Manu Bhaker and Lakshya Sen headline historic day: India at 2024 Paris Olympics Day 7 Roundup

Following the disappointing day six of the Paris 2024 Olympics, the Indian athletes turned the tables on Friday, showcasing an array of remarkable performances across different sporting categories. While it was the end of the journey for a few players, the medal aspirants maintained their relentless pursuit of glory.

Parimatch News provides a detailed review and analysis of Team India’s performances on the seventh day of the Summer Games. 

Shooting

Manu Bhaker is on the brink of history after she ranked second in the women’s 25-meter pistol qualification round with a score of 590-24x. In the precision stage, Bhaker scored 294, and in the rapid stage, she notched 296 to advance to the final scheduled for August 3 at 1:00 PM IST in Chateauroux.

With two bronze medals already secured at Paris 2024, another medal on Saturday would make Bhaker the first Indian athlete to win three medals in individual events at a single Olympics. 

Meanwhile, Esha Singh, finished 18th with a score of 581-17x, failing to make the cut for the final. Esha scored 291 in precision and 290 in rapid, missing out on a spot in the women’s 25-meter pistol final.

Don’t miss: Bhaker-Sarabjot wins second bronze medal for India in shooting: Day 4 Roundup

In the men’s skeet qualification event, Anant Jeet Singh Naruka ended 26th with 68 after the first day of competition. He shot 23 in the first and third rounds and 22 in the second round. The fourth and fifth rounds will take place on August 3, and only the top six shooters after both days of qualification will advance to the final, which is also scheduled for tomorrow.

Archery

India’s archery mixed team, comprising Ankita Bhakat and Dhiraj Bommadevara, narrowly missed out on a podium finish after losing to Casey Kaufhold and Brady Ellison of the United States 2-6 in the bronze medal match.

In their first-ever Olympic archery semi-final, India put up a valiant effort but fell just short of reaching the podium. Kaufhold and Ellison outscored the Indian pair 38-37 and 37-35 in the first and second sets, respectively. India managed to fight back in the third set with two 10s, but the American duo regained control in the decisive set to secure the victory.

India, who were seeded fifth in the mixed team archery event at the ongoing Summer Games, had previously defeated Indonesia in the pre-quarterfinals and Spain in the quarterfinals before losing 2-6 to the Republic of Korea in the semi-finals. 

Rowing

Balraj Panwar of India placed 23rd overall in his Olympic debut in the men’s singles sculls event. The 25-year-old Army man, who only started rowing four years ago, clocked a time of 7:02.37 in the final D and finished fifth.

Despite his impressive performance, Panwar was unable to surpass India’s previous best finish in rowing at the Olympics. The record still belongs to Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh, who finished 11th in the men’s lightweight double sculls event at the Tokyo 2020 Games.

As a result of Panwar’s finish, India’s rowing campaign at the ongoing Summer Games has come to an end.

Hockey

In a thrilling encounter at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium, the Indian men’s hockey team emerged victorious over Australia, winning their Pool B match 3-2. It was India’s first victory against Australia in men’s hockey in the Olympics since 1972. 

India took a commanding lead in the first quarter, with Abhishek (12th minute) and Harmanpreet Singh (13th minute) scoring in quick succession. However, Australia responded through a penalty corner converted by Thomas Craig in the 25th minute. 

Harmanpreet extended India’s advantage in the third quarter with his second goal of the game in the 32nd minute. Blake Govers kept Australia’s chances alive with a late penalty goal (55th minute), setting up a tense finish to the contest. Nevertheless, India showed resilience in holding on to its lead and securing three points.

The men’s hockey quarter-finals at the Paris 2024 Olympics are scheduled to begin on August 4.

Judo

Indian judoka Tulika Maan lost against Cuba’s Idalys Ortiz in the women’s +78kg elimination Round of 32. The match lasted only 28 seconds, with Ortiz winning by a score of 10-0.

As a result, Maan was eliminated from the competition. Maan will not be able to take part in the repechage, which only allows losers from the quarter-finals to compete for bronze medals. 

Sailing

Indian sailor Vishnu Saravanan, who is participating in the men’s dinghy event, finished 20th and 19th in the third and fourth races, respectively.

The 25-year-old is now ranked 22nd in the men’s dinghy standings with 49 net points (83 total points). 

In the women’s dinghy event at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Friday, Nethra Kumanan finished 15th and 27th in the second and third races, respectively and currently has 21 net points (48 total points). She is currently placed 11th. 

Only the top 10 boats at the end of the 10-race opening series, in either event, will advance to the medal round. 

Golf

Shubhankar Sharma and Gaganjeet Bhullar made significant strides from their first-round performance in Friday’s men’s golf competition. After the second round, both players climbed four places in the rankings, with Sharma tied for 25th and Bhullar tied at 52nd spot. 

Sharma, who finished the first day tied for 29th at Le Golf National, shot a 2-under 69 in the second round to move up the leaderboard. The Indian golfer recorded two eagles and as many birdies over the 18 holes, overcoming four bogies. He now shares the 25th position with four other players: Kristoffer Ventura of Norway, Fabrizio Zanotti of Paraguay, Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark, and Dou Zecheng of China.

Bhullar also had a solid second round, carding a 2-under score to bounce back from his disappointing 4-over performance in the opening round. He currently holds a tie for 52nd place with a total score of 2-over 144.

India’s best finish in the men’s golf event at the Olympics remains Anirban Lahiri’s 42nd place, achieved at the Tokyo 2020 Games. The top three golfers after four rounds will receive medals in the competition.

Badminton

In a thrilling men’s singles quarter-final badminton match at the Paris 2024 Olympics, shuttler Lakshya Sen, the only Indian alive in the Games, emerged victorious over Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei 19-21, 21-15, 21-12. 

The encounter at La Chapelle Arena on Friday lasted 75 minutes, with Sen prevailing in a closely contested battle. With the win, Sen became the first Indian male badminton player to reach the semi-finals of the singles event at the Olympics.

Chen, the 12th seed, secured the first game in a high-intensity encounter. However, Sen, ranked 22nd in the world, showcased his dominance in the second game. The third game was characterised by gruelling long rallies but Sen maintained his composure and sealed the game by nine points.

In the semi-final scheduled for Sunday, Lakshya Sen will face either Loh Kean Yew, the 10th seed, or Viktor Axelsen, the reigning Olympic champion from Denmark.

Athletics

In the women’s 5000m event, Parul Chaudhary placed 14th in the first round’s heat 2, missing out on advancing to the medal event. Her time of 15:10.68 was a season-best, but 0.33s shy of her national record. Overall, she ranked 24th. Parul will also compete in the women’s 3000m steeplechase at Paris 2024.

Meanwhile, Ankita finished 20th in heat 1 with a time of 16:19.38. She placed 40th overall in the event.

In the men’s shot put qualification round, Tajinderpal Singh Toor finished 15th in Group A and ranked 29th overall. In his first and only valid attempt, he threw 18.05m, which fell short of the qualification standard for the final.