Tokyo Olympics: China's Qian Yang grabs first gold medal of Games; India begins hockey campaign with a win

TOKYO: China's Qian Yang bagged the women's 10m air rifle gold in what was the first medal event of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, here at the Asaka Shooting Range on Saturday. In a straight shoot-off between Anastasiia Galashina (ROC) and Qian for gold, the latter held her nerves better.

Yang shot 10.7 while Galashina shot 10.8 in their first shots of the final set. The ROC shooter had a 0.2 lead overall going into the last shots but Galashina managed to shoot a disappointing 8.9 -- her lowest score in the final. Qian then proceeded to shoot a 9.8 and grabbed the gold.

251.8 points is a new Final Olympic Record that now belongs to Qian. Switzerland's Nina Christen was knocked out on 230.6 points and she won the first bronze medal of Tokyo 2020. Qualifying leader Duestad was eliminated with just four shooters to go.

Earlier in qualification both Indian shooter Elavenil Valarivan and Apurvi Chandela failed to qualify for the medal round after finishing 16th and 36th respectively.

Meanwhile, The Indian men's hockey team overcame some anxious closing moments before defeating New Zealand 3-2 in an intense Pool A match to open their Olympic campaign on a positive note here on Saturday.
Harmanpreet Singh (26th and 33rd minutes) scored a double for India, while Rupinder Pal Singh (10th) was the other goal-getter for the eight-time former champions, currently ranked fourth in the world.

For New Zealand, Kane Russell (6th minute) and Stephen Jenness (43rd minute) scored the goals.

India will next play mighty Australia on Sunday.