Tokyo Olympics 2021 Day 11 Live Updates: India 2-2 Belgium in semifinal
August 3, 2021
Reference: https://indianexpress.com/article/olympics/tokyo-olympics-2021-day-11-live-updates-7435363/
Tokyo Olympics 2021 Day 11 Live Updates: Manpreet Singh-led India are taking on reigning world champion Belgium in the semi-final match of men’s hockey. This is India’s first semi-final after 49 years. India beat Great Britain by 3-1 in a high-voltage clash on Sunday. All three goals in the quarter-final were field goals and PR Sreejesh was at his best in the third quarter when Great Britain were on attack.
In women’s javelin throw event, India’s Annu Rani’s campaign ended as she finished 14th out of 15 in Group A qualification with best attempt of 54.04m. Her personal best has been 63.24 metres but could not improve any further. The 28-year-old from Meerut is the first javelin thrower among women to enter Olympics and has been creating national records for the past seven years: Starting with 58.83m in 2014 and the recent one of 63.24m during Federation Cup in March this year. In wrestling, India begin their campaign at the Makuhari Messe Hall in Chiba with Sonam Malik’s bout against Mongolia’s Bolortuya Khurelkhuu in the round of 16 of the women’s 62kg freestyle category. It will be followed by semi-final bout later in the day if Malik qualifiers.
Remaining matches on Day 11 for India: WRESTLING: Sonam Malik vs Bolortuya Khurelkhuu (Mongolia) in women’s 62kg. Seventh bout after 8:30 AM start. SHOTPUT: Tajinderpal Singh Toor in men’s shot put Qualification Group A: 3:45 PM
While pulling off their biggest heist at the Olympics, India made short work of Australia, quite literally.
Playing their biggest, most tense match ever, India resorted to a game of ‘mini hockey’, a tactical switch executed with breath-taking efficiency.
Sjoerd Marijne’s team started their quarterfinal by pressing high and unafraid to play long passes from the centre of the pitch to the attacking third, bypassing the midfield completely. But after drag-flicker Gurjit Kaur scored her first goal of the campaign to put India ahead in the 22nd minute, Australia got more aggressive, pushing India deep into their half in search of an equaliser.
That forced Marijne to deploy a different strategy at the start of the third quarter. Continuing with long passes to get some breathing space could have only led to easy interceptions, simple turnover of possession and more pressure on the defence.
