India's Vikas Gowda will be eying to give India its first ever medal in the track and field events since 1900 when he competes in the finals of the Discus Throw event at the London Olympics tonight. The event will begin at 12:15 AM Indian Standard Time. Strongman Gowda qualified for the men's discus throw final round with minimum of fuss yesterday. He hurled the disc 20 cms beyond the automatic qualification standard of 65 metres in only his second throw to enter the finals. Gowda became only the second Indian to make the finals in track and field at the on-going Games after Krishna Poonia.
In the Men's Triple Jump event, Renjith Meheshwary will be seen in action in the Qualification round at 3:15 PM IST today.
In Men's Hockey, India will play its final group-B match against Belgium today. The match will begin at 8:30 PM IST. India have lost all of its group matches uptil now and are out of the medal contention.
Yesterday, five time world champion MC Mary Kom punched her way into the women's boxing semifinals ensuring India of at least a bronze medal. She defeated her Tunisian opponent Maroua Rahali with an emphatic 15-6 verdict in the 51 kilogram category. Mary Kom became the third Indian woman to attain medal standards at the Olympic Games and the second in the London Games, after shuttler Saina Nehwal. Weightlifter Karnam Malleswari was the first to do so when she won a bronze in 2000 Sydney Games.
However, in Men's Boxing, star boxer Vijender Singh's dream to become the first Indian individual to win medals in two successive Olympic Games came crashing down. He lost his quarter-final bout against Abbos Atoev of Uzbekistan in the middle weight category.