Indian archers knocked by top seed Korea in men's team quarterfinals
Tokyo: Indian archers faltered at crucial moments against the mighty Koreans to make a quarterfinal exit from the men's team event at the Tokyo Olympics, here on Monday.
After beating Kazakhstan 6-2, the Indian trio of Atanu Das, Pravin Jadhav and Tarundeep Rai lost in straight sets against the top seeds at the Yumenoshima Park.
The Korean team of Kim Je Deok, Oh Jin Hyek and Kim Woojin were on song in the first two sets, shooting 10 perfect 10s out of 12 to apply early pressure.
The Indians, who won a silver medal at the 2019 World Championships, responded well in the second set with a series of four 10s but Das faltered with an 8 in the last arrow, as Koreans looked on a roll.
India were let down by Guatemala City World Cup gold medallist Das who failed to repeat his brilliant show earlier against Kazakhstan. He could not find a single 10 in three sets.
Olympic debutant Jadhav on the other hand was brilliant with five 10s, while veteran Rai in his third Games appearance also stepped it up with three 10s, but that was simply not enough.
Earlier, Das had drilled in six perfect 10s to play a crucial role in team's win 6-2 win over Kazakhstan in their opening round.
India's hope for their first ever medal in archery in the Olympics will now rest in the individual section where the men's trio along with world number one Deepika Kumari will take to the field on Wednesday.
Against Kazakhstan, the Indians were strong, especially Das who drilled in six perfect 10s to play a crucial role in team's win.
The Kazakhstan troika of Denis Gankin, Ilfat Abdullin, Sanzhar Mussayev showed flashes of brilliance. They took the third set with one point margin.
Das made all the difference by hitting six perfect 10s including two Xs to make up for some inconsistent show by the Army duo of Rai and Jadhav.
Das showed tremendous resilience to bounce back after finishing a lowly 35th, four places behind Olympic debutant Jadhav, in the ranking round on the opening day.
The poor finish had resulted in Das' removal from the mixed team where his wife Deepika Kumari paired up with Jadhav and made a quarterfinal exit following defeat against Korea on Saturday.
Trailing by two points at the halfway mark of the first set, Jadhav and Das finished with two superb arrows, drilling in X each to edge out their Kazakhstan rivals by one point.
There were gusts of wind in the second set and the Army duo of three-time Olympian Rai and debutant Jadhav were wobbly picking 8 and 7 each, but Das made up for it with a perfect 10 and a 9 to give the side a commanding 4-0 lead.
It was some high class shooting in the third set after the Kazakhstan team stepped it up with three perfect 10s as the Indians too matched them riding on two 10s by Das but an 8 by Rai cost them the set.
The Kazakh team showed intent to bring the match on an even keel but the Indian trio did not concede an inch and sealed the issue with two 10s from Jadhav and Das.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
