ADVERTISEMENTs
Chinese shuttler grounds PV Sindhu's hopes for third Olympic medal
On the sixth day of the Olympics, India experienced numerous disappointments in other sports, as well as a bronze medal in shooting.
PV Sindhu crashes out of the women's single at Paris Olympics on Aug.1. / X/@OlympicKhel
The day was more letdowns than celebrations for India at the Olympic games in Paris as their star athlete and two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu was eliminated from the competition after losing to China's Bing Jiao He in the pre-quarterfinal match.
Earlier in the day, strong medal prospects in men’s doubles evaporated after the World champion Indian pair of Ranki Reddy and Chirag Shetty squandered one set lead before losing to a Malaysian pair in the pre-quarterfinals. At the same time, Lakshya Sen got the better of his senior teammate HS Prannoy to make the last eight round in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games on Aug.1.
At the end of day six, India’s only medal hope left in the badminton competition was Sen.
Gave it your all out there
— Team India (@WeAreTeamIndia) August 1, 2024
Top effort today, always an inspiration @Pvsindhu1 #JeetKiAur | #Cheer4Bharat pic.twitter.com/QhWDSSN9ol
Lakshya Sen who recorded an impressive win over Indonesian star shuttler Jonatan Christie in straight sets at 21-18, and 21-12, in the group matches, continued his good form in the pre-quarterfinals where he had to cross swords with his more experienced senior and sixth-ranked H.S. Prannoy. However, Sen was not stopping as he had set up his quarterfinal clash with Tien Chen Chow of Taipei. All hopes are now on him to give India its first Olympic badminton medal in the men’s section.
After placing second in the women's singles event at the Rio Olympics, PV Sindhu became the first player from her country to win silver in badminton. Her most recent Olympic medal was a bronze from the 2020 Games in Tokyo. In the 2012 London Olympic Games, Saina Nehwal won for the country its first Olympic medal in badminton, a bronze. PV Sindhu improved the colour to Silver in 2016. Her hopes and expectations were to improve it further to gold. These hopes did not materialise.
In the women’s doubles, the Indian challenge ended yesterday with the defeat of Ashwini Ponappa and Tanisha Crasto at the hands of a Korean pair.
A tough loss for us today! We started strong in the first quarter, maintaining a solid defense and creating early chances.
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) August 1, 2024
Moving into the second quarter, our team continued to dominate possession and create numerous opportunities. Abhishek shone brightly, scoring our first… pic.twitter.com/Xnz8AO6LZq
More Heartbreaks for India
In hockey, India saw its first loss at the hands of defending champions Belgium. Overcoming a 0-1 deficit, Belgium ended the game with a 2-1 win to stay at the top of the pool with a maximum of 12 points. India now has seven points from four games with two wins, a draw, and a loss.
India plays Australia in its last pool game on Aug.2. In the second game, Australia thrashed bottom-placed New Zealand 5-0 to move to the second spot with three wins from four games. Australia had lost 2-6 to Belgium yesterday.
Boxer Nikhat Zareen also met with a loss in Round of 16 after defeat against China's Wu Yu in women’s 50kg.
Both the tennis and table tennis competitions for India have concluded without a single medal. In TT Sreeja Akula and Manika Batra advanced to the quarterfinals while in Tennis Sumit Nagal and doubles pair of Rohan Bopanna and Sriram Balaji recorded early exits.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
E Paper
Video
.jpg)
Comments
Start the conversation
Become a member of New India Abroad to start commenting.
Sign Up Now
Already have an account? Login