Tokyo Olympics: India Beat New Zealand 3-2 Win Hockey Opener

The Indian Hockey team starts on a winning note as they beat New Zealand 3-2 at the Tokyo Olympics. Harmanpreet Singh was the star as he scored 2 goals vs New Zealand. Rupinder Singh was another scorer for India. Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh ensured that the team gets off to a winning start in the campaign.

In the preliminary round, 12 teams are divided into two pools of six. Each team plays every other team in its pool.

Pool A: Australia, Argentina, India, Spain, New Zealand, Japan
Pool B: Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, Canada, South Africa

• Top four teams in each pool proceed to the Quarter-Finals
• The remaining four teams are to be eliminated at this stage.
• Winners of the Quarter-Finals progress to the Semi-Finals, the winners of which meet in the gold medal match.
• Losers of the Semi-Finals will play for the bronze medal.

The current league phase will take place until July 30,   followed by the quarterfinals and semifinals on August 1 and 3, respectively. The bronze medal and gold medal matches are slated to be held on August 5. India will now be playing against Australia on Sunday, July 25th.

Shooters Saurabh Chaudhary and Abhishek Verma are both through to the 10m Air Pistol final.  Saurabh Chaudhary tops the qualification for men’s 10m Air Pistol event with a score of 586 to enter the final. Abhishek Verma finished 17th with a score of 575.

In Archery, Deepika Kumari and Pravin Jadhav make their way into the last 8. In weight lifting, Mirabai Chanu successfully clears 84 kg. She won India’s first medal at Tokyo Olympics with a silver in the women’s 49kg event.

In Tennis, Sumit Nagal loses second set to Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin in a tie-break.

Also Read: Tokyo Olympics: Mary Kom & Manpreet Singh Are India’s Flagbearers In Opening Ceremony