The first day of the Paris Olympics 2024 was a mixed day for the Indian contingent, as some of them were able to make their mark and some of them missed out on the chances on Saturday.
Let’s take a look at the performance from the Indian athletes on Day 1:
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Shooting:
10 Metre Air Rifle Mixed Team event:
India’s campaign in shooting in the Paris 2024 Olympics started with a disappointment as two Indian teams in action during the qualification round in the 10 m air rifle mixed team events failed to make it to the medal matches on Saturday.
Two Indian pairs, Elavenil Valarivan and Sandeep Singh and Arjun Babuta and Ramita Jindal, took part in the 10 m air rifle mixed teams qualifiers. Only four teams out of 28 had the privilege of qualifying further for the knockout stages, i.e., a gold medal match for the top two teams and a bronze medal match for teams ranked third and fourth. India could not make it to the final four.
Men’s 10 Metre Air Pistol:
India’s disappointing run in shooting continued in Paris Olympics with Sarabjot Singh and Arjun Cheema failing to make it to the final round of the men’s 10 m air pistol competition on Saturday.
Cheema (18th spot with 574-17x points) and Sarabjot (9th spot with 577-16x points) failed to make it to the final eight who qualified for the medal round.
Women’s 10 Metre Air Pistol:
Ace India shooter Manu Bhaker finished third in the qualification round of Women’s 10 Metre Air Pistol to qualify for the final at the ongoing Paris Olympics on Saturday. While Rhythm Sangwan failed to make her place in the final after finishing in 15th place.
Badminton:
Men’s Singles:
Ace India shuttler Lakshya Sen defeated Guatemala’s Kevin Cordon 21-8, 22-20 in the Group L match of the ongoing Paris Olympics on Saturday. Lakshya won in straight sets with the match lasting 42 minutes.
Men’s Doubles:
The Indian duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty started their Paris Olympics voyage with a win over France’s Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar 21-17, 21-14 in the men’s doubles Group C match on Saturday. Satwiksairaj and Chirag defeated Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar in a straight games and ended the match in 46 minutes.
Women’s Doubles:
The Indian duo of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto conceded a defeat in the badminton women’s doubles group stage match at the ongoing Paris Olympics.
Ponnappa and Crasto failed to clinch a win in their opening match of the multi-sport event in straight sets against the Republic of Korea’s Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong. So Yeong-Hee Yong beat the Indian duo 21-18, 21-10. The game lasted for 46 minutes.
Hockey:
The Indian Men’s Hockey Team began their Paris 2024 Olympics campaign with a stunning 3-2 win against New Zealand in a nervy contest on Saturday in Paris.
It was goals by Mandeep Singh (24′), Vivek Sagar Prasad (34′) and Harmanpreet Singh (59′) that ensured a strong start for India in Pool B, which includes reigning Olympic champions Belgium, Australia, Ireland and Argentina.
Table Tennis:
India’s Harmeet Desai advanced to the Round of 64 in the men’s singles table tennis at the ongoing Paris Olympics after beating Jordan’s Zaid Abo Yaman 4-0 (11-7, 11-9, 11-5, 11-5) in the preliminary round on Saturday. The 31-year-old will face Felix Lebrun of France at the South Paris Arena in the round of 64 on Sunday.
Boxing:
India’s Preeti Pawar advanced to the Round of 16 after beating Vietnam’s Vo Thi Kim Anh by a unanimous decision in the women’s 54 kg boxing round of 32 match at the ongoing Paris Olympics.
Kim Anh was on top after the first round, where the judges gave her a 3-2 split lead. However, the Indian boxer made a terrific comeback in the next two rounds to seal a victory in her maiden Olympics game.
Rowing:
India’s Paris Olympics campaign in rowing was off to a shaky start as Balraj Panwar finished at fourth place in the first heat race on Saturday. Balraj clocked timings of 7:07:11 minutes to finish at number four out of six competitors in his heat. Only three players from each heat race could make it to the quarterfinals directly.
