New Delhi: A day after some medal favourites from India bowed out of the Paris Olympics 2024, Friday was a day of resurrection for some medal prospects still out there, and inching closer to accomplish their dreams. Youngster Lakshya Sen becomes the first male shuttler to make it through to the semifinal stage of men’s singles at the Olympics.
The 22-year-old Sen from Almora turned a first-game deficit to bounce back against Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in their quarterfinal clash to prevail 19-21 21-15 21-12. With two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and World No.3 men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty crashing out of the knockout stage, the hopes of India’s medal streak in badminton has totally shifted on Lakshya’s shoulders.
HISTORY 🇮🇳 First Indian male shuttler to reach the semifinals of the Olympics.
Lakshya Sen storms into the semifinal in the badminton men’s singles💥Such a valiant effort ⚡️#Paris2024 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/0gxVIF8S8s
— Doordarshan Sports (@ddsportschannel) August 2, 2024
The Indian men’s hockey team defeated Australia for the first time in 52 years at the Olympics. In their final Pool B faceoff, India eked out the Kookaburas 3-2 to win against the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist, it was the first for the Men in Blue after 1972 Berlin Games (where India beat Australia 3-1). Harmanpreet Singh’s brace and Abhishek’s early lead in the 12th minute put India ahead of their nemesis.
Manu Bhaker inched one step further to create history after she qualified for the final of women’s 25m pistol. The 22-year-old shooter finished second in the 40-women final with a total score of 590 from the combined rounds of precision (294 points from three shots) and rapid (296 points from three shots). Esha Singh, who was another Indian shooter in this competition, ended at 18th position with 581 points (291 in precision and 290 in rapid).
Anantjeet Singh Naruka finished at 26th spot in the men’s skeet qualification event. He completed a total of 68 points from three rounds with two more rounds left in the event tomorrow. The chances of the Indian qualifying looks bleak as he will need to hit all his targets and depend on his opponents to fall down from their top positions.
Indian mixed archery team loses in bronze medal match
Indian archers Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat lost in the mixed team bronze medal match with a 2-6 defeat to USA’s Casey Kaufhold and Brady Ellison (37-38, 35-37, 38-34, 35-37). This brings the end of the Paris Olympics for both the archers after they were eliminated from their respective teams and inidividual events at different stages. Bhajan Kaur and Deepika Kumari are the only medal hopes left for India’s elusive podium finish in archery.
India’s lone judoka Tulika Mann lost in the opening round of the women’s +78kg category to Cuba’s Idalys Ortiz by a heavy margin of 0-10. Meanwhile, Indian rower Balraj Panwar ended his Paris Games campaign in 23rd position in the men’s single sculls event after signing off at fifth in the Final D round here on Friday. The 25-year-old from Haryana clocked 7:02.37, his best timing of the Games, in Final D, which was not a medal round.
A day after some medal favourites from India bowed out of the Paris Olympics 2024, Friday was a day of resurrection for some medal prospects still out there, and inching closer to accomplish their dreams. Youngster Lakshya Sen becomes the first male shuttler to make it through to the semifinal stage of men’s singles at the Olympics. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
