Paris Olympics 2024: Manu Bhakar headlines opening day, Shuttlers shine

Mangalore Today News Network

Paris, July 28, 2024: Shooting prodigy Manu Bhakar thrilled Indian fans as she moved into the medal round of the Women’s 10 m Air Pistol event, while badminton sensation Lakshya Sen and genuine medal hope pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty demonstrated their class. The men’s hockey team also posted a group stage win over the Kiwis in stunning fashion before Preeti Pawar boxed her way into the pre-quarters of the 54 Kg women’s boxing event.

Ramita and Arjun Babuta finished sixth with a total score of 628.7, while Elavenil Valarivan and Sandeep Singh ended in 12th place with an aggregate score of 626.3, thereby failing to make it to the medal rounds as only the top four can move on.

India’s lone rower Balraj Panwar, competing in his first Olympic Games, finished 4th in the Men’s Single Sculls event. The 25-year-old will now participate in the repechage round on Sunday.

India’s Sarabjot Singh and Arjun Singh Cheema failed to get qualification to the medal round of the men’s 10m Air Pistol event. Sarabjot narrowly missed out, finishing 9th with an overall score of 574-17x, while Cheema lost the plot after a promising start to slip out of the top eight as well.

Manu Bhaker finished third to qualify for the 10m Air Pistol Women’s final. The 22-year-old shot 580 to finish third in the qualifications in which Hungarian ace Veronika Major claimed the top spot with a score of 582. The final will take place on Sunday.

Debutant Olympic paddler Harmeet Desai progressed to the second round of the men’s singles table tennis competition with a convincing 4-0 victory over Jordan’s Zaid Abo Yaman at the Paris Games.

Ace Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen triumphed in two straight sets of 21-8 22-20 against reigning Pan American champion Cordon in his Olympics debut match that lasted 42 minutes.

Business as usual for the dynamic Indian duo of Satwik-Chirag who put away the French duo of Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar in two straight sets of 21-17, 21-14 in an encounter that lasted 46 minutes to seal a win in the group stage fixture.

South Korean women’s doubles badminton duo of Kim So Yong and Kong Hee Yong got the better of the Indian pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto in their Group C fixture 21-18, 21-10.

In the penultimate minute, Harmanpreet Singh inspired India to a thrilling 3-2 win over New Zealand as India start their campaign off with on a high.

Preeti Pawar recovered from a sluggish start to her campaign and went on to pick up a 5-0 win over Vietnamese opponent Vo Thi Kim Anh in her Round of 32 bout in the 54 Kg category.