India sent over a 100 athletes to compete at the Olympic Games for a third consecutive edition. That contingent returned with its joint second-best medal haul of six medals.
Neeraj Chopra won silver in the javelin throw, to go along with three bronze medals in shooting and a third position standing each in men’s hockey and wrestling.
But outside of the six medallists, there were several near-misses and even an ongoing struggle for Vinesh Phogat at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, where it is till uncertain if the wrestler will be given an Olympic medal for being 100 grams overweight.
This was a campaign where some athletes performed under-par while a few others defied all expectations and excelled.
The Field goes through the entire contingent to dissect their performances in Paris.
Discipline | Male | Female | Total |
---|---|---|---|
Archery | 3 | 3 | 6 |
Athletics | 18 | 11 | 29 |
Badminton | 4 | 3 | 7 |
Boxing | 2 | 4 | 6 |
Equestrian | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Golf | 2 | 2 | 4 |
Hockey | 16 | 0 | 16 |
Judo | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Rowing | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Sailing | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Shooting | 10 | 11 | 21 |
Swimming | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Table Tennis | 3 | 3 | 6 |
Tennis | 3 | 0 | 3 |
Weightlifting | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Wrestling | 1 | 5 | 6 |
Total | 66 | 46 | 112 |
India's medal winners at Paris Olympics
Medal | Name | Sport | Event | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bronze | Manu Bhaker | Shooting | Women's 10m air pistol | 28 July |
Bronze | Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh | Shooting | Mixed 10m air pistol team | 30 July |
Bronze | Swapnil Kusale | Shooting | Men's 50m rifle 3 positions | 1 August |
Bronze | Men's hockey team | Hockey | Men's tournament | 8 August |
Silver | Neeraj Chopra | Athletics | Men's javelin throw | 8 August |
Bronze | Aman Sehrawat | Wrestling | Men's freestyle 57 kg | 9 August |
Archery
With both the men’s and women’s teams qualifying for Paris via rankings, there were a lot of hopes that rested on the shoulders of the six-member Indian archery contingent. Led by veteran Deepika Kumari, on her return from a maternity break a year ago, and youngster Dhiraj Bommadevara, the country hoped Paris would see the coming of India’s first Olympic medal in the sport.
The campaign began well enough as the six Indians put in a solid performance during the qualification round before the Paris Games officially began.
The men’s team were seeded third and the women’s team fourth while the mixed team comprising Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat were seeded fifth.
However, when the knock-out rounds began, they did not build on that momentum. Both the men’s and women’s teams, receiving a bye in their first round due to their higher seeding, exited the event in the quarter-finals.
In the men’s individual event, Bommadevara went until the Round of 32 while both Tarundeep Rai and Pravin Jadhav exited in the opening round. Bhakat also lost in the first round of the women’s individual event while Kumari and 18-year-old Bhajan Kaur reached the Round of 16.
The Indian contingent did cross one landmark when they reached the semi-finals of the mixed team event with Bommadevara and Bhakat, the first time ever for India at an Olympic edition.
Fourth place for Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat, but plenty to cheer
Archery
Event | Athletes | Results |
---|---|---|
Men's Individual | Dhiraj Bommadevara | Qual: 681/720 (Rank 4) Eliminations: Lost in Rd of 32 against CAN Rank: 17 |
Men's Individual | Tarundeep Rai | Qual: 674/720 (Rank 14) Eliminations: Lost in Rd of 64 against GB Rank: 33 |
Men's Individual | Pravin Jadhav | Qual: 658/720 (Rank 39) Eliminations: Lost in Rd of 64 against CHN Rank: 33 |
Women's Individual | Deepika Kumari | Qual: 658/720 (Rank 23) Eliminations: Lost in QF against KOR Rank: 7 |
Women's Individual | Bhajan Kaur | Qual: 659/720 (Rank 22) Eliminations: Lost in Rd of 16 against INA Rank: 9 |
Women's Individual | Ankita Bhakat | Qual: 666/720 (Rank 11) Eliminations: Lost in Rd of 64 against POL Rank: 33 |
Men's Team | Dhiraj Bommadevara, Pravin Jadhav, Tarundeep Rai | Qual: 2013/2160 (Rank 3) Eliminations: Lost in QF against TUR Rank: 5 |
Women's Team | Ankita Bhakat, Bhajan Kaur, Deepika Kumari | Qual: 1983/2160 (Rank 4) Eliminations: Lost in QF against NED Rank: 8 |
Mixed team | Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat | Qual: 1347/1440 (Rank 5) Eliminations: Lost in Bronze Medal match against USA Rank: 4 |
Athletics
Neeraj Chopra was India’s biggest hope for an Olympic medal, not only in athletics but in the entire Games itself. Coming into Paris, Chopra, the reigning Olympic and World Champion javelin thrower, had finished on the podium in every competition he had competed in since 2018.
The Indian Army Subedar delivered on the promise by winning silver as he saw his friend and rival, Pakistan’s Nadeem Arshad win gold with an Olympic record throw.
Apart from Chopra, only steeplechaser Avinash Sable reached a track and field final in Paris. Sable, the 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medallist, was yearning to make amends for Tokyo 2020 when he failed to reach the final.
In the quickest heat, Sable sailed through to the final with the fifth-fastest time. In a field stacked with runners who regularly posted timings in the low eight-minute marks, Sable finished just outside the top 10 with a respectable time of 8:14.18 min.
Though Parul Chaudhary did not make it to the final of the women’s 5000m or 3000m steeplechase events, she posted her season best timings in the qualification round of both events.
The men’s 4x400m relay team also posted their season best time in the heat but missed the cut for the final by less than half a second.
It was a disappointing campaign from the likes of shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor, javelin thrower Annu Rani, long jumper Jeswin Aldrin and triple jumpers Praveen Chithravel and Abdulla Aboobacker with none of them even threatening to qualify for their respective finals.
Neeraj Chopra continues to build on his great sporting legacy in Paris
Athletics
Event | Athletes | Results |
---|---|---|
Men's 20km Race Walk | Vikash Singh | Position: 30 Timing: 1:22:36 |
Men's 20km Race Walk | Paramjeet Singh | Position: 37 Timing: 1:23:48 |
Men's 20km Race Walk | Akshdeep Singh | Did Not Finish |
Women's 20km Race Walk | Priyanka Goswami | Position: 41 Timing: 1:39:55 |
Women's 5000m | Parul Chaudhary | Rank in heats: 24th overall Timing: 15:10.68 (SEASON BEST) |
Women's 5000m | Ankita | Rank in heats: 40th overall Timing: 16:19.38 |
Men's Shot Put | Tajinderpal Singh Toor | Rank in qual: 29th overall Best throw: 18.05m |
Women's 3000m Steeplechase | Parul Chaudhary | Rank in heats: 21st overall Timing: 9:23.39 (SEASON BEST) |
Men's Long Jump | Jeswin Aldrin | Rank in qual: 26th overall Best jump: 7.61 |
Women's 400m | Kiran Pahal | Rank in heats: 39th overall (round 1) Timing: 52.52 Rank in repechage: 23rd overall Timing: 52.59 |
Men's 3000m Steeplechase | Avinash Sable | Rank in heats: 5th overall Timing: 8:15.43 Rank in final: 11th Timing: 8:14.18 |
Men's Javelin Throw | Neeraj Chopra | Rank in qual: 1st overall Best throw: 89.34m Rank in final: 2nd (Silver) Best throw: 89.45m (SEASON BEST) |
Men's Javelin Throw | Kishore Kumar Jena | Rank in qual: 18th overall Best throw: 80.73m |
Marathon Race Walk Relay Mixed | Suraj Panwar and Priyanka Goswami | Did Not Finish |
Men's High Jump | Sarvesh Kushare | Position: 25th overall Best jump: 2.15m |
Women's 100m hurdles | Jyothi Yarraji | Position: 35th overall (round 1) Timing: 13.16 Position: 16th overall (repechage) Timing: 13.17 |
Women's Javelin Throw | Annu Rani | Rank in qual: 29th overall Best throw: 55.81m |
Men's Triple Jump | Abdulla Aboobacker | Position: 21st overall Best jump: 16.49m |
Men's Triple Jump | Praveen Chithravel | Position: 27th overall Best jump: 16.25m |
Women's 4x400m Relay | Vithya Ramraj, Jyothika Sri Dandi, MR Poovamma, Subha Venkatesan | Rank in heats: 15th overall Timing: 3:32.51 |
Men's 4x400m Relay | Muhammed Ajmal, Muhammed Anas, Rajesh Ramesh, Amoj Jacob | Rank in heats: 10th overall Timing: 3:00.58 (SEASON BEST) |
Badminton
India’s medal winning streak at the Olympics in badminton came to a halt at the La Chapelle Arena in Paris. For the first time since Saina Nehwal’s bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics, no Indian shuttler stood on the Olympic podium.
PV Sindhu’s bid for a hat-trick of medals was denied by a raging He Bing Jiao, who went on to win the silver medal later, in the pre-quarterfinals. The double Olympic medallist started off with two comfortable wins, but fell to the Chinese shuttler on the same day Sindhu had defeated He to win a bronze in Tokyo three years back.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, India’s best medal bet in badminton, were in for a rude shock as they went down to eventual bronze medallists Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia in the quarter-finals.
The women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto endured a torrid time as they bowed out with three losses in as many matches.
Contrastingly, Lakshya Sen gave a good account of himself. He emerged unbeaten from Group L, despite his opening win being deleted. Sen went on to reach the semi-finals before losing two matches in a row from a winning position to finish fourth and bow out empty handed after all the hardwork. He also ended the run of compatriot HS Prannoy in the Round of 16.
Badminton
Event | Athletes | Results |
---|---|---|
Men's Singles | Lakshya Sen | Group stage: Defeated Kevin Cordon (Result deleted after Cordon withdrew), Julien Carragi, Jonatan Christie Round of 16: Defeated HS Prannoy Quarter-final: Defeated Chou Tien Chen Semi-final: Lost to Viktor Axelsen Bronze medal: Lost to Lee Zii Jia |
Men's Singles | HS Prannoy | Group stage: Defeated Fabian Roth, Le Duc Phat Round of 16: Lost to Lakshya Sen |
Women's Singles | PV Sindhu | Group stage: Defeated Kristin Kuuba, Fathimath Razzaq Round of 16: Lost to He Bing Jao (evential silver medallist) |
Men's Doubles | Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty | Group stage: Defeated Corvee/Labar, Fajar/Ardianto Quarter-final: Lost to Chia/Soh (eventual bronze medallists) |
Women's Doubles | Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa | Group stage: Lost to Kim/Kong, Matsuyama/Shida, Mapasa/Yu |
Boxing
The Indian boxing contingent’s 2024 Olympics journey ended without adding to the country’s medal tally. Historically, India has claimed three bronze medals in Olympic boxing – Vijender Singh in Beijing 2008, Mary Kom in London 2012, and Lovlina Borgohain in Tokyo 2020.
However, in Paris 2024, none were secured. The six-member team, comprising four women and two men, saw four boxers eliminated in the preliminary rounds.
It was anticipated that a good showing will be tall order partly due to the tough draws that were handed to the top medal prospects – Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain – but the rest of it was largely down to the boxers being outclassed by better quality opponents. The turbulence behind the scenes in the build-up to Paris had also meant that the possibility of good results was looking grim, but returning with no medals at all is quite the shock.
Nishant Dev and Lovlina Borgohain advanced to the quarter-finals but fell short of securing a medal, leaving the Indian contingent without a podium finish. It seems the wake-up call we spoke about did not come in time...
Boxing
Event | Athlete | Results |
---|---|---|
Men's 51kg | Amit Panghal | Round of 16: Lost 1-4 against Patrick Chinyamba |
Men's 71kg | Nishant Dev | Round of 16: Beat Jose Rodriguez 3-2 Quarter-final: Lost to Marco Verde 1-4 |
Women's 50kg | Nikhat Zareen | Round of 32: Beat Maxi Klotzer 5-0 Round of 16: Lost to Wu Yu 0-5 |
Women's 54kg | Preeti Pawar | Round of 32: Beat Vo Thi Kim Anh 5-0 Round of 16: Lost to Yeni Arias 2-3 |
Women's 57kg | Jaismine Lamboria | Round of 32: Lost to Nesthy Petecio 0-5 |
Women's 75kg | Lovlina Borgohain | Round of 16: Beat Sunniva Hofstad 5-0 Quarter-final: Lost to Li Qian 1-4 |
Equestrian
The 2022 Asian Games gold medallist, Anush Agarwalla had a tough time at the Paris Olympics. He finished ninth in his group with a score of 66.444% riding atop Sir Caramello Old and failed to qualify for the final.
Equestrian
Event | Athlete | Result |
---|---|---|
Individual Dressage | Rider: Anush Agarwalla Horse: Sir Caramello Old | Grand Prix Qualifier Rank: 9 Total Score%: 66.444 |
Golf
At the Tokyo Olympics, Aditi Ashok had a breakthrough tournament that saw her slip down to fourth position on the last day of the women’s golf event. There were hopes and expectations that she could perhaps do better this time.
But it was an overall underwhelming golf campaign for the four Indians competing.
Shubhankar Sharma and Gaganjeet Bhullar finished the men’s event tied 40th and 45th respectively. In the last few days of Paris, Aditi and Diksha Dagar finished tied 29th and 49th in the women’s event.
Golf
Event | Athlete | Results |
---|---|---|
Men's Individual Stroke Play | Shubhankar Sharma | Rounds: 70, 69, 72, 72 (Par 71) To Par: -1 Final standing: Tied 40th |
Men's Individual Stroke Play | Gaganjeet Bhullar | Rounds: 75, 69, 71, 70 (Par 71) To Par: +1 Final standing: Tied 45th |
Women's Individual Stroke Play | Aditi Ashok | Rounds: 72, 71, 79, 68 (Par 72) To Par: +2 Final standing: Tied 29th |
Women's Individual Stroke Play | Diksha Dagar | Rounds: 71, 72, 80, 78 (Par 72) To Par: +13 Final standing: Tied 49th |
Hockey
It was yet another fruitful Olympic campaign for the Indian men’s hockey team as they clinched bronze yet again. It was the perfect send off for PR Sreejesh as the veteran goalkeeper called time on his illustrious career.
With the women’s team failing to qualify for Paris 2024 after a stunning run at Tokyo 2020, all hopes were pinned on the men’s team to return with a medal.
They began the campaign cautiously, narrowly beating New Zealand before rescuing a point against Argentina. They then beat Ireland to secure their place in the quarter-final before losing a close match to Belgium.
They finally hit their stride in their final group game as they beat Australia for the first time at the Olympics since the 1972 Munich Games. They followed that up with a stunning back-to-the-wall performance against Great Britain in the quarter-final. Down to 10 players after Amit Rohidas was sent off, India held Great Britain to a 1-1 before Sreejesh’s heroics in the penalty shootout helped them reach the semi-final.
Rohidas’ one-match suspension hurt India in the semi-final as Germany clinched their place in the final with a narrow 3-2 win. India bounced back from the defeat to secure a comeback 2-1 win over Spain and win bronze, their 13th Olympic Games medal in the history of the sport.
Hockey
Event | Result |
---|---|
Men's Hockey | Bronze (3rd) |
Indian men's hockey team results
Match | Result | Scoreline |
---|---|---|
New Zealand (Grp) | India win | 3-2 |
Argentina (Grp) | Draw | 1-1 |
Ireland (Grp) | India win | 2-0 |
Belgium (Grp) | India lost | 1-2 |
Australia (Grp) | India win | 3-2 |
Great Britain (QF) | India win | 1-1 (4-2 penalty shootout) |
Germany (SF) | India lost | 2-3 |
Spain (BRONZE) | India win | 2-1 |
Judo
Tulika Maan was the only Indian competing in the judo event. But the silver medallist from the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games was handed a tough draw as she faced Cuba’s Idalys Ortiz in the first round.
Ortiz is a four-time Olympic medallist, including winning gold in London 2012. She made quick work of the opening match to hand Maan a quick defeat.
Judo
Event | Athlete | Result |
---|---|---|
Women's +78kg | Tulika Maan | Round of 64: Lost to Idalys Ortiz 0-10 |
Rowing
Having qualified for the Olympics only three years after taking up the sport, Balraj Panwar gave a good account of himself in men’s single sculls. He qualified for Final D and finished 23rd overall in the standings, clocking his best time at the Games.
Rowing
Event | Athlete | Race | Rank in race | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
Men's Single Sculls | Balraj Panwar | Heat 1 | 4 | 7:07.11 |
Repechage 2 | 2 | 7:12.14 | ||
Quarter-final 4 | 5 | 7:05.10 | ||
Semi-final C/D 1 | 6 | 7:05.97 | ||
Final D | 5 (Overall 23rd) | 7:02.37 |
Sailing
Both Vishnu Saravanan and Nethra Kumanan were appearing in their second Olympics at Paris 2024.
Competing in their events in Marseille, the men’s and women’s dinghy respectively, Saravanan and Kumanan both improved on their overall finishes from Tokyo with an 18th place finish for Saravanan and a 21st place finish for Kumanan.
Sailing
Event | Athlete | Race | Standing in race (=points) |
---|---|---|---|
Men's Dinghy | Vishnu Saravanan (Overall standing: 18/43) | Race 01 | 10 |
Race 02 | 34 (not counted in overall score) | ||
Race 03 | 20 | ||
Race 04 | 19 | ||
Race 05 | 21 | ||
Race 06 | 13 | ||
Race 07 | 7 | ||
Race 08 | 24 | ||
Race 09 | Cancelled | ||
Race 10 | Cancelled | ||
Women's Dinghy | Nethra Kumanan (Overall standing: 21/43) | Race 01 | 6 |
Race 02 | 15 | ||
Race 03 | 27 | ||
Race 04 | 28 | ||
Race 05 | 28 | ||
Race 06 | 20 | ||
Race 07 | 21 | ||
Race 08 | 31 (not counted in overall score) | ||
Race 09 | 10 | ||
Race 10 | Cancelled |
Shooting
After the troubles and disappointment faced in Rio and Tokyo, there were a lot of expectations on the shoulders of the Indian shooting contingent, the second-largest for the country after athletics in a single sport for Paris.
But the 21-member contingent were the most successful for India in Paris, with three medals and seven finals, including three fourth-place finishes. Manu Bhaker led the way through, qualifying for the final in all her three events, winning two medals in the 10m air pistol and mixed team events, and finishing fourth in her pet event, the 25m pistol.
Bhaker’s efforts made her the first female shooter to win an Olympic medal for India and also the first Indian athlete to win two Olympic medals in the same edition since Independence. She also joined the likes of Sushil Kumar and PV Sindhu as the only Indians with two Olympic medals in individual events.
While there was heartbreak for Babuta who was in second place during the elimination rounds in the final and ultimately finished in fourth, there were also fumbles during the qualification rounds for Sift Kaur Samra, Vijayveer Sidhu, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Anish Bhanwala.
The shooting contingent ended with a near-miss of the podium with Maheshwari Chauhan and Anantjeet Singh Naruka losing the skeet mixed team bronze medal match to China.
Manu Bhaker gets ‘monkey off her back’ to create history in Paris
Arjun Babuta’s near-miss writes his name in Indian sports folklore
Shooting individual events
Event | Athlete | Qualification score | Qualification position | Last finalist cut-off (top 8) |
---|---|---|---|---|
10m air rifle | Sandeep Singh | 629.3 | 12 | 629.8 |
10m air rifle | Arjun Babuta | 630.1 | 7 | qualified, finished 4th |
10m air rifle | Elavenil Valarivan | 630.7 | 10 | 631.3 |
10m air rifle | Ramita Jindal | 631.5 | 5 | qualified, finished 7th |
50m rifle 3-positions | Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar | 589 | 11 | 590 |
50m rifle 3-positions | Swapnil Kusale | 590 | 7 | qualified, won bronze |
50m rifle 3-positions | Sift Kaur Samra | 575 | 31 | 589 |
50m rifle 3-positions | Anjum Moudgil | 584 | 18 | 589 |
10m air pistol | Sarabjot Singh | 577 (8th place had more X's than him) | 9 | 577 |
10m air pistol | Arjun Singh Cheema | 574 | 18 | 577 |
10m air pistol | Manu Bhaker | 580 | 3 | qualified, won bronze |
10m air pistol | Rhythm Sangwan | 573 | 15 | 577 |
25m rapid fire pistol | Anish Bhanwala | 582 | 13 | 585 |
25m rapid fire pistol | Vijayveer Sidhu | 583 | 9 | 585 |
25m pistol | Manu Bhaker | 590 | 2 | qualified, finished 4th |
25m pistol | Esha Singh | 581 | 18 | 585 |
Trap | Prithviraj Tondaiman | 118 | 21 | 122 |
Trap | Rajeshwari Kumari | 113 | 22 | 121 |
Trap | Shreyasi Singh | 113 | 23 | 121 |
Skeet | Anantjeet Singh Naruka | 116 | 24 | 122 |
Skeet | Maheshwari Chauhan | 118 | 14 | 120 |
Skeet | Raiza Dhillon | 113 | 23 | 120 |
Shooting mixed events
Event | Athlete | Qualification score | Qualification position | Medal match cut-off (top 4) |
---|---|---|---|---|
10m air rifle mixed team | Sandeep Singh/Elavenil Valarivan | 626.3 | 12 | 629.7 |
10m air rifle mixed team | Arjun Babuta/Ramita Jindal | 628.7 | 6 | 629.7 |
10m air pistol mixed team | Sarabjot Singh/Manu Bhaker | 580 | 3 | qualified, won bronze |
10m air pistol mixed team | Arjun Singh Cheema/Rhythm Sangwan | 576 | 10 | 579 |
Skeet mixed team | Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Maheshwari Chauhan | 146 | 4 | qualified, finished 4th |
Swimming
Srihari Nataraj and Dhinidhi Desinghu were handed the universality quota for the 2024 Paris Olympics, after no Indian swimmers were able to break the ‘A’ or ‘B’ qualification standard for the Games.
Desinghu, the youngest Indian in Paris, won her women’s 200m freestyle heat but finished 23rd overall with a timing of 2:06.96, thereby missing out on the final. Nataraj, meanwhile, finished second in his men’s 100m backstroke heat, clocking 55.01s but was 33rd fastest overall and failed to qualify for the final.
Swimming
Event | Athlete | Results |
---|---|---|
Srihari Nataraj | Men's 100m backstroke | Rank in heats: 33rd overall Time: 55.01s |
Dhinidhi Desinghu | Women's 200m freestyle | Rank in heats: 23rd overall Time: 2:06.96 |
Table tennis
Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula became the first-ever Indian table tennis players to make it to the third round of the singles event at the Olympics.
Their runs ended when Batra lost to Japan’s world No 12 Miu Hirano and Akula was beaten by world No 1 Sun Yinghsa of China.
They were also a part of the women’s team that beat fourth seeds Romania 3-2 before losing in the quarter-finals to Germany.
In the men’s event, India’s flag-bearer at the opening ceremony Achanta Sharath Kamal was competing in his fifth Olympic Games. However he lost in the first round of the men’s singles event ot Deni Kozul of Slovenia.
Harmeet Desai, also in men’s singles, started his campaign in the preliminary round where he beat Jordan’s Zaid Abo Yaman to make it to the main draw. He was handed a tough draw however, as he took on France’s Felix Lebrun, the current world No 5, who went on to win their match 4-0.
The men’s team was handed the toughest possible draw with an opening round match against China. The world No 1 team came up with a straight-match win as they went on to win gold.
Table Tennis
Event | Athletes | Results |
---|---|---|
Men's Singles | Achanta Sharath Kamal | Lost in the first round to Slovenia's Deni Kozul 2-4 |
Men's Singles | Harmeet Desai | Won the preliminary stage match against Jordan's Zaid Abo Yaman 4-0, but lost in the first round to Felix Lebrun 4-0 |
Women's Singles | Manika Batra | Lost to Japan's Miu Hirano 1-4 in the third round |
Women's Singles | Sreeja Akula | Lost to world No 1 Sun Yingsha of China 0-4 in the third round |
Men's team | Achanta Sharath Kamal, Harmeet Desai, Manav Thakkar | Lost in the first round to China 0-3 |
Women's team | Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula, Archana Kamath | Lost in the quarter-final to Germany 1-3 |
Tennis
This was one of the sports where India has won a medal in the past. But that came a long time ago, when Leander Paes won the bronze in the men’s singles event.
There were a few hopes that Sumit Nagal would be able to get past a few opponents, given that the venue for the tennis event in Paris, Roland Garros, had his favoured clay surface.
Nagal was handed a tricky draw, facing mercurial Frenchman Corentin Moutet in the opening round. Backed by a boisterous French crowd, Moutet took home a 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 win.
In men’s doubles, Rohan Bopanna and N Sriram Balaji were originally to play the French team of Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Fabien Reboul, only for the latter to pull out a few hours before their match. At the Olympics, the rules dictate that a player may be replaced by an athlete already competing at the tournament in a different event, and so Gael Monfils stepped in.
The match only took place a day later due to a rain delay, but the French team proved too strong for Bopanna and Balaji, as they won 7-5, 6-2.
Tennis
Event | Athletes | Results |
---|---|---|
Men's singles | Sumit Nagal | Lost in the first round to Corentin Moutet 2-6, 6-2, 5-7 |
Men's doubles | Rohan Bopanna and N Sriram Balaji | Lost in the first round to Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Gael Monfils 5-7, 2-6 |
Weightlifting
Mirabai Chanu, India's lone representative in this sport and one of the country's strongest medal contenders, missed the podium in Paris despite coming in as one of the lifters to look out for. The Tokyo silver medallist fell just one kilogram short of the bronze, which went to Thailand's Khambao Surodchana.
While the narrow margin is agonising, Chanu had anticipated the heightened competition in her category long before she arrived in Paris. It is what is the biggest reason for the lack of a better result for India.
Familiar rivals like Surochana and China's Hou Zhihui were expected to pose significant challenges, but it was first-time Olympian Mihaela Cambei of Romania who delivered a surprising performance. Despite the setback of a recent hip injury, time away from the sport and subsequent rehabilitation, Chanu fought bravely to secure a fourth-place finish.
Mirabai Chanu’s Paris dream ends with a fight but by a whisker
Weightlifting
Event | Athlete | Result |
---|---|---|
Women's 49kg event | Mirabai Chanu | Finished fourth |
Wrestling
Thanks to Aman Sehrawat, India's lone male wrestler in Paris, the country extended its streak of winning a wrestling medal for the fifth consecutive Olympics. The situation had started to look bleak until Sehrawat delivered a much-needed boost to India's medal tally, ultimately securing the nation’s final medal in Paris.
The disqualification of Vinesh Phogat was particularly heartbreaking, as she was on the verge of making history as the first Indian woman to reach a final and potentially win gold. The shock and grief leading to her exit will linger in our memories for years to come.
Young Reetika Hooda came close to medaling but was outclassed by a higher-seeded and more experienced opponent in the quarter-finals.
Antim Panghal, another strong medal hope, suffered a shocking humiliating defeat in her opening round.
Anshu Malik was eliminated in the first round by the eventual bronze medallist in her category, while Nisha Dahiya’s campaign ended tragically in the quarter-final as she succumbed to injury and defeat after leading for most of her bout.
Despite winning just the solitary medal through Sehrawat, the Indian wrestling contingent put up a brave fight in Paris thanks to Phogat, Hooda and Dahiya.
Vinesh Phogat’s battles off the mat lead to greater triumphs on it
What Vinesh Phogat achieved cannot be validated by a medal
Aman Sehrawat writes the first chapter of his long journey ahead
Wrestling
Event | Athletes | Results |
---|---|---|
Women's Freestyle 50kg | Vinesh Phogat | Won in round of 16 Won in quarter-final Won in semi-final Disqualified |
Women's Freestyle 53kg | Antim Pangha | Lost in round of 16 |
Women's Freestyle 57kg | Anshu Malik | Lost in round of 16 |
Women's Freestyle 76kg | Reetika Hooda | Won in round of 16 Lost in quarter-final |
Men's Freestyle 57kg | Aman Sehrawat | Won in round of 16 Won in quarter-final Lost in semi-final Won in bronze medal match via repechage (BRONZE) |
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!