Manoj fails in quarters bid

Rio de Janeiro, August 14 

Manoj Kumar (64kg) put up a spirited show but could not match the power of fifth seed Fazliddin Gaibnazarov in his pre-quarterfinal bout to bow out of the Games. The 29-year-old Indian went down 3-0 in the contest which was not particularly engaging in its quality of boxing but showcased Manoj’s fighting spirit. The 25-year-old Gaibnazarov, the World and Asian Championships silver-medallist from Uzbekistan, was consistently better than Manoj but the Indian impressed with his never-say-die spirit.

In the opening round, Manoj kept his rival at a distance, denying him a clear shot. The dodge-first-attack-later strategy managed to unsettle the Uzbek for sometime but it was never going to be enough and Gaibnazarov clinched the initiative with a couple of left jabs in the closing seconds. In the second round, Gaibnazarov continued to rely on his strong left, prompting a standing eight count against the Indian. Manoj was guilty of not using his height to the fullest and was clearly shaken by a vicious blow by Gaibnazarov’s powerful left hand.

Narang, Chain fail to progress 

Gagan Narang and Chain Singh failed to progress to the finals of the men’s rifle 50m 3-position to crash out of the competition. Narang ended up behind Chain Singh, who was 23rd, in the 33rd spot out of 44 shooters with a three-phase tally of 1162 while Chain accumulated 1169.

OP Jaisha finishes 89th 

Martahoner OP Jaisha finished in the 89th position, while Kavita Raut finished 120th.  Jaisha clocked a timing of 2:47:19 hours, while Kavita clocked 2:59:29s. — Agencies