Sachin meets Bach
Sachin Tendulkar has met International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach on the sidelines of the Rio Olympics here, which the Indian cricket icon termed as “wonderful”. Tendulkar, who is here as a goodwill ambassador for the Indian contingent, sat alongside Bach as the two watched the opening day of rugby sevens, which has made an Olympic return after a 92-year-absence. “Wonderful spending time with Mr Thomas Bach, IOC president at #Rio2016 @olympics,” tweeted Tendulkar after meeting the IOC chief on Saturday. Tendulkar is keenly tracking the performance of the Indian athletes in Rio and was seen supporting tennis players Sania Mirza and Prarthna Thombare from the stands. He watched the women’s doubles match alongside leander Paes, who had lost his men’s doubles first round match partnering Rohan Bopanna.
Chanu disappoints
India’s Saikhom Mirabai Chanu put up a highly disappointing performance at the Rio Olympics as she could not get an overall total in women’s 48kg after failing to lift the weight in any of her three attempts in clean & jerk section. In a field of 12 lifters, she was one of two lifters who did not finish (DNF) her event. Mirabai failed to lift 104kg in her first attempt in clean and jerk, followed by two more attempts to pick up 106kg. In both her second and third attempt, the Indian simply couldn’t lift the weight. Interestingly her personal best at clean and jerk is 107 kg.
‘Indians safe in Rio’
All Indians are safe in Rio Di Janeiro, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said today in the wake of a blast and multiple shooting incidents in the Brazilian city which is hosting the Olymics.
“Rio Blast — Indian Ambassador Sunil lal is camping in Rio and in constant touch with me. All are safe,” Swaraj said in a tweet. Earlier on Sunday, the Rio Olympics got off to a troubled start as a loud blast erupted near the cycling race’s finish line and a bullet ripped through the media tent at the equestrian venue. Brazilian military carried out a controlled explosion near the Copacabana finish line of Rio Olympics men’s road cycling race that stunned the crowd, who feared it to be a terror attack. A shooting incident near the temporary venue housing media tents which left visible holes in the wall also caused considerable scare among the onlookers. In yet another shooting incident, a woman was shot and killed by armed assailants near the Olympic Boulevard, making for a troubled start for the world’s biggest sporting event in which 118 Indian sportsperson are also participating.
‘Poor start cost Jitu’
India’s biggest medal hope Jitu Rai got a wake-up call when he finished eighth in the finals as the much-fancied shooters drew a blank in the pistol events at the Olympics, here on Saturday night. The 28-year-old Army man was not in his usual self as he shot 580, a poor score by his standard, to be ranked sixth in qualification round, and he continued to struggle in the final by not being able to hit the inner ring to languish at the bottom of the final list. “He started badly and could not make up by hitting inner 10s. It’s past now, let’s focus on what’s next,” his Army coach lalit Sharma told PTI blaming his poor start.