The victories achieved by India's medal hopes Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap on the badminton courts were the only good news for India at the London Olympics yesterday. At the Wembley Arena, both the players qualified for the quarter-finals in contrasting styles. World Number Five Saina notched up a comfortable 21-14, 21-16 straight game victory over Dutch Jie Yao in a 40-minute match. Kashyap, however, secured a hard fought three-game win over Sri Lanka's Niluka Karunaratne.
The world's 21st ranked Kashyap created history by becoming the first Indian male shuttler to reach the quarter-finals in any Olympic Games.
The fifth day of the competitions saw the country's top ranked woman archer Deepika Kumari failing miserably. She suffered a shock first round exit in the individual event, losing 2-6 to Amy Oliver of Great Britain in the opening round. That also ended India's archery campaign at the Lord's cricket ground.
In Tennis, Leander Paes and his inexperienced partner Vishnu Vardhan fought their hearts out before losing to second seeds Michael Llodra and Jo-Wilfred Tsonga of France. The duo gave a torrid time to the formidable French combination before losing 6-7, 6-4, 3-6 in two hours and seven minutes. The other Indian pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna had already bowed out of the competition.
Indian challenge is still alive in the discipline as Paes and Sania Mirza are set to open their campaign in the mixed doubles today.
The hockey team suffered its second straight defeat when it lost abjectly 1-3 to New Zealand in Group B. India had lost to the Netherlands 2-3 in their opening fixture.
The women shooters' poor run extended yesterday with the ouster of Annu Raj Singh and Rahi Sarnobat in the 25m pistol event.
Among the other notable events, Bradley Wiggins basked in glory as he hammered the field in awe-inspiring fashion to claim the cycling time trial Gold. Wiggins, the first British Tour de France champion, surpassed rower Steve Redgrave's record of six Olympic medals by snatching his seventh on home soil amidst scenes of joy around Hampton Court Palace.
In Swimming, China's Jiao Liuyang bagged the women's 200 metres butterfly Gold. The United States won the women's Four into two hundred metres Freestyle Relay Gold.
