Tokyo Olympics: Seema Punia finishes 6th in Women's Discus Throw Heat Group A

India's Seema Punia finished 6th in her heat of the Women's Discus Throw at the Tokyo Olympics. She had been drawn in Group A and ended up recording a best distance of 60.57 on her second attempt.

The 38-year-old, competing in her fourth Olympics, was seeded alongside 14 other athletes in Group A of the Women's Discus Throw Heat on the second day of Athletics at the Tokyo Olympics.

Seema Punia saw the red flag on her very first attempt. Punia was joined by six other athletes who could only manage a foul throw and took a while to get off the blocks. However, Punia's second throw with a distance of 60.57 was a sign of her warming up to the challenge and following the second attempt, she was ranked third in her group behind Sandra Perkovic and Kristin Pudenz. However, she started to slip below as the round progressed and fell to sixth by the time the second round was completed.

Seema, who hasn't qualified for the last three Olympics, couldn't bring the best out of her in the final attempt and could only manage a throw of 58.93m. She'd be disappointed to not hit her personal best or season's best in any of her three attempts.

Two-time Olympic champion Sandra Perkovic won the group comfortably with a distance of 63.75 – just under the qualification mark. She was followed by Kristin Pudenz of Germany and Shadae Lawrence of Jamaica.

The criteria for qualification was a distance of 64m but nobody succeeded in meeting that in Group A. In case the target isn't met, the top 12 performers across both Group A and Group B progress to the final.

Across both groups, the veteran athlete finished 16th and missed the qualification spots by four places! On the other hand, India's Kamalpreet Singh has progressed to the final with the second-best throw of the day.