India at Paris Olympics 2024, Day 1 Highlights: Boxer Preeti advances to women's 54kg Round of 16; India defeat NZ in men's hockey

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates

That’s it from us in our coverage of Day 1 of the 2024 Paris Olympics. As we call it a day, we leave you with a round-up of India’s performance on the opening day:

Badminton:

— Lakshya Sen defeats Kevin Cordon 21-8, 22-20 in men’s singles

— Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty defeat Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar 21-17, 21-14 in men’s doubles

— Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto suffer 21-18, 21-10 defeat against Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong.

Boxing:

— Preeti Pawar advanced to women’s 54kg Round of 16 after defeating Vo Thi Kim Anh.

Hockey:

India defeat New Zealand 3-2 in their men’s hockey Pool B clash

Rowing:

Balraj Panwar finishes fourth in men’s single sculls heats, will be in action in repechage on Sunday, 28 July.

Shooting:

— Manu Bhaker reaches the women’s 10m air pistol final with a score of 580. She competes in the final on Sunday, 28 July.

— Indian 10m air rifle mixed teams failed to reach the final, with Ramita Jindal and Arjun Babuta finishing sixth and Elavenil Valarivan and Sandeep Singh finishing 12th.

— Sarabjot Singh fails to qualify for men’s 10m air pistol final by a whisker, finishing ninth with a score of 577. Compatriot Arjun Singh Cheema finishes 18th with 574.

Table Tennis:

Harmeet Desai advances to the main round of the men’s singles competition after beating Zaid Abo Yaman 11-7, 11-9, 11-5, 11-5 in the preliminary round.

Tennis:

The men’s doubles match featuring Rohan Bopanna and N Sriram Balaji against France’s Gael Monfils and Edouard Roger-Vasselin has been postponed to Sunday, 28 July due to torrential rain.

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates

Anush Agarwalla certainly is impressed by the choice of venue!

WHAT A VENUE 🤩
First time in the main arena and wow! Truly goosebumps riding at this magical location🥹 Caramello felt great and super relaxed 🤎 pic.twitter.com/rw53wVnjbG

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates

Veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh says scare against New Zealand a “good wake up call” for Tokyo 2020 bronze medallists India.

“The first match in the Olympics is never easy. New Zealand is not an easy team, We made some mistakes, but there were a few good things as well. It’s a good wake up call for the team,” Sreejesh said after the match.

“We got three points and that’s what is important. We gave them opportunities and they converted. The last few minutes were not easy but in hockey it’s always like that, from first whistle to the last there is tension,” the veteran keeper added.

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates

With that, we come to the end of our coverage of India at Paris 2024, Day 1.

Turned out to be a largely positive day for the Indian contingent with victories for the men’s hockey team, Lakshya Sen, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, Preeti Pawar among others.

The day was looking gloomy for the Indian shooting contingent until Manu Bhaker came to the rescue, advancing to the women’s 10m air pistol final.

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates — Badminton — Ashwini-Tanisha lose opening match

It’s all over! Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong hammer Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto 21-10 in the second game to their their Group C encounter in straight games!

While the first game between the two pairs was a lot more closely contested, the second couldn’t have been more one-sided!

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates — Boxing

A winning start for Olympic debutant Preeti!

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates — Badminton

Tanisha Crasto appears to be struggling in particular, and looks down and out at the moment. Kim-Kong, meanwhile, are leading 16-7 at the moment, and are on the verge of sealing the match.

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates — Badminton

It’s 11-3 in favour of the Koreans at the interval in Game 2, and looks like the writing’s already on the wall. Unless Ashwini and Tanisha are able to produce a remarkable comeback from here, it should be an easy victory for Kim-Kong.

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates — Badminton

Kim-Kong are off to a strong start in Game 2 as well, with the scoreline currently reading 5-1. Plenty of support for the Indian pair at the venue with chants of “Jeetega bhai jeetega” and “Bharat Mata Ki Jai”. Will the chants inspire Ashwini and Tanisha to victory in Game 2 and take the match to a decider?

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates — Badminton

Meanwhile in badminton, Ashwini and Tanisha surrender Game 1 against Kim-Kong 21-18. The Indian pair were starting to catch up towards the end of the opening game, but the Koreans prevailed in the end.

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates — Boxing — Preeti advances to Round of 16!

Preeti wins her opening bout against Vietnam’s Vo Thi Kim Anh in the women’s 54kg preliminaries by unanimous decision!

Preeti had lost the first round despite putting up a tough fight, before bouncing back in the second. The Indian, however, ended up outpunching her opponent in the final round to move to the Round of 16!

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates — Badminton

The Koreans have bossed the second half of Game 1, winning six points to India’s three, with the scoreboard currently reading 17-12.

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates — Badminton

The Kim-Kong pair remains ahead, but by a slender margin, reaching 11-9 at the interval in Game 1. Ashwini and Tanisha continue to put up an impressive fight.

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates — Boxing

Meanwhile, India’s final event of the day is underway with Preeti taking on Vietnam’s Vo Thi Kim Anh in the women’s 54kg preliminaries Round of 32 bout.

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates — Badminton

It had been neck-and-neck in the women’s doubles clash so far with the two pairs finding themselves at 4-4 at one point. The Koreans, however, are starting to surge ahead at the moment, finding themselves at 9-6 at the moment.

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates — Badminton

Time for India’s final events of the day, with Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto facing Korea’s Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong in their women’s doubles Group C match.

Lakshya Sen as well as the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy had won their opening games earlier today. Can Tanisha-Ashwini also start on a positive note?

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates — France win first old of home Olympics!

France defeat Fiji 28-7 at Stade de France to be crowed Rugby Sevens gold medallists, winning their first gold medal of the home Olympics in the process!

Fiji were the two time defending gold medallists and overwhelming favourites.

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates — Narang defends Sarabjot

London 2012 bronze medallist Gagan Narang jumps to Sarabjot Singh’s defence after the latter misses out on the men’s 10m air rifle final by a whisker

Chin up @Sarabjotsingh30 you got this … pic.twitter.com/N65JtjavX2

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates

Two more events to go today. Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto begin their women’s doubles campaign at 11.50 pm, with Preeti in action in the boxing women’s 54kg preliminary bout shortly after.

As for the men’s doubles clash between Rohan Bopanna and N Sriram Balaji against France’s Gael Monfils and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, the match has been postponed to tomorrow due to torrential rain.

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates: Hockey

It wasn’t quite the clinical start that the Indians would’ve hoped for, as they ended up conceding 10 PCs, two of which were converted into goals. However, Team India will be satisfied with starting their campaign on a winning note today, and will be hoping to iron out their flaws heading into their remaining Pool B fixtures.

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates: Hockey — India defeat NZ 3-2!

FULL TIME: INDIA DEFEAT NEW ZEALAND IN A THRILLING POOL B CLASH! The Indians had defeated the Kiwis by a similar margin in their group-stage clash in Tokyo!

Phillips nearly helps the Black Sticks score their third goal, with the ball narrowly missing the Indian goalpost, and the hooter indicating Full Time goes off a few seconds later to bring the dramatic contest to an end!

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates: Hockey — IND 3-2 NZ

Q4, 14’: GOAL! Skipper Harmanpreet Singh scores what could be the winner for India, successfully converting the Penalty Stroke despite Black Sticks goalkeeper Dixon diving the right way!

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates: Hockey — IND 2-2 NZ

Q4, 13’: India are awarded a penalty corner with a little over two minutes left on the clock. Can they finish on the winning side from here? And it’s a PENALTY STROKE FOR INDIA with less than two minutes left on the clock!

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates: Hockey — IND 2-2 NZ

Q4, 8’: GOAL! New Zealand find the equaliser in the final quarter! And it’s Simon Child who successfully converts for the Black Sticks!

New Zealand had been awarded a Penalty Corner seven minutes into the final quarter, and while the first attempt was blocked, the second one went wide. Child, however, ended up making the most of the opportunity in the third attempt.

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates: Hockey — IND 2-1 NZ

Q4, 2’: The final quarter is underway, and India have already had a couple of close chances, nearly scoring a third goal.

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates: Hockey — IND 2-1 NZ

Q3, 15’: End of the third quarter. Sreejesh manages to deflect the ball away to safety after New Zealand are awarded a penalty corner in the final minute of Q3, and later kicks the ball away after an ambitious attempt by Lane from outside the Indian circle.

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates: Hockey — IND 2-1 NZ

Q3, 14’: PC awarded to New Zealand with a little over a minute left in the third quarter. Can the Black Sticks draw level?

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates: Hockey — IND 2-1 NZ

Q3, 10’: Another five minutes left in the third quarter, and the Indians are giving almost nothing away at the moment, and being somewhat sloppy in the first half despite enjoying majority of the possession.

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates: Hockey — IND 2-1 NZ

Q3, 6’: Phillips almost single-handedly scored the equaliser for the Black Sticks with an outstanding run along the centre of the court, only for his tomahawk flick to be blocked by Sreejesh. Penalty corner to New Zealand!

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE, India Day 1 Updates: Hockey — IND 2-1 NZ

Q3, 4’: GOAL! India’s attacking start to the second half pays off right away as Vivek Prasad puts the Indians in the lead for the first time today.

The referee, however, decides to have a second look before awarding the goal as the ball had been pulled back in quite close to the goal line. It’s a close decision, but is ultimately awarded in favour of the Indians!