The Daily Guide to Olympic Action

The frenzied rush for Gold continues unabated in London on Monday. Among the events handing out medals is the 10m Air Rifle for men, which has Abhinav Bindra shooting for a second tryst with glory and celebration. This is the first medal of the day and the final starts at 1615hrs. There is plenty of other action for Indian participants too, but more on that later.

There is plenty happening in the waters of the Olympic Park Aquatics Centre, where the final of the 10m Synchronised Platform diving event for men will take place around 1900hrs. The Americans tasted their first scent of success in diving since the games in Sydney and will be looking for more glory in this event which is focused on the aesthetics of plunging into the water with a flourish and maybe a smile too.

There shall be four more Gold medals from the pool – The men’s 200m Freestyle event, featuring Ryan Lochte, starts at 2343hrs while the women’s 100m Backstroke follows suit at 2351hrs. The flurry of thumping arms and paddling feet will continue at 2358hrs with the start of the men’s 100m Backstroke, followed by the women’s 100m Breaststroke at 15 minutes past midnight. So burn some midnight oil and enjoy the excitement of the intensely competitive swimming events.

Abhinav Bindra will be gunning for glory once again in the 10m Air Rifle event

Judo is next and the men’s 73kg event will have its final starting at 2010hrs. The women’s 57kg final will also take place at 2000hrs. In the Artistic Gymnastics, the final of the Men’s event is scheduled to play out at 2030hrs. With the Chinese reeling from injury and doubt, the other nations are sensing hope and the battle will make for a sumptuous viewing experience.

We also have plenty of Indians in action – Bombayla Devi Laishram will take on Evangelia Psarra for a place in the pre-quarters of the women’s individual Archery event at 1500hrs. Saina Nehwal, who is riding a wave of hope, will take on Lianne Tan in her second league match this evening at 2230hrs. Staying with Badminton, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa will make up the numbers against the formidable Chinese pair of Chen and Cheng in Group B at 2305hrs.

In Boxing, Sumit Sangwan will get into a scuffle with Brazilian Yamaguchi Florentino Falcao for a place in the last 16 of the men’s Light Heavy (81kg) event. And don’t you miss this one – there is a juicy matchup between India and Netherlands in men’s Hockey at 2000hrs. This one is a preliminary round event in Group B.

That leaves us with Tennis, which took most of the column space leading into the games for all the wrong reasons. Vishnu Vardhan, the man caught in the eye of the storm through no fault of his, has the consolation of a spot in the men’s singles event. The Hyderabadi will take on Blaz Kavcic in a first round match. Both the doubles pairs – Mahesh Bhupathi & Rohan Bopanna and Leander Paes & Vishnu – will open their campaign tonight, weather permitting again. These matches are expected to begin at 1930hrs.

So take a quick break from work, sit back, sip on a soda and soak in the excitement from the relative comfort of your home on ESPN, Star Sports, ESPN HD & DD Sports. All times mentioned above are IST. It is time to revel in the Olympic magic.