Indian Athletes to Feature in Action-Packed Saturday Across Multiple Sports

The Indian contingent will compete in seven different sports on Saturday, with prominent events in shooting, hockey, badminton, and tennis. Highlights include rowing heats at 12:30 PM, key shooting qualifiers, men's doubles tennis, and men's hockey against New Zealand, concluding with a midnight boxing match.

After a glittering opening ceremony, the Indian contingent is set for a busy Saturday, featuring action in seven different sports. Shooting, hockey, badminton, and tennis are the marquee events. The day kicks off at 12:30 PM with Balraj Panwar competing in the single sculls rowing heats.

Focus then shifts to shooting at 12:30 PM, starting with the 10m air rifle mixed team qualification. Teams featuring Sandeep Singh, Elavenil Valarivan, Arjun Babuta, and Ramita Jindal will compete. The action continues with the 10m air pistol qualifiers for men at 2 PM and women at 4 PM, featuring top shooters like Sarabjot Singh, Arjun Cheema, Manu Bhaker, and Rhythm Sangwan. Given India's consistent performances in national and international events, they are strong medal contenders.

A standout event will be the first round of men's doubles tennis at 3:30 PM, with Indian star Rohan Bopanna teaming up with N Sriram Balaji. Bopanna, fresh off an Australian Open men's doubles win, is eager to utilize his momentum and experience in his quest for an Olympic medal, having narrowly missed out in 2016.

At 11:00 PM, badminton action begins with men's and women's singles and doubles matches extending till 5:30 AM. Watch out for Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen in men's singles, the prominent men's doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, and the women's doubles team of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa.

At 7:15 PM, Indian paddler Harmeet Desai will compete in the preliminary round of the men's table tennis singles. From 9:00 PM, the Indian men's hockey team, aiming to follow up their Tokyo 2020 bronze with a gold, will play New Zealand in their first Pool B match.

The competition concludes at 12:02 AM with Preeti representing India in the round of 32 of the women's 54 kg boxing category.