Sports Highlights

The following are the top/expected stories at 2120 hours: EXPECTED STORIES: *Report of Biel International Chess Festival in Switzerland. STORIES ON THE WIRE: SPO-OLY-LDALL IND India at Olympics: Women's hockey enters QFs for 1st time in 41 years; losses for Panghal, Sindhu Tokyo, Jul 31 (PTI) The women's hockey team's perseverance was rewarded with a first Olympic quarterfinal berth in over four decades, while discus thrower Kamalpreet Singh rose from relative obscurity to be in contention for a medal but it was a bad day in office for the stars of Indian contingent here on Saturday.

SPO-OLY-ATH-KAUR After fighting depression, nervousness of first Olympics, Kamalpreet shines in Tokyo By Philem Dipak Singh New Delhi, Jul 31 (PTI) The COVID-19 lockdown had wreaked havoc on her mental health to such an extent that discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur had started trying her hand in cricket to handle the psychological toll of the shutdown.

SPO-OLY-ATH-2NDLD IND Kamalpreet finishes second in discus qualification; Punia out, Sreeshankar disappoints Tokyo, Jul 31 (PTI) Discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur produced one of the best performances by an Indian in the Olympics, though in a qualifying round, as she made it to the finals of the Tokyo Games after finishing second here on Saturday.

SPO-OLY-BAD-3RDLD IND Tokyo Olympics: Sindhu loses to Tai Tzu in semifinals, to fight for bronze now Tokyo, Jul 31 (PTI) Reigning world champion P V Sindhu's hopes of securing India's first ever Olympic gold in badminton came 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 here on Saturday.

SPO-OLY-SHOOT-LD IND No finals for Anjum Moudgil, Tejaswini Sawant in women's rifle 3P shooting Tokyo, Jul 31 (PTI) Indian shooters Anjum Moudgil and Tejaswini Sawant failed to make the finals of the women's 50m rifle 3 positions event, settling for the 15th and 33rd position respectively, at the Olympics here on Saturday.

SPO-CRI-IND-PANT Glad that I have learnt from my mistakes and capitalised on opportunities after that: Pant Nottingham, Jul 31 (PTI) The supremely talented Rishabh Pant is glad that he has seen a lot of ''ups and downs'' and evolved as a player, having ''learnt from his mistakes'' in his short but eventful international career. SPO-OLY-BOX-3RDLD IND World No.1 Panghal's Olympic campaign ends; Pooja also out of contention Tokyo, Jul 31 (PTI) In a thoroughly disappointing day for Indian boxing, Pooja Rani (75kg) joined world number one Amit Panghal (52kg) in exiting the Olympic Games after an underwhelming performance, going down 0-5 in her quarterfinal bout against China's Li Qian here on Saturday.

SPO-OLY-GOLF-IND Lahiri lands late eagle, but will need miracle for medal in Tokyo Tokyo, Jul 31 (PTI) Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri salvaged his third round with a late birdie and an eagle to card a three-under 68 at the Olympics but it may not be enough to give him a chance to make a run for the medal.

SPO-OLY-BOX-PANGHAL Panghal's Olympic disappointment, coaches dissect what went wrong Tokyo, Jul 31 (PTI) It was a loss that not many saw coming, that's how good Amit Panghal (52kg) has been for the past four years but on Saturday, he suffered the first big setback of his career, unfortunately for him, it happened at the Olympics.

SPO-OLY-HOCK-IND-3RDLD WOM Hockey: Indian women reach Olympic quarter-finals after 41 years (Eds: With fresh updates) Tokyo, Jul 31 (PTI) Indian women's hockey team qualified for the Olympic quarterfinals after 41 years after it beat South Africa 4-3 and later defending champions Great Britain blanked Ireland 2-0 to ensure its passage into the knockout stage, here on Saturday.

SPO-OLY-ARCHERY-LD IND Das loses in pre-quarters, archers draw a blank Tokyo, Jul 31 (PTI) An Olympic medal in archery remained elusive for India.

A day after his world number one wife Deepika Kumari choked in the last-eight stage against eventual gold medallist An San of Korea, Atanu Das exited in the pre-quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics here on Saturday.

SPO-OLY-HOCK-IND-PREVIEW Past masters India eye Olympic semifinal berth after 41 years Tokyo, Jul 31 (PTI) History beckons the Indian men's hockey team at the Olympics as the eight-time champions look to book a last four berth in the quadrennial sporting extravaganza after a hiatus of 41 years when they take on Great Britain in the quarterfinal here on Sunday.

SPO-CRI-SL-UDANA-RETIREMENT Sri Lanka all-rounder Isuru Udana retires from international cricket Colombo, Jul 31 (PTI) Sri Lanka left-arm seam bowling all-rounder Isuru Udana on Saturday announced his retirement from international cricket with immediate effect, drawing curtains to a career spanning over a decade.

SPO-OLY-VIRUS 21 new COVID-19 cases reported, no athletes among them Tokyo, Jul 31 (PTI) Twenty one new COVID-19 cases related to the Olympics were reported by the organisers on Saturday, none of them athletes, amid surging infections in the host city.

SPO-OLY-IND-ARCHERY-DEBACLE-REAX Deepika needs competition, in Korea there are 200 at same level: AAI Secy By Tapan Mohanta Kolkata, Jul 31 (PTI) Archery Association of India secretary Pramod Chandurkar believes that Deepika Kumari needs tough competition at the national level akin to South Korea where there are 200 archers at the same level.

SPO-CHESS-LD OLYMPIAD Anand to lead strong Indian team in online Chess Olympiad New Delhi, Jul 31 (PTI) Five-time world Champion Viswanathan Anand will lead India in the second online chess Olympiad, scheduled from September 8-15.

SPO-ATH-MANKAUR-DEAD Centenarian sprinter Man Kaur dies of heart attack Chandigarh, Jul 31 (PTI) Centenarian sprinter Man Kaur has died of a heart attack, her son Gurdev Singh said on Saturday.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)