Manu Bhaker was poised to create further Olympic history by contending for a second medal on Tuesday. This occurred on a day marked by the men's hockey team settling for a draw, a heart-wrenching fourth-place finish at the shooting range, and a complete surrender by the archery team.
For the second consecutive day, Bhaker shone in the Indian lineup, teaming up with Sarabjot Singh to reach the bronze medal match in the 10m air pistol mixed team event at the Chateauroux shooting range.
The duo will face the Korean team of Oh Ye Jin and Lee Wonho, who scored 579, in the bronze medal match. If they are victorious, Bhaker will be the first Indian to secure multiple medals in a single edition of the games.
Manika Batra created history by becoming the first Indian table tennis player to reach singles pre-quarterfinals at the Olympic Games with a fluent 4-0 win over world number 18 and home favourite Prithika Pavade.
A second medal might have been secured on Monday if debut shooter Arjun Babuta had maintained his composure in the 10m air rifle men's final. At one point, he seemed poised for at least a bronze, if not a silver, but ultimately ended at fourth place.
In the women's 10m air rifle competition, Ramita Jindal finished seventh, with no close contest for the top positions.
Shotgun marksman Prithviraj Tondaiman stood 30th and last at the end of the three qualification rounds of 25 each with a score of 68/75 on the opening day of the trap competition.
Forced to make a fresh start after his opening win was wiped off the record books, Lakshya Sen managed to defeat Belgium's Julien Carraggi in consecutive games during a men's singles group match in Paris.
Sen is set to compete against the third seed and world number three, Jonatan Christie from Indonesia, in his final group match on Wednesday. Christie holds the title of the current Asian champion.
The match will decide which of the two players moves forward in the competition as only one each from the 16 groups will qualify for the pre-quarters.
Captain Harmanpreet Singh scored from a last-minute penalty corner, preventing India's embarrassment as they managed a 1-1 draw against former champions Argentina in a Pool B match in Paris.
The Indian team squandered nine penalty corners before Harmanpreet successfully scored.
Following a disappointing performance by Deepika Kumari and Ankita Bhakat, Bhajan Kaur managed to outperform in the women's team quarterfinal on Sunday.
Similarly, the men's team, comprising veteran Tarundeep Rai, Dhiraj Bommadevara, and Pravin Jadhav, fell short against the Turkish team, resulting in a 2-6 defeat in the men's team event quarterfinals.
Veteran doubles expert Rohan Bopanna has announced that he will no longer compete for India following his first-round defeat in the men's doubles at the Paris tennis tournament.
"This will definitely go down as my last event for the country. I totally understand where I am and now, I am just going to be enjoying the tennis circuit as long as that goes," Bopanna said. He also ruled himself out from the 2026 Asian Games in Japan.
(With inputs from PTI).
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