London Olympics 2012: Unheralded Vijay Kumar bags silver in 25m Rapid Fire Pistol

Army sharp shooter Vijay Kumar today fought a nerve-wracking battle with five other top marksmen to clinch the silver medal in the men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event at the Olympic Games here today.

Kumar beat back the challenge of world champion Alexei Klimov of Russia, Chinese duo of Ding Feng and Zhang Jian and German Christian Reitz in the 40-shot final to finish runner-up in a thrilling finale behind Cuba's Leuris Pupo who shot his way to the gold with a world record equalling score of 34.

The 26-year-old army subedar from Himachal Pradesh found the target 30 times out of 40 attempts in the series comprising eight rounds of five shots each.

This is India's second medal in the ongoing quadrennial extravaganza after fellow marksman Gagan Narang's bronze in the 10m Air Rifle event on July 30. This was also the country's fourth medal in shooting in Olympic history.

The other medal winners are Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (silver in 2004 Athens) , Abhinav Bindra (gold in 2008 Beijing) besides Narang.

Kumar started with a bang, hitting the target all five times and kept himself in the hunt for a medal by consistently finding the target.

After a perfect five out of five at the start, Kumar, a double gold medallist in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, found the target four times in the second and third series, but missed it twice in the fourth.

He came back strongly by finding the target four times in the next three rounds and assured himself of a silver. In the last round after Pupo shot four to clinch the gold, Kumar seemed to relax a bit and missed three targets.

London Olympics 2012 badminton: Saina vs Wang - as it happened

London: World number one Wang Yihan of China outplayed India's Saina Nehwal 21-13, 21-13 in the semifinals of women's badminton singles match at the London Olympics 2012 on Friday.ndia's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal was beaten in straight games by world number one Yihan Wang in the women's singles semifinals at the London Olympics here today but remained in the medal hunt as she will be competing in the bronze medal play-off tomorrow.

Up against the top seeded Chinese, Saina committed too many unforced errors to see her dreams of winning a gold medal crashing after slumping to a 13-21 13-21 defeat in the semifinal tie which lasted for 42 minutes at the Wembley Arena here.

The fourth seeded Indian will next take on the loser of the other semifinal match between Xin Wang and Li Xuerui in the bronze medal play off tomorrow.

There was very little margin for error for Saina as Yihan was sharper, more accurate and also used her powerful smashes to outwit the Indian here.

London Olympics: Saina Nehwal marches into quarters

LONDON: On a day when the badminton world was shrouded with controversy, it was business as usual for India's Saina Nehwal as she cruised into the quarterfinals of the women's badminton singles at the London Olympics on Wednesday.

Eight women badminton players were disqualified from the doubles event for throwing matches to get a favourable opponent.

Saina, who will be making her second quarterfinal appearance in the Olympics, though didn't let any of this distract her as she disposed off Yao Jie of the Netherlands 21-14, 21-16.

Olympics: Parupalli Kashyap creates history by reaching quarter finals

Indian shuttler Parupalli Kashyap today beat giant-killer Niluka Karunaratne of Sri Lanka 21-15 14-21 21-9 in the last 16 stage to reach the men's singles quarterfinal of the London Olympics.

Kashyap, ranked 21st in the world, had stunned world number 11 Tien Minh Nguyen of Vietnam in pre-quarterfinals on Monday 21-9 21-14 in the second and final Group D match of the men's singles event to reach the knockout stage. He had beaten Belgium's Tan Yuhan in an earlier game.

Karunaratne, too, had produced a gritty performance to surprise eighth seed Kenichi Tago of Japan 21-18 21-16 to top group C.

Kashyap is the only Indian male shuttler to reach the quarterfinals stage at the Olympics, surpassing his mentor and coach Pullela Gopichand.

The Sri Lankan flagbearer at the opening ceremony, Karunaratne is ranked 48th in the world and has been an unheralded player even though he had won four tournaments at international challenge level.

India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal, who has also advanced to the pre-quarterfinals after her comfortable victory over Belgium's Lianne Tan on Monday, is likely to clash with 14th seeded Jie Yao of The Netherlands in the last 16.

Prince William and Catherine watch the Eventing

Prince William and Catherine watch the Eventing

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge watch the Jumping phase of the Eventing competition on Day 4 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Greenwich Park.

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Olympics Hockey: India Lose 2-3 to Netherlands

Back in the Olympics after a hiatus of eight years, past masters of the game India produced a valiant fightback in the second-half before losing 2-3 to world number three The Netherlands in their opening Group B match of the men's hockey competition here today.

Playing tentatively and lacking any cohesion in their attacks, world ranked 10th India conceded two goals in the first session, but capitalised on two slim chances in the second half to draw 2-2 parity.

But India's joy was shortlived as The Netherlands restored their lead minutes later by converting a penalty corner.

The Indian players' nerves were on display in their opening match, where all but two of their players were making the maiden appearance in Olympic Games.

Olympics Hockey: India Lose 2-3 to Netherlands

Back in the Olympics after a hiatus of eight years, past masters of the game India produced a valiant fightback in the second-half before losing 2-3 to world number three The Netherlands in their opening Group B match of the men's hockey competition here today.

Playing tentatively and lacking any cohesion in their attacks, world ranked 10th India conceded two goals in the first session, but capitalised on two slim chances in the second half to draw 2-2 parity.

But India's joy was shortlived as The Netherlands restored their lead minutes later by converting a penalty corner.

The Indian players' nerves were on display in their opening match, where all but two of their players were making the maiden appearance in Olympic Games.

Gagan Narang wins bronze in 10m air rifle to open India's account

With Alin George and Campriani able to maintain their grip on the top two positions, the competition for the bronze medal had boiled down to a tense contest between the Indian and his Chinese rival over the last few shots in which Narang prevailed.There was stage when Campriani's poor efforts of 9.9 and 9.4 in the eighth and the penultimate series gave Narang a whiff of chance of winning the silver, but the Italian fired a 10.4 in his last shot to dash the Indian's hope of finishing second.Earlier, Narang had kept alive India's hopes by advancing to the medal round after Bindra crashed out.Bindra, who scripted history four years ago by becoming the country's first-ever individual gold medallist in the Olympics, shot 594 out of 600 to finish a shocking 16th out of 47 competitors and lost the golden chance of becoming the world's first shooter to win two successive gold medals at the mega event.However, Narang kept India in the hunt by finishing third with 598, a point behind Campriani and Alin George who both shot an Olympic record-equalling 599 to stand first and second in the qualifying round.

Gagan Narang opened India’s account

London: Gagan Narang opened India’s account at the London Olympics as he bagged a bronze medal in the 10m Air Rifle event on Monday.

Alin George Moldoveanu of Romania won the gold medal while Niccolo Campriani of Italy won the silver medal.

Narang, a two-time world record setter, had won four gold medals in the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games and followed that up with two silver in the Guangzhou Asian Games a month later.

Earlier in the day, as a major setback for India, Beijing Games gold medallist Abhinav Bindra on Monday crashed out of the 10m air rifle event at the London Olympics with a dismal display in the qualifying rounds.

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Wenjun Guo wins gold

Wenjun Guo wins gold

Wenjun Guo of China poses with her gold medal after winning the Women's 10m Air Pistol Shooting.

Olympics: Saina begins medal bid on strong note

India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal made a rousing start to her bid for an Olympic medal as she spanked Swiss Sabrina Jaquet in straight games in a lop-sided women's singles group stage opening match in London on Sunday.

The world number five Indian was too good for the 65th ranked

India's Olympic team abuzz about mystery woman

A cast member walking with the Indian team during the Opening Ceremony at the 2012 Summer Olympics stood out because she wasn't supposed to be there. The party crasher was not wearing the yellow and white dress that every other Indian woman was wearing in the group, yet still managed to situate herself next to flag bearer Sushil Kumar at the front of the line as they walked around the stadium. (July 27, 2012)

India’s top boxer Vijender Singh kept his reputation

London: India’s top boxer Vijender Singh kept his reputation as a strong medal contender intact by sailing into the middleweight (75kg) pre-quarter finals in the Olympics with a comfortable win over Kazakhstan’s Danabek Sukhanov here.

The 26-year-old, a bronze-medallist in the Beijing Games four years ago, was a trifle cautious in the first round, preferring to gauge his opponent’s strategy but opened up subsequently to carve out a comfortable 14-10 verdict late last night.

Sarah wins historic women's judo gold

LONDON - Sarah Menezes made history by becoming the first Brazilian woman to win an Olympic judo gold medal when she triumphed in the under-48kg category here on Saturday. The second-seeded Menezes dethroned reigning champion Alina Dumitru of Romania in the final. Until four years ago in Beijing, Brazil had never even won a single women's judo medal with Ketleyn Quadros breaking new ground by winning a bronze in the under-57kg division. Hungary's Eva Csernoviczki came back from being strangled out cold in the quarter-finals to beat Fukumi for bronze

Olympics: Vijender, Kashyap and Ghosh lift gloom on Day 1

However, the opening day of the XXX Olympic Games began on a disappointing note for India as the mixed doubles badminton pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju lost their first group match. Gutta and Diju lost their Group C match in straight games 21-16, 21-12 to the Indonesian team of Ahmad Tontowi and Liliyan Natsir. Each team will play three games before the knockouts.

But the more disappointing news came from the archery venue at Lord's where the Indian team lost to Japan in a tense shoot-off after both teams were locked 214 after the regulation 24 arrows. The men's archery team of Tarundeep Rai, Rahul Banerjee and Jayanta Talukdar was knocked out in the pre-quarter-finals (1/8 Elimination Round).

The three men archers will now be seen in action in the individual elimination rounds that will commence on Monday.

Meanwhile, Indian challenge in women's table tennis ended in the first round itself as Ankita Das crashed out losing 1-4 to Spain's Sara Ramirez at the ExCel centre.

The 24-year-old Spaniard, though, did not allow Ankita any chance to launch an offensive as she won the first three games 11-9 11-8 11-7 in just 19 minutes. Ankita kept the Indian hopes alive winning the fourth game 11-8, but her abject surrender in the fifth and decisive game (11-2) proved fatal for her chances.

And India's day continued to go from bad to worse as Swarn Singh finished fourth in the men's singles sculls heat with a timing of 6:54.04. Swarn Singh will now have to fight it out in repechage.

Shooter Vijay Kumar's challenge in the 10m Air Pistol event failed to take off as he finished a disappointing 31st in the qualification round to bow out. In his six rounds, Vijay shot scores of 94, 95, 94, 97, 97 and 93 for a total score of 570. India's major shooting hopes, though, remain Abinav Bindra, Gagan Narang and Ronjan Sodhi.

News from the boxing ring wasn't encouraging as well, sending further gloom into the Indian camp. Young sensation Shiva Thapa was sent crashing out by Mexico's Oscar Valdez 14-9 in the Bantamweight Round of 32. India have sent their biggest ever boxing contingent to the Olympics with a total of seven boxers, including Beijing bronze medallist Vijender Singh.

pair of Russian newcomers upset Beijing bronze medalists Zhang Xi and Xue Chen of China in a close Olympic women's beach volleyball opener

A pair of Russian newcomers upset Beijing bronze medalists Zhang Xi and Xue Chen of China in a close Olympic women's beach volleyball opener on Saturday that set pulses racing.

The surprise result spiced up the first day of competition, in which the top attraction will be a clash between double gold medalists Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh of the United States and Australians Natalie Cook and Tamsin Hinchley.

Low-ranked Anastasia Vasina and Anna Vozakova beat the Chinese pair, who are among the favorites to win gold in London, in three sets.

"We won't look back on this match. I wear a lucky jade necklace but it wasn't lucky for me today," said Zhang.

London Olympics: May-Treanor, Walsh win beach volleyball match

LONDON -- The referees were bundled up for a brisk winter night.

Aussies Nat Cook and Tamsin Hinchley went with the long sleeves and tights for their women's beach volleyball match. It is winter Down Under.

But these are the Summer Olympics in London. And the beach volleyball venue, the Horse Guards Parade Grounds, happened to be hot and muggy just three days ago.

Californians and two-time defending gold medalists Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings -- going with the long sleeves -- shrugged off the chilly conditions and a start time of 11 p.m. in London to stop a spirited challenge, winning the first-round match, 21-18, 21-19.

The U.S. men's gymnastics team finished first Saturday in the qualifying london 2012

LONDON -- Sometimes starting over is a disadvantage.

The U.S. men's gymnastics team finished first Saturday in the qualifying competition that selected eight team finalists.

And Americans Danell Leyva and John Orozco qualified first and fourth in the all-around scoring, both ahead of three-time defending world all-around champion Kohei Uchimura of Japan. He fell twice Saturday.

But all those scores are erased and everything begins when the medal rounds start Monday.

"We're going to do everything we can to make it finish like that," said Jonathan Horton, who is the only American left from the men's team that won bronze in Beijing in 2008. "I'm kind of joking but I just said, 'Can we just get the medals now?' But, one more day to go and that's something to be pumped about."

Yi Siling wins first gold medal of Games

Yi Siling wins first gold medal of Games
Chinese shooter Yi Siling won the first gold medal of the London 2012 Olympic Games with victory in the women's 10m Air Rifle