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Bhaker was the highlight of the day as far as the Indian athletes were concerned, storming into the final of the women’s 10m air pistol event with a score of 580, becoming the first Indian at that stage of the event. read more
 "Manu Bhaker, Preeti and shuttlers shine; India pip New Zealand in men’s hockey")
Indian shooter Manu Bhaker in action on Day 1 of the 2024 Paris Olympics. AP
Shooter Manu Bhaker scripted history while the men’s hockey team held their nerve to pull off a thrilling win against New Zealand as Indian athletes were largely positive on the first official day of the 2024 Paris Olympics on Saturday.
India also registered victories in badminton, boxing and table tennis while the tennis matches were postponed to Sunday because of inclement weather.
Paris Olympics: News, schedule, medals tally and more
Bhaker was the highlight of the day as far as the Indian athletes were concerned, storming into the final of the women’s 10m air pistol event with a score of 580, becoming the first Indian at that stage of the event.
Not only did the shooter from Jhajjar, Haryana erase painful memories of Tokyo 2020, where she was left heartbroken after a gun malfunction, she also was the lone bright spot in what was otherwise a disappointing day for Indian shooters.
Read | Manu Bhaker delivers healing touch on Day 1 of Paris 2024, but bigger goal awaits
In the men’s 10m air pistol event, Sarabjot had missed out on a place in the finals by a whisker after finishing with a score of 577 — tied with Germany’s Robin Walter. The German, however, finished ahead at eighth thanks to a superior ‘inner 10’ count, collecting 17 of them to Sarabjot’s 16.
Additionally, neither Ramita Jindal-Arjun Babuta nor Elavenil Valarivan-Sandeep Singh could reach the finals of the 10m air rifle mixed team event.
Indian shooters had last won a medal in the London 2012 Games, drawing blank in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, and will hope to change that trend in Paris.
Harmanpreet’s winner helps India pip New Zealand in hockey
Later in the day, skipper Harmanpreet Singh fired in the winner with a couple of minutes left in the match to help India pull off a thrilling 3-2 victory over New Zealand in their opening Pool B clash in the men’s hockey event.
Mandeep Singh and Vivek Sagar Prasad were the other goal-scorers for the side that had won bronze in the Tokyo 2020 Games and are eyeing back-to-back medals in men’s hockey for the first time since 1972.
For the Black Sticks, Sam Lane and Simon Child’s strikes ensured the game was on an even keel till the very end of the final quarter.
Also getting their campaigns off to a winning start were Lakshya Sen in men’s singles and the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.
While Olympic debutant Sen defeated Guatemala’s Kevin Cordon 21-8, 22-20, Satwik and Chirag handed France’s Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar a 21-17, 21-14 loss to get their campaign off to a winning start.
However, the women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto suffered a 21-18, 21-10 defeat against Korea’s Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong.
Preeti, Harmeet win preliminary rounds
India also registered victories in boxing and in table tennis with Preeti Pawar and Harmeet Desai winning their respective preliminary rounds.
Olympic debutant Preeti won her women’s 54kg bout against Vietnam’s Vo Thi Kim Anh by a unanimous 5-0 verdict to advance to the Round of 16.
Desai, on the other hand, blanked Jordan’s Zaid Abo Yaman 4-0 (11-7, 11-9, 11-5, 11-5) to advance to the main draw of the men’s singles competition.
India’s lone rower at the Paris Games Balraj Panwar finished fourth in his heat in the men’s singles scull event to move to the repechage round.
As for tennis, both the men’s singles and men’s doubles matches involving Sumit Nagal and the pair of Rohan Bopanna and N Sriram Balaji had to be moved to Sunday, 28 July due to incessant rain.
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English (US) ·