India’s Sindhu books berth in badminton quarter-finals
Both boxers started defensively and kept their distance as they tested each other. Brown went on the attack, but Kumar was able to defend most of the attacks from the Jamaican
Indian boxer Satish Kumar advanced to the quarterfinals at the Tokyo Olympics with a comprehensive win against Ricardo Brown of Jamaica in the men’s super-heavyweight round of 16 bout on Thursday.
Kumar, the 32 year old from Bulandshahr Uttar Pradesh who is making his Olympics debut, won the +91kg bout by a 4:1 split verdict at the Ryogoku Kokugikan arena. Four of the five judges scored the bout in favour of the Indian boxer.
Both boxers started defensively and kept their distance as they tested each other. Brown went on the attack, but Kumar was able to defend most of the attacks from the Jamaican.
The Indian also landed some punches through his better timing and earned points from all five judges. He won the first round 50-44.
Brown, also an Olympic debutant, remained the aggressor in the second round as well but wasn’t able to trouble Kumar much.
The Indian boxer defended brilliantly and landed timely hooks and jabs. Kumar, despite suffering a slight cut above his right eye and given prompt medical attention, maintained his upper hand and won this round too, getting 10 points from four judges (49-46).
With the heavyweights slowing down going into the third round as fatigue kicked in, Kumar continued with his defensive tactics.
Though Brown put up a better performance in the third round as he landed couple of good left hooks and followed them with solid body bunches, but that was not enough as Kumar, a two-time Asian Championship bronze medallist, emerged winner.
It was a good win for the Indian who next faces reigning world champion Bakhodir Jalolov of Uzbekistan on Sunday.
Boxer MC Mary Kom’s campaign at the Tokyo Olympics came to an end as the veteran crashed out in the pre-quarter finals by the narrowest of margins against Colombias Ingrit Lorena Valencia Victoria. It was a split verdict 3:2 in favour of the Colombian. The 38-year-old Mary Kom lost the first round as Ingrit was quick to take advantage.
Meanwhile, midway through the first game against Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt in the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday, coach Park Tae-sang told India’s PV Sindhu that she was rushing with her defence and should be more patient.
Sindhu, silver medallist at the Rio Olympics five years ago, changed her tactics and scored points at will as she has reached the women’s singles quarterfinals, beating her Danish opponent 21-15, 21-13 at the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday.
Playing aggressive and deceptive shots that kept her opponent on the run throughout the match, Sindhu outplayed Mia in just 41 minutes.
Mia had sent Sindhu packing from the Thailand Open in January this year though the Indian had won their last encounter, found the Indian star, gunning for gold here, too strong on Thursday and could not play her usual game as Sindhu took control from the start.
Sindhu will next play the winner of the match between Kim Gaeun of South Korea and Akane Yamaguchi of Japan.
Meanwhile, India advanced to the quarterfinals of the men’s Olympic hockey tournament on Thursday thanks to an inspired 3-1 win over Rio gold medallists Argentina while South Africa avoided being sent home after a surprise win over Germany.
The Netherlands and Britain secured their quarter-final spots after a 2-2 draw in their game, putting them out of reach of South Africa and Canada in their group.
India fought back after conceding an early goal against their South American opponents, pulling level in the second half and then scoring another two late goals. Harmanpreet Singh, Vivek Prasad and Varun Kumar all scored for India.