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Indian shooter Arjun Babuta missed out on an Olympic medal by a whisker, but Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh kept hopes of another medal alive. India’s men’s doubles badminton pair of Satwik-Chirag, and paddler Manika Batra created history. read more
 "Satwik-Chirag pair reach quarter-finals; Shooters Manu, Sarabjot into mixed team bronze medal match")
India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty secured a historic qualification to the quarter-finals of the Paris Olympics on Monday. AP
There were no medals for India on the third day of the 2024 Paris Olympics on Monday, but it was a highly positive outing for athletes from the country in the midst of a heartbreak in shooting. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty became the first Indian men’s doubles badminton pair to reach the quarter-finals of an Olympics, whereas paddler Manika Batra also created history in table tennis.
India played out a 1-1 draw against Argentina in a Pool B match of the men’s hockey tournament, whereas in badminton, Lakshya Sen got the better of Belgium’s Julien Carragi in a men’s singles Group L badminton match.
Paris Olympics: News, schedule, medals tally and more
Let’s now take a quick recap of everything major that happened at the Paris Olympics on Monday from India’s perspective:
Satwik-Chirag pair qualify for quarter-finals
India’s top men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were due to face Germany’s Markus Lamsfuss and Marvin Seidel, but that match was cancelled after the German duo pulled out citing an injury to Lamsfuss. That meant that they needed the French pair of Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar to lose to Muhammad Rian Ardianto and Fajar Alfian of Indonesia in their group stage match.
The French duo did in fact lose that game with a 13-21, 10-21 margin to the Indonesian pair. Satwik-Chirag pair had also beaten their French opponents 21-17, 21-14 in the group stage match on Saturday.
By doing so, Satwik-Chirag created history as they became the first Indian men’s doubles pair to reach the last eight of an Olympics badminton tournament. The result also meant that Corvee and Labar were eliminated after they lost both their matches. India and Indonesia thus qualified for the last eight from their group.
However, Indonesians’ win over the Germans won’t count, and will be declared as “deleted”, according to the BWF General Competition Regulations.
In other badminton results, Lakshya Sen beat Belgium’s Julien Carraggi 21-19, 21-14 in a Group L match, whereas Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Castro pair lost to Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu 11-21, 12-21 in women’s doubles. This was the pair’s second loss in as many matches.
Manu Bhaker-Sarabjot Singh pair advance, heartbreak for Arjun Babuta
Manu Bhaker remained on course for yet another medal at the Paris Olympics after winning bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol event on Sunday. The 22 year-old on Monday qualified for bronze medal match of the 10m air pistol mixed team competition after pairing up with Sarabjot Singh. The duo registered a score of 580 and will face South Korea’s Oh Ye Jin and Lee Wonho in the bronze medal contest on Tuesday.
Rhythm Sangwan and Arjun Singh Cheema, the other Indian pair who competed, however finished in 10th place with a score of 576.
In the men’s 10m air rifle final, it was heartbreak for Arjun Babuta after he missed a medal by a whisker. He finished fourth in the event, behind Croatia’s Mario Maricic, who won bronze.
Also read | Who is Arjun Babuta, the Indian shooter who finished fourth at Paris Olympics?
Babuta started the final with shots of 10.7 and 10.2. In his third shot, he managed 10.5 and that was followed by a shot of 10.4 in the fourth. He then sealed the first series with a formidable shot of 10.6.
In the second series, Babuta shot 10.7 and 10.5. In the elimination round’s second attempt, Babuta secured a score of 10.8, putting him into second place at one stage. The 25 year-old needed a score of 10.5 to be in medal contention, but fell short with a score of 9.5.
On the first day of the men’s trap qualification, Prithviraj Tondaiman had a rank of 30. The qualification will continue on Tuesday.
India men’s archery team bows out; Men’s hockey team settles for a point
The India men’s archery team’s that consists of Tarundeep Rai, Dhiraj Bommadevara and Pravin Jadhav, were knocked out on Monday after they suffered a 2-6 defeat to Turkey in the men’s team quarter-finals at the Invalides. This means that both the India men’s archery team as well as the women’s team were knocked out of the team events in archery after the women lost to Netherlands on Sunday.
Dhiraj, who had finished fourth in the individual ranking round, was far from his best and struggled for consistency. He managed to score 7 in the first and last set, but could not do much to help his team.
Pravin Jadhav had four 10s, three 9s and an eight and after losing the first two sets, he was pivotal in helping India bounce back in the third to win it 55-54. However, the Turkish archers were too strong for them in the fourth set, which they won 58-54.
The India men’s hockey team were in action earlier on Monday. They came to this match on the back of a 3-2 win over New Zealand, but could not really replicate that kind of performance as they were held to a 1-1 draw against Argentina.
Argentina took a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute on the back of Lucas Martinez’s goal, and despite winning penalty corners frequently, India failed to capitalise on those. Skipper Harmanpreet Singh, however, came to the rescue in the 59th minute to score the equaliser and salvage a point.
A win followed by a draw means India are in third place with four points, with Belgium and Australia (Both six points) in top two. India face Ireland on Tuesday.
Manika Batra into last 16
Manika Batra continued her dominant run in the Paris Olympics as she defeated Prithika Pavade of France 4-0 in the women’s singles table tennis last 16 clash on Monday. The match started off on a heated note, with the duo trading points in the first game before Batra took it 11-9.
The 29 year-old eventually gained control of the game and as the match progressed, her French opponent was no match for her. Batra won the remaining games 11-6, 11-9 and 11-7.
The win also means that Batra becomes the first Indian women’s paddler to make the last 16 of women’s singles in an Olympics.
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English (US) ·