Sahana, Geeta eliminated on another fruitless day for India

London: High jumper Sahana Kumari and wrestler Geeta Phogat were eliminated before making any serious attempt to climb the medal podium as India drew a blank on Day 13 of the Olympic Games here today.

The country`s male boxers also ended their medalless campaign after last man in the fray, Devendro Singh (49kg), lost 18-23 in the quarterfinals despite putting up a gallant fight last night against Ireland`s Paddy Barnes in a contest marred by debatable refereeing to further dent the dwindling medal hopes. Sahana performed well below her personal best and was knocked out of the women`s high jump after clearing 1.80m and finishing at joint 15th in the Group B of the qualifying competition at the Olympic Stadium. The 30-year-old athlete sailed over the bar at the first attempt with a 1.80m leap but failed in her endeavour to clear the 1.85m mark in all her three attempts and got eliminated. The Bangalore-based athlete had made it to the Games with a leap of 1.92m at the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships in Hyderabad on June 23, but failed to come anywhere near that mark. The best clearance in the event was by Uzbekistan`s Svetlana Radzivil, who topped Group B with her season`s best of 1.96m to sail into the 12-woman final scheduled on August 11. Grappler Geeta, gold medal winner in the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, was up against a formidable rival -- 2004 Athens silver medalist and 2008 bronze winner Tonya Lynn Verbeek of Canada -- and fought bravely before losing the 55kg bout in the last minute. She got another chance to at least gain the bronze when Verbeek stormed into the finals, but was overwhelmed 3-0 by Ukraine`s Turkmenistan-born rival Tetyana Lazareva in repechage round two and made her exit from the Games. PTI