Tokyo Olympics 2021 Day 12 Live Updates: Neeraj qualifies for javelin throw finals
August 4, 2021
Tokyo Olympics 2021 India, Day 12: After the disappointments on Day 11, it is a big day on Wednesday as India’s Lovlina Borgohain, who is already assured of a medal, will take on reigning world champion Busenaz Sürmeneli in semis (69kg) for a place in the final. This is the first time that a sportsperson from Assam is all set to win a medal at the Olympic Games.
The boxer, hailing from Baramukhia village in Assam’s Golaghat district, defeated Chinese Taipei’s Nien-Chin Chen to reach the women’s welterweight semi-finals. On the other hand, India faces Argentina in the women’s hockey semi-finals later in the afternoon. In their third-ever Olympics, after 1980 Moscow and 2016 Rio, it will be their first-ever last-four appearance. Neeraj Chopra qualified for the men’s javelin throw finals by topping the Group A qualification with a massive first throw of 86.65m.
EVENT SCHEDULE // WRESTLING: Ravi Kumar vs Oscar Eduardo Tigreros (Colombia) in Men’s Freestyle 57kg; fourth bout after 8:00 AM IST start, Anshu Malik vs Iryna Kurachkina (Belarus) in Women’s Freestyle 57kg; fifth bout after 8:00 AM IST start, Deepak Punia vs Ekerekeme Agiomor (Nigeria) in Men’s Freestyle 86kg; eighth bout after 8:00 AM IST start | BOXING: Lovlina Borgohain vs Busenaz Surmeneli (Turkey) in Women’s 69kg Semi-Final, 11 AM IST | HOCKEY: India vs Argentina in Women’s Semi-Final: 3:30 PM IST.
WHEN SHE strides out of the tunnel at the Kokugikan Arena Wednesday, Lovlina Borgohain will attempt to go where no other Indian boxer has been before.
Street-smart and daring, Lovlina has assured herself of a bronze medal by making it to the semifinals in welterweight. But the 23-year-old has set her sights on gold. And she knows that against Turkey’s Busenaz Surmeneli, her aggressive world champion opponent, it will require a sumo-sized performance — in an arena that is home to Japanese sumo wrestling.
Driving through downtown Tokyo, past the bay area, crisscrossing some of the stadiums that resemble sci-fi movie sets, you reach the old city’s sumo-obsessed neighborhood of Ryogoku.
