Tokyo Olympics Day 9 Preview: Atanu, Amit and Pooja in action

The Indian women's hockey team will also take to the pitch.

Tokyo Olympics Day 9 will once again witness several high-profile Indian athletes in action. On Saturday, many Indian medal hopefuls will be seen at Tokyo 2020. The Indian shooting contingent has been the biggest disappointment so far, however, a couple of them will try to put up good showings in the Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions event.

Apart from the shooters, medal hopefuls Atanu Das, Kamalpreet Kaur, Amit Panghal and Pooja Rani will also be seen in action. On the other hand, the Indian women's hockey team will play their final group stage match against South Africa.

Golf: Men’s Individual Stroke Play Round 3

The Indian golfers will continue their Tokyo Olympics adventure on Day 9. The experienced pair of Anirban Lahiri and Udayan Mane will be representing India in the men’s individual stroke play category.

Lahiri is one of India’s finest golfers. He had broken into the top 100 in the World Golf Ranking for the first time in 2014. This was after he had a consistent season, which included two victories on the Asian Tour. As for Mane, he has won 11 times on the Professional Golf Tour of India.

Lahiri has begun well so far and occupies one of the top spots in the rankings. This will be the last round and will determine who goes through to the final round. Round 3 of the event is scheduled to begin at 4:00 AM IST.

Equestrian: Individual Eventing Dressage Session 3

Fouaad Mirza has revived equestrian sports in India. He became the first Indian in 21 years to qualify for the Olympic Games. Mirza had sealed his ticket to Tokyo after a fantastic performance in Baborowko, Poland. The 29-year-old achieved the necessary Minimum Eligibility Requirement (MER) on both his horses Seigneur Medicott and Dajara.

The Indian jockey will look to create an impact and will take part in the third session of the individual eventing dressage category. It is scheduled to begin at 5:00 AM IST.

Athletics: Women’s Discus Throw Qualifications

Two Indian women will represent the country in this event. Kamalpreet Kaur and Seema Punia are all set to take part at the Tokyo Olympics. 25-year-old Kaur will appear at her maiden Olympic Games. On the other hand, Punia is a veteran in the Indian athletics scenario. She has won multiple medals at the Commonwealth and Asian Games.

Big things are expected from Kaur in Tokyo. She is one of India's biggest bets to claim an elusive Olympic medal in athletics. The girl from Patiala also holds the current national record. Hence, India will field two strong representatives in this event. Seema will play in the Group A qualifications while Kamalpreet will take part in the Group B qualifications.

The Group A qualifications will begin at 6:00 AM IST. The Group B qualifications will follow after that at 7:25 AM IST.

ALSO READ: Who are India’s realistic hopes for a Tokyo Olympics medal after Day 8?

Archery: Men’s Individual 1/8 Eliminations – Atanu Das Vs Takaharu Furukawa (Medal Event)

Atanu Das will be carrying high hopes going into the decisive day of the men's individual archery event. Earlier this year, he had claimed an individual gold medal at the Archery World Cup in Guatemala City.

Das has already shown glimpses of that form. The 29-year-old triumphed 6-4 over Chinese Taipei's Deng Yu-Cheng in the first match. That was followed by a stunning victory against third-seed two-time Olympic gold medalist Oh Jin-hyek of South Korea. The match went right down to the wire and a shoot off was needed to determine the winner. The South Korean hit 9 with his effort, but Das showed nerves of steel to hit the bullseye.

Das will have another challenge on his hands against London 2012 silver medalist Takaharu Furukawa of Japan in the 1/8 elimination round. The match will begin at 7:18 AM IST.

Boxing: Men’s Flyweight – Amit Panghal Vs Yuberjen Rivas Martinez

The eagerly awaited Olympic debut of Amit Panghal will take place on Saturday. The 25-year-old boxer is one of India’s biggest medal prospects. Panghal had clinched the silver medal at the 2021 Asian Boxing Championships held in Dubai.

As such, there are high expectations from Panghal in Tokyo. He will begin his Olympic campaign with a Round of 16 bout against Colombia’s Yuberjen Rivas Martinez. The bout will begin at 7:30 AM IST.

Shooting: Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions Qualification (Medal Event)

Two more Indian shooters will have the opportunity to rescue the Indian shooting contingent's faltering campaign on Saturday. Anjum Moudgil and Tejaswini Sawant are the highest ranked Indians in this category and will represent the nation in Tokyo.

Moudgil had won the silver medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Sawant, on the other hand, is one of the most experienced Indian shooters at the Tokyo Olympics. The 40-year-old had shot to fame after claiming the gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. 12 years later, she returned to the top of the podium at the CWG.

Can they deliver performances that can at least restore some pride in shooting? That is a million dollar question at the moment. The qualification rounds will begin at 8:30 AM IST.

Sailing: Men’s Skiff 49er

Ganapathy Kelapanda (helm) and Varun Thakkar (crew) will be representing India at the men’s skiff 49er races. The duo has already achieved a creditable 7th place finish in Race 6 of the event. The final three races will determine who goes through to the medal race.

The event will resume at 8:35 AM IST in the waters of Enoshima.

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Women’s Hockey: India Vs South Africa

The Indian women's hockey team will take part in their final group stage game of Tokyo 2020. For the first time at the Tokyo Olympics, the Indian women will face a lower-ranked opposition. They will be expected to win this encounter at the Oi Hockey Stadium.

The Rani Rampal-led side will take to the pitch at 8:45 AM IST.

Boxing: Women’s Middleweight – Pooja Rani Vs Li Qian

Defending Asian champion Pooja Rani looks in good touch at the moment. Rani had won the gold medal at the 2021 Asian Championships held in Dubai. She has replicated that form at the Tokyo Olympics.

The 30-year-old was largely dominant, as she comfortably defeated Algerian Ichrak Chaib 5-0 in the Round of 16. Rani is now just a win away from confirming a medal for India at the Tokyo Olympics. Her quarterfinal opponent will be China’s Li Qian, on Day 9 at the Tokyo Olympics.

The bout will begin at 3:36 PM IST.

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Athletics: Men’s Long Jump Qualifications

National record holder M. Sreeshankar will be India's sole representative in this event on Day 9 at the Tokyo Olympics. He had secured a berth at the Games after breaking his own national record to set a new mark of 8.26m, at the Federation Cup in Patiala in March 2021.

The 22-year-old is one of India's brightest young athletes. Catch him in action at 3:40 PM IST.

Badminton: Women’s Singles Semi-final - (TBC)

Ace Indian badminton star P.V. Sindhu is edging ever closer to yet another Olympic medal. World No. 7 Sindhu will take on Tai Tzu-Ying of Chinese Taipei in the semi-final.

There are no easy matches at this stage of a competition, especially at the Olympics. Tai Tzu-Ying is World No. 1. Therefore, it will be a challenging contest for a place in the summit clash.

Timing - TBD

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