London Olympics 2012: India roundup

London:Army shooter Vijay Kumar made India proud by winning a welcome silver medal at the London Olympics here Friday, hours before boxer Vikas Krishan was controversially eliminated from the competition.

Five hours after Vikas was declared winner in his 69 kg pre-quarterfinal bout, the sport`s governing body overturned the decision and awarded it to his American opponent Errol Spence. In badminton, women`s shuttler Saina Nehwal remained in contention for a bronze despite losing out to her top-rated Chinese rival Wang Yihan, while women`s discus thrower Krishna Poonia made the final as India had their brightest day at the Games and doubled its medals tally to two - one silver and one bronze - both coming from the ranges. At Wimbledon, the mixed doubles pair of Leander Paes and Sania Mirza were down 5-7, 2-3 against the top seeded Belarusian pair of Victoria Azarenka and Max Mirnyi when bad light and rain stopped their quarterfinal match. It will resume Saturday. Vijay Kumar, a junior commissioned officer (JCO), finished second in the men`s 25 metre rapid fire pistol to give the country its second medal from the Games after marksman Gagan Narang opened India`s tally Monday by shooting a bronze in men`s 10m air rifle competition at the Royal Artillery Barracks. He ensured a finish on the podium scoring 30 in the final after Cuba`s Leuris Pupo gave his country its first gold of the Olympics by carding 34. His performance more than compensated for a poor show from Narang, who failed to make it to the final after taking the 18th slot in the qualifiers. Kumar thus became the second Indian after double trap shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore to win an individual Olympic silver medal. Rathore achieved his feat in 2004 Athens Games. "There was lot of pressure on me but I stuck to my plans and came out well. This medal means such a lot to me. It has been my dream to win an Olympic medal. This is the highest you can get," said an elated Kumar. Kumar`s success came after Joydip Karmakar finished tantalisingly close to a medal in the men`s 50 metres rifle prone, finishing fourth amongst the eight-man field.