Rio Olympics Day 2: Dipa Karmakar Enters Artistic Gymnastics Finals, Makes History

Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar scripted history as she became the first Indian to make the cut for the individual vault finals in her debut Olympic Games after finishing 8th in the qualifying round here.

The Tripura girl, who is the country’s first woman gymnast to qualify for the Olympics, managed to perform her much-appreciated ‘Produnova’ vault cleanly to secure 14.850 points after two attempts.

Dipa secured 7.000 on difficulty and 8.1 on execution in her first attempt. Her score for difficulty was a tad lower at 6.000 in the second attempt. She landed low on her Produnova vault in the first attempt, while her second vault was a ‘Tsuk double full twist’ with step to the side.

Karmakar however finished 75th in uneven bars, 77th in floor exercise and 65th in women’s beam competitions.

Women Archers Fight, But Bow Out in Quarterfinals

The Indian women’s archery team put up a spirited performance but could not make it to the podium after losing out to Russia in the quarterfinals of the women’s recurve event. The team comprising of Deepika Kumari, Laxmirani Majhi and Bombayla Devi lost 5-4 in a tie-breaker to their Russian opponents Inna Stepanova, Ksenia Perova and Tuyana Dashidorzhieva, who went on to win a silver medal.

Deepika Kumari needed to hit a perfect ten in her final shot but managed to only shoot an eight. India had earlier defeated Colombia 5-3 in their round of 16 clash. The trio will now participate in the individual archery events.

Shooters Still Missing Marks

Indian shooters had another cheerless day. Heena Sindhu crashed out of the women’s 10m air pistol event after failing to secure qualification. She finished 14th with a total score of 380. She will now complete in the 25m air pistol event on August 9.

India’s Manavjit Singh Sandhu and Kynan Chenai were placed at 17th and 19th respectively on the first day of the two-day qualification round of the men’s trap shooting event. Sandhu had an aggregate score of 68 while Chenai scored a total of 67. The competition resumes on Monday.

Shared Honours

The Indian women’s hockey team, who were making their first Olympic appearance in 36 years, played out a 2-2 draw against Japan in their Group B match on Sunday. India overturned a two-goal deficit in the second half after goals from Rani Rampal and Lilima Minz to snatch a point from the jaws of eminent defeat. India will now face Argentina in their next Group B game.

Also Read: Rio Olympics: Men’s Hockey Gives Hope on Disappointing Day One For India

Here’s are more highlights of day 2 at Rio with The Quint’s Mendra Dorjey.

Day 3 Heads Up!

5:30 pm IST

• The men’s 10 meter air rifle shooting event will see two of India’s best shooters - Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang have a shot at gold.
  

5:56 pm IST

The women’s individual archery event kicks off today with the round of 64. Here are the matchups -

• 6:09 pm - Bombayla Devi (India) vs Laurence Baldauff (Austria)
  
• 7:27 pm - Laxmirani Majhi (India) vs Alexandra Longova (Slovakia)
  
• 1:27 am (9th Aug) - Deepika Kumari (India) vs Kristine Esebua (Georgia)

6:00 pm IST

• The men’s trap qualifying round continues today with Manavjit Singh Sandhu and Kynan Chenai in action.

7:30 pm IST

• The Indian men’s hockey team will go head-to-head with Germany in a match for the top spot in Group B.
  

9:32 pm IST

• 18-year old Shivani Kataria, India’s wildcard entry for swimming, will be competing in the women’s 200 meter freestyle swimming event.
  

10:04 pm IST

• Sajan Prakash, who was selected for Rio by the University rule, will be showcasing his talent in the 200m men’s butterfly swimming event.
  

2:30 am IST (9th August)

• The women’s hockey team will look to carry their momentum forward in a Group B clash against Great Britain.