Rio de Janeiro, August 9: Indian archer Atanu Das raised hopes of a medal, entering the men’s individual 1/8 eliminators while the men’s hockey team also edged closer to quarter-final qualification with its second win in three pool matches at the Rio Olympics here on Tuesday.
Das won a very close fought contest 139-135 over Cuba’s Adrian Andres Puentes Perez at the Rio Olympics while a gritty India similarly won by a narrow 2-1 margin against Argentina in Pool B.
Chinglensana (8th minute) and Kothajit Khadangbam (35th) were the scorers for India. Gonzalo Peillat (49th) reduced the margin for Argentina at the Olympic Hockey Stadium.It is India’s second win in three Pool B matches, after beating Ireland 3-2 and getting beaten by Germany 1-2.
Both teams started off on a cautious note but it was India’s S.V. Sunil and Ramandeep, who first made a clinical penetrations inside the Argentine defence to take first penalty corner of the match in the opening minutes.
India went into half time leading 1-0. Argentine players came out stronger after half time but it was India who scored in the initial minutes as Kothajit Khadangbam scored a field goal in the 35th minute of the third quarter to make it 2-0. Argentina proved superior the last quarter and reduced the margin with 10 minutes still to play but India hung on to seal the victory.
In archery, the best of five sets encounter between Das and Perez lived up to its billing. But Das showed more composure and focus to edge out his opponent 28-26, 29-26, 26-27, 27-28, 29-28 at the Sambodromo. The fight between the two inspired opponents was very tight. Das grabbed a two set lead hitting three perfect 10 shots out of his first six attempts when Adrian managed two.
Das will next face South Korea’s Seungyun Lee in the 1/8 Eliminators on Friday.
