The Paris Olympics 2024 began on a high note for the Indian contingent as shooting sensation Manu Bhaker became the first Indian to secure a place in the finals of the women's 10m Air Pistol event at the French National Shooting Centre in Chateauroux.
Manu's qualification was especially significant after a challenging start for other Indian shooters. The 10m Air Rifle Mixed Teams, comprising Sandeep Singh/Elavenil Valarivan and Arjun Babuta/Ramita Jindal, along with men's shooters Sarabjot Singh and Arjun Singh Cheema, unfortunately, did not make it past the qualification rounds in their respective events.
Here’s a comprehensive wrap-up of all the action and highlights involving Indian athletes on the first day of the quadrennial event:
Shooting
Manu Bhaker qualified for the final of the women's 10m Air Pistol event with impressive scores of 97, 97, 98, 96, 96, and 96, finishing third in the 44-competitor field behind Hungary’s Veronika Major and South Korea’s Oh YeJin.
India's second shooter in the event, Rhythm Sangwan, finished 15th with a score of 573-14x, missing the finals.
In the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team event, India's pairs didn't make it past the qualification round. Ramita and Arjun Babuta finished sixth with a score of 628.7, while Elavenil Valarivan and Sandeep Singh placed 12th with a score of 626.3. Only the top four teams (China, Korea, Kazakhstan, Germany) advanced to the medal matches.
In the men's 10m Air Pistol event, Sarabjot Singh narrowly missed the medal round with a score of 577, tying with two other competitors. Arjun Singh Cheema, who was briefly in third place, ended up 18th with a score of 574.
Rowing
India's sole rower, Balraj Panwar, advanced to the repechages after finishing fourth in heat 1 of the men's singles scull competition.
The 25-year-old narrowly missed direct qualification for the quarterfinals, trailing New Zealand's Thomas Mackintosh (6:55.92), Greece's Stefanos Ntouskos (7:01.79), and Egypt's Abdelkhalek Elbanna (7:05.06) with a time of 7:07.11.
While the top three from each heat move directly to the quarterfinals, Panwar will have another chance to progress through the repechages.
Badminton
India's badminton players started on a winning note as singles player Lakshya Sen defeated Guatemala's Kevin Cordon 21-8, 22-20 in men's singles Group L match and doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty cruised past the French pair with a decisive win in their opening round.
After easily winning the first game, Lakshya faced a tough challenge from World No. 41 Cordon and was on the verge of losing the second game, down 16-20. However, the Indian shuttler staged an impressive comeback, winning six consecutive points to clinch the second game 22-20, avoiding a third game.
In men's doubles, Sat-Chi secured a convincing 2-0 victory over France's Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar in Group C. The Indian pair took the first game 21-17, building momentum from a 5-4 lead to 8-5 and then 12-6. They sealed the second game 21-14, wrapping up the match in 45 minutes at the La Chapelle Arena.
Satwik and Chirag will face the World No. 31 German pair Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Seidel on Monday in their second Group stage clash, before taking on the Indonesian pair of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto, ranked seventh in the world.
In women's doubles, disappointment struck as the pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto lost to South Korea’s Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong 18-21, 10-21 in a 44-minute Group C league match.
Table-Tennis
Paddler Harmeet Desai secured a dominant 4-0 victory over Jordan's Zaid Abo Yaman (11-7, 11-9, 11-5, 11-5) in the preliminary round of the men’s singles table tennis competition.
Desai, a key player in India’s gold-winning team at the Commonwealth Games in 2018 and 2022, efficiently dispatched the World No. 538 in just 30 minutes.
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Boxing
Preeti Pawar advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the Women’s 54kg boxing category with a decisive victory in her first-round bout. The 20-year-old dominated Vietnam’s Vo Thi Kim Anh, winning 5-0 in the Round of 32 at North Paris Arena. Preeti will next face Colombia's second seed, Yeni Arias.
Hockey
Indian men's hockey team secured a thrilling 3-2 victory over New Zealand in a Pool B match. Mandeep Singh (24'), Vivek Sagar Prasad (34'), and Harmanpreet Singh (59', penalty) netted the goals for India, while Sam Lane and Simon Child scored for the Black Sticks.
India will face Rio Olympics gold medalists Argentina on Monday at 18:15 IST in their second Pool B match.
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