Three days have gone by, and India are yet to win their maiden Rio Olympics 2016 medal. Abhinav Bindra came closest on Day 3, but lost out by a whisker, finishing fourth in the 10m air rifle event. Both the men's and women's hockey teams lost their respective matches, while the trap shooters and archers did not produce any positive result either.
After Gagan Narang failed to make it to the finals of the shooting event, Bindra, who was participating in his last Olympics, looked good, and was on course for a medal. However, the 2008 Beijing Olympic gold medallist lost to Serhiy Kulish, who defeated the Indian in the shoot-off.
Likewise, India men's hockey team also suffered a heartbreak, losing to Germany in the dying seconds of the match. After a brilliant performance from India for the entire duration of the match, the game was heading towards a 1-1 draw, but Germany snatched a late goal to emerge victorious.
The women's team looked below par against Great Britain, who defeat India 3-0. With these results, both the men's and women's teams suffered their first loss in Rio 2016.
The story for the shooting team has been one of the biggest disappointments in Rio 2016. There were lots of talks regarding some of the shooters returning home with a medal. Besides, Bindra's fourth position finish, the performance of most shooters has been less than satisfactory.
India men's trap shooter Kynan Chenai and the experienced star Manavjit Singh Sandhu failed to make it to the finals of the event. While Chenai was making his Olympics debut, Sandhu has won a number of major international events, and the nation's hopes were pinned on him to a great extent.
Similarly, the archers, who had come to Rio as medal contenders, have not been able to shine in their respective events. After the women's team lost to Russia, Laxmirani Majhi made an exit, losing 1-7 to Slovakia's Alexandra Longova.
With Indian athletes set to participate in various events on Day 4, fans are fervently hoping for a positive turn of events now.
