India at Olympic Games today : Women's hockey, Dipa Karmakar take center stage
After 36 years, the Indian women's hockey team will make an Olympics appearance when they take on Japan in their opening Group B clash. Dipa Karmakar will also make her long-awaited appearance in Artistic Gymnastics, while the shooting and archery contingent will look for an improved outing.
It is set to be a historic day for India at Rio. The Indian women's hockey team will take to the field against Japan, a sight which has been missing from the Olympics since 1980. They have not had the best of buildups to the tournament, but will hope to start on a positive note.
Dipa Karmakar will also become the first Indian female gymnast to make an appearance in an Olympics today. Her coach, Bisweshwar Nandi, had said that they are feeling the pressure of carrying the dreams of a billion Indians. Let’s hope that the pressure does not hamper their performance today.
After a disappointing day for the shooting contingent on day 1, Heena Sidhu, Kynan Chenai, and Manavjit Singh Sandhu will hope for a better outing today. Heena will take part in the women's 10m air pistol qualifiers, while the two men will participate in the men's trap qualifiers.
After a disappointing performance in the women's individual and team ranking round in archery, Deepika Kumari, Bombayla Devi Laishram, and Laxmirani Majhi have an opportunity to redeem themselves in the team event today. The Indian women's archery team will face Colombia in the round of 16 of the women's recurve team event.
Here is the schedule for the day (August 6, Day 2):
Shooting
Event: Women's 10m Air Pistol qualifiers
Athlete: Heena Sidhu
Time: 5:30 pm
Event: Men's Trap qualifiers
Athlete: Kynan Chenai, Manavjit Singh Sandhu
Time: 6:00 pm
Archery
Event: Women's recurve team event (Round of 16)
Athlete: Deepika Kumari, Bombayla Devi Laishram, Laxmirani Majhi
Time: 6:45 pm
Hockey
Event: Women's Hockey Group B clash
Event: India v Japan
Time: 7:30 pm
Artistic Gymnastics Event: All events (qualification round)
Athlete: Dipa Karmakar
Time : 11:00 pm