India's table tennis star Manika Batra on Saturday refused to take advice of national coach Soumyadeep Roy during her first round match at the Tokyo Olympics after her personal coach was not granted on-court access.

In a letter of appreciation to Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Mirabai Chanu, the legendary Abhinav Bindra on Saturday said the Indian weightlifter's stupendous achievement will "serve as a small reminder of joy" at a time when the country is battling a raging pandemic.

Indian men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty dished out a sensational show to beat the world no. 3 pair of Yang Lee and Chi-Lin Wang of Chinese Taipei in a thrilling group A match to make a superb start to their maiden Olympic campaign here on Saturday.

Indian medal hope Saurabh Chaudhary could not replicate the form he displayed in the qualifications to finish a disappointing seventh in the men's 10m air pistol final at the Tokyo Olympics here on Saturday.

Harmanpreet Singh scored a brace and veteran goalkeeper P R Sreejesh stood like a wall in the closing minutes as the Indian men's hockey team overcame a late surge from New Zealand to eke out a close 3-2 win in its opening Olympic Games match here on Saturday.

Indian shooters endured a poor start at the Tokyo Olympics with first-timer Elavenil Valarivan and Apurvi Chandela failing to qualify for the finals of the women's 10m air rifle event here on Saturday.

India suffer three-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka in third ODI in Colombo but still win series 2-1. 

Tokyo: The COVID 19-hit 32nd Olympic Games formally began on Friday with a glittering opening ceremony, which sought to take the spotlight away from the gloom of a raging pandemic and put it firmly on the sporting excellence that the event promises to unleash.