Wrestler Sakshi Malik Gives India Its First Medal In Rio

NEW DELHI: Wrestler Sakshi Malik opened India’s medal tally at the Rio Olympics, winning bronze in the 58kg category after she beat Kyrgyzstan’s Aisuluu Tynybekova 8-5. The win cemented Malik’s place in history, making her one of only four Indian women to have ever won an Olympic medal.

India has won a total of 25 medals at the Olympics, of which four have been won by women -- Malik, badminton player Saina Nehwal, boxer MC Mary Kom, and weightlifter Karnam Malleswari.

At Rio 2016, it’s India’s female athletes that are dominating headlines. Sakshi Malik’s win being the crowning moment, especially as it was not easy with Tynybekova dominating the bout. Malik only opened her scoring in the second period and got two points after throwing her rival down and out of the mat. She then managed to earn two points again with a similar move to bring down the margin to 4-5. She was then able to quickly square with 5-5, and gained three more points by pinning down the Kyrgyzstani wrestler in the final moments of the match.

Meanwhile, another Indian female athlete made the country proud by securing a surprise win to enter the badminton women's singles semifinals. PV Sindhu beat China’s Wang Yihan, with the latter’s merit being signalled by the fact that she was the silver medalist in the London 2012 Olympic games.

The 21-year-old Indian athlete came into the match with a 2-4 head-to-head record, and to everyone’s surprise was able to outmanoeuvre the more experienced Wang 22-20, 21-19 in a tight battle lasting 54 minutes.

Sindhu became the second Indian badminton player to reach an Olympic semifinal after Saina Nehwal, who had done so four years ago.

The most famous Indian face of Rio 2016, however, is someone who did not win a medal. Gymnast Dipa Karmakar finished fourth, but captured the hearts and minds of the entire country. The cornerstone of Karmakar’s routine was the Produnova -- also known as ‘the vault of death’ for its sheer risks and difficulty.

Karmakar performed the risky manoeuvre to near perfection, achieving an impressive score of 15.266. On her earlier vault - known as the Tsukahara - she scored 14.866, giving her an average of 15.066. It was not good enough to win a medal, with female gymnastics being dominated currently by US athlete Simone Biles, who secured the gold and with her, her third gold medal of the Rio Olympics. In second place were Russia's Maria Paseka, with Switzerland's Giulia Steingruber in third.

Nevertheless, Dipa Karmakar walked out of the arena a hero. So much so that she’s been recommended for the country’s highest sporting honour - the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna.

To be fair, there are Indian male athletes still in the running for medals at Rio. The onus to secure another medal at the games is in fact on two men -- wrestlers Yogeshwar Dutt and Narsingh Yadav.