Rower Bhokanal in quarterfinal
Rio de Janeiro: Indian rower Dattu Baban Bhokanal entered the quarterfinals of the Men's Single Sculls after finishing third in his qualifying round of the Rio Olympics here on Saturday. In the first heat of the day, Armyman Bhokanal finished the 2000m race with a timing of 7:21.67s behind Angel Fournier Rodriguez of Cuba (7:06.89s) and Mexico's Juan Carlos Cabrera (7:08.27s). Bhokanal was in second place for the first 500 metres of the race but started to lag behind once the Mexican in lane 2 picked up pace around the 700 metres mark. The well-built Cuban and the Mexican then increased their lead from the rest but Bhokanal maintained his third position although he was more than 13 seconds behind the second placed Cabrera.
Kudos to Dattu: Goel
New Delhi: Sports Minister Vijay Goel on Saturday congratulated rower Dattu Bhokanal, who qualified for the quarter-finals of the men's single sculls rowing in the 31st Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro. "Congratulations to Dattu Bhokanal for qualifying for quarterfinals. #Kudos #rowing #OlympicReady #JeetoRio," Goel tweeted.
All false, says Paes
Rio de Janeiro: Tennis ace leander Paes has termed the reports that he had refused to share a room at the Olympic Games Village here with his doubles partner Rohan Bopanna as "false" and said that his timing of arrival at Rio was according to plans and known to the Indian tennis team. Reports have suggested that Paes refused to share a room with Bopanna at the Games Village. "I am disappointed and feel sad by the baseless suggestions in a section of the media ... Which accuse me of not informing the tennis team about my scheduled arrival in Rio," tweeted the 43-year-old Paes. "There is also talk of me refusing to share a room with my doubles partner Rohan Bopanna, which is false and intended to unsettle our preparations for the competition. I am staying in the Games Village which was the plan all along," he wrote. India's Chef-de-Mission Rakesh Gupta clarified that Paes was always going to stay alone. "He (Paes) was given a room and there's no controversy at all. For a legend like him, Paes deserved a separate room for himself," Gupta said, explaining that Indian ace was playing a tournament in New York and hence the delay in arrival here.