Paris Olympics 2024, Day 2 Highlights: Manu Bhaker clinches bronze; Nikhat Zareen through to pre-quarters; Harmeet Desai, Sumit Nagal, Bopanna/Balaji eliminated — July 28 updates

That’s it from our side for today, folks. You can always check out the below link for the latest results and medal tally. We will see you again in a few hours with July 29 updates! Till then, take good care of yourselves. 

RESULTS: JULY 28

MEDAL TALLY: LATEST UPDATES

The French duo were just too good for Bopanna/Balaji as they went past the Indian duo with ease. The Indian pair loses in straight sets -- 7-5, 6-2

The Indian pair has dropped the first set 7-5 to the local boys. 

A game each for both pairs on their service. 

Balaji/Sriram returns the favour by breaking Vasselin/Monfils in the next game. 

The French duo got the first break of this match, they lead 4-2 vs Balaji/Sriram now. 

Local favourite Monfils/Vasselin wins the first game. Bopanna to serve now. 

Indian duo Men’s Rohan Bopanna and Sriram Balaji will be in action against Gael Monfils and Edouard Roger Vasselin of France in their men’s doubles first round match.

Harmeet Desai has been eliminated from the Paris 2024 Olympics men’s singles table tennis event after losing 11-8, 11-8, 11-6, 11-8 to world number three Felix Lebrun (France). 

Lebrun dominates the third game against a struggling Desai, winning the third game 11-6. 

The 17-year old from France has taken a two-game lead after winning the second game 11-8.

Felix Lebrun of France leads in the round of 64 match against Harmeet Desai, winning the first game 11-8.

Harmeet Desai is in action against world number three Felix Lebrun of France in the Table Tennis round of 64.

Rafael Nadal clinched a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 win against Hungarian Martin Fucsovics at the Paris Olympics 2024 first-round match on Sunday. 

​

Paris Olympics 2024: Nadal beats Fucsovics to set up second round clash against Djokovic

The Spaniard, who won a singles gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, set up a second-round clash against top-seeded Novak Djokovic.

A comfortable win in the end for Prannoy who beats Fabian Roth in straight games -- 21,18, 21-12. 

Prannoy takes the first game after a tough fight. 

HS Prannoy has been given a tough fight by his German counterpart in the men’s singles group stage match. 

Spaniard legend Rafael Nadal is in action in the men’s singles event against Hungarian M. Fucsovics. 

The 18th-seeded Indian sailed through her Paris 2024 opener against Anna Hursey of Great Britain. She won 11-8, 12-10, 11-9, 9-11, 11-5.

Ankita: 4 | Bhajan: 10 | Deepika: 8 - Total = 22

Ankita: 8 | Bhajan: 8 | Deepika: 10 - Total = 26

Netherlands wins the third set 53-48. Netherlands wins 6-0. India is knocked out!

Ankita: 10 | Bhajan: 10 | Deepika: 8 - Total = 28

Ankita: 6 | Bhajan: 9 | Deepika: 6 - Total = 21

Netherlands wins the second set 53-49 to take a 4-0 lead.

Ankita: 7 | Bhajan: 10 | Deepika: 7 - Total = 24

Ankita: 9 | Bhajan: 9 | Deepika: 9 - Total = 27

Netherlands wins the first set 52-51 to go 2-0 ahead. 

India up against Netherlands. The winner will move to the semifinals.

Rules: A total of four sets with each archer taking two shots. The team with the higher overall score wins the set and takes two points.

Srihari Nataraj clocked a time of 55.01 in the 100m backstroke to finish second in his heats. However, he was not able to qualify for the semifinals, finishing joint 33rd overall. Only the 16 fastest from the heats qualified.

In the women’s 200m freestyle, Dhinidhi Desinghu could only manage a 23rd spot in the overall standings with a time of 2:06.96.

The highest-ranked Indian singles tennis player, Sumit Nagal, wins the second set 6-2 to get the first round match square. Corentin Moutet had won the first set 6-2. We move to the decider. 

A reminder that if Nagal wins, he can face 22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal in the second round.

The Indian women’s team will be up against the Netherlands in the quarterfinals of the women’s team event. The match will start at 5:45 PM IST.

The veteran table tennis player was knocked out of Round of 64 by Slovenia’s Deni Kozul. The Indian went down 12-10, 9-11, 6-11, 7-11, 11-8, 10-12.

The Indian pugilist wins her first round match by a win on points. She secured a 5-0 verdict and will face top-seeded China’s Wu Yu in the next round. 

Nikhat Zareen advances to Round of 16 in women’s 50kg boxing at Paris Olympics

Nikhat will take on top-seeded Chinese and Asian Games champion Wu Yu in the pre-quarterfinals on Thursday.

Arjun Babuta finishes in seventh place with a score of 630.1 points. 

Sandeep Singh finishes in the 12th place at 629.3.

Paris 2024 Olympics: Arjun Babuta qualifies for men’s 10m air rifle final

Babuta totalled 630.1 in the qualification series of 60 shots to end in seventh place. The other Indian, Sandeep Singh, finished 12th and failed to advance.

1. Oh Ye Jin - 243.2

2. Kim Yeji - 241.3

3. Manu Bhaker - 221.7

Manu starts with a 10.1 that gets her to the second spot. Kim Yeji of Korea drops to third after a 9.4 shot.

Manu gets a 10.3 in the second shot. SHE WINS BRONZE! Korea’s Kim Yeji shoots 10.5 to again go to second. 

MANU BHAKER FINISHED THIRD!

Manu Bhaker starts with a 10.1. That all but assures her of a bronze.

A 10.0 in the second shot. Manu Bhaker will get at least a bronze now. Vietnam’s Trinh is out the competition.

Bhaker starts this series with a 10.1. The fourth-placed shooter from Vietnam gets 9.7 meaning there’s some more room for the Indian in the third place.

The second shot gets Bhaker 10.2 points. She is third and within 0.5 point from the second place. 

China’s Xue Li is out of contention.

Manu Bhaker gets 9.9 in the first shot. The fourth placed shooter gets only 9.2 which allows some room to the Indian.

The second shot gets her 10.2, she stays third in the standings. China’s Ranxin Jiang is out.

A 9.8 shot from the Indian to start the next pair of shots. She is still second.

Another shot of 9.8 from Manu Bhaker sees her drop to the third place. Turkey’s Sevval Tarhan is knocked out. 

Manu Bhaker with a 10.5 in the 11th shot. She stays third but closes in on the second-placed shooter.

She follows it up with 10.4 to move up to the second place. Hungary’s Veronika Major is out.

Manu Bhaker gets to 100.3 after the second set of five shots. She is in third place. 

The eliminations start now, starting with the last place!

She gets 10.3 and 9.6 in the next two shots which leads to a drop to third place.

A good start in the second set of shots. She gets 10.1 and stays in the second place.

The third and fourth shots gets Manu 10.5 and 9.6. She is still in the second spot, sandwiched between the two Koreans. She totals 50.4 after five shots.

Manu Bhaker drops down to 9.5 points on the third shot. Still in the top three right now.

A good start to the final for Bhaker as she gets 10.6 on the first attempt. The second shot though is slightly off the mark at 10.2.

Manu Bhaker within touching distance of history. The women’s 10m air pistol final is underway!

Arjun Babuta gets 105.4 in the fourth series which keeps him in the qualification places. Sandeep Singh is in the 24th place, all but out of the contest.

The World champion and Asian Games bronze medallist Nikhat Zareen will face Germany’s Maxi Karina Kloetzer in women’s 50kg Round of 32.

A slightly lower score of 104.9 in the second series sees Arjun drop two places. 

Achanta Sharath Kamal will be the next paddler in action for India. He will face Slovenia’s Deni Kozul in the Round of 64.

Sandeep has a howler in the first series which gets him just 9.8. He is on 103.6 points after the opening series, sitting way down in the 42nd position.

She breezes past Sweden’s Kallberg in straight games, claiming the match 11-4, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8.

Arjun starts with a score of 105.7 that gets him to the fifth place. A shot worth 10.2 pinches him a bit but he recovers well to get into the top eight.

Two Indians in action in the men’s 10m air rifle qualification round. They need to finish in the top eight to go through.

The Indian paddler has taken the first two games in the best-of-seven tie, winning the games 11-4, 11-9. She is two games away from a place in the Round of 32.

Men’s 10 air rifle qualification: Arjun Babuta, Sandeep Singh.

Women’s 10m air pistol final: Manu Bhaker.

India’s Sreeja Akula will be in action in the Round of 64 where she will meet Sweden’s Christina Kallberg.

Elavenil Valarivan misfired a 9.8 shot in the final series that cost her and got her out of the qualification spots. She finishes in the 10th spot with a total of 630.7, just 0.6 short of the eighth place.

Ramita is just one place off the cut off spots! She gets another round of 105.3 and will make the final charge in the sixth and deciding series of shots.

She gets 105.3 in the fifth round, the same score as the previous round, but a better score from other shooters sees the Indian drop down a couple of places. She is still good to qualify, though. The final round coming up!

A 9.9 shot from Elavenil is the solitary blip in the fourth round as the Indian gets 105.3. On course to the final for now!

After four round of shots, Ramita is 9th, up a place. She gets 105.3 in this round with another 10.2 shot dragging her score by a few points. Two rounds to go and she needs to squeeze into the top eight.

BALRAJ PANWAR DOES IT! The Indian is through to the quarterfinals of the men’s singles sculls. He gets past the finish line in second place with a timing of 7:12.41. He will now be in action on July 30.

A dominant 21-9, 21-6 win for the former World champion to start her Paris 2024 campaign.

Elavenil remains the more consistent of the two Indians, getting 104.4 in the third series. She is fourth in the standings at the half way mark.

Three 10.0s from Ramita cost her again! She drops down two places as she gets 104.9 in her third series. She is still within reach of the qualification spots.

She betters her first series score of 105.8 and gets 106.1 to jump to the second spot. The scores after two series have Indians at second and eighth places.

A much better show from Ramita in the second series. She gets a total of 106.0 to jump up to the eighth spot. Both Indians in the fray to make it right now.

Sindhu takes just 13 minutes to wrap the first game against Maldives opponent. Fathimath was tied 3-3 before the Indian stormed past to take the first game 21-9.

Elavenil Valarivan gets 105.8 in the first series thanks to some consistent shooting. She is fourth at the moment, inside the qualification places.

Ramita has two shots of 10.0 which sees her get 104.3 points in her first 10 shots. She is in 22nd place right now. She got a 10.9 and 10.8 too in the round but the two misfired shots were too much to pull back from.

Balraj Panwar will be competing in the repechage rounds of men’s singles sculls. He needs to finish in the top two to qualify for the quarterfinals. The race will begin at 1:06PM.

The athletes will have 15 minutes of sighting and preparation time before they will be allowed 75 minutes to take 60 shots. During sighting, the shooters can take as many shots as they want. The top eight shooters qualify for the final.

The first event of the day featuring Indians will be the women’s 10m air rifle qualification where Ramita Jindal and Elavenil Valarivan will look to make a spot in the final.