Olympics: Boxer Manoj Kumar, archers Deepika Kumari and Bombayla Devi advance, keep India in hunt
Kumar beat 2012 bronze medallist Evaldas Petrauskas of Lithuania, Kumari defeated World No 17 Guendalina Sartori and Devi prevailed over Taipei's Shin-Chia Lin.
Boxer Manoj Kumar on Wednesday defeated 2012 London Games bronze medallist Evaldas Petrauskas 2-1 to progress to the round of 16 in the men's Light Welter (64 kg) category at the Rio Olympics on Wednesday. The 29-year-old from Haryana scraped through in the first two rounds, scoring 29-28 against the Lithuanian in both. Petrauskas hit back to win the last round, reversing the score line, but Kumar was declared the winner by a 2-1 margin. Kumar will now face Uzbekistan's Fazliddin Gaibnazarov in the next round on Sunday.
Archer Deepika Kumari also brought good news for India, defeating World No 17 Guendalina Sartori of Italy in the round of 32 to progress in the women's individual archery event. She had defeated Georgia's Kristine Esebua 6-4 in the round of 64. Kumari is ranked 12 in the world. She will now face Chinese Taipei's Ya-Ting Tan on Thursday for a place in the quarter-finals. Earlier in the day, another Indian archer, Bombayla Devi beat Taipei’s Shin-Chia Lin 6-2 to progress to the pre-quarters.