Yuki Bhambri pulled off an upset victory to storm into the final of the tennis event but the hoopsters and swimmers came up with disappointing performances on a mixed day for the Indians in the inaugural Youth Olympic Games here today.
Yuki stunned second seeded Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in the boys singles semifinal at Kallang Tennis Centre on the fifth day of the Games to at least assure India of another silver.
In the summit clash, the sixth-seeded Indian will take on Juan Sebastian Gomez of Colombia who beat Victor Baluda of Russia 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 in the other semifinal.
Yuki, on Wednesday, braved cramps to get the better of Ireland’s John Morrissey in the quarterfinals.
Wrestlers had won two medals for India. Pooja Dhanda had bagged a silver in the women’s 60kg freestyle while Kadian Satyawart fetched a bronze in men’s 100kg freestyle.
Shuttler H.S. Prannoy is also assured of at least a silver after stunning top seed Kang Ji Wook of Korea in the singles semifinal on Wednesday.
He, however, will have to wait longer in his quest for a gold medal as his final match against Pisit Poodchalat of Thailand has been rescheduled.
The other Indian who impressed today was Durgesh Kumar who won the boys 400m race heat number two with an effort of 52.20sec to qualify for the final round.
In basketball, Indian boys lost to New Zealand 12-17 in a Group A preliminary round match.
In swimming, Aaron Agnel D’Souza finished fifth in boys 100m freestyle second semifinal with a timing of 51.49sec. He had qualified for the semifinals after finishing fourth in the heat number five.
In women’s 100m butterfly, Arhatha Magavi finished a disappointing eighth in heat number four.
India fielded 32 competitors in the inaugural edition of the Games which is meant for athletes in the age group of 14 to 18.
