The Indian contingent opened its account at the Paris Olympics 2024 as shooter Manu Bhaker struck bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol event on Day 2 of the quadrennial event on Sunday.
Indian athletes from other events had a solid day too as boxer Nikhat Zareen, shuttlers PV Sindhu, and HS Prannoy, shooters Ramita Jindal, and Arjun Babuta, rower Balraj Panwar, TT stars Sreeja Akula, and Manika Batra all earned qualification.
However, tennis star Sumit Nagal, TT players Harmeet Desai, and Sharath Kamal Achanta, swimmers Srihari Natraj, and Dhinidhi Desinghu and the women’s archery team had to endure defeats on the day.
Women’s 10m air pistol final: Bhaker Bronze
Manu Bhaker broke a prolonged wait for an Olympic medal in shooting as she buried ghosts of the Tokyo Olympics, where she was hamstrung by a pistol malfunction, to clinch the bronze medal and open the account for India in France.
Women’s Boxing- 50 Kg: Nikhat Zareen Rallies to Progress
Indian boxer Nikhat Zareen opened her Olympic medal dream with a 5-0 win over Germany’s Maxi Kloetzer in the women’s 50kg pre-quarterfinals to move into the round of 16. Zareen was rather slow off the blocks as she was outscored by her opponent in the first round, but the two-time world champion recovered magnificently to seal progress.
Men’s TT- Individual: Shock defeat for Sharath Kamal, Harmeet goes down to Labrun!
There was a huge upset in the Men’s TT individual event as India’s flagbearer and five-time Olympian Sharath Kamal went down to Slovenian Deni Kozul of 2-4 (12-10, 9-11, 6-11, 7-11, 11-8, 10-12) in the round of 64 clash. The 42-year-old veteran fell to his lower-ranked opposition despite taking the tight first game in the match that lasted 53 minutes.
Harmeet Desai also suffered a defeat at the hands of home hope Felix Lebrun, who thrashed the Indian 4-0 in the Round of 64 clash. The Frenchman ran out winner in straight games as he posted an 11-8, 11-8, 11-6, 11-8 triumph.
Women’s TT- Individual: Akula in cruise control
Sreeja Akula entered the round of 32 as she posted a clinical 4-0 win over Sweden’s Christina Kallberg. Sreeja registered an 11-4, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8 victory in a 30-minute win.
Men’s 10m Air Rifle: Babuta Through, Sandeep out of luck
Arjun Babuta sealed his place in the final of the Men’s 10m Air Rifle event, while compatriot Sandeep Singh failed to make it to the medal round.
Arjun posted a total of 630.1, to secure a 7th-placed finish in the qualifying round, while Sandeep could only finish 12th with his total of 629.3 to exit the event.
Women’s 10m Air Rifle: Ramita Through, Valarivan Out
Ramita Jindal tallied 631.5 to come in 5th in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle qualification and punch a ticket in the final of the event.
However, Elavenil Valarivan could only manage a 10th-place finish, thereby bowing out of contention.
Rowin- Men’s Single Sculls: Balraj finishes repechage second
Balraj Panwar sealed his passage into the quarterfinals of the men’s single sculls event. India’s lone rower at the Paris Olympics 2024, finished second in the second repechage with a timing of 07:12.41 to advance.
Badminton Women’s Singles: PV Sindhu cruises
PV Sindhu started her hunt for a third medal at the Olympics with a thrashing of Maldives’ Fathimath Abdul Razzaq in the women’s singles group stage match. The two-time Olympic required less than half an hour to dispatch her opponent 21-9 21-6 in the Group M fixture.
Swimming: Nataraj, and Desinghu shown exit door
The Indian challenge in the pools came to an end as Srihari Nataraj finished joint-second in his heat with a timing of 55.01s but the 23-year-old could only come in 33rd in the overall standing for the 100m men’s backstroke event and failed to progress.
14-year-old Olympic debutant Dhinidhi Desinghu finished 23rd out of 30 participants in the 200m women’s freestyle heat, despite topping Heat 1 with a timing of 2:06.96.
Women’s Archery Team Event: India lose to the Dutch
The Indian women’s archery team were handed a 0-6 defeat by the Netherlands in the quarterfinals as the trio of Ankita Bhakat, Bhajan Kaur and Deepika Kumari lost 51-52, 49-54, 48-53 to the Dutch.
Men’s Tennis Singles: Nagal Out
Sumit Nagal was shown the exit door in the men’s singles event following his loss to Corentin Moutet of France in his first round as the 26-year-old Indian number went down 2-6, 6-2, 5-7 in 2 hours and 28 minutes.