India at Paris Olympics, August 3: Lakshya Sen in semis, hockey team wins, Manu Bhaker eyes third medal

It was an overall better day for India at the Paris Olympics. On day 7 at the marquee event, The Indian men’s hockey team defeated Australia for the first time in 52 years. Meanwhile, young shuttler Lakshya Sen impressed with his solid performance in the quarter-finals and secured a place in the semi-finals.

India’s ace shooter, Manu Bhaker, reached her third consecutive final at the Paris Olympics. She will compete in her final event, the 25m air pistol, today.

While there was some good news from shooting, badminton, and hockey, there were continued disappointments in archery, athletics, and judo.

Judo: A bitter star of the day

India’s day began on a bitter note with judoka Tulika Mann losing her Round of 32 match in the Women’s 78 kg weight category. She was defeated by Cuba’s Idalis Ortiz with a one-sided score of 10-0. With this, the Indian challenge in judo at the Paris Olympics has ended.

Rowing: Tough finish for Balraj

Indian rower Balraj Panwar finished 5th in Final D of the Men’s Singles Sculls event, recording a time of 7:02.37 minutes. This concludes India’s rowing campaign.

Shooting: Manu impressed again

Indian shooter Manu Bhaker has advanced to the finals of the 25m pistol event. She qualified by finishing second in the qualification round with a score of 590 points—294 in precision and 296 in rapid fire. Hungary’s Major Varanika topped the qualification with 592 points.

Another Indian in the event, Esha Singh, scored a total of 581-17x with an average of 9.683. The 19-year-old missed out on a place in the top 8.

Archery: A miserable day for Indian archers

In archery, the Indian mixed team lost to the US in the bronze medal match. The US defeated India 6-2, winning the first two sets 38-37 and 37-35, leading 4-0. The Indian team won the third set 38-34 to make it 4-2 but lost the final set 37-35 after missing the first shot.

Hockey: Historic victory for the men in blue

India defeated Australia 3-2 in the men’s hockey Pool B match. It was India’s first victory against the Kookaburras at the Olympics in 52 years. Abhishek scored one goal, and captain Harmanpreet Singh scored twice for India.

Badminton: Lakshya is close to historic feat

Lakshya Sen won his quarter-final match in men’s singles badminton 2-1, with the final game ending 21-12. He won the second game 21-15 and lost the first 19-21. Lakshya is now the first Indian men’s badminton player to reach the semi-finals at the Olympics.

Athletics: Not a good day for India

Indian runners Parul Chaudhary and Ankita Dhyani were eliminated in the first round of the women’s 5000m race. Parul finished 14th in heat 2 and 24th overall, while Ankita was 20th in heat 1 and 40th overall. Parul recorded her season best time of 15:10.68, and Ankita finished in 16:19.38 minutes. Parul will also compete in the 3000m steeplechase.

Late in the night, Indian shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor failed to advance to the final of the men’s shot put event. He threw 18.05 metres in his first attempt, with the remaining two attempts ruled as fouls.

Sailing: Challenges for Kumanan and Sarvanan

In sailing, Nethra Kumanan finished 15th and 27th in the second and fourth races, respectively. She is now ranked 11th in the women’s dinghy standings with 21 net points (48 total points).

In the men’s dinghy, Vishnu Saravanan is ranked 22nd with 49 net points (83 total points).

The final standings will be decided after the 10 races.