3 months ago
81
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu is out, veteran archer Deepika Kumari is yet to make a mark, but the new brigade of Lakshya, Dhiraj and Ankita have shattered the proverbial glass ceiling, marking a new dawn in Indian sports. read more
 "New faces emerge for fresh hope as big names fade out")
Multiple Indian athletes have come close to winning medals at Paris Olympics which bodes well for the country. Reuters
Manu Bhaker and shooting are keeping India’s campaign afloat in the medal tally at the Paris Olympics 2024, as some of the biggest podium hopes fell by the wayside over the past seven days. However, the medal tally doesn’t fully reflect how far India have come as a sporting nation. While the gloom is evident, the bloom of athletic prowess seems overshadowed.
This disappointment was palpable on Day 6, with PV Sindhu, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty, Nikhat Zareen, and Sift Kaur Samra all exiting to leave fans and experts despondent.
Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu made a subdued exit after a straight-game defeat to China’s He Bingjiao, the same player she defeated for a bronze in Tokyo.
Paris Olympics: News, schedule, medals tally and more
Two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen was convincingly beaten by top seed Wu Yu in the round of 16, while Satwik-Chirag fell to Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia in the quarter-finals.
World record holder Sift Kaur Samra finished 31st in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions qualification.
It felt like India suffered four major blows to their medal hopes.
However, the fact that India had four medal hopes despite already winning three highlights the progress the nation has made. This is a far cry from the situation 16 years ago before India’s breakthrough at the Beijing 2008 Games. That year marked the first time India won multiple medals since 1952 Helsinki, with numbers increasing to six in London 2012 and seven in Tokyo 2020.
Will India go past seven medals in Paris?
We hope so, but even if the desire doesn’t turn into numbers, there are signs towards significant progress.
Indians have always had high expectations, even when lacking the system, funding, and athletes needed to meet them.
Day 7 was proof that there is much more to come from the athletes representing the tricolour in Paris. They are stepping up to meet expectations and pushing the envelope further. The rise of young talent and new faces is particularly notable.
Paris ‘Oh!’lympians: Four inspiring stories from Summer Games
Until Day 7 of the Paris 2024 Summer Games, Abhinav Bindra was the only Indian shooter to reach three finals across three Olympics. Now, 22-year-old Manu Bhaker has matched his achievement, with all her finals taking place in Paris. If she wins the women’s 25m pistol final on Saturday, she will become the first individual Indian athlete to win three Olympic medals.
That’s just the beginning.
Archers Ankita Bhakat, Dhiraj Bommadevara, and shuttler Lakshya Sen also left an indelible mark on Day 7.
Deepika Kumari has long been the face of Indian archery. Despite her distinguished career, the Olympics have not been kind to her. The same can be said for Tarundeep Rai, who is participating in his fourth Games, just like Deepika.
On Friday, 22-year-old Dhiraj and 26-year-old Ankita achieved a historic feat by finishing fourth in the mixed team archery event, losing 6-2 to the USA in the bronze medal match. This was the first time Indian archers advanced past the quarter-finals in the Olympics.
“We tried to give our best. We did sometimes, but it failed sometimes," Dhiraj said. “But at the end of the day, we are together, we are discussing everything together. We’re learning things from what we have done, what we are lacking to win medals. We’re doing really great compared to previous (events).
“We would have liked to win medals, but for our team’s members, these Olympic Games are the best thing that happened to us,” he added.
You can’t begrudge Dhiraj. In the crucial bronze medal match, he came up with scores of 10, 10, 10, 9, 9, 10, 9 and 10.
Ankita hit a couple of 7s in the first two sets but recovered well with two 10s and 9s, but the lack of consistency had the final say. Nonetheless, the proverbial glass ceiling has been broken.
Later in badminton, 22-year-old Lakshya didn’t just break that ceiling, he blew away the roof with a truly sen-sational performance. Coming back from a game down, he defeated Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan, 19-21, 21-15, 21-12, overturning a head-to-head record of 1-3.
Sen has become the first Indian male shuttler to reach the semi-finals at the Olympics. One more win and he’ll secure a medal. If not, someone else will, very soon.
When Joydeep Karmakar finished fourth in the 50m rifle prone event at London 2012, it was seen as an anomaly. Now, fourth-place finishes are becoming a recurring theme — evident with Arjun Babuta in shooting and Ankita-Dhiraj in archery. These close calls are tough to swallow, but they represent crucial steps toward consistently winning medals across various sports.
Watching sports and writing about it are my favourite things in life and I try to bring you the best from the sporting world at Firstpost. see more
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
English (US) ·