As we round out the first week of Paris 2024, medals have been awarded and hearts broken in the city of love.
Is it even an Olympics without random missteps at the opening ceremony? A 6km long parade down the Seine River, this year’s opening ceremony received mixed reviews, a symptom of the event organisers taking bold steps to do something different to the usual stadium affair. It rained on this parade, but the misfortunes of the opening ceremony did not end there – accidentally announced the Republic of Korea as their neighbours north of the 38th parallel, and an incorrect instruction from the event organisers resulted in the delegation from Luxembourg facing the wrong direction as they proceeded down the Seine.
With the formalities of the rain engulfed opening ceremony completed, the sun was ready to shine.
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Shooting
For Team India, its first ray of sunshine came through the efforts of 22-year-old Manu Bhaker. On the fourth day of Paris 2024, Manu secured the bronze medal in the Women’s 10m Air Pistol, ending a 12-year long wait for a shooting medal for India at the Olympics. Bhaker also went on to become the first athlete from independent India to win multiple medals at a single edition of the Olympics. She paired up with Sarabjot Singh in the Mixed Team’s 10m Air Pistol to win the bronze medal – India’s second medal at Paris 2024 and first shooting team event medal at the Summer Games.
Last night, India’s Swapnil Kusale took aim in the finals of the Men’s 50m Rifle Three Positions. The Olympic debutant secured his spot at Paris 2024 by coming fourth in the 50m rifle 3 positions at the 2022 World Championship in Cairo, Egypt, and improved this result by winning India’s third bronze medal for shooting, and third medal overall.
Unfortunately, Ramita Jindal and Arjun Babuta fell short in their quest for an Olympic podium in their respective 10m Air Rifle finals on Monday, 29 July. Babuta heartbreakingly finished in fourth-place.
India is still to compete in:
- Women’s 25m Pistol – 2 August at 17:00 (AEST)
- Men’s Skeet – 2 August at 17:30 (AEST)
- Women’s Skeet – 3 August at 17:00 (AEST)
- Men’s 25m Rapid First Pistol – 4 August at 17:00 (AEST)
Hockey
Led by captain Harmanpreet Singh, India’s hockey team beat New Zealand (3-2) and Ireland (2-0), and drew with Argentina (1-1). The record eight-time Olympic champions notched seven points from their first three matches and are guaranteed to finish in the top four of Pool B. With their spot in the men’s hockey tournament quarter-finals secured, the results of Belgium and Australia’s respective matches will determine who India will play in the knock-out stages.
India drew first blood against Belgium, with a field goal in the 18th minute from Olympic games debutant Abhishek Abhishek. The early goal from India put pressure on Belgium for the first time at Paris 2024, and Belgium went into half time with a goal deficit. As defending Olympic champions, Belgium didn’t wait long to respond in the second half, equalising in the 33rd from a Thibeau Stockbroekx field goal. Belgium then took the lead and eventually, the game from a John-John Dohmen field goal in the 44th minute.
The intensity and purpose that India played with will undoubtedly give the team the confidence required to take on Australia in the final Pool B match on 2 August at 21:15 (AEST). In the post-match interview, Harmanpreet Singh commented there were promising moments the team can take away. He said they will review the match closely and are taking it one match a time without jumping ahead to focus on the quarter finals first.
The match against Australia will not be easy, as Australia will be looking to restore some pride after a 6-2 loss to Belgium, and India will want to do the same as they’d want to take some positive momentum into the quarter-finals. India is very much in the mix for a medal – the key will be for the team to improve their penalty corner conversion and to control the tempo of the match.
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Badminton
The electric energy at the La Chapelle Arena during Badminton could be heard through the broadcast all around the world, as India’s Men’s Double team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty took on a formidable Malaysian pair of Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in the quarter-finals. India took the game against Malaysia down to the wire, with multiple rallies and carefully executed plays. After a hard-fought battle in the decider, India lost 21-13, 14-21, 16-21. The shock exit of Rankireddy and Shetty dashed India’s most promising hope for a medal at Paris 2024.
PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy made the pre-quarterfinals in the badminton singles events. However, it was a bitter-sweet result for India in the men’s singles as India’s world championships bronze medallist HS Prannoy met fellow countryman Sen in their pre-quarterfinals game. Sen went on to beat HS Prannoy 21-12, 21-6, and will meet Tien Chen Chou from Taipei in the quarter-finals on 2 August at 23:00 (AEST).
PV Sindhu, former world champion, was the only Indian badminton player competing in the women’s singles event. After defeating Estonia’s Kristin Kuuba 21-5, 21-10, Sindhu met China’s He Bing Jiao in the pre-quarterfinals. Sindhu showcased great resilience in the first game but was unable to mount the comeback required to halt He Bingjiao’s momentum in the second game, losing the match 19-21, 14-21. Paris 2024 marks the first time in Sindhu’s Olympic career that she has not won a medal.
Earlier in the tournament, the India’s Women’s Doubles team of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa were unable to get out of their group, having lost all three of their games to South Korea, Japan and Australia.
Boxing
At Paris 2024, India fielded boxers in the Men’s 51kg and 71kg weight classes, and took part in the Women’s 50kg, 54kg, 57kg and 75kg weight categories.
In the Women’s 75kg, Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist (Women’s 69kg), Lovlina Borgohain is competing at her second Olympics in Paris and has progressed to the quarter finals, defeating Sunniva Hofstad of Norway by a unanimous decision (5-0). Borgohain is India’s third boxing medallist at an Olympics, after Mary Kom (London 2012) and Vijender Singh (Beijing 2008). She will take on top-seeded Li Qian from China on 4 August at 19:30 (AEST) in her pursuit for a Paris 2024 medal.
Also progressing to the quarter-finals is southpaw boxer Nishant Dev, in the Men’s 71kg. Dev defeated Ecuador’s Rodriguez Tenorio Jose Gabriel in the round of 16, winning on points 3-2, and will come up against second seed Verde Alvarez Marco Alonso from Mexico on 4 August at 04:30 (AEST).
Unfortunately, Women’s 50kg medal hopeful and two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen bowed out of her Olympics debut on Thursday. Zareen put on a thrilling display of skill and determination in her hard-fought round of 32 bout against Germany’s Maxi Karina Kloetzer, but was unable to follow this up in her defeat to Wu Yu of China by unanimous decision in the round of 16.
With Thursday’s result, four of the six Indian boxers have been eliminated from the Olympic boxing tournament so far. Amit Panghal and Preeti Pawar’s campaigns ended in the round of 16, while Jaismine Lamboria lost in the round of 32.
Archery
India’s men’s and women’s archery team both missed the mark in their quarter-final appearances at Paris 2024, defeated by Turkiye (6-2) and Netherlands (6-0) respectively.
In the individual events, Indian archers Bhajan Kaur and former world No.1 Deepika Kumari have progressed to the pre-quarterfinals and will take aim on 3 August at 18:15 (AEST).
Meanwhile, four-time Olympian Tarundeep Rai, Pravin Jadhav and Dhiraj Bommadevara could not replicate the success of Kaur and Kumari, all three crashing out of the men’s individual archery event at the Paris 2024 Olympics. However, Bommadevara came close, losing 6-5 to Canada’s Eric Peters in the round of 32 after a shoot-off at the Les Invalides on Tuesday, 30 July. In the shoot-off both archers hit a 10, but Peters was awarded the victory as his arrow landed closer to the centre.
Bommadevara will get to make another appearance on 2 August at 17:45 (AEST) in the Mixed Team event, alongside Ankita Bhakat as they both take on Indonesia.
Track and Field
With medals on offer in 48 different events, the track and field program at Paris 2024 commenced on 1 August with the men’s and women’s 20km race walks – India was represented by Vikash Singh, Paramjeet Singh Bisht and Priyanka Goswami.
India’s most famous track and field athlete, Neeraj Chopra will be hoping to defend his Tokyo 2020 gold medal in the Men’s Javelin. Neeraj will be joined by fellow countrymen Kishore Jena, who finished with a silver behind Chopra at the Hangzhou Asian Games 2023, and is the only other Indian athlete in the Men’s Javelin at Paris 2024. Chopra has performed well in recent competitions, but could face a challenge from Germany’s Max Dehning who earlier in the year breached the distance of 90m. Chopra’s best throw in Tokyo was 87.58m, and his personal best is 89.94m. Meanwhile, Annu Rani will be eyeing a podium finish in the Women’s Javelin throw after her golden run in Hangzhou.
Ankita Dhyani and Tajinderpal Singh Toor will be the first Indian athletes to compete inside the iconic Stade de France on 2 August, representing India in the Women’s 5000m and Men’s Shot Put respectively.
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Weightlifting
As one of India’s strongest medal contenders, Paris 2024 will be Mirabai Chanu’s third Olympics. On 7 August, a day before her thirtieth birthday, Chanu will be India’s sole representative in weightlifting.
Chanu’s silver medal at Tokyo 2020 is the highest Olympic finish for an Indian weightlifter, becoming the second Indian weightlifter to win an Olympic medal after Karnam Malleswari (Sydney 2000). At Tokyo 2020, Chanu lifted in 202kg (87kg in snatch and 115kg in clean and jerk) in the Women’s 49kg, and will be hoping to become the first Indian weightlifter to win back-to-back Olympic medals.
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Medal Tally
At the halfway point of Paris 2024, India has three medals, bringing it closer to its record medal haul of 7 from Tokyo 2020.
READ MORE: Paris 2024: the tricolour athletes of India to watch – Indian Link
