Neeraj Chopra and Vinesh Phogat up for gold medals: India at 2024 Paris Olympics Day 11 Roundup
After a series of fourth-placed finishes in the last couple of days, it is time for India to get to the podium. India’s golden boy, Neeraj Chopra was in action on Tuesday along with Vinesh Phogat.
Phogat created history by reaching the final of the women’s 50 kg category in wrestling before the men’s hockey team suffered a tough defeat against Germany in the semi-final. Here is a look at how the proceedings unfolded on Day 11 at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Table Tennis
The men’s table tennis contingent served up yet another disappointment as they crashed out of the Round of 16 against China. It was always going to be difficult for India and no one expected India to go through the quarter-finals realistically but many expected them to put up a fight at least.
In the first match, the doubles duo of Harmeet Desai and Manav Thakkar were defeated by Ma Long and Wang Chuqin. The Chinese duo won the first three games by 11-2, 11-3, and 11-7.
In the second match, Sharath Kamal stepped up for India to play against Fan Zhendong of China. Kamal won the first game and showed signs of a comeback for India but it all went downhill quickly when he lost the subsequent three games; 11-7, 11-7 and 11-5.
Chuqin and Thakkar went head-to-head in the third match and the Chinese paddler won the first three games; 11-9, 11-6 and 11-9.
Athletics
Before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medalist got involved in javelin throw it was his compatriot and Asian Games silver medalist, Kishore Kumar Jena’s turn. Jena was part of the first qualification group and he threw a distance of 80.73 metres in his first attempt.
He could not register a better throw in his next two attempts and the 28-year-old had to either cross the 84 metres-mark or needed to be in the top 12 among the 32 athletes. Jena was ranked 18th among the athletes and could not qualify for the final.
Neeraj Chopra was the first to make a throw in the second group and if there was any doubt about how the Olympic champion would perform, he shut them all out. The 26-year-old threw his season best of 89.34 metres which meant that the Asian Games gold medalist qualified with his first throw.
Chopra would now be competing in the final of the javelin throw on Thursday. While the Stade de France brought great news for Neeraj Chopra it wasn’t as memorable for Kiran Pahal.
Pahal was running in the first repechage heat of women’s 400 metres. She finished her race in 52.59 seconds finishing sixth in her heat. To qualify for the semi-finals the 24-year-old needed to either finish first in her heat or be among the next two quickest among the other 26 athletes.
Wrestling
The biggest upset of the Olympics came from the Champ de Mars Arena where Vinesh Phogat went head-to-head with world number one, Yui Susaki of Japan. The Japanese wrestler before this fight had won 82 fights without suffering a single defeat.
In the Tokyo Olympics where Susaki won the gold medal, the Japanese wrestler did not let her opponents win a single point the whole tournament but all that was about to change when she faced Phogat.
Phogat was trailing by two points till the final ten seconds of the Round of 16 fight. The Indian wrestler pounced on her opponent as Yui stumbled to hand over a point. With a mere few seconds remaining, Phogat pushed Yui on the mat to earn another two points and clinch the victory.
Vinesh Phogat secured a medal and will now compete for the gold medal
After her impressive win in the Round of 16, Vinesh faced Oksana Livach of Ukraine. The 29-year-old was facing a comparatively easier opponent than Susaki. The Indian wrestler took a two-point lead in the first period. The second period saw both wrestlers going on the offense as both won five points each. Vinesh won the bout and qualified for the semi-finals.
In the semi-final, the Indian wrestler was against Yusneylys Guzman of Cuba. Phogat controlled the match and looked untroubled even when her opponent repeatedly tried to attack her leg.
In the first half after two failed leg attacks the Cuban wrestler was given a 30-second clock because of her passivity. This meant that Guzman needed to score at least one point in the stipulated 30 seconds or else, Phogat would win a point. Guzman failed to score a point and the Bhiwani-born wrestler took the lead in the first half.
In the second half, Phogat was given 30 seconds due to her passivity to score a point. The Indian wrestler unlike her counterpart registered a successful attack giving her two points. She won another two points to elongate her lead over the Cuban wrestler. The 29-year-old won the bout 5-0 and created history by becoming the first Indian woman to reach the finals in wrestling at the Olympics.
Sakshi Malik in 2016 became the first woman to win an Olympic medal in wrestling for India. Phogat will now be just a win away from becoming the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at the Olympics. Only the men’s hockey team, Abhinav Bindra, and Neeraj Chopra have won gold medals while representing India at the Olympics. She will now compete against Sarah Hildebrandt of the United States of America on Wednesday at 9:45 PM IST.
Hockey
Indian men’s hockey team will compete for the bronze medal
The biggest heartbreak for India on Day 11 came late in the day t as the men’s hockey team was handed their first defeat of the tournament. India took the lead early in the game courtesy of yet another goal by captain Harmanpreet Singh.
India was awarded a flurry of penalty corners in the seventh minute of the match and the drag-flick specialist converted the fourth penalty corner into a goal. At the end of the first quarter, India held their lead.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze medalists failed to register a shot on target in the second quarter despite two attempts. Unlike their opponents, Germany attacked ferociously in the second quarter and was rewarded for their attempts. Gonzalo Peillat scored the first goal for Germany to equalise and in the dying moments of the second quarter, a penalty stroke was converted into a goal by Christopher Ruehr.
After multiple attempts to equalise in the third quarter, it was Sukhjeet Singh who deflected a shot from Harmanpreet via a penalty corner into a goal in the 36th minute. In the fourth quarter, the game was heading towards a penalty shootout until the 54th minute when Marco Miltkau scored with a deflection handing Germany the all-important lead.
India will now play Spain on Thursday where they will have a chance of bagging two consecutive bronze medals at the Olympic Games.