Picture Credit: Twitter/@KKRiders
The Day 8 at Tokyo Olympics 2020 kicked off on Super Saturday but things did not really turn out as the Indian fans would have expected. While Atanu Das got knocked out of the men's individual archery event, Amit Panghal suffered a shocking exit from men's flyweight Round of 16. The only major hope in the morning was from women's discus throw event where Seema Punia and Kamalpreet Kaur were taking part in the qualification round.
Unfortunately for India, fans had to face disappointment in that event as well as veteran Seema Punia's best effort could manage only 60.57m which was never going to be enough to qualify for the finals. It looked like the same story for Kamalpreet Kaur who started off with a throw of 60.29m. However, the sequence of events which followed next was nothing short of being termed as historic.
Kamalpreet stuns everyone in Tokyo
The 25-year-old gave a glimpse of her incredible talent and potential as her next throw read an outstanding 63.97m. Although that would have been enough to take her through to the finals, Kamalpreet put icing on the cake as she came up with a monstrous 64m throw in her final attempt, leaving everyone in awe of her heroics.
Watch the video here:
Her 64m throw meant that she secured a place in the finals on an automatic basis as she breached the qualification mark. She finished 2nd in Group B and was among the only two athletes who qualified for the finals of the event automatically. Apart from her, USA's Valarie Allman registered a gigantic throw of 66.42m to finish at first place in the qualifiers.
Can Kamalpreet win a medal for India?
The Indian fans woke up on Saturday with this amazing news and started to visualize possibility of what could be a historic medal for the nation in athletics. It must be noted that Kamalpreet registered a record-breaking throw of 66.59m during the Indian Grand Prix in June. If she can replicate a similar performance in the finals, she could well be in contention to win an Olympic medal.
However, it will be a huge mountain to climb for her as she will competing with some of the best athletes across the globe. The finals are set to take place on August 2, Monday at IST 4:30 PM onwards.