India's first super heavyweight (+91kg) boxer at the Games, Satish Kumar, lost to reigning world champion Bakhodir Jalolov 0-5 in the quarterfinals. He was India's final boxer in the fray after Amit Panghal's stunning defeat in his opening bout on Saturday. Kumar did well in the early round, easing into the match, but Jalolov took complete control and didn't allow the Indian to breathe in the later rounds. Kumar had eased into the quarterfinals of his debut Games, defeating Jamaica's Ricardo Brown in his opening bout. In the battle of the debutants, the 32-year-old Satish prevailed 4-1, a comfortable win for him despite the split verdict. However, he did end up sustaining two cuts—one on his forehead and the other on his chin—during the bout.
Next in the games, P.V. Sindhu will next take on world no 9 He Bing Jiao, an opponent who has beaten the Indian nine times so far in 15 meetings, in the bronze medal play-off of badminton. Sindhu had won the last time they crossed swords at the 2019 BWF World Tour Finals. The Chinese hasn't played any international tournament since participating at the 2020 All England Championship.
Sindhu's hopes of securing India's first ever Olympic gold in badminton had come crashing down as she slumped to a straight-game defeat against world no.1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the women's singles semifinals on Saturday. One of the most consistent players, who has claimed medals in all big-ticket events in the last five years, Sindhu couldn't counter Tai Tzu's deception with her aggressive game, going down 18-21 12-21 in 40-minute clash.
-Inputs from PTI
