[1]Boxing hope Vijender Singh crashed out of the 75kg competition after losing his quarter-final bout to Uzbek rival Abbos Atoev while Renjith Maheshwary flopped in men's triple jump on Day 11 of the Olympic Games on Tuesday.
After the elimination of this duo, medal hopes for the day rested with discus thrower Vikas Gowda who was set to make his appearance in the finals featuring 12 men later on Tuesday for which the Indian had qualified as the fifth-best competitor on Monday.
Vijender was knocked out of the middle weight category by his long-time Uzbek rival to dash the hopes of Indian boxing's pin-up boy of replicating his epoch-making 2008 Games feat when he won a bronze medal.
Vijender was bundled out of the ring by former 81kg world champion Atoev, a rival whom the Indian had vanquished in the final of the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, with a 17-13 verdict in a late night bout yesterday.
The 26-year-old boxing ace's elimination came on the heels of ‘Magnificent’ Mary Kom's grand entry into the semi-finals of the 51kg division of the women's event to temper Indian celebrations.
More discouraging news emerged from the athletics arena when Maheshwary, a bronze medal winner at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, was simply overwhelmed by the occasion and fouled all his three attempts to crash out of the event.
In men's boxing, Vijender and Atoev have clashed quite a few times in the past and knew each other's plus and minus points but their bout held late last night lacked energy.
The Beijing Games hero just could not raise the tempo when it mattered the most as his Uzbek rival intelligently fended off his punches and launched counter-attacks.
The exit of the Bhiwani boxer has left Indian medal hopes in the men's competition to just one - Laishram Devendro Singh - who will fight with Paddy Barnes of Ireland in the men's fly weight (49 kg) category on Wednesday.
The spotlight will also be on the diminutive Mary Kom as she attempts to create history by becoming the first Indian to reach the final of the boxing event of the Games when she takes on Nicola Adams of Great Britain in what promises to be a high-voltage contest.
The five-time world champion Mary has already assured at least a bronze medal for India, which means that the country has recorded its best-ever medal haul in the mega event.
India has already won one silver, two bronze and assured of a bronze, which is better than the one gold and two bronze medals they won in the Beijing Games four years ago.
Five other boxers, along with Vijender, have been sent packing from the ring.
In athletics, the US-based Gowda became the seventh in history from the country to qualify for the finals at the Olympic Games when he hurled the disc to 65.20 metres for an automatic selection.
Later today he would try to scoop India's first-ever medal from track and field events after having qualified for the finals of the men's discus throw yesterday as the fifth best competitor.
Gowda is also only the second Indian to make the finals in track and field at the ongoing Games after Krishna Poonia, who eventually finished seventh in women's discus throw.
India's dismal campaign in men's hockey league is also set to come to a conclusion with their final pool game against Belgium later today.
The Indian squad had lost its first four matches in Group B and would have to face the bottom-placed team from Group A in their final engagement here on August 11 to decide the 11-12 places.
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[1] http://archive.asianage.com/980505-01-02jpgcropdisplayjpg-749