Indian Athletes Face Mixed Fortunes at Ongoing Paris Olympics

Indian athletes experienced mixed results at the Paris Olympics, with Ponnappa and Crasto losing in women's doubles badminton, while Manu Bhaker excelled in shooting. Medals are in focus as India aims to surpass its 2020 tally.

The Indian duo of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto bowed out in the group stage of the women's doubles badminton competition at the ongoing Paris Olympics. Ponnappa and Crasto were defeated in straight sets by South Korea's Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong, 21-18, 21-10. The match lasted for 46 minutes.

Next, Ponnappa and Crasto will face Japan's Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida on July 29. In total, India has sent 117 athletes to compete in 16 disciplines. The Olympics, which started on July 26, will conclude on August 11. India is striving to improve upon its medal tally of seven from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which included a gold, two silvers, and four bronzes.

On Saturday, India's Harmeet Desai advanced to the Round of 64 in men's singles table tennis by defeating Jordan's Zaid Abo Yaman 4-0. Meanwhile, Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen won his men’s singles Group L match against Guatemala’s Kevin Cordon 21-8, 22-20.

In shooting, Manu Bhaker secured third place in the qualification round of the women's 10-meter air pistol event to advance to the final. Bhaker exhibited a stellar performance, scoring 580-27x points. However, her teammate Rhythm Sangwan failed to advance, finishing 15th with 573-14x points. In the men’s 10m air pistol competition, Indian shooters Sarabjot Singh and Arjun Cheema also failed to make the final round, finishing 9th and 18th respectively.