India at Paris Olympics Day 12 Highlights (7 August 2024): Whenever India’s history will be scrutinized in the Olympics, the date of August 7, 2024 will remain like a pain. This has been the most disappointing day in India’s Olympic history.
In a shocking development, Vinesh Phogat was on Wednesday disqualified from the Olympics after being found overweight ahead of the final of the women’s 50 kg wrestling event at the Paris Olympics. While India’s biggest hope in this game, Panghal, was also out. Mirabai Chanu in weightlifting and Avinash Sable in steeplechase also disappointed. India’s campaign in table tennis ended after the Indian women’s team lost 1-3 to Germany.
India is at 67th position in the medal table. America is at the first position with 27 gold medals, while China has 25 gold medals in its account so far and is at the second position.
Vinesh disqualified in wrestling, out after final shameful defeat
Vinesh had created history by becoming the first Indian female wrestler to reach the Olympic final. Till the morning it seemed certain that he would win at least a silver medal, but his weight was found to be 100 grams more. Vinesh, 29, was taken to the poly clinic in Khelgaon as she was dehydrated in the morning.
An Indian coach said, ‘In the morning his weight was found to be 100 grams more. The rules do not allow this and he has been disqualified. The Indian Olympic Association requested to respect Vinesh’s privacy and said, ‘We regret to inform that Vinesh Phogat has been disqualified from the 50 kg category of women’s wrestling. Despite the team’s tireless efforts throughout the night, his weight was found to be more than 50 kg in the morning.
It said, ‘The Indian party will not make any further statement at this time. The Indian team requests you to respect Vinesh’s privacy. The Indian team would like to focus on the upcoming competitions at this time.
According to the rules of United World Wrestling (UWW), a wrestler has the right to weigh in multiple times during the weigh-in period. According to the rules, ‘If a player does not appear at the time of first and second weighing or is ineligible, he will be thrown out of the competition and will remain at the last position and will not get any rank.’
In the final, Panghal was eliminated in the women’s 53 kg category after a humiliating 0-10 defeat to Turkey’s Yetgil Zeynep. The 19-year-old debutant’s hopes of remaining in the race for the bronze medal through the repechage were also dashed when Zeynep lost to Germany’s Annika Wendl in the quarter-finals.
Earlier, the bronze medalist of the World Cup Championship and the one who had achieved Olympic quota in this category, lost in the last 101 seconds. Earlier Vinesh used to play in this weight category. The Turkish wrestler was declared victorious on the basis of technical superiority. She has become the third wrestler from the country to return empty handed. The campaign of Nisha Dahiya (68 kg) ended on Monday.
Table tennis campaign ends
Despite Archana Kamath putting up a challenge for some time in the quarter-finals of the women’s table tennis team event, the Indian team had to face a 1-3 defeat to technically superior Germany. The defeat of the Indian women’s team resulted in the country’s failure in the Paris Olympics. The campaign in table tennis competition also ended.
The Indian pair of Shreeja Akula and Archana had to face defeat by the pair of Yuan Wan and Ziona Shan 5-11 11-8 10-12 6-11 in the opening doubles match. In the first singles, India’s star player Manika Batra lost the match against Annette Kaufman 11-8 5-11 7-11 5-11.
Archana won over Ziona Shan in the second singles 19-17 1-11 11-5 11-9. In the third singles, Kaufmann defeated Sreeja 11-6 11-7 11-7 to give victory to Germany and enter the semi-finals.
Annu Rani in javelin throw, disappointment from Yaraji in 100 meter hurdles
India’s experienced javelin thrower Annu Rani once again could not impress at the world level and was eliminated from the qualification round after a poor performance. The 31-year-old national record holder Annu started with 55.81m and threw the javelin 53.22m and 53.55m in her next two attempts. She finished 15th among 16 competitors in Group A and 26th overall. National record-holding Indian 100m hurdler Jyoti Yaraji finished seventh after a poor performance in her first heat, missing out on a place in the automatic semi-finals.
Yaraji, who is playing the Olympics for the first time, is also the first Indian to participate in the 100 meter hurdles in the Games. She clocked 13.16 seconds in the fourth heat and stood 35th among 40 runners.
Sarvesh Kushare also could not reach the finals in high jump. He finished 13th in Group B and 25th overall. He could jump only 2.15 meters whereas his best effort of the season is 2.25 meters.
Earlier, Suraj Panwar and Priyanka Goswami in the marathon racewalk mixed relay team could not complete the race. Goswami withdrew after the fourth and last stage of the 41.4 kilometer race.
Avinash Sable also disappointed
Avinash Sable finished 11th in 3000 meter steeple chase with a time of 8:14.18. The good news is that with 8:14.18, Avinash has qualified for next year’s World Championships, for which the entry standard was 8.15.00.
Mirabai missed the medal, finished fourth
Mirabai Chanu lifted 88 kg in snatch and 111 kg in clean and jerk, totaling 199 kg. Due to this she missed the medal by just one kilogram. China’s current Olympic champion Hou Zihui, a strong contender for the gold medal, secured first place with an Olympic record in clean and jerk. He lifted a total weight of 206 kg (snatch 89, clean and jerk 117). Valentina Cambei of Romania was successful in winning silver medal with weight of 206 (93 and 112) kg and Surodchana Khambo of Thailand was successful in winning bronze medal with weight of 200 (88 and 112) kg.