More to cheer as
Indian men's hockey team defeated Argentina 2-1 in their third Pool B encounter
at the Olympic Hockey Centre on Tuesday to climb to joint top with Germany in
the standings with two wins to their name. Manipur's Chinglensana Kangujam
scored the opening goal for India in the eighth minute and the lead was doubled
in the third quarter by another Manipuri player -Kothajit Khadangbam. It is
India’s second win in three Pool B matches, after beating Ireland 3-2 and
getting beaten by Germany 1-2. It was tense in the end as with less than eight minutes to go, Argentina
earned a barrage of penalty corners but India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh made three
crucial saves to deny drag-flick specialist Peillet. India just about managed
to stave off Argentina to register a close win. This is the first time India
have beaten Argentina since 2009.
On a happier
note, one tends to glean more interesting
tidbits from Rio Olympics 2016.
A little boy from the favela stole the hearts of billions for his perfect
footwork and striking samba at the Olympic Opening Ceremony. But this is as
close as eight-year-old Thawan Lucas da Trindade will be getting to the Games
over the next two weeks. Because despite his starring role, Thawan's
impoverished family, who live in one of the most crime-ridden areas of the
notoriously violent city, simply cannot afford the cost of a ticket to watch
the world's greatest sports stars in action.
They say that Organisers have failed to offer them one - despite the
hundreds of empty seats at every event.
'Thawan's performance was voluntary and as a gesture, it would have been
nice to have been offered tickets,' grandmother Solimar Andrade Ramos, 56, told
MailOnline.
On the arena, a Russian swimmer who was booed after taking
silver medal in the 100m breaststroke has hit back at competitors who
criticised her for doping - even claiming that the West is fighting a new cold
war. Yulia Efimova, 24, has served a 16-month ban for doping but was cleared to
compete at Rio at the last minute. Today
she said: 'I don't really understand the foreign competitors. All athletes
should be above politics, but they just watch TV and believe everything they
read.' According to Tass news agency she added: 'I always thought the cold war
was long in the past. Why start it again, by using sport?' . The USA's Lilly King, who won gold, was
involved in a spat with Efimova before the race and after victory she said: 'It
just proved that you can compete clean and still come out on top'.
A total of 271
Russian athletes were cleared to take part in the Rio Olympics after the
International Olympic Committee (IOC) chose not to hand Russia a blanket ban
from the Olympic Games. A report found evidence of a state-sponsored doping
programme.
When do you
celebrate not as this Dutch gymnast who has been expelled from the Olympics
after an all-night drinking session to celebrate reaching the finals. Yuri van
Gelder, who has a history of rule-breaking, 'gravely' violated his team's
restrictions on alcohol consumption. He went out celebrating in Rio on Saturday
evening after qualifying for the final of the rings event, the Dutch team
said. The news of his exit from the team sparked a
series of memes online. 'It's terrible
for Yuri, but this kind of behavior is unacceptable,' Dutch team ambassador
Maurits Hendriks said in a statement. The athlete’s, a three-time world championship
medallist, spot in the rings final will go to France’s Danny Pinheiro
Rodrigues. He is the second replacement
athlete to reach the final, after France’s Samir Ait Said broke his leg in
qualifications and was replaced by Ukraine’s Igor Radivilov.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
9th Aug 2016 : 22.10 hrs.
