Tokyo Olympics: Aditi Ashok misses medal by a whisker, all eyes on Bajrang and Neeraj Chopra now

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<strong>Indian golfer Aditi Ashok, on the second spot in the leaderboard overnight, narrowly missed bagging the sixth Olympic medal for the country at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics after finishing fourth with an aggregate score of 15-under 269 at the Kasumigaseki Country Club on Saturday.</strong></p>
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The 23-year-old from Bengaluru, who had been in a medal contention throughout the competition, started the final round at the second spot with a three-under 68 in the women's individual stroke play event.</p>
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She eventually missed the bronze medal by a whisker in an intense duel with Lydia Ko of New Zealand and Mone Inami of Japan. USA's Nelly Korda, daughter of Petr Korda who won the Australian Open back in 1998, won the gold medal.</p>
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Ashok, currently ranked 179th in the world, was participating in her second Olympics and would have been the first Indian golfer to win an Olympic medal.</p>
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The hopes of India equalling or bettering its best ever outing in the Olympic Games – a haul of six medals won at the London 2012 Games – now rest on wrestler Bajrang Punia and javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra who will be seen in action later in the afternoon.</p>
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Bajrang, who arrived in Tokyo as a big medal hope for India, lost 5-12 to Azerbaijan's Haji Aliyev in the semifinal of the men's 65kg wrestling event at the Makuhari Messe Hall on Friday. He will now take on the winner of the repechage round bout between Senegal’s Adama Diatta and Kazakhstan’s Daulet Niyazbekov in a bid to win a bronze for the country on Saturday afternoon.</p>
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23-year-old Neeraj Chopra, meanwhile, is gunning for a medal after becoming the first Indian to enter the Olympic final in the javelin throw event.</p>
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Making his Olympics debut, Neeraj Chopra had topped the qualification round with a massive throw of 86.65m to cruise to the final.</p>
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Chopra has already won a gold in the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast (86.47m) and also at the Asian Games in Jakarta (88.06m).</p>
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In the final, the Indian will be up against the likes of Germany's star javelin thrower Johannes Vetter – also nicknamed 'the Usain Bolt of the javelin' – who had also commented that Chopra will find it difficult to beat him in Tokyo.</p>
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However, in the qualification round held on Wednesday, it was Chopra who got the better of the German champion whose best effort was 85.64m.</p>
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Another monster of a throw on Saturday afternoon from Chopra could help India add another medal before Sunday's closing ceremony.</p>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Also Read: <a href="https://www.indianarrative.com/culture-news/two-young-guns-from-haryana-light-up-india-s-show-at-the-tokyo-olympic-games-106136.html">Two young guns from Haryana light up India's show at the Tokyo Olympic Games</a></span></strong></p>