India at Paris 2024 Olympics, Day 3, as it happened: Manu Bhaker set for another bronze showdown, Satwik-Chirag make badminton quarters
Shooter Manu Bhaker headlined India’s result for the third day in a row at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Partnering Sarabjot Singh, she advanced to the 10m air pistol mixed team bronze medal match after the duo finished third in the qualification round.
Ramita Jindal and Arjun Babuta, however, fell short of an Olympic podium in their respective 10m air rifle finals on Monday.
In badminton, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty confirmed India’s first men’s doubles quarter-finals spot in their second Olympic appearance. Lakshya Sen won his men’s singles match to stay in quarters contention.
Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto, on the other hand, suffered back-to-back defeats and will not make the last eight in the women’s doubles.
With a late goal, Harmanpreet Singh rescued a point for India in the men’s hockey Pool B clash against Argentina.
Manika Batra, meanwhile, became the first Indian table tennis player to make the round of 16 in a singles competition at the Olympics.
However, contrary to expectations, the Indian men’s archery team delivered an underwhelming performance and lost their quarter-finals clash against Turkiye.
Table tennis: Manika Batra breezes into round of 16
India's Manika Batra beat home favourite Prithika Pavade in the table tennis women's singles round of 32 at the Paris 2024 Olympics. The 29-year-old Batra became the first Indian table tennis player to make the round of 16 in the Olympics.
Batra, a Commonwealth Games champion, won 11-9, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7 against her 18th-ranked French counterpart after 37 minutes at the South Paris Arena. The Indian table tennis ace overcame a two-point deficit in the first game, followed by a comfortable second. Despite the 19-year-old Pavade's resistance in the final two games, the world No. 28 held her nerve to advance in the last 16.
Batra will face eighth seed Miu Hirano (Japan) or unseeded Zhu Chengzhu (Hong Kong China) in the women's singles pre-quarterfinals.
Score: Manika Batra beat Prithika Pavade 4-0 in table tennis women's singles round of 32 match.
India's tennis ace Rohan Bopanna retires from national team
Rohan Bopanna, a three-time Olympian, announced his retirement from the Indian tennis team on Monday.
World No. 4 Bopanna partnered N Sriram Balaji in the men's doubles competition at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where they exited in the first round. The 44-year-old tennis icon was the oldest member of the Indian contingent in this edition of the Summer Games.
However, Bopanna will continue to compete on the ATP circuit.
For more information, click here.
Coming up... Manika Batra's table tennis singles R32 match
Ace Indian table tennis player Manika Batra will take on France's Prithika Pavade in the women's singles round of 32 match at 12:30 AM IST tonight. It is India's final event of Day 3 at the Paris Olympics 2024.
Batra, seeded 18th at Paris 2024, beat Anna Hursey of Great Britain 4-1 at the South Paris Arena on Sunday.
At Tokyo 2020, Batra became the first female table tennis player from India to reach the round of 32 in singles at an Olympics, a feat replicated in Paris. Her Gold Coast 2018 gold was historic too, making Batra the first Indian player to medal in women's singles at the Commonwealth Games.
The 12th-seeded Pavade, making her second Summer Games appearance, won 4-1 against the Islamic Republic of Iran's Neda Shahsavari on Sunday.
"Need to work more on myself" - Indian archer Dhiraj Bommadevara
Dhiraj Bommadevara was a part of the Indian men's archery team that lost to Turkiye in the quarter-final earlier today.
Bommadevara, who finished fourth in the individual ranking round on Thursday, registered the lowest score among the Indian trio at the Les Invalides in the quarters. His final shot, marked at seven, turned out to be crucial in the fourth set.
Speaking after the defeat, Bommadevara said, "I need to work more on myself and really, thanks to my teammates for believing in me. I will learn from these situations and try not to repeat my mistakes and get back stronger.
“The main thing is to focus on myself rather than other situations. The second thing is to make decisions about the wind. After making decisions today, what happened is I didn’t believe in my decision. Small things count and every single arrow. I’m sure I’m coming back from it," the Asian Games 2023 silver medallist added.
The Republic of Korea’s stunning archery record
Jeon Hun-young, Lim Si-hyeon and Nam Su-hyeon continued the Republic of Korea’s legacy in the women’s team archery Olympic competition on Sunday.
At Paris 2024, the trio beat the People’s Republic of China team to win the gold medal in the women’s archery competition.
Since the inception of this event at the Olympics at Seoul 1988, all 10 gold medals have been bagged by the Republic of Korea!
The men's team, meanwhile, clinched their seventh title on Monday after winning the gold medal match against hosts France. They have failed to stand on an Olympic podium only once - Barcelona 1992.
Indian men's hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh calls for improvement in finishing
Harmanpreet Singh, the Indian captain, converted a crucial penalty corner in the penultimate minute of the men's hockey Pool B against Argentina on Monday and earned his team a vital point at Paris 2024.
India threatened to score throughout the match. While the finishing wasn't up to the mark, the Argentine goalkeeper also made seven saves.
Speaking on his team's performance, Harmanpreet said, "That was a good comeback. We've been fighting until the last whistle, we had so many chances. We're glad that we scored a goal."
"We created some chances, but the finishing was not there. In the next game we need to focus on our finishing. I think we were carrying the ball very well and getting into the circle. The finishing should be there,” stated the Indian captain.
Novak Djokovic trumps Rafael Nadal in blockbuster tennis clash
Serbia's Novak Djokovic beat Spaniard Rafael Nadal 6-1, 6-4 in the men's singles second round match at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Monday.
In a much-anticipated clash at the Court Philippe-Chatrier, top-seeded Djokovic won the first set comfortably in 39 minutes.
Nadal, an Olympic champion, however, stepped up his performance in the second set. But despite notching more points on the first serve and a higher break point conversion rate, Nadal lost the set to the Beijing 2008 bronze medallist.
Boasting an incredible record at Roland Garros, 14-time French Open champion Nadal has lost just five out of 117 matches on these courts. Three of those defeats, interestingly, have been against Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam winner.
Djokovic, meanwhile, has now won 31 of his 60 matches against Nadal in men's singles tennis.
Score: Novak Djokovic won 6-1, 6-4 against Rafael Nadal in round two of the tennis men's singles.
Archery: India go down to Turkiye in men's team quarters
The Indian men's archery team, Dhiraj Bommadevara, Tarundeep Rai and Pravin Jadhav, lost 6-2 to Turkiye and were knocked out in the quarter-finals at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Monday.
The Indian trio were outscored 57-53 and 55-52 in the first two sets at Les Invalides. While the third set also seemed to be going Turkiye's way, Berkim Tumer misfired a seven in their penultimate shot, allowing India to take the set.
In the final set, Jadhav shot two 10s but Bommadevara, a two-time World Cup bronze medallist, hit only a seven in the team's final attempt. Mete Gazoz, the reigning Olympic individual champion, followed with a 10 as Turkiye won the fourth set 58-54.
India were also defeated in the women's team archery quarter-finals on Sunday.
Score: India lost 6-2 against Turkiye in the archery men's team quarter-finals.
Satwik-Chirag advance to badminton quarters
Indian men's doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Paris Olympics 2024 on Monday.
The Indian duo have confirmed a spot in the top eight following Lucas Corvee-Ronan Labar's defeat against Muhammad Rian Ardianto-Fajar Alfian in Group C earlier today.
Featuring in their second Summer Games, Satwik-Chirag scripted history by becoming the first Indian badminton doubles pair to advance to the quarter-finals at the Olympics.
Satwik-Chirag will play Ardianto-Alfian in their final group match on July 30 (tomorrow) at 5:30 PM IST before stepping out at the La Chapelle Arena in the last eight on August 1.
Badminton: Lakshya Sen passes Belgian challenge
In the Group L men's singles badminton match, India's Lakshya Sen overcame Belgian shuttler Julien Carraggi's challenge in straight sets at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
World No. 18 Sen, a former Youth Olympics silver medallist, won 21-19, 21-14 after 43 minutes at the La Chapelle Arena on Monday. While Sen had to turn over a four-point deficit to clinch the first game, the Indian badminton player was in complete command in the second over his 52nd-ranked opponent.
On Sunday, Lakshya Sen's result against Guatemala's Kevin Cordon, a victory, was deleted, as per BWF General Competition Regulations for group stage play, after the latter pulled out of the Paris 2024 Olympics due to a left elbow injury.
The 22-year-old Sen will take on third seed Jonatan Christie, 26, in his final Group L match on Wednesday, July 31 at 1:40 PM IST. A win against his Indonesian opponent will take Sen through to the pre-quarterfinals as the group winner.
Get India's Paris 2024 badminton tournament results here.
Score: Lakshya Sen beat Julien Carraggi 21-19, 21-14 in badminton men's singles Group L match.
Hockey: India snatch late draw vs Argentina
The Indian men's hockey team, who trailed for the majority of the Pool B match on Monday, shared the points with Argentina at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Los Leones took a 1-0 lead in the second quarter against the record Olympic champions, courtesy of forward Lucas Martinez. But Indian captain Harmanpreet Singh smashed a penalty corner in the penultimate minute, earning his team a draw at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium.
In the third quarter, Argentina had an opportunity to make it a two-goal lead. However, Maico Casella Schuth put the penalty stroke wide of PR Sreejesh's goal.
India edged the possession 55-45 in their second Paris 2024 contest while also making 17 attacking circle penetrations, four more than Argentina. But the Tokyo 2020 bronze medallists found it difficult to beat Argentine shot-stopper Tomas Santiago, who made seven saves.
India, who beat New Zealand 3-2 on Saturday, are currently third in the men's hockey Pool B standings with four points. Only the top four teams from both groups will make the quarter-finals at Paris 2024.
Score: India draw 1-1 against Argentina in men's hockey Pool B match.
Shooting: Prithviraj Tondaiman struggles in trap qualification
India's Prithviraj Tondaiman is ranked 30th after the first day of the men's trap qualification round in shooting at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Making his Olympic debut, Tondaiman, 37, notched scores of 22, 25 and 21 on Monday. He notched a perfect score in the second round, however, missed his mark thrice in the first round and four times in the second. Tondaiman is the only Indian shooter in the event at the Summer Games.
The men's trap qualification round will resume for the final two rounds tomorrow.
Indian athletes with the fourth-place "heartbreak" at the Olympics
On Monday, Arjun Babuta joined the list of Indians who have finished fourth at the Olympic Games. He is only the third Indian shooter to finish fourth at the Olympics.
Here's the full list:
- Randhir Shinde (wrestling) - Antwerp 1920
- Keshav Mangave (wrestling) - Helsinki 1952
- Men's football team - Melbourne 1956
- Milkha Singh (athletics) - Rome 1960
- Prem Nath (wrestling) - Munich 1972
- Sudesh Kumar (wrestling) - Munich 1972
- PT Usha (athletics) - Los Angeles 1984
- Rajinder Singh (wrestling) - Los Angeles 1984
- Leander Paes/Mahesh Bhupati (tennis) - Athens 2004
- Kunjarani Devi (weightlifting) - Athens 2004
- Joydeep Karmakar (shooting) - London 2012
- Abhinav Bindra (shooting) - Rio 2016
- Sania Mirza/Rohan Bopanna (tennis) - Rio 2016
- Dipa Karmakar (gymnastics) - Rio 2016
- Aditi Ashok (golf) - Tokyo 2020
- Women’s hockey team - Tokyo 2020
- Arjun Babuta (shooting) - Paris 2024
Shooting: Arjun Babuta falls short of 10m air rifle podium
Indian shooter Arjun Babuta finished fourth in the men's 10m air rifle final at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Monday.
Scoring 208.4, Babuta was in medal contention for the majority of the first stage and early in the second stage. The 25-year-old, however, marked a 9.5 in his final attempt to fall 1.4 short of medal contention.
Babuta, a two-time gold medallist at the Changwon World Cup in 2022, made his Olympic debut at Paris 2024. He also featured in the mixed team event, alongside Ramita Jindal, where India ranked sixth.
Earlier today, Ramita also failed to make the women's 10m air rifle podium in Paris.
Sheng Lihao from the People's Republic of China, meanwhile, upgraded Tokyo 2020 silver to gold at Paris 2024 while scoring 252.2. Lihao, 19, also smashed the Olympic record of 251.6, previously held by USA's William Shaner.
With a score of 254.5, Sheng Lihao, notably, broke the world record mark last month.
Sweden's Victor Lindgren, the 2023 world champion, settled for the silver medal in Paris and Miran Maricic of Croatia bagged the bronze.
Score: Arjun Babuta ranks fourth in the men's 10m air rifle final with a score of 208.4.
PR Sreejesh, the 'Wall of India', speaks ahead of Argentina clash
The Indian men's hockey team goalkeeper PR Sreejesh expressed his feelings on his "Wall of India" nickname ahead of the team's match against Argentina today.
The 36-year-old Sreejesh, now a four-time Olympian, was an integral of India's Olympic bronze and Asian Games title-winning campaigns. Ahead of the Paris 2024 men's hockey tournament, Sreejesh announced that it would be his last international outing with the senior national side.
Novak Djokovic vs Rafael Nadal on today's agenda
Tennis stars Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Spain's Rafael Nadal will face each other at Paris 2024 on Monday.
The Rafael Nadal vs Novak Djokovic Paris 2024 Olympics tennis men’s singles second-round clash will start around 5:00 PM at the Court Philippe-Chatrier.
In 59 previous matches, Djokovic has won 30 while Nadal has 29 victories. The Spaniard won this fixture in the semi-final of the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
With 24 Grand Slam titles, the 37-year-old Djokovic has established himself as one of the greatest in men's singles tennis. Nadal, 38, has won 22 Grand Slams, including a record 14 French Open titles.
Rahul Dravid heaps praise on Manu Bhaker after Olympic bronze
Rahul Dravid, a T20 World Cup-winning cricket coach, was at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Sunday. The former Indian men's cricket team head coach was a part of a panel discussion organized by Dream Sports in the French capital.
Speaking at the event, Dravid congratulated Manu Bhaker, India's first medallist at Paris 2024, for her bronze medal in the women's 10m air pistol event.
"To come here and to be able to get over her past failures and win a bronze medal is a phenomenal achievement which takes years of sacrifice," said Dravid. "The Olympics is the pinnacle of a lot of sports. To be able to put that performance at such a young age under so much pressure is commendable. I congratulate her.
"She has inspired so many young people back home in India," stated the 51-year-old Indian cricket legend.
Japan joint-top in medal table at Paris 2024
With four gold, two silver and one bronze medal, Japan are currently joint-top in the medal table at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
- Gold - Koki Kano (fencing), Natsumi Tsunoda (judo), Hifumi Abe (judo) and Coco Yoshizawa (skateboarding)
- Silver - Liz Akama (skateboarding) and Tomoyuki Matsushita (swimming)
- Bronze - Ryuju Nagayama (judo)
The Republic of Korea, meanwhile, have also won four gold, two silver and one bronze medal at Paris 2024. Australia are currently at six medals, four gold and two silver. The USA, notably, have won 12 medals so far.
Manu Bhaker's bronze medal sees India tied at 22nd with seven other NOCs.
When will Neeraj Chopra be in action at the Paris 2024 Olympics?
As the World Athletics social media post below says, athletics events at the Olympics start in just three days. Neeraj Chopra’s javelin throw event, though, begins on August 6.
Badminton: Tanisha Crasto-Ashwini Ponnappa fail to make quarters
India's Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa were defeated 21-11, 21-12 in 48 minutes by Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida of Japan in the badminton women's doubles Group C match at the La Chapelle Arena on Monday.
The fourth-seeded pair handed Crasto-Ponnappa their second defeat at Paris 2024. The Indian duo had lost in straight games to the Republic of Korea's Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong on Saturday.
The Republic of Korea team beat Australia's Setyana Mapasa and Angela Yu later in the day. As a result, Crasto-Ponnappa will not make the quarter-finals of the women's doubles competition at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Score: Tanisha Crasto-Ashwini Ponnappa lost 21-11, 21-12 against Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida in badminton women's doubles Group C match.
Shooting: Manu Bhaker-Sarabjot Singh advance to bronze match
Indian shooters Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh progressed to the 10m air pistol mixed team bronze medal match at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Monday.
Bhaker-Sarabjot shot 580 in the three series to finish third, ahead of the Republic of Korea's Oh Ye Jin and Lee Wonho in fourth, in the qualification round. The two teams will feature in the bronze medal match tomorrow at 1:00 PM IST where Bhaker will eye her second bronze at the Chateauroux.
Turkiye's Sevval Ilayda Tarhan and Yusuf Dikec, meanwhile, equalled the Olympic qualification record of 582, set by India at Tokyo 2020. In the gold medal match, they will take on Serbian duo Zorana Arunovic and Damir Mikec. Both pairs are assured a medal at Paris 2024.
Meanwhile, Rhythm Sangwan and Arjun Singh Cheema, the other Indian duo, scored 576 and finished 10th in the 10m air pistol mixed team qualification round.
Score: Manu Bhaker-Sarabjot Singh finished third with a score of 580 in the 10m air pistol final. Rhythm Sangwan-Arjun Singh Chemma ranked 10th.
Ramita Jindal ranked seventh in 10m air rifle final
Ramita Jindal finished seventh in the women's 10m air rifle final. Having qualified fifth, Ramita was in medal contention early in the final. A 9.7 on the 10th shot, however, dropped her down to seventh. Eventually, she lost a shoot-off against France's Oceanne Muller. Ramita recorded 10.5 whereas Muller shot 10.8.
The 16-year-old Ban Hyojin of the Republic of Korea, who smashed the Olympic qualification record on Sunday, won the gold medal in a thrilling shoot-off against the People's Republic of China's Huang Yuting. Hyojin hit 10.4 to clinch the title while Yuting notched 10.3 to settle for silver.
Both shooters, however, equalled the Olympic record of 251.8 set by Yang Qian at Tokyo 2020.
Audrey Gogniat of Switzerland bagged the bronze with a score of 230.3.
Score: Ramita Jindal shot 145.3 and finished seventh in the women's 10m air rifle final.
On this day in 1980: India's latest men's hockey gold
The Indian men's hockey team beat Spain 4-3 in the final at Moscow 1980, 44 years ago, to clinch the Olympic title. It was India's eighth and latest gold medal at the Summer Games.
At 4:15 PM IST today, India will go up against Argentina in the Pool B match. The Indian team, chasing a record-extending ninth gold, bagged the bronze medal at Tokyo 2020.
Click here to find out how despite fielding an inexperienced team, India triumphed at Moscow.
Satwik-Chirag’s match vs Lamsfuss-Seidel cancelled
Indian badminton players Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty started their Paris 2024 Olympics men’s doubles campaign with a win against French shuttlers Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar on Saturday.
Satwik-Chirag, ranked third in the badminton rankings, wrapped up the world No. 40 pair 21-17, 21-14 in 47 minutes in Group C.
The reigning Asian and Commonwealth Games champions were scheduled to play German pair Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Seidel today. However, Lamfuss pulled out of the tournament due to a knee injury.
As a result, Lamfuss-Seidel’s matches remaining two Group C matches, including today’s game, have been cancelled. The German duo’s result against Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto, world No. 7 in men’s doubles, has also been deleted as per BWF General Competition Regulations for group stage play.
Satwik-Chirag’s next Group C match will be against the Indonesian pair on July 30 (tomorrow) at 5:30 PM IST.
Where to watch Paris 2024 Olympics live in India
Live streaming of Day 3 of the Paris 2024 Olympics will be available for free on Jio Cinema in India. Live telecast of Paris 2024 Day 3 will be on Sports 18 Network TV channel in India.
Day 2 recap: Manu Bhaker wins historic bronze
Manu Bhaker became the first Indian female shooter to win an Olympic medal after bagging the women’s 10m air pistol bronze on Sunday. It was India’s first medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Fellow shooters Ramita Jindal and Arjun Babuta also made the 10m air rifle finals.
Two shooters - Elavenil Valarivan and Sandeep Singh - along with the Indian women's archery team missed out on making the medal matches.
Boxer Nikhat Zareen and badminton ace PV Sindhu, meanwhile, opened their Paris 2024 campaigns with a victory. Shuttler H.S. Prannoy also overcame his first challenge.
Table tennis stars Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula stormed into the round of 32 while five-time Olympian Sharath Kamal and Harmeet Desai crashed out.
Balraj Panwar, India’s lone rower at Paris 2024, made the men’s single sculls quarter-finals.
All Indian swimmers and tennis players, however, ended their Summer Games stint.
India at Paris 2024 Olympics live: Welcome to the blog!
We are back with the live coverage of Day 3 at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Three medals - two in shooting and one in archery - are on offer on Monday, July 29.
Ramita Jindal will aim for the women’s 10m air rifle title at 1:00 PM IST while Arjun Babuta will shoot in the men’s final at 3:00 PM IST.
Dhiraj Bommadevara, Tarundeep Rai and Pravin Jadhav, the three members of the Indian men’s archery team, will be in quarter-final action at 6:31 PM IST. Medal rounds will also take place today.
Manu Bhaker, India’s first Paris 2024 medallist, partnered by Sarabjot Singh, will be back in action in the 10m air pistol mixed team competition at 12:45 PM IST. Prithviraj Tondaiman will feature in the men’s trap qualification at 1:00 PM.
Lakshya Sen and Tanisha Crasto/Ashwini Ponnappa will continue their Paris 2024 campaigns with badminton events starting at 12:50 PM IST.
World No. 6 India, the eight-time Olympic hockey champions, will take on seventh-ranked Argentina in the men’s Pool B match at 4:15 PM.
Table tennis ace Manika Batra will play India’s last match of the day, taking on France’s Prithika Pavade in the women’s singles round of 32 at 12:30 AM IST (Tuesday).