Olympics Day 8: Let-down for Sindhu; Kamalpreet lifts the mood

The country is still on the lookout for medals after Mirabai Chanu won a silver medal for India on Day 1. Day 8 too was forgettable.

Undoubtedly, the loss of ace shuttler PV Sindhu in the badminton semi-final was the biggest setback to India. The only solace is that she is still in contention to win a bronze. The silver lining was Kamalpreet Kaur getting qualified for the discus finals.

Here’s a quick round-up of the day.

• Ace shuttler PV Sindhu, who was one of India’s biggest hopes lost to Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu-Ying in the badminton semi-finals. Tzu-Ying defeated Sindhu in two straight sets with scores of 21-18 and 21-12. Sindhu still has a chance to win the bronze medal, for which she will face Chinese eighth seeded He Bingjiao on Sunday.
• A day after world number one Deepika Kumari lost to South Korea’s An San in the quarter-finals, India’s quest for a medal in archery broke when archer Atanu Das lost to Japan’s Takaharu Furukawa in men’s individual 1/8 Eliminations by 4-6 in five-setter.
• In boxing, Amit Panghal was knocked out in Round of 16 in Men’s flyweight after being defeated by Colombia’s Yurberjen Martinez. Meanwhile, boxer Pooja Rani too lost to China’s Q. Li in Quarterfinals of Women’s middle-weight
• In shooting, Anjum Moudgil and Tejaswini Sawant finished 15^th and 33^rd, failing to qualify for the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions final.
• Indian discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur qualified for the finals of the women’s event in her maiden Olympics when she came second among 31 athletes with a throw of 64m.

Also read: With a 64m throw, Kamalpreet storms into discus finals

• After the Indian men’s hockey team, the women’s hockey team too qualified for the quarter-finals after 43 years when the team defeated South Africa with a score of 4-3, keeping India’s medal hope alive in hockey.