23.8.16

India's RIOport Card

Falling four short of 2012 London mark, India's campaign at Rio came to end with wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt losing his bout in the lung opener.
Dutt was nowhere near his competitor and looked like he was never interested in the bout.
If it wasn't for the great efforts from wrestler Sakshi Malik and shuttler PV Sindhu, India would have returned empty handed.
This is a report card on each of the discipline India participated in with its highest-ever (118) contingents.

ARCHERY
After their London meltdown much was expected from the women archers. India's biggest hope Deepika Kumari did not do well in the team event although they reached the quarters, thanks to Bombayla Devi's super form. In the individual event, she fell out in the round of 16.
India's sole male representative Atanu Das too was ousted in the pre-quarters.

ATHLETICS
They were nowhere close to even their personal best. The largest unit in the contingent failed to impress one and all. In the terrible way they finished their respective campaign raises questions about their qualification.Besides Lalita Babar, who not only created a national record in the qualifiers, but finished 10th in the 3000m steeplechase final, there was no one to really throw up a challenge.

BADMINTON
When Saina Nehwal failed in the group stage it looked as if India's badminton hopes were over. But two debutante shuttlers ­ PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth ­ rose to the occasion.While Srikanth threatened World No. 3 Lin Dan in the quarters, Sindhu, despite her tough draw, fought her way through to the final before losing to World No. 1Carolina Marin of Spain to settle for silver.

BOXING
The biggest achievement for the boxers was their participation.With most of the bouts taking off the ring Shiva Thapa, Manoj Kumar and Vikas Krishan ­ did not survive the onslaught of others in the world, who seemed more prepared.Vikas was the only one to go the distance and lose in the quarters.

FIELD HOCKEY
They played according to plan in matches against big teams like The Netherlands and Germany but fumbled in games against minnows.Overall, the team now has a structure in place that needs to be improvised futher. The 2-2 draw against Canada turned out to be their undoing.
As far as women's team is concerned, they have a long way to go before they can make their presence felt in women's world hockey. They need more exposure against top teams to raise their standard.

GOLF
The only one to attract attention was Bangalore's woman golfer Aditi Ashok, who had an impressive first two rounds before she slid to 41st position with scores of 291 over seven.Meanwhile, high-profile men's contingent SSP Chawrasia and Anirban Lahiri finished 50th and 57th respectively, despite some of the top golfers pulling out citing Zika virus.

GYMNASTICS
This has been the story of Rio Olympics for India. The lone Indian ­ and the first ever Gymnast at Olympics Dipa Karmakar has managed to put India on the map. Her Produnova attracted eyes balls and bravery was topic of discussion on all kinds of media covering the event. Despite finishing fourth at the vault apparatus, Dipa returned home a hero.

JUDO
Avtar Singh earned himself the tag of an Olympian.

ROWING
The heart-moving story of Maharashtrian rower Dattu Bhokanal did find itself some attention in Rio. Although he crossed the first hurdle in qualification, his rowing could not match the speed and strength of the regulars in the men's single sculls. Finishing 13th in overall ranking, Dattu can return home satisfied.

SHOOTING
The biggest bunch of hopeful turned out to be the biggest disappointments. With 12 shooters in the fray ­ nine men, three women ­ India was expecting a decent medal haul here. In terms of medals, there weren't, in terms of scores the unit has improved tremendously.
Appearing in his last Olympic, Beijing Gold medallist Abhinav Bindra entered the 10m air rifle final and missed a medal by 0.5 point. India's first skeet shooter at the Games Mairaj Ahmad Khan shot well for a place in the final, but fell on his fourth shot. Every one else missed out the final. They could have done better.

SWIMMING
Well, well tried. But we are far, far away from being `there'. Just also-rans is the best description.

TABLE TENNIS
They came, they played and they left. With around 40-odd Chinese representing various countries, it's difficult for Indian paddlers to make impress upon anyone.

TENNIS
If they had score more points than just shooting from the lip, Indian tennis stars could have ended up with a medal here. The stories of rift between Rohan Bopanna and Leander Paes started when they team together. They fell at the first hurdle. Sania Mirza- Prarthna Thombare too fell at the first hurdle.
The Mirza-Bopanna pair lost the medal from a winning position against US duo Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram. In both, the semis and the bronze medal match against Redak Stepanek and Lucie Hradecka, it was Mirza who did the hard work, while Bopanna did the wrongdoings.

WEIGHTLIFTING
Mirabai Chanu, who lifted a told of 192 kgs back home, failed to find strength to lift 188 kgs in Rio. Had she repeated the performance from the past, the bronze medal was her's to take.
Sathish Sivalingam finished 11th with a lift of 329 kgs in the men's 77kg category.

WRESTLING
Another controversial unit. Just 12 hours before Narsing Yadav's bout the Court of Arbitration for Sport imposed a four-year ban upholding World Anti-Doping Agency appeal.However, Sakshi Malik provided the bronze moment with a dramatic victory in the women's 58kg category. She became the first Indian women wrestler to do that.

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