In the Olympics today, Beijing boxing bronze medalist Vijender Singh will take on American Challenger Gausha Terrell in the pre-quarterfinals of 75 kg category. Vijender's bout will be preceded by that of Jai Bhagwan, who takes on World No.3 Gani Zhailaouv in another pre-quarterfinal bout in the 60 kg category.
In Shotting, India's Ronjan Sodhi will compete in the qualifiers. As the Ferozepur-born double trap shooter takes aim at the Royal Artillery Barracks today, he will be aware that eyes back home will be fixed on him after Gagan Narang's bronze in the 10 metre air rifle. Ronjan says, Gagan Narang's bronze has given the Indian shooting contingent the much-needed boost. Everyone is excited and looking forward to doing well in their respective events. Besides Ronjan, Vijay Kumar will also compete in the qualifiers in Men's rapid fire pistol.
In Badminton, P. Kashyap has kept the India's hopes alive. He will lock horns today with Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the Men's single quarterfinals. It may be mentioned that Kashyap created history by becoming the first Indian shuttler to reach the men's singles quarter-finals in Olympic Games. He ranked 21st in the world, secured a hard fought three-game win over Sri Lanka's Niluka Karunaratne.
Indian ace shuttler Saina Nehwal, who defeated Jie Yao of Netherlands in a 40-minute match at the Wembley Arena yesterday, will also take on today the two-time All-England champion Tine Baun of Denmark in the quarter-finals.
In Tennis, Leander Paes and Sania Mirza will open their campaign in the mixed doubles today. The match was scheduled for yesterday but had to be postponed because of the back log owing to inclement weather in the past few days.
On the sixth day of the Olympics yesterday, the duo of Paes and Vishnu Vardhan lost to pair of Michael Llodra and Jo-Wilfred Tsonga of France. With their defeat, Indian challenge ended in Men's Doubles. The other Indian pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna had already bowed out of the competition.
In Archery, the country's top ranked woman archer Deepika Kumari flopped miserably yesterday. 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 ended India's archery campaign at the Lord's cricket ground.
In Shooting, the women shooters, Annu Raj Singh and Rahi Sarnobat also failed in the 25m pistol event.
In Rowing, bad news came as India's Swarn Singh Virk finished second in a minor placing race in single sculls while Sandeep Kumar and Manjeet Singh fought to save themselves from ending at the bottom in lightweight double sculls. The Indian duo will compete against the Egyptian team of Mohamed Nofel and Omar Emira on August 4 to decide who takes the wooden spoon.
The Indian hockey team also suffered its second straight defeat yesterday, when it lost 1-3 to New Zealand in a Group B match. Earlier, India had lost to the Netherlands 2-3 in their opening fixture. But India's hopes have not ended yet. They still have an outside chance of qualification. The team's coach Michael Nobb's admitted in the post match conference that his boys missed a number of opportunities and there were gaps in their defence. They were disappointing on the penalty- corner front too. But they still have a chance and will try to improve upon there mistakes. Mr. Nobb's hoped that his team will bounce back in the remaining league matches.
There are a lot of things happening in other areas also in the Olympics. China with 30 medals including 17 gold, 9 silver and 4 bronze so far, continues to top the medals tally. It is followed by the USA which has bagged 29 medals including 12 gold, 8 silver and 9 bronze. Republic of Korea is placed in the third position with 12 medals including 6 gold, 2
