Paris Olympics 2024, 28th July Highlights: Manu Bhaker Wins Bronze; PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy Advance; Harmeet Desai Bows Out

Harmeet Desai loses in straight sets to Felix Lebrun. That is all for the day!

Felix Lebrun lead 2-0 in the two matches so far against Harmeet Desai.

Harmeet Desai loses first game to Felix Lebrun 11-8. 

The Paris Olympics saw an unexpected turn of events as the doubles match featuring Rohan Bopanna and Sriram Balaji was cancelled due to rain. This cancellation leaves table tennis star Harmeet Desai as the sole Indian athlete left to compete on this day.

Harmeet Desai to be in live action starting from 11:25 PM IST.

Nadal fought his way into 2nd round with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 win over Hungary's Marton Fucsovics. He will now face Novak Djokovic in his second-round clash.

Prannoy will take on WR 71 Le Duc Phat of Vietnam on Wednesday in his final Group stage match.

India's HS Prannoy has kicked off his campaign in style as he defeated Germany's Fabian Roth 21-18, 21-12.

India's HS Prannoy has picked up a win in the first set by 21-18.

The first set has started in the Badminton men's singles event between India's HS Prannoy and Germany's Fabian Roth

India's star boxer Nikhat Zareen will be up against Wu Yu of China in Pre-QF (50kg) on Thursday. Notably, both are reigning World Champions; Nikhat in 50kg & Wu in 52kg.

Don't go anywhere as India's top badminton player HS Prannoy will be in action soon! Stay tuned for live updates!

Simone Biles finished with a score of 59.566 and received a standing ovation from the crowd after her dismount on the uneven bars in the final event. Despite returning with her left leg heavily taped due to a minor calf issue she sustained during the warm-up, Biles performed exceptionally well. US coach Cecile Landi confirmed it was a minor issue.

India's top singles player, Sumit Nagal, has been eliminated from the Paris 2024 Olympics after losing his first-round match at Roland-Garros. France's Corentin Moutet defeated Nagal with a scoreline of 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 in a closely contested match that lasted two hours and 28 minutes.

With the conclusion of third set, India are out of the women's archery team event as Netherlands beat them 3-0.

After the end of first half in the third set, Indian women's archery team is trailing 2-0 in the quarterfinal against Netherlands.

India's swimming campaign at the Paris Olympics concluded with Srihari Nataraj and Dhinidhi Desinghu failing to advance to the semifinals of their respective events. Nataraj finished joint-second in his heat with a time of 55.01 seconds, placing 33rd overall in the 100m men's backstroke. This performance was significantly slower than his personal best of 53.77 seconds and his season best of 54.68 seconds.

Manika Batra advances to the R32 of women's singles after beating Anna Hursey 4-1. 

Paddler Manika Batra wins her first game against Great Britain's Hursey 11-8.

Arjuna Babuta has secured his spot in the men’s 10m air rifle final at the Paris Olympics 2024 with a commendable seventh-place finish in the qualification round. Babuta shot an impressive score of 630.1 to earn his place in the final. Unfortunately, his compatriot Sandeep Singh finished 12th and did not advance to the final.

A MEDAL CONFIRMED FOR MANU BHAKER! Manu hits 10.0 and the Indian shooter is now just 0.6 behind silver and 1.2 behind gold. 

Manu Bhaker climbs to second position after a hit of 10.4!

Manu Bhaker takes up the second position after 5 shots. She shot 10.6, 10.2, 9.5, 10.5, 9.6 in the first series of the Women’s 10m Air Pistol final.

Top-ranked Indian paddler Sreeja Akula stands tall to clinch a superb 11-4 11-7 11-9 11-8 victory over Sweden's Christina Kallberg in the women's singles round of 64. pic.twitter.com/jRe3HxGHG6

— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) July 28, 2024

After a tight second game, Sreeja manages to come out on top and claim it 11-9, topping it by sealing the third game 11-7. 

Indian table tennis sensation Sreeja Akula gets off to a flyer in her round of 64 clash, claiming Game 1, 11 - 4 against Christiana of Sweden. 

10 M AIR RIFLE WOMEN’S QUALIFICATION ROUND Results👇🏻

Ramita Jindal shoots her way into the final with a score of 631.5, finishing 5th

Elavenil Valarivan finishes 10th with a score of 630.7

The top 8 progressed to the finals.

Let’s #Cheer4Bharat🥳 pic.twitter.com/OsNEGpdbBF

— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) July 28, 2024

Ramita with 631.5 points sealed her place in the final of 10m Air Rifle event. Elavenil, however, dropped to tenth place after making a small mistake on the second-to-last shot, giving her 9.8 points.

#TOPSchemeAthlete and star rower Balraj Panwar put in a clinical performance as he finishes in the 2nd spot in Repechage II with a timing of 7:12.41. With this score, he advances to the quarterfinals on July 30th.

Well Done, Balraj👍🏻. pic.twitter.com/CKK8oOsWgd

— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) July 28, 2024

PV Sindhu started her Paris campaign with a comfortable win as she defeated Fathimath Abdul Razzaq in her first group-stage game. 

With Sindhu leading 16-6, Razzaq falters in the rally and sends the shuttle wide.

Sindhu gets off to a great start in the first game, leading 1-0, and then scores two smashes to go up 2-0.

Asserting her dominance Sindhu takes the first game by 22-9. The two-time Olympic medallist takes only 13 minutes to win the opening game. 

A comfortable outing so far in this first game for PV Sindhu as she takes a 16-6 lead over her opponent.

India's women's single star PV Sindhu opens up a two-point lead before finding the net to hand her opponent Abdul Razzaq Fathimath a point.

The rain on Saturday caused the opening round match between Indian tennis players Rohan Bopanna and N Sriram Balaji to be postponed. The match is now scheduled for today.

Indian shooter Manu Bhaker qualified for the women's 10m Air Pistol final on Saturday after placing third in the qualification round with a strong overall score of 580-27x.

She will have a difficult task in a crowded field on Sunday as she attempts to win a medal. Meanwhile, Rifle shooters will be in qualification too.

10m air rifle women’s qualification, Elavenil Valarivan, Ramita Jindal: 12:45 pm

10m air rifle men’s qualification, Sandeep Singh Arjun Babuta: 2:45 pm

A number of exciting matches await us today at 🇫🇷 #ParisOlympics2024.

* Shooters 🔫 Elavenil V, Ramita Jindal, Sandeep & Arjun Babuta
* Shuttler 🏸 PV Sindhu.
* Paddlers 🏓Sreeja Akula and Sharath Kamal
* Rower 🚣🏽 Balraj Panwar
* Swimmer 🏊‍♀️ Srihari Natraj. pic.twitter.com/9XqsnbqULU

— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) July 28, 2024

Srihari, the most renowned swimmer in India, and Dhinidhi Desinghu, the youngest member of the team, will compete in the pools to set personal records.

Men’s 100m Backstroke (Heat 2), Srihari Nataraj: 3:13 pm
Women’s 200m Freestyle (Heat 1): Dhinidhi Desinghu: 3:30 pm

Sumit Nagal hopes to maybe emulate Leander Paes's incredible feats from the 1996 Olympics and make a historic run for the medals. In the opening round of the men's singles on Sunday, Nagal will take on Corentin Moutet of France.

Sumit Nagal vs Corentin Moutet: 3:30 pm

Balraj, who just missed out on the top three in Heat 1, will attempt to advance via repechage to the quarterfinals. The top two finishers in each repechage race will continue to compete.

Balraj Panwar in men’s single sculls repechage round: 1:05 pm

Two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen, one of the most promising medal contenders from India, will begin her campaign in the women's 50kg boxing competition on Sunday when she takes on Maxi Cloetzer in the round of 32.

Nikhat Zareen vs Maxi Kloetzer (Germany) in women's 50kg round of 32 match: 3:30 pm

Table tennis players Achanta Sharath Kamal, Manika Batra, and Sreeja Akula, all from India, will also begin their singles campaigns in the French capital.

Sreeja Akula vs Christina Kallberg (Sweden): 12:15 pm onwards
Manika Batra vs Anna Hursey (Great Britain): 12:15 pm onwards
Sharath Kamal vs Deni Kozul (Slovenia): 3:00 pm onwards

In her opening group-stage match, Indian sensation PV Sindhu will take on Maldivian player Fatimath Abdul Razzaq in a quest to win her third consecutive Olympic medal. Meanwhile, HS Prannoy will take on Germany's Fabian Roth in the men's singles group stage match.

Hello and welcome to our blog for Day 2 of the Paris Olympics 2024 where the Indian athletes will take part in various events in the French capital. On Day 2, Indian athletes will compete in rowing, shooting, badminton, tennis, table tennis, boxing and archery.