On the opening day of the Paris 2024 Olympics, India’s performance was a blend of highs and lows. Here’s a recap of how Indian athletes fared:
Hockey: The Indian Men’s Hockey Team kicked off their campaign with a thrilling 3-2 victory over New Zealand. Goals from Mandeep Singh (24′), Vivek Sagar Prasad (34′), and Harmanpreet Singh (59′) secured a strong start in Pool B, which also features reigning champions Belgium, Australia, Ireland, and Argentina.
Shooting: In the 10 Metre Air Rifle Mixed Team event, India’s participation ended in disappointment as neither of the two Indian teams—Elavenil Valarivan/Sandeep Singh and Arjun Babuta/Ramita Jindal—advanced to the medal rounds. Out of 28 teams, only the top four moved forward.
In Men’s 10 Metre Air Pistol, Sarabjot Singh and Arjun Cheema also fell short of making the final, finishing 9th and 18th respectively.
On a brighter note, Manu Bhaker qualified for the final in the Women’s 10 Metre Air Pistol by finishing third in the qualification round, while Rhythm Sangwan did not advance.
Badminton: In Men’s Singles, Lakshya Sen won against Guatemala’s Kevin Cordon with scores of 21-8, 22-20. In Men’s Doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty defeated France’s Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar 21-17, 21-14. However, in Women’s Doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto lost their match to Korea’s Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong with scores of 21-18, 21-10.
Table Tennis: Harmeet Desai advanced to the Round of 64 in Men’s Singles after a 4-0 win against Jordan’s Zaid Abo Yaman. He will compete against Felix Lebrun of France in the next round.
Boxing: Preeti Pawar moved to the Round of 16 in the women’s 54 kg category by defeating Vietnam’s Vo Thi Kim Anh. Despite trailing after the first round, Pawar came back strongly to secure the win.
Rowing: Balraj Panwar’s rowing event did not go as planned, as he finished fourth in his heat race with a time of 7:07:11 minutes, missing out on a direct quarterfinal spot.
