After winning her debut match, fencer Bhavani Devi was knocked out of the women's sabre event after losing 15-7 in the round of 32 match against France's Manon Brunet. Brunet was a a semifinalist at the Rio Olympics. Devi had registered an emphatic victory against her opponent in the Olympics debut. Devi beat Tunisia's Nadia Ben Azizi in a dominant fashion, outscoring her 15-3 to advance to the second round of the women's sabre event. The game was almost set and done when Devi led 8-0 in the first three minutes.
In archery, Indian men's team of Pravin Jadhav, Atanu Das and Tarundeep Rai beat Kazakhstan 6-2 to set up a quarterfinal clash against heavyweights Korea. The Indians were strong, especially Atanu Das who drilled in five perfect 10s during team's easy win in the 1/8 Elimination round at the Yumenoshima Park. The Kazakhstan team of Denis Gankin, Ilfat Abdullin, Sanzhar Mussayev took the third set with one point margin.
Veteran Indian table tennis player A. Sharath Kamal overcame a sluggish start to beat Portugal's Tiago Polonia in the second round to set up a clash with defending champion Ma Long in the Olympics. The 39-year-old Sharath struggled in the first game but pulled himself up just in time to win 2-11 11-8 11-5 9-11 11-6 11-9 in the 49-minute second-round contest. The Indian paddler now has a tough match ahead as he takes on the legendary Long, who is also the reigning world champion. Considered one of the greatest players of all time, Long has won every singles title in the sport.
-Inputs from agencies
