Day 7
- 11:15
Indian athletes in the fray
Next up are India's athletes in the track & field events. The bunch have uniformly disappointed after failing to cross the preliminary round in all events on the day.
It will be Ankit Sharma in the Men's Long Jump heats at 5:50 AM, while Mohammad Anas will participate in the Men's 400m at 6:23 AM. The last event of the day will be Dutee Chand in the Women's 400m at 7:10 AM. While Dutee may not win on the day, she has been an inspiration for reasons probably bigger than that Do give this article a read to understand Dutee's journey.
For now, it's Prabu signing off! See you back here at daybreak. Suprabhatam time!
- 10:30
And Vikas is through to the quarters
Sipal knows that he is down, but is still on the defensive. Vikas tries to go on the offensive, but then changes tack as he starts running Sipal around. But with 1:40 to go, Vikas has found himself on top of the Turk - that invites the referee's warning.
They are back now to dueling, and Vikas has not had a great round. The judges are taking their time here. And finally, it's Vikas by unanimous decision! He wins 30, 29, 29 against Sipal's 27, 28, 28, and is through to the quarters.
- 10:24
Round 2- Vikas wins again
Buoyed by the success of Round 1, Vikas has come out all guns blazing. He is hammering Sipal here as his opponent is huddled beneath his gloves. But that attacking intent also means his guard is down. He recieves a vicious right uppercut from Sipal.
With one minute to go, Vikas has Sipal on the ropes, but Sipal manages to get away in some time.
Vikas receives an unanimous decision here - 10, 10, 10. Sipal gets 9, 9 , 9.
- 10:21
Vikas wins first round
It's a good first round. Both opponents have come out with attacking intent. There is a sizeable crowd here shouting "India, India" as Vikas lands a few punches on Sipal's face. Both have attacked and retreated in turns here, and the match is evenly poised. But with 36 seconds to go, Sipal is injured above his right eye. The match resumes after an interruption, and Vikas straightaway lands a right uppercut.
In the end, Vikas scores a 10,10, and 9 while Sipal gets 9, 9 and 10. Vikas is 2-1.
- 10:14
Mirza-Bopanna defeat Murray-Watson
Murray holds serve to make it 4-5.
And, serving for the match, Bopanna begins with an ace. At 15-15, he serves another lovely one that goes unreturned by Watson. A lovely volley by Rohan, and Watson hits it long to give India two match-points. But what has Sania done. She, inexplicably, moves to her left to be right beside Bopanna, and Watson takes the gift with a forehand into the acres of empty space. Another Sania miss, and its deuce.
On the third match point, a comedy of errors ensues. Bopanna gets an overhead smash opportunity and sends it straight to Murray. Murray returns, Bopanna smashes again, Heather returns, and now Sania is huddled against Bopanna who is trying to move away from her and towards the ball. And they stumble together towards the ball. Finally, Sania manages to disentangle herself and finds her feet. Finally, Bopanna manages to find a winner off his smash, and India are through with a 6-4, 6-4 win to enter the semi-final of the mixed doubles event. Medal hopes, yaay!
