” the man who first spotted the boxer in kick-boxer Lovlina Borgohain had said before her historic medal-clinching win in Tokyo Olympics. And Sports Authority of India coach Padam Boro’s assertion, while talking to PTI a day before the contest, has turned out to be prophetic. Borgohain (69kg) kept her calm to upstage former champion Nien-Chin Chen to enter the semifinals of the Tokyo Olympics, the third Indian boxer ever who will now finish on…

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Naomi Osaka is back and still winning. The Japanese superstar who lit the Olympic cauldron defeated 52nd-ranked Zheng Saisai of China 6-1, 6-4 on Sunday in her first match in nearly two months. Osaka hadn’t played since she withdrew from the French Open in May to take a mental health break, revealing that she has dealt with depression. She then sat out Wimbledon. The second-ranked Osaka was sharp from the start, serving an ace down the T on the opening point of the match and and racing out to a…

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Mirabai Chanu ended India’s 21-year wait for a weightlifting medal at the Olympics by clinching a silver medal in the 49kg category to open the country’s account here on Saturday The 26-year-old lifted a total of 202kg (87kg+115kg) to better Karnam Malleswari’s bronze in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. With this, she exorcised the ghosts of the 2016 Games where she had failed to log a single legitimate lift The gold went to China’s Hou Zhihui with an effort of 210kg (94kg+116kg) , while Aisah Windy Cantika of Indonesia took home…

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Star Indian archer Deepika Kumari finished ninth in the women’s individual ranking round to secure an easy first-round clash in the main event as the country’s Olympic campaign kickstarted at the Yumenoshima Park here on Friday. The world No.1 finished with 663 points, while 20-year-old Korean prodigy An San (680) topped the qualification round with an Olympic record score of 680. Deepika will now have an easy first-round outing against world No.193 Karma of Bhutan, who finished 56th in the ranking round. The Indian might run into San in the…

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