India at Tokyo Olympics Day 8: Kamalpreet, women's hockey team shine; Sindhu, Pooja suffer defeats

After a strong season leading to the main event, Kamalpreet Kaur peaked at the right moment as the discus thrower hurled exactly 64.00 metres to qualify for Tokyo Olympics women's discus throw final. Another Indian in the fray, Seema Punia couldn't qualify for the final as she finished 16th with a 60.57m throw. [READ MORE]

Reigning world champion P V Sindhu's hopes of securing India's first-ever Olympic gold in badminton came crashing down as she slumped to a straight-game defeat against world no.1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the women's singles semifinals. The 26-year-old silver-medallist from the Rio Games, however, remained in the hunt for a bronze medal and will be competing against China's He Bing Jiao in the third place play-off on Sunday. [READ MORE]

In a thoroughly disappointing day for Indian boxing, Pooja Rani (75kg) joined world number one Amit Panghal (52kg) in exiting the Olympic Games after an underwhelming performance, going down 0-5 in her quarterfinal bout against China's Li Qian. [READ MORE]

A timely hat-trick from forward Vandana Katariya kept the India women's hockey team's medal hopes alive at the ongoing 2020 Tokyo Olympics as the Indian outfit edged out South Africa 4-3 in a thrilling Pool A encounter in Tokyo. Vandana's goals came in the 4th, 17th and 49th minutes of the match while the other Indian goal was scored by Neha Goyal in the third quarter. [READ MORE]

Indian archers return empty-handed from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after team's last hope Atanu Das lost a tight last 16 clash to Rio Olympics silver medallist Takahuru Furakawa 6-4 in Tokyo on Saturday. The final and deciding set saw Atanu failing to hold his nerve with 9 and 8 shots while Furakawa gave himself a breathing space with 9 and 10. [READ MORE]

Indian boxer Amit Panghal (52kg) bowed out of the Olympics with a stunning 1-4 loss to Rio Games silver-medallist Yuberjen Martinez, beaten by the Colombian's relentless attacks and pace in the pre-quarterfinals. The top-seeded Indian, who was making his debut in the Games, had got an opening-round bye. [READ MORE]

Indian shooters Anjum Moudgil and Tejaswini Sawant failed to make the finals of the women's 50m rifle 3 positions event, settling for the 15th and 33rd position respectively. This meant the Indian shooting team's disastrous outing at the Games continued with none of its participants except for Saurabh Chaudhary qualifying for the finals. [READ MORE]

Indian sailing pair of KC Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar continued to languish at 17th overall after the penultimate race in the men's skiff 49er event at the Tokyo Olympics. Ganapathy and Thakkar finished 16th, ninth and 14th in the three races on Saturday to remain unchanged at 17th spot out of 19 competitors with 154 net points. [READ MORE]

Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri salvaged his third round with a late birdie and an eagle to card a three-under 68 at the Olympics but it may not be enough to give him a chance to make a run for the medal. [READ MORE]