The first day of the Paris Olympics 2024 was a mixed bag for the Indian contingent, with some athletes making their mark while others missed out on their chances on Saturday. Here’s a look at the performance of Indian athletes on Day 1:
Shooting:
10 Metre Air Rifle Mixed Team Event:
India’s campaign in shooting at the Paris 2024 Olympics started with disappointment as both Indian teams failed to make it to the medal matches during the qualification round. The pairs of Elavenil Valarivan and Sandeep Singh, and Arjun Babuta and Ramita Jindal, participated but could not secure a spot in the top four out of 28 teams, missing the knockout stages for the gold and bronze medal matches.
Men’s 10 Metre Air Pistol:
The disappointing run continued in the men’s 10 m air pistol competition. Sarabjot Singh and Arjun Cheema failed to reach the final round. Cheema finished 18th with 574-17x points, while Sarabjot narrowly missed the final eight, finishing 9th with 577-16x points.
Women’s 10 Metre Air Pistol:
Ace shooter Manu Bhaker brought some cheer by finishing third in the qualification round, thus securing her place in the final. However, Rhythm Sangwan missed out, finishing 15th.
Badminton:
Men’s Singles:
Lakshya Sen had a successful start, defeating Guatemala’s Kevin Cordon 21-8, 22-20 in the Group L match. Lakshya won in straight sets, with the match lasting 42 minutes.
Men’s Doubles:
The duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won their men’s doubles Group C match against France’s Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar 21-17, 21-14 in straight sets, finishing the match in 46 minutes.
Women’s Doubles:
Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto faced defeat in their opening match against South Korea’s Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong, losing 21-18, 21-10. The match lasted 46 minutes.
Hockey:
The Indian Men’s Hockey Team began their campaign with a thrilling 3-2 win against New Zealand. Goals from Mandeep Singh (24′), Vivek Sagar Prasad (34′), and Harmanpreet Singh (59′) secured a strong start in Pool B, which includes reigning Olympic champions Belgium, Australia, Ireland, and Argentina.
Table Tennis:
Harmeet Desai advanced to the Round of 64 in the men’s singles table tennis after beating Jordan’s Zaid Abo Yaman 4-0 (11-7, 11-9, 11-5, 11-5). He will face Felix Lebrun of France on Sunday at the South Paris Arena.
Boxing:
Preeti Pawar advanced to the Round of 16 in women’s 54 kg boxing, defeating Vietnam’s Vo Thi Kim Anh by unanimous decision. Despite trailing in the first round, Pawar made a strong comeback to secure victory in her maiden Olympic game.
Rowing:
India’s rowing campaign started shakily as Balraj Panwar finished fourth in his heat race with a timing of 7:07:11 minutes. Only the top three from each heat advance directly to the quarterfinals.
