Hockey team, rower Dattu Bhokanal save India on Day 1 at Rio Olympics | Olympics - Hindustan Times
close_game
close_game

Hockey team, rower Dattu Bhokanal save India on Day 1 at Rio Olympics

ByPTI, Rio De Janeiro
Aug 07, 2016 10:38 AM IST

The men’s hockey team and army rower Dattu Baban Bhokanal provided the few bright spots while tennis ace Leander Paes made an early exit on a largely disappointing opening day at the Rio Olympics here.

The men’s hockey team and army rower Dattu Baban Bhokanal provided the few bright spots while tennis ace Leander Paes made an early exit on a largely disappointing opening day at the Rio Olympics here.

Dattu Baban Bhokanal of India competes at the Rio Olympics.(REUTERS)
Dattu Baban Bhokanal of India competes at the Rio Olympics.(REUTERS)

The men’s hockey team broke a 12-year-old Olympics jinx by winning their opening group league encounter against minnows Ireland, while Bhokanal entered the quarterfinals by finishing third in his heat in men’s singles sculls rowing competition.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Those were the only bright spots as the Indian contingent faced reversals in the shooting range, tennis court, table tennis and weightlifting arena on Saturday.

Full coverage: Rio Olympics

On the tennis court, Paes’ dream of winning his second Olympics medal -- after a bronze in 1996 Atlanta -- in his record seventh appearance was blown away when he and his doubles partner Rohan Bopanna were knocked out in straight sets in the opening round by the Polish pair of Marcin Matkowski and Lukasz Kubot. The Indians lost 4-6 6-7 (6-8).

Read: Rio 2016: India’s medal hope Jitu Rai finishes 8th in 10m air pistol final

Leander Paes, of India (right) with his partner Rohan Bopanna at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday. Paes and Bopanna lost their first round match to Poland's Lukasz Kubot and Marcin Matkowski. (AP)
Leander Paes, of India (right) with his partner Rohan Bopanna at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday. Paes and Bopanna lost their first round match to Poland's Lukasz Kubot and Marcin Matkowski. (AP)

An emotional Paes did not hide his disappointment and said that he had “become a soft target” and that was the reason why people are “taking potshots” at him.

Later, star woman player Sania Mirza, the world number one in doubles, too could not lift the Indian contingent’s sagging spirits as she and much lower ranked partner Prarthana Thombare went down to the Chinese pair of Shuai Zhang and Shuai Peng.

Zhang and Peng won a closely contested match 7-6 (8-6) 5-7 7-5 that lasted two hours and 44 minutes as the Indian duo did put up a stiff resistance.

Indian shooters also failed to sparkle as medal hopeful Jitu Rai finished a lowly eighth in the men’s 10m Air Pistol final, while Apurvi Chandela and Ayonika Paul crashed out in the qualification round of their respective events itself.

India's shooting player Jitu Rai plays qualifying round during the Rio Olympic 2016. (PTI)
India's shooting player Jitu Rai plays qualifying round during the Rio Olympic 2016. (PTI)

Read: All about the doping tsunami that ripped the heart and soul out of athletics

Army’s Jitu, bronze medallist at Incheon Asian Games in the event in 2014, shot an overall 78.7 to finish eighth in the field of eight finalists to become the first shooter to crash out of the final round.

The 28-year-old Jitu got off to a poor start and could not recover from it in a highly competitive line-up, which included the likes of Hoang Xuan Vinh, Pang Wei, Wu Felipe Almeida, Tuzinsky Juraj, Jin Jongoh, Gontcharov Vladimira and Giordona Giuseppe.

However, Gurpreet Singh, India’s other participant in the same category, failed to even make the final.

Read: Stray bullet flies into Olympic equestrian media centre

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Share this article
SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
OPEN APP
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Friday, March 29, 2024
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On