Day 5 was a mixed one for India with women’s archers springing to life. Both Deepika Kumari and Bombayla Devi progressed to the round of 16. Boxer Manoj Kumar also provided some cheer as he defeated London bronze medallist Evaldas Petrauskas in the Light Welterweight category (64 kg) to progress to the round of 16.

But the day provided two of India's lowest points at the Rio Olympics so far. Jitu Rai was expected to do well in his preferred 50m pistol event. The world No. 3 seemed on course to qualify before a bizarre last round saw him shoot an 88 and crash out at the qualification stage.

It was always going to be tough for the Indian women’s hockey team, who had qualified after a gap of 36 years. But against the Australians, who had lost their opening two games, the team were expected to make a fight of it. What followed instead was a clinical 6-1 thrashing.

The highly-fancied badminton contingent start their Olympic journey on Thursday with the doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa in action first, followed by the golden ladies of Indian badminton, PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal.

The mixed doubles tennis team of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna are also in the fray as matches were postponed. A crucial game is also coming up against the Netherlands for the men’s hockey team, who are on a high after beating Argentina.

Badminton Women’s Doubles – Group Stage: 4.30 pm IST

Gutta and Ponappa were desperately unlucky to miss out on a spot in the knock-out rounds four years ago. In now, they face a tough challenge. First up are none other than the World’s No. 1 ranked pair Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi. All the three pairs in Group A are ranked higher than the Indian duo and they will have to play out of their skins to qualify from an extremely tough group. The top two teams from each group advance to the quarterfinals.

Badminton Men’s Doubles – Group Stage: 5.30 pm IST

Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy are making their debut at the Olympics. Like the women, they have been handed an extremely tough draw. Ranked 16th in the world, the pair plays its first group match against the World No. 2 Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia. The other two pairs in Group D are ranked 5th and 8th.

Women’s Individual Archery – Round of 16: 5.30 pm, 5.56 pm IST; Quarterfinals: 11.30 pm IST; Semifinals: 12.15 am IST, August 12; Final: 1.03 am IST, August 12

Deepika Kumari will be going up against World No. 2 Tan Ya Ting of Chinese Taipei in the first match-up of the day. It is going to extremely difficult for Deepika as Tan has been in imperious form, only dropping a single point in her two knockout games so far. Should she get through, she could run into the current World No. 1 Choi Mi-Sun of Korea in the semifinals. Choi Mi-Sun shot 669 in the ranking round to finish first, whereas Deepika had shot 640 to finish 20th.

After getting past the World No. 10 in the round of 32, Bombayla Devi will face Alejandra Valencia of Ecuador, who finished 8th in the ranking round. A win might see Bombayla come up against Choi Mi-Sun in the quarterfinals.

If things go extraordinarily well for the Indian archers, the two Indians will face off in the semi-final.

Men’s Golf – Round 1: 5.44 pm IST, 7.17 pm IST

Golf returns to the Olympics after a hiatus of 112 years. Over the past few years, Anirban Lahiri is a hot contender after a 5th place finish at the PGA Championship 2015, one of Golf’s four majors. The men’s golf tournament will be played at the beautiful Olympic golf course, built within the Reserva de Marapendi in the Barra da Tijuca zone.

In a depleted field, Lahiri will look to seize the advantage as he tees off at 5.44 pm IST. along with heavyweights of the game, Bubba Watson of the US, the highest ranked player left in the field and Germany’s Martin Kaymer. SSP Chawrasia will tee off at 7.17 pm IST.

Men’s Hockey – 4th Group Stage Match: 6.30 pm IST

India posted their first win over Argentina in seven years to be on the brink of sealing a place in the quarterfinals, but will have to gain at least a point against the strong Dutch to mathematically confirm their spot. If the men can win, they will leapfrog their opponents into second place in the group, which could make the draw a little easier at the knock-out stage.

Badminton Women’s Singles – Group Stage matches: 6.40 pm IST, 7.50 pm IST

PV Sindhu will face World No. 64 Sarosi Laura of Hungary in her first match and should win comfortably. Saina Nehwal should have it easy as she faces Brazilian Lohanny Vicente. Vicente is ranked 73rd and should pose no problem to the 5th ranked Nehwal. The Indians have to win their respective three-member groups to qualify.

Boxing Men’s Bantamweight (56 kg) – Preliminaries: 8.00 pm IST

India’s best hope in boxing, Shiva Thapa, has a tough encounter as he faces Cuban Robeisy Ramirez, who won gold in London 2012 in the Flyweight category. Since then, the southpaw from Cuba has moved up a division, but remains as difficult as ever to beat. Thapa will progress to the round of 16 with a win.

Tennis Mixed Doubles – Round 1.12 am IST, August 12 (tentative)

After their Wednesday match was postponed, Saina Mirza and Rohan Bopanna take on the Australian pair of Samantha Stosur and John Peers on Thursday. This is the fourth match on Court 3, with the first one scheduled to start at 7.30 pm IST.

Women’s Hockey – Group Stage Match: 4.00 am, August 12

India sit at the bottom of their group with a solitary point from three matches, and will face the in-form United States which has already qualified for the quarterfinals with three wins out of three.

Men’s Badminton Singles – Group Stage Match: 5.35 am, August 12

Kidambi Srikanth, the World No. 11, will face the 85th-ranked Lino Munoz in his first group match. Srikanth should win his group comfortably and qualify for the pre-quarterfinals.