Indian women athletes like boxer Pooja Rani, shuttler PV Sindhu and archer Deepika Kumari shone on the sixth day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Wednesday, July 28.

On her Olympic debut, pugilist Pooja Rani stormed into the quarter-finals of the women's middleweight (69-75kg) category as she defeated Algeria’s Ichrak Chaib 5-0 at the Kokugikan Arena.

The 30-year-old Indian boxer completely dominated her Algerian rival, who is 10 years younger than her. Rani will next face China's Li Qian in the quarter-finals. 

Meanwhile, Indian star shuttler PV Sindhu overcame Ngan Yi Cheung of Hong Kong to enter the knockout stage of the women's singles. 

The Rio Olympic silver medallist beat Ngan Yi Cheung in straight games 21-9, 21-16 to set up a round of 16 clash against Mia Blichfeldt of Denmark.

While Sindhu took just 15 minutes to clinch the first game 21-9, she had a tougher fight in the second, which she won 21-16.

World no.1 archer Deepika Kumari pipped USA's Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez 6-4 to advance to the pre-quarterfinal in the women's individual recurve event at Tokyo 2020.

Earlier in the day, Deepika defeated Karma of Bhutan 6-0 to enter the Round of 32 in the women's individual recurve event. The 27-year-old will compete in her round of 16 elimination match on Friday.

However, the Indian women’s hockey team suffered their third successive defeat as they succumbed to a 1-4 defeat against reigning Olympic champions Great Britain on Wednesday.

The Rani Rampal-led side has already lost to Germany 0-2 and were thrashed 1-5 by Netherlands. The India eves will take on Ireland next on Friday and South Africa a day later.

There were also some other disappointing performances from the Indian contingent as archers Tarundeep Rai and Pravin Jadhav were knocked out of the men’s individual event.

Furthermore, shuttler B Sai Praneeth lost 14-21, 14-21 against Mark Caljouw of Netherlands in his second Group D match to end his Tokyo 2020 campaign on a frustrating note.

Featured photo: Twitter/BoxerPooja