Rio de Janeiro: The men's hockey team and army rower Dattu Baban Bhokanal lit up an otherwise gloomy opening day of competitions for India at the Rio Olympics here on Saturday.
The men's hockey team broke a 12-year Olympics jinx by winning their opening group league encounter, while Bhokanal qualified for the quarter finals by finishing third in his heat in men's singles sculls.
These were the only bright spots as the contingent faced reversals in the shooting range, tennis court and table tennis.
The day commenced promisingly when rower Bhokanal entered the quarterfinals of single sculls by ending up third in heat 1 of the 2000m race with a timing of 7 minutes, 21.67 seconds, behind Angel Fournier Rodriguez of Cuba and Mexico's Juan Carlos Cabrera.
This was followed by the men's hockey squad's hard-fought 3-2 win over minnows Ireland, taking part in the Games after 108 years, in pool B opener through penalty corner goals from Rupinderpal Singh, who struck twice, and V R Raghunath.
The day's proceedings started on a promising note when 25-year-old Pune-based armyman Bhokanal ended up third in the first heat of the day by finishing the 2000m race in 7 minutes and 21.67 seconds behind Angel Fournier Rodriguez of Cuba (7:06.89) and Mexico's Juan Carlos Cabrera (7:08.27).
