ID :
16815
Sun, 08/24/2008 - 01:05
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/16815
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India draw a blank after the double strike by Amlan Chakraborty
Olympics by winning two medals, India had little to cheer about Thursday with wrestler Rajiv Tomar crashing out of the 120 kg freestyle event without much of a fight.
The euphoria of the medal-winning efforts of unheralded grappler Sushil Kumar and boxer Vijender Kumar quickly gave way to disappointment as Tomar, the lone Indian in the fray today, failed to make much of an impression in the wrestling arena.
After Abhinav Bindra's gold-winning feat during the first week of the sporting extravaganza, India had created a record of sorts Wednesday with the 25-year-old Sushil Kumar clinching a bronze medal in wrestling while Vijender put himself on course for a silver or gold medal by romping intothe semi-finals of the boxing event.
This is the first time ever that India have secured three medals in the Olympics. India had won two Olympic medals in the 1952 Helsinki Games when the hockey team had won the gold medal and wrestler K D Jadhav had won a bronze medal, a recordwhich had stood for 56 long years.
Tomar fought a slipshod qualifying round bout against Steve Mocco and the American hardly broke a sweat as heblanked the Indian grappler 4-0 to show him the exit door.
And if there was any hope of a Sushil-like turnaround, itwent up in smoke with Mocco failing to reach the final.
The American lost his semifinal bout against Russian Bakhtiyar Akhmedov 1-3. Had Mocco reached the final, Rajiv would have played in the repechage and could have been in thehunt for a bronze medal.
Tomar, however, was not equally lucky or plucky, for that matter and could not script a similar fairytale. Once he went down tamely to Mocco, his medal chances hinged more onprovidence than performance.
The American gauged Tomar in the first period, which he led 1-0, before scoring three crucial technical points in thelop-sided second segment which was decisive.
Rajiv looked clueless against Mocco and coach PR Sondhi was apparently unhappy with the grappler failing to executehis strategy.
"To be honest, this was a below-par show by Rajiv. Of course Mocco was superior of the two but I still feel Rajiv could have done better. We did not expect him to win but Rajivdid not try enough," Sondhi said.
"Mocco's defence was quite shaky but Rajiv did not attack him. I told him to go on the offence but he did not heed to myadvice," rued a dejected Sondhi.
"Tactically speaking, Rajiv did not have a chance against him. He was always cornered and then Mocco came up with a well-executed plan in the second period and we knew it was allover.
The focus will now shift to pugilist Vijender who will take on formidable Cuban and two-time Pan American champion Emilio Correa Bayeaux in the semi-finals of the 75 kg categorytomorrow.
The euphoria of the medal-winning efforts of unheralded grappler Sushil Kumar and boxer Vijender Kumar quickly gave way to disappointment as Tomar, the lone Indian in the fray today, failed to make much of an impression in the wrestling arena.
After Abhinav Bindra's gold-winning feat during the first week of the sporting extravaganza, India had created a record of sorts Wednesday with the 25-year-old Sushil Kumar clinching a bronze medal in wrestling while Vijender put himself on course for a silver or gold medal by romping intothe semi-finals of the boxing event.
This is the first time ever that India have secured three medals in the Olympics. India had won two Olympic medals in the 1952 Helsinki Games when the hockey team had won the gold medal and wrestler K D Jadhav had won a bronze medal, a recordwhich had stood for 56 long years.
Tomar fought a slipshod qualifying round bout against Steve Mocco and the American hardly broke a sweat as heblanked the Indian grappler 4-0 to show him the exit door.
And if there was any hope of a Sushil-like turnaround, itwent up in smoke with Mocco failing to reach the final.
The American lost his semifinal bout against Russian Bakhtiyar Akhmedov 1-3. Had Mocco reached the final, Rajiv would have played in the repechage and could have been in thehunt for a bronze medal.
Tomar, however, was not equally lucky or plucky, for that matter and could not script a similar fairytale. Once he went down tamely to Mocco, his medal chances hinged more onprovidence than performance.
The American gauged Tomar in the first period, which he led 1-0, before scoring three crucial technical points in thelop-sided second segment which was decisive.
Rajiv looked clueless against Mocco and coach PR Sondhi was apparently unhappy with the grappler failing to executehis strategy.
"To be honest, this was a below-par show by Rajiv. Of course Mocco was superior of the two but I still feel Rajiv could have done better. We did not expect him to win but Rajivdid not try enough," Sondhi said.
"Mocco's defence was quite shaky but Rajiv did not attack him. I told him to go on the offence but he did not heed to myadvice," rued a dejected Sondhi.
"Tactically speaking, Rajiv did not have a chance against him. He was always cornered and then Mocco came up with a well-executed plan in the second period and we knew it was allover.
The focus will now shift to pugilist Vijender who will take on formidable Cuban and two-time Pan American champion Emilio Correa Bayeaux in the semi-finals of the 75 kg categorytomorrow.
