Following the high of Day 2, wherein Manu Bhaker became the first female Indian shooter to win an Olympic medal, India had a comparatively underwhelming Day 3 at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Whilst there were a few disappointing performances and some agonising moments, there still were some moments to cherish.
Here’s everything that happened on Monday (29 July):
Badminton
India’s Day 3 was scheduled to begin with a men’s doubles badminton fixture, where Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were supposed to face Germany’s Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Seidel. However, the German paid withdrew owing to an injury, leading to the cancellation of the match.
In women’s doubles, Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa suffered their second consecutive defeat, losing to Japan’s Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida 11-21, 12-21.
Lakshya Sen’s win over Kevin Cordon might have been chalked off following the Guatemalan’s withdrawal, but that did not affect him one bit as he defeated Belgium’s Julien Carraggi 21-19, 21-14.
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Shooting
In the first shooting event of the day – mixed 10m Air Pistol team event – Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh qualified for the bronze medal match. They finished third in the qualifiers with a score of 580-20x. In the bronze medal tie, they will face South Korea’s Oh Ye-jin and Lee Won-ho.
The first medal event of the day was women’s 10m Air Rifle, where Ramita Jindal finished seventh with a score of 145.3 after 14 shots. She was eliminated following a seventh-place shoot-off against France’s Oceanne Muller.
The biggest heartbreak came in men’s 10m Air Rifle, where Arjun Babuta narrowly missed out on the bronze medal. After being placed second for the majority of the session, a couple of underwhelming attempts haunted Babuta who finished fourth with a total of 208.4.
Prithviraj Tondaiman had a day to forget in men’s trap, as after Day 1 of the qualifiers, he is at the bottom of the 30-man table. He recorded scores of 22, 25 and 21 in the three rounds. Considering only the top six will qualify for the finals, Tondaiman’s chances look bleak.
Hockey
India secured a hard-earned point against the higher-ranked Argentina, in what was a thrilling 1-1 draw. Lucas Martinez gave Argentina the lead in the 22nd minute, but Harmanpreet Singh converted from a penalty corner to save the day for Craig Fulton’s boys.
Archery
The archery contingent’s disappointing show continued on Monday, as the men’s team was eliminated in the quarter-final by Turkiye by a 2-6 margin.
Table Tennis
Manika Batra was seen at her absolute best as she defeated a higher-ranked opponent in France’s Prithika Pavade, who has her roots in India, without breaking a sweat. The Indian number 2 won the contest 4-0 (11-9, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7).
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