TOKYO: Indian shooter Avani Lekhara on Friday won a bronze medal in the R8 women’s 50m rifle 3P SH1 event in the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics.

This is Avani’s second medal in the ongoing Paralympics as she had won gold earlier this week.

Avani was at the fourth position at the end of the kneeling round with a score of 149.5 points.

The 19-year-old Indian athlete slipped into the sixth position following the conclusion of the prone round. After shot 30, Avani had 303.4 points.

Avani then moved to fifth position as she started the elimination round on a high. Continuing her good run, the Indian athlete then moved to fourth position at the end of two series in the standing position.

In the final few minutes, Avani registered a perfect score to clinch a bronze medal.

Earlier in the day, Avani reached the finals of the R8 women’s 50m rifle 3P SH1 event after finishing second in the qualification round.

Avani shot a total of 388, 393 and 395 in Kneeling, Prone and Standing rounds respectively

Avani on Monday had created history by winning the gold medal. The 19-year-old became the first woman from India to win a Paralympics gold medal. Avani had finished with a Paralympic Record and in-process equalled the World Record with 249.6 points.

Tokyo: Bhavinaben Patel on Sunday became only the second Indian woman to win a medal at the Paralympics after she signed off with a historic silver following a 0-3 loss to world number one Chinese paddler Ying Zhou in the women’s singles table tennis class 4 final here.

The 34-year-old Patel’s impressive run at the Games ended with a fighting 7-11 5-11 6-11 loss to Zhou, a two-time gold medallist, in the women’s singles summit clash which lasted 19 minutes.

With this medal, Indian team opened its account at the Games.

Deepa Malik, who is the current president of Paralympic Committee of India (PCI), was the first Indian woman to win a medal in the Paralympic Games when she had claimed a silver in shotput at Rio five years back.

Patel, a wheelchair player, had also suffered a loss to Zhou, one of the most decorated para-paddlers of China, in her first group stage match earlier in the week.

Up against an opponent, who has five Paralympic medals to her name including gold medals in singles at Beijing and London, Patel seemed to struggle as she couldn’t execute her strategy and was left to do the catch up job.

Zhou, a six-time World Championship medallist, didn’t allow Patel, currently ranked 12th in her division, to find her angled returns and get into a rally.

In the first game, Zhou broke off from 3-3 to move ahead. Patel tried to keep herself within touching distance with a superb serve at 5-7 and a forehand flick but the Chinese managed to earn the bragging right with a deep push at the baseline.

The second game was a one-way traffic as Zhou jumped to a 7-1 lead early on. Patel narrowed it down to 4-7 but the Chinese soon grabbed a 2-0 lead.

Pushed to the brink, Patel tried to script a recovery as she moved neck and neck with her opponent till 5-5 in the third game. But Zhou once again moved ahead and sealed the contest with a backhand shot.

Patel, who was diagnosed with polio when she was 12 months old, had defeated world no 3 Miao Zhang of China 7-11 11-7 11-4 9-11 11-8 in the semifinal on Saturday.

In the quarterfinal on Friday, Patel had defeated 2016 Rio Paralympics gold medallist and world number two Borislava Peric Rankovic of Serbia to assure herself a medal and script history.

In para table tennis, classes 1-5 are for wheelchair athletes. Athletes in Class 4 category have fair sitting balance and fully functional arms and hands. Their impairment may be due to a lower spinal-cord lesion or cerebral palsy.

Patel started playing the sport 13 years ago at the Blind People’s Association at Vastrapur area of Ahmedabad where she was a student of ITI for people with disabilities.

There, she saw visually impaired children playing table tennis and decided to take up the sport. She won her first medal in a competition while representing Rotary Club in Ahmedabad, where she is settled now after her marriage to Nikunj Patel, who has played junior cricket for Gujarat.

She reached world number two ranking in 2011 after winning a silver medal for India in PTT Thailand Table Tennis Championship. In October 2013, Patel won another silver in the women’s singles Class 4 at the Asian Para table tennis championships in Beijing.

London: India reached 181 for six in their second innings at stumps on the fourth day of the second Test against England here on Sunday.

The overall lead stood at 154 runs for the visitors.

Rishabh Pant and Ishant Sharma were batting on 14 and 4 respectively when play was called off eight short of the stipulated 90 overs because of bad light at the Lord’s.

England were bowled out for 391 in their first innings, in reply to India’s 364 all out at the Lord’s.

Rahane and Pujara added exactly 100 runs for the fourth wicket after India were struggling at 55 for three at the stroke of lunch.

Brief scores:

India: 364 all out and 181/6 in 82 overs (Cheteshwar Pujara 45, Ajinkya Rahane 61; Mark Wood 3/40)

England 1st innings: 391 all out in 128 overs.

London: Virat Kohli might have to seriously consider playing his best tweaker Ravichandran Ashwin instead of the injured Shardul Thakur but the Indian captain didn’t specify whether the seasoned off-spinner would get the nod ahead of a pacer in the second Test against England.

While India were in a better position to win the first Test before the heavens opened up on the final day, the first innings score of 278 was still below par as none among Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane scored runs.

Not to forget that all three haven’t scored heavily in the past two years and save Rahane, who got a hundred in Melbourne, the other two batting mainstays haven’t been able to convert a lot of their half-centuries into three-figure marks.

“I don’t think that’s an area of concern. Our basic focus is not to think individually where people are but collectively how much strength they bring into the team is our focus. What’s your best and strongest batting unit that you can take on the park,” the skipper said.

As far as team combination is concerned, Shardul being ruled out with a “left hamstring injury” does tilt the lower-order batting balance, although the Mumbai seamer didn’t trouble the scorers in the only innings that he played.

Ashwin, who was dropped from the playing XI in the drawn opening game in Nottingham because of Ravindra Jadeja’s superior skills with the willow, is back in the mix as Thakur seems to have done his hamstring some damage during the training session at the Lord’s on Monday.

It’s still not clear whether he picked up the injury during the first Test or not.

With Thakur all but ruled out of the upcoming match starting Thursday, Kohli might have to revisit his 4-1 bowling combination which can’t be cast in stone considering the lean nature of his team’s lower-order batting.

“For us, it’s about finding that perfect balance but if someone like Shardul is not available, then we definitely need to think how to pick up 20 wickets and not try to plug in another guy, who can give us some runs with the bat. I think we are very comfortable how first Test went,” Kohli gave an open-ended answer.

London has been recording a maximum temperature of 24 degrees with average temperature around 14 degrees.

It would be interesting to see if England retain a green top like they did in 2018 when Indian batting collapsed twice in two days and all-rounder Chris Woakes walked away with the honours.

In case, the pitch is on the drier side, there will possibly be no harm in playing both Ashwin and Jadeja, who can trouble this brittle England batting line-up with their different variations.

The poor quality of the new generation of England Test players was exposed again as skipper Joe Root had to come to his team’s rescue for the umpteenth time with a fifty in the first innings and a match-saving 21st Test hundred in the second essay.

There is every possibility that Rory Burns could be replaced by Haseeb Hameed, who scored a hundred opening the innings for the Combined Counties against Indians in the tour game last month.

For Kohli, if four pacers are non-negotiable, then one among Ishant Sharma or Umesh Yadav will be straightaway replacing Thakur but the choice might not be that easy.

“Most likely it will be a template going ahead [4-1 combination], but we’ve always been adaptable as well, to the conditions and pace of the wicket,” Kohli had said after the first Test.

But adaptability is the rider that the Indian skipper used during that post-match conference and hence Ashwin, who is currently on the verge of surpassing Harbhajan Singh’s (417 wickets) tally, comes into the picture.

If the skipper believes that his batting needs to be suitably beefed up, then Ashwin is the right choice in case weather permitting, there is something available on the fourth or fifth day Lord’s pitch.

England are likely to miss their senior pacer Stuart Broad as he had injured his right calf muscle during a training session which possibly rules him out of the game.

England added Lancashire seam bowler Saqib Mahmood in the squad as cover with ECB informing that spinner Dom Bess will be leaving the squad and returning to Yorkshire.

In case the pitch offers some assistance, Moeen Ali, who has been inducted might again like to torment the Indians like he did in 2014 and ’18 series or else there is world’s fastest bowler Mark Wood, whose average speed is 90 clicks per hour.

For India, KL Rahul would like to consolidate his position at the top of the order even though Mayank Agarwal being back in the nets is a welcome sign for India.

While batting order might not be tinkered with but Agarwal’s fitness could also make Rahul an option in the middle-order, where he personally prefers batting.

While both Pujara and Rahane are not in the best of form of late, they will only be replaced in the likely event of a last-minute injury.

Squads: India: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mayank Agarwal, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Md. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav.

England: Joe Root (Captain), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Dom Sibley, Mark Wood, Saqib Mahmood.

Match Starts at 3:30 pm.

CHENNAI: On a day when the BCCI advertised for the position of head of cricket for the National Cricket Academy all eyes were firmly on the incumbent Rahul Dravid.

Since taking charge of the India A and Under-19 setups in 2015, the former India captain was elevated as head of cricket in 2019. Should he re-apply for the job before the August 15 deadline, it wouldn’t come as a surprise. However, if he stays away, then it would open the doors for Dravid to take charge as the head coach of the men’s team after the T20 World Cup.

Current head coach Ravi Shastri and the tenure of the support staff come to an end with the T20 World Cup and as things stand, there are indications that they won’t seek an extension. Shastri, first as team director and then as head coach, has been part of the national men’s team set up for six years across two tenures. During the period, he has led India to the top of the Test rankings.

However, according to the top officials of the BCCI, Shastri is not keen on continuing after the T20 World Cup. Even bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar are expected to part ways with batting coach Vikram Rathour. Although an ICC title has eluded India during Shastri’s tenure, he has turned the team into a formidable outfit. And since 2017, no team has a better win-loss abroad than India in away Tests as the team even played in the World Test Championship final. Among the most stellar feats under Shastri’s tenure include back-to-back Test series win in Australia and an ODI series win in South Africa for the first time.

With Shastri heading for exit, whether Dravid reapplies for the NCA post is being seen with interest. In the years Dravid has spent at the NCA, he has been credited with creating a strong bench strength and bringing in an A team programme that has bridged the gap between domestic cricket and international cricket. Last month, he accompanied the India white-ball team to Sri Lanka as head coach and was non-committal when asked about taking up the role full-time.

---

New Delhi: India’s Olympic medal-winners were accorded a grand welcome by the government in a dazzling felicitation ceremony here on Monday with sports minister Anurag Thakur saying that their journey is an “incredible story of resilience and sporting excellence”.

Gold medal winning javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra was the cynosure of all eyes in the ceremony at a five star hotel here, held a couple of hours after the seven podium finishers made their way out of the airport amid utter chaos.

At the felicitation ceremony, they were presented mementos and shawls by the minister. Both the bronze-winning men’s hockey team and fourth-place finishing women’s team cut cakes after arriving at the hotel.

While Chopra added the golden sheen to the campaign, the silver medals came from weightlifter Mirabai Chanu and wrestler Ravi Kumar Dahiya.

The bronze medals, apart from the men’s hockey team, were claimed by boxer Lovlina Borgohain, shuttler P V Sindhu, and wrestler Bajrang Punia.

“I am very happy to be back home. I knew India is very happy but after coming back here, to get this love first hand, it feels really nice. I would try to do my best for more such medals,” Borgohain said.

Sindhu and Chanu did not attend the ceremony as they had arrived earlier and are currently at their home bases.

“I only tried to give my best,” said Punia, who fought through his semifinals without any protective gear on his injured knee.

Among those present on the occasion to felicitate the medal winners also included Union Minister of Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju, Secretary (Sports) Ravi Mittal and Director-General of Sports Authority of India Sandip Pradhan.

“Tokyo 2020 was an Olympic Games of many firsts for India. The success of Team India at the Olympics is a reflection of how New India desires and aspires to dominate the world even in sports,” Thakur said.

“The Olympic Games showed us that with self-discipline and dedication we can be champions. Team India excelled and inspired while Indians cheered and celebrated all around.

“Truly sports is a great unifier as our athletes come from villages and cities, north to south, from east to west. Their journey is an incredible story of resilience and sporting excellence,” he added.

There were many firsts in India’s campaign, including the biggest ever 128-member athlete contingent, seven Olympic Medals, first Olympic gold medal in an athletics event, two successive medals in consecutive Games by Sindhu, and a medal(bronze) by the Indian men’s team in hockey after a gap of 41 years.

Also, the women’s hockey team achieved its best ever fourth place finish in the Games.

“We will continue to support our sports persons and we endeavour to make India a sporting powerhouse,” Thakur said.

The minister also lauded some close finishes including the fourth place finish by golfer Aditi Ashok.

Thakur’s predecessor Rijiju praised the performances of all the athletes and reiterated that India will be a force to reckon with by the 2028 Olympics.

“This is just the beginning because India’s resurgence in sport is visible now and I am confident that by 2028 Olympics India will be a force to reckon with, Rijiju mentioned.

NEW DELHI: Hailing the Indian women’s hockey team’s performance at the Olympics, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said it narrowly missed a medal but it reflects the spirit of new India, “where we give our best and scale new frontiers”.

“We narrowly missed a medal in Women’s Hockey but this team reflects the spirit of New India — where we give our best and scale new frontiers,” Modi tweeted after the match.

“More importantly, their success at #Tokyo2020 will motivate young daughters of India to take up Hockey and excel in it. Proud of this team,” he said.

Modi said people will always remember the great performance of our women’s hockey team at the Tokyo Olympics.

“They gave their best throughout.

Each and every member of the team is blessed with remarkable courage, skill and resilience.

India is proud of this outstanding team,” the prime minister said.

The team had already created history and surpassed all expectations by entering the semifinals of the Games for the first time.

But the maiden Olympic medal remained out of bounds as world no. 4 Great Britain, who were gold-winners in the 2016 Rio Games, came out on top in the pulsating encounter.

The heartbreak came a day after the Indian men’s team ended a 41-year-old medal drought by clinching a bronze with a 5-4 win over Germany.

NEW DELHI: The “stupendous” performance of India’s hockey teams is one of the things people will remember the Tokyo Olympics for, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday soon after the women’s team went down fighting against Argentina in the semifinal.

Both the men’s as well as the women’s teams remain in contention for the bronze medal.

The men’s team had also lost in the semifinals to Belgium.

After the match, Modi spoke to women’s hockey team captain Rani Rampal and coach Sjoerd Marijne, and expressed pride at their performance.

“He told them that the women’s team is a skilled group of athletes who have worked very hard and that they must look ahead. He also said that wins and losses are a part of life and that they must not be disheartened,” official sources said.

In a tweet, Modi said: “One of the things we will remember Tokyo 2020 for is the stupendous performance by our hockey teams. Today and through the Games, our women’s hockey team played with grit and showcased great skill. Proud of the team. Best of luck for the game ahead and for future endeavours.”

A brave Indian women’s hockey team put up a gritty performance, but it was not enough to secure a maiden Olympic final berth as it lost 1-2 to world number two Argentina in a hard-fought semifinal in the Tokyo Olympics.

TOKYO: A demoralising semifinal defeat behind it, the Indian men’s hockey team would need an error-free performance from its defence to secure an Olympic medal after 41 years when it takes on Rio Games bronze-winner Germany in the third-fourth place play-off match here on Thursday.

The Belgians played to their strengths as their focus was merely on earning penalty corners, especially with the likes of tournament’s highest goal-scorer Alexander Hendrickx, who scored a hat-trick, and Loick Lupaert in their ranks.

Their ploy worked to perfection as put under pressure, the Indians lost their defensive shape and conceded as many as 14 penalty corners in the match, eight in the final quarter, to lose a bright chance to secure an Olympic medal after 41 years.

India’s last of the eight Olympic golds came way back in 1980 Moscow Games.

But come Thursday, the Indian defence will have to pull up its socks and avoid repeating the same mistakes which it made against Belgium if they desire to stand on the podium here.

Despite having four world-class drag-flickers in its armoury in Rupinder Pal Sngh, vice captain Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar and Amit Rohidas, the Indians have a poor penalty corner conversion record, utilising just one out of the five they secured against world no.1 Belgium on Tuesday.

The onus now is on the Indian defence and the likes of Harmanpreet, Rupinder, Surender Kumar, Amit Rohidas and star goalkeeper PR Sreejesh will have to be on their toes to come out triumphant against the might of Germans.

The Indians also need to avoid unnecessary tackles in front of their circle with skipper Manpreet Singh being guilty of getting a card at the start of the fourth quarter, which resulted in three back-to-back penalty corners for Belgium, the last of which was converted by Hendrickx to shift the momentum of the match in their favour.

Going by rankings, there is hardly anything to differentiate between the two sides as India are currently on third place and Germany on fourth.

But Germany would be a tough nut to crack for the Indians.

Having lost 1-3 against Australia in the semifinals here, the Germans would be determined to prove a point.

The clash between India and Germany would be a repeat of the bronze medal clash of the 2017 Hockey World League Finals.

Back then, the Indians triumphed 2-1 against a vastly depleted German team.

Having failed to secure the gold medal here after two successive yellow metals in 2008 and 2012 Games, the Germans had to settle for a bronze in Rio 2016 and they would be determined to at least return with a podium finish from here.

Germany are the most successful hockey nation in the Olympics after India with four gold medals.

Striker Lukas Wendfeder is in great form, having scored scored six goals in the tournament so far.

The Indian defence is expected to have a busy outing on Thursday with the likes of Wendfeder, Florian Fuchs and Christopher Ruhr in the German side.

In the Olympics, both the sides have faced each other 11 times recording four wins each and three matches ending in draws.

Recently, India toured Germany in March this year during which they defeated the hosts 6-1 and drew a match 1-1.

India captain Manpreet Singh has already said that he is in no mood to dwell on the semifinal result.

“Now we need to focus on our next bronze-medal match and we need to work and we need to get the medal,” Manpreet had said after the semifinal loss.

“At least we should win a bronze medal for the nation,” he added.

In the men’s hockey final, Australia will face Belgium later on Thursday.

TOKYO: The 2-5 loss to Belgium in the Olympic semifinals on Tuesday is disappointing but Indian men’s hockey team captain Manreet Singh and star custodian P R Sreejesh said the side has no time to dwell on the heartbreak as it has to refocus for the bronze medal play-off on Thursday.

The eight-time winners of Olympic gold, the last of which came way back in 1980, fell short against world champions Belgium, losing 2-5 in the semifinals here on Tuesday.

“It is really hard for me right now because we came with a winning mindset, but unfortunately we didn’t win the match. Now we need to focus on our next bronze-medal match and we need to work and we need to get the medal,” Manpreet said after the loss.

“It’s a great honour for us reaching the semifinal after a long time, but now I think we need to focus because the next match is going to be really important for us. At least we should win a bronze medal for the nation,” he added.

The skipper said having toiled hard for the last five years to reach this level, India deserved a better result on Tuesday.

“It’s always been hard work and togetherness. This team has been together for the last four or five years. We have worked really hard to be reaching this level. We deserve better, and unfortunately we couldn’t get it today.”

Sreejesh agreed with his skipper and said the loss against Belgium is a thing of the past now and the team needs to focus on returning home with a medal from here.

“Disappointed, but you don’t have time to worry about that. You need to forget about that and think about the future. Now we still have a chance to win a medal and that’s more important for us than crying at this time,” he said.

“It’s more important for us to think about the future, watch the match, think about where we lost, where we committed the mistakes, rectify that, and move on,” added.

Senior India defender Rupinder Pal Singh too feels that all is not lost in the ongoing Games for them.

“Of course it’s heartbreaking for us, reaching the semifinal after 41 years and we were here to win a gold medal. That was our aim, but we lost today. The great thing is we have a chance to finish third in the next game so we will focus on that,” he said.

Rupinder believes a medal from Tokyo will be big for the sport back in the country.

“If we win that, it’s going to be for us only. Of course there are a lot of people behind this and supporting us. But we are going to win for us first and then (everyone else). That’s a great motivation, too,” the tall drag-flcker said.

Rupinder credited team’s self belief for its success in Tokyo.

“That’s the hard work behind it and the belief. That’s the most important thing behind (us) reaching here. I feel like the younger guys are working really hard for us and we are converting good chances.

“We need to work hard for the next game.”

Manpreet and Sreejesh, meanwhile, were also in awe of the women team’s feat in the ongoing Games and wished the side luck for the maiden semifinal appearance against Argentina on Wednesday.

“They played an amazing game against Australia. We wish them the best of luck for their semifinal (against) Argentina. I hope they win,” Manpreet said.

Sreejesh added: “That’s a great wake-up. The first three matches they lost, but the girls fought really well and won the last three matches, which was so crucial for them.”

“Yesterday’s match, upsetting Australia, that was a tough call and I think the girls are tough enough to win a medal in this tournament.”

Sreejesh praised Belgium’s Alexander Hendrickx, who made all the difference by scoring a hat-trick to take the Red Lions into the Olympic semifinals for the second consecutive time.

“He (Hendrickx) always scores at the right time. That gives the team more confidence. I think the second goal was a bit my mistake, but still, the way he flicks the ball it is always a bit tough for a goalkeeper,” he said.

India will face the losing team from the other semifinal, between Australia and Germany, in the bronze medal play-off match on Thursday.