Lalita Babar, yesterday, became the first Indian to qualify for the final of an athletics track event at the Olympics since PT Usha in 1984. In the women's 3000m steeplechase, Babar finished fourth in Heat 2 with a national record timing of 9:19.76, beating her previous best by 7 seconds, which made her the fastest loser from all three heats, thus earning her a spot in Monday's final at 19:75 Indian time. Though at one stage she gained a lead, she fell on a hurdle and could not recover that gap.

Two more Indian runners Sudha Singh and Nirmala Sheoran along with the women's badminton doubles duo of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa and shooters Gurpreet Singh and Mairaj Ahmad Khan failed to add any medal hopes for India's stint at the 31st Olympic Games. Meanwhile the heart touching story of Dattu Baban Bhokanal shined at the games village. He impressed one and all by finishing on top of Final C in men's single sculls. He finished 13th overall. Already out of medal contention, Dattu topped the final ranking race in 6:54.96 minutes, which was best timing among the four races he participated in the Games.

His ailing mother lies in a Pune hospital fighting for her life, brain-damaged after a recent accident. At the tennis courts, Sania and Bopanna imposed their domination in the early stages before Venus and Ram staged a superb comeback. Mirza and Bopanna, India's mixed doubles team, were beaten by the American pair of Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram 6-2, 2-6, 3-10 in the semi-finals and can now only hope for a bronze. In the men's skeet qualifying event, Mairaj Ahmad Khan finished ninth to miss out on medal contention. Needing to score at least 49 on Saturday to remain in medal contention.