The participation of the Indian medal hopefuls is dwindling in the 2024 Paris Olympics, with Manu Bhaker and Deepika Kumari unable to add to the tally on Saturday. While Bhaker, aiming for her third medal in the going competition, finished fourth in her 25m Pistol event, Kumari disappointed yet again, going down in the quarter-final.
Parimatch News looks at Team India’s performances across various sports on the eighth day of the Summer Games.
Shooting
Manu Bhaker, who became the first Indian to win two medals in a single Olympics, was chasing a remarkable feat as she aimed to bring home a third medal. However, she narrowly missed out on a podium finish at the Paris 2024 Olympics, placing fourth in the women’s 25m pistol final with a total score of 28.
The former Youth Olympics champion, Bhaker, was initially in second place after the first stage and maintained her position among the medal contenders until the end of the seventh series. However, her momentum shifted when she converted only two of her five shots with scores of 10.2 or higher in the eighth series, resulting in a shoot-off for the bronze medal. Unfortunately, she was outscored by Hungarian shooter Veronika Major.
In the women’s skeet qualification event, Maheshwari Chauhan ranked eighth after the first day. The 28-year-old Indian shooter recorded a total of 71 (23, 24, 24) in the first three rounds, keeping herself in contention for a top-six spot in the qualification round.
The top six shooters will advance to the final after the five rounds tomorrow. Maheshwari, the reigning Asian Championships bronze medallist, holds the highest ranking among Indian skeet shooters thus far in Paris.
Meanwhile, Raiza Dhillon currently stands in 25th position, having scored 66 (21, 22, 23) in the first three rounds. The fourth and fifth rounds of the qualification event along with the women’s skeet final, will take place on August 4th at the Chateauroux.
In the men’s skeet qualification round, Indian shooter Anant Jeet Singh Naruka finished in 24th place on Saturday. Despite shooting a total of 116 in five rounds at the Chateauroux, it wasn’t enough to secure a spot in the final on his Olympic debut.
Sailing
Indian sailor Nethra Kumanan currently stands in 24th place in the women’s dinghy standings after six races. She had previously been ranked 11th following Race 3.
On Saturday, Nethra’s performance suffered as she finished 28th in both Race 4 and Race 5 and 20th in Race 6. As a result, the 26-year-old concluded the third day with a total of 96 net points (124 total points).
Nethra had a promising start, finishing sixth in the opening race of the 10-race series on August 1. However, she must now secure a position among the top 10 boats by the end of the series to qualify for the medal event.
In the men’s dinghy event, India’s Vishnu Saravanan finished 21st in Race 5 and 13th in Race 6 at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Saturday. After Race 6, Saravanan, an Asian Games bronze medalist, is ranked 23rd with 83 net points (117 total points). He moved down one spot from his position on Friday. Race 7 and Race 8 in both competitions will take place on August 4.
Archery
Deepika Kumari succumbed under pressure yet again
Indian archer Deepika Kumari was defeated by Suhyeon Nam of Korea 4-6 in the quarterfinals of the women’s individual event, thus ending India’s campaign in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Deepika had earlier defeated Michelle Kroppen of Germany 6-4 in the round of 16 today. However, the Indian archer could not repeat her performance and put an inconsistent show in the crucial game to bow out.
Deepika had a 4-2 lead after three sets and was on course to advance into the semi-final but a seven-point arrow meant her opponent had an opportunity to bounce. The match was tied at 4-4 after four sets, but Nam’s consistency earned her the fifth set and a place in the semifinals.
Deepika had been criticised for her below-par performance in the team event and struggled with consistency in this match. She scored 28-26 in the first set, but Nam tied the match at 28-25 in the second set. Deepika regained the lead in the third set with a score of 29-28 but lost the fourth set 27-29. In the deciding set, Deepika scored 9-9-9, while Nam scored 10-9-10 to win the match.
In the women’s individual Round of 16 archery match, Bhajan Kaur of India lost to Diananda Choirunisa of Indonesia 6-5. Bhajan chased her opponent throughout the contest and forced a shoot-off with a crucial 10 on her final shot in the fourth set. However, she shot an eight in the one-shot decider, while Choirunisa scored a nine to advance to the quarterfinals.
Golf
On Saturday, Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma recorded a 1-over in the third round of the men’s golf event at the Paris 2024 Olympics. With a total score of 211, Shubhankar dropped from a tied 25th spot and is now tied 34th in the standings with just one round remaining.
Meanwhile, Gaganjeet Bhullar climbed four spots and is tied for 48th place with an on-par score today. He now has an overall score of 215.
Reigning Olympic champion Xander Schauffele of the United States and two-time Ryder Cup winner Jon Rahm of Spain are currently tied for the lead at 14-under after three rounds.
The final round of the men’s golf tournament will commence tomorrow, August 4, at 12:30 PM IST.
Boxing
A controversial decision denied Nishant Dev a win in the quarter-final
In a valiant effort, Nishant Dev fought bravely in the men’s 71kg quarterfinal against second seed Marco Verde. However, despite his spirited performance, Dev ultimately lost by a split decision with a score of 4:1, leaving him unable to add to India’s medal tally.
At the start of the bout, 23-year-old Nishant took control, winning the opening round comfortably. He began the second round well, landing a series of impressive jabs hooks on Marco. However, in a surprising turn of events, the judges awarded the second round to the Mexican.
With the pressure mounting in the final round, Marco started aggressively, catching Nishant with a powerful uppercut. He then pushed Nishant onto the ropes and continued to attack him. While the Indian boxer defended himself effectively by ducking and evading, his work rate decreased as the round progressed. Marco capitalised on this dip in tempo, securing the victory.
Despite the 1-4 score margin, the result seems controversial to Nishant, considering his dominance in the opening round and the majority of the second round.