Indian archers draw a blank
Rio de Janeiro: Indian archers drew a blank at the Olympic Games after Atanu Das let slip crucial chances in his men's individual recurve pre-quarterfinal to bow out of contention and draw curtains on the country's campaign in the sport here on Friday. Shooting amid heavy rain, Atanu went down 4-6 to World No 8 lee Seung-Yun, who had already helped South Korea win the team gold at the event. On expected lines, the Korean shot a hat-trick of perfect 10s in the opening set to clinch it 30-28. However, not to be bogged down, Atanu responded quite well with three successive 10s of his own to unnerve lee and draw level in the match by taking the second set 30-28. The third set ended up being a tie before lee nosed ahead by grabbing the fourth set. In the decisive fifth set, Atanu and lee were tied 19-19 after the first two shots. lee managed a 9 off his final arrow and Atanu needed to go one better to take the match into a shoot-off. But Atanu could only strike a 9, which was enough to tie the fifth set 28-28 but insufficient to save the match.
Narang, Chain disappoint
Rio de Janeiro: There was no end to the Indian shooters' Olympic Games misery as 2012 edition's bronze medal winner Gagan Narang and Chain Singh failed to qualify for the 50m Rifle Prone event here on Friday. While Narang, who won the london Games bronze in 10m Air Rifle, signed off 13th with a total score of 623.1, Singh was way down at 36th with a score of 619.6 in the qualification round. However, he bungled the advantage by shooting his poorest in the final sixth and final series, which yielded him his lowest score of 102.4. Narang's series break-up stood at 104.7, 104.4, 104.6, 103.0, 104.0, 102.4 Singh, on the other hand, never seemed to be in the reckoning after losing the plot in his second and fourth series, which fetched him scores of 101 and 102.4. His subsequent efforts at salvaging the situation could not save him from a free-fall on the leaderboard. PTi
‘Don’t ask about past’
Rio de Janeiro: Overcoming the dope scandal, which almost derailed his hopes of competing at the Rio Olympics, wrestler Narsingh Yadav said he would want to forgot about the toughest phase of his life and solely focus on winning a medal on August 19. Narsingh reached here along with India's chief coach Jagminder Singh and checked into the Games Village. "Please don't ask me about the past. I don't want to think about it anymore. I'm just focussing on my training. I'm here in Rio finally, and focussing on my game. I will talk after my game on August 19," he told PTI on the sidelines of his first training session. "I feel great after finally coming to the Games village. I just want to win a medal for my country. That's the only hope left for me. I am giving my 100 per cent. Everything is going fine," he added.
Goel denies allegations
Rio de Janeiro: India's sports minister Vijay Goel on Friday rejected allegations of misbehaviour levelled against his entourage by the Organising Committee stating that nothing of that sort has happened. On Thursday, Sarah Peterson, who is Continental Manager for Rio 2016 Organising Committee, in a letter to Indian Chef-de-Mission Rakesh Gupta, threatened to cancel Goel's accreditation on grounds of misbehaviour and trying to enter venues with his entourage who don't have valid passes. "I don't know who wrote the letter and what are his capacities and post. The letter written to Chef-de-Mission (Rakesh Gupta) states that they have some issue from our staff members, regarding misbehavior or access. I don't know any such things and they have not written against me, the letter also does not have anything against the sports minister," Goel said in his defence. When asked about trying to forcibly enter the hockey arena, Goel said:"The volunteers had taken him to the field of play because otherwise how is he allowed to goIJ I couldn't have gone on my own. Next time, I had an upgraded pass with me provided by OCI