The men’s hockey team, led by Harmanpreet Singh, secured a 3-2 victory against New Zealand, marking a thrilling end decided just one minute before the final whistle.
Scorers for India included Mandeep Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, and Harmanpreet Singh.
Earlier, Bhaker, competing in her second Olympics, aimed to leave behind the memories of her tearful Tokyo performance. She qualified third for the 10m air pistol women’s final, to be held on Sunday afternoon at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre.
In badminton, at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena, men’s doubles duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty recorded an easy straight-game victory in their opening group stage match. The pair, who are the third seeds and reigning Asian Games champions, won 21-17, 21-14 against the French team of Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar in a Group C match.
Lakshya Sen also started his Olympic debut on a high note. He overcame Tokyo semifinalist Kevin Cordon of Guatemala with a 21-8, 22-20 win in a Group L men’s singles match.
Day 1: As It Happened
Boxer Preeti Pawar defeated Vietnam’s Vo Thi Kim Anh in women’s 54kg category first round bout to enter the pre-quarterfinals. The Asian Games bronze medallist, competing in her debut Olympic Games, opened the proceedings for India and she won 5-0 on points.
Paddler Harmeet Desai dazzled on his Olympic debut as well. He advanced to the men’s singles second round with a dominating 4-0 victory over Jordan’s Zaid Abo Yaman.
Familiar fear before Bhaker saves the day
Bhaker shot 580 in the qualification, securing her place in the finals.
Aiming to end the nation’s shooting medal drought since 2012 at the Olympics, the 22-year-old Haryana secured her place despite tough conditions and competition from Hungarian Veronika Major, who topped with a score of 582.
Fellow Indian Rhythm Sangwan finished 15th with 573.
Bhaker maintained control during the hour and 15-minute session. Her coach, Jaspal Rana, expressed relief but stressed the importance of the final stage.
“What happened today doesn’t matter anymore. Tomorrow is when it counts. We start afresh,” he told PTI before pointing out the heat factor at the range with the air conditioning not being the most effective.
On the men’s side, Sarabjot narrowly missed the finals in the 10m air pistol, finishing ninth with a score of 577, just behind Germany’s Robin Walter, who also shot 577.
Walter secured the last qualifying spot due to one more inner 10 (X) than Singh’s 16.
Arjuna Singh Cheema ended 18th with a score of 544.
Coach Samresh Jung tried to console Sarabjot Singh, who was visibly heartbroken, acknowledging the pressure on his Games debut:
“There are only two types of people who don’t feel pressure. One are the dead and others are fools. He is neither dead nor a fool,” said Jung who expects Sarabjot to bounce back in the mixed team event.
At the rifle range, the Indian participants fell short in the 10m mixed team qualifications.
Ramita Jindal and Arjun Babuta finished sixth with a total score of 628.7, while Elavenil Valarivan and Sandeep Singh ended 12th with an aggregate of 626.3.
The current Olympics feature 17 out of 21 Indian shooters competing for the first time, adding to the pressure of performing on the global stage.
However, despite the setbacks in both men’s and mixed events, Bhaker’s final presents a significant opportunity to end the shooting medal drought for India since 2012.
Sen adds sheen in evening
Sen demonstrated significant improvements in his front-court alertness and closing-stage composure during the match against Cordon.
Despite facing a big lead in the second game, Sen managed to fend off four match points before securing victory in 42 minutes. He will next face Julien Carraggi of Belgium on Monday for his second group match.
Meanwhile, Satwik and Chirag displayed their usual dominance, winning most of the rallies in their match which lasted 45 minutes.
The Indian duo will compete against Germany’s Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Seidel in their next group match on Monday.
Hockey team shows tenacity
The men’s hockey team, which is aiming to better its bronze medal won in Tokyo, fell behind early in the match but showed composure to draw level.
Harmanpreet’s men allowed New Zealand to claw back after that but then also held their nerves to close the game in the nick of time.
India will play Argentina in their next Pool B match on Monday.
Panwar moves to repechage in rowing
India’s lone rower at Games, Balraj Panwar moved to the repechage after finishing fourth in heat 1 of the men’s singles scull competition.
In table tennis, Desai easily overcame his opponent, ranked 538th globally, in a preliminary round that lasted 30 minutes.
The 31-year-old from Surat, a key player in India’s team gold medal wins at the Commonwealth Games in 2018 and 2022, remains a well-established name in Indian table tennis. He has been toiling for many years in his quest to compete at the Olympics, having played in all other top global competitions.
Desai’s experience and dedication were evident as he breezed through his preliminary match.
In boxing, 20-year-old Preeti from Haryana was unimpressive in the first round as her Vietnamese opponent dictated the proceedings. But the Indian made amends in the next two rounds, attacking and landing clear blows on her opponent.
Preeti will face second seed and world championships silver-medallist Marcela Yeni Arias of Colombia in the round of 16 clash on Tuesday.
