While Bhaker claimed her maiden medal at the Games, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and debutant Nikhat Zareen showed promise for future podium finishes.
Bhaker, now 22, clinched the bronze in women’s 10m air pistol at Chateauroux’s National Shooting Centre, becoming the first Indian female shooter to win an Olympic medal.
Her accomplishment was especially notable as it marked the end of India’s 12-year medal drought in Olympic shooting — a sport where the nation had high expectations but no successes in the last two editions.
“In Bhagwat Gita, Krishna says to Arjuna that ‘you focus on your karma and not on the outcome of that karma’. Only that was running in my head,” news agency PTI quoted Bhaker as saying, with relief written large on her smiling face, when asked about her state of mind during the final.
The achievement places India at the joint 18th spot in the overall standings alongside South Africa, Hungary, and Spain.
Bhaker’s medal opened India’s account in the ongoing Games, supported by the guidance of her long-time coach Jaspal Rana.
The bronze win by Bhaker was a redemption of sorts for her, coming three years after her weapon malfunctioned during the qualification round of the same event in Tokyo, leaving her disheartened. This time, her score of 221.7 in the final stood out.
Adding to the optimism, Indian shooters Ramita Jindal and Arjun Babuta both entered the finals of the 10m air rifle events in their respective categories, promising further successes for India in shooting at these Games.
Sindhu off to winning start
Sindhu and HS Prannoy clinched straight-game wins in their opening group stage matches at the Paris Olympics.
Sindhu, in pursuit of her third successive Olympic medal, defeated Maldives’ Fathimath Abdul Razzaq while Prannoy overcame Germany’s Fabian Roth, marking a strong start.
Sindhu showcased her class by defeating Razzaq 21-9, 21-6 in just 29 minutes in the women’s singles Group M match. The 29-year-old, coached by the legendary Prakash Padukone, highlighted the role of ‘yoga’ in maintaining her mental strength.
“It is very important to be mentally strong. You at times don’t know what is happening…I have tried to be positive, I keep myself calm and do yoga,” she said.
Prannoy, a debutant at Olympics, secured victory against Roth with a score of 21-18, 21-12 in a 45-minute Group K match. The 32-year-old from Kerala, who had recently recovered from chikungunya, demonstrated his fitness and skill. He will compete against Le Duc Phat of Vietnam on Wednesday in the second and final group match.
Nikhat Zareen records tenacious win
While Sindhu showcased dominance on the badminton court, boxer Zareen exhibited tenacity in her 50kg category opener in Paris.
The 28-year-old Hyderabadi advanced to the pre-quarterfinals, defeating Germany’s Maxi Carina Kloetzer.
On Thursday, Zareen faces her next challenge, top-seeded Asian Games and reigning flyweight world champion Wu Yu of China, who had a first-round bye.
Manika, Sreeja advance, Sharath out of TT singles
Manika Batra, 29, secured a win over Great Britain’s Anna Hursey in the round of 64 women’s singles table tennis match with scores of 11-8, 12-10, 11-9, 9-11, and 11-5, matching her Tokyo Olympics performance.
Joining her in the round of 32 is India’s top-ranked woman player Sreeja Akula, who defeated Sweden’s Christina Kallberg 4-0. Sreeja, who made history as the first Indian to win a WTT Contender singles title, secured a seamless victory with scores of 11-4, 11-9, 11-7, and 11-8 against Kallberg.
In contrast, 42-year-old A Sharath Kamal, in his fifth Olympic appearance, experienced a defeat in a 2-4 match against Slovenia’s Deni Kozul, who is ranked 86 places below him.
Kamal’s match ended in scores of 12-10, 9-11, 6-11, 7-11, 11-8, and 10-12. Kamal however will continue to be in contention in the team event, which will start later.
Harmeet Desai also suffered a 0-4 loss against world no.5 Felix Lebrun of France in the second round of the men’s singles table tennis competition, ending his maiden Olympic campaign.
The 31-year-old from Surat couldn’t settle into a rhythm to go down 8-11, 8-11, 6-11, 8-11 against the 17-year-old local hopeful in 28 minutes, which brought the curtains down on India’s campaign in men’s singles competitions.
Disappointment in Archery and Tennis
The Indian women’s archery team, featuring former world no.1 Deepika Kumari and debutants Ankita Bhakat and Bhajan Kaur, faced a tough quarterfinal loss to the Netherlands, going down 0-6.
On the same day, at the Roland Garros, Sumit Nagal exited in the first round after a challenging match against Frenchman Corentin Moutetin.
In the archery quarterfinals, 18-year-old Bhajan Kaur delivered an impressive performance, scoring 56 out of 60 points. However, her teammates Deepika Kumari and Ankita Bhakat struggled to keep up.
Deepika managed a total of 48 points, while Ankita scored 46 out of a maximum of 60, including a disappointing shot into the 4-ring. The final scores for the match stood at 0-6 (51-52, 49-54, 48-53).
Nagal’s effort at Roland Garros ended with 2-6, 6-4, 5-7 defeat. His match lasted two hours and 28 minutes.
Rower Panwar enters quarters
Balraj Panwar progressed to the quarterfinals of the men’s single sculls rowing competition after finishing second in Repechage 2.
Panwar clocked 7 minutes 12.41 seconds to finish behind Monaco’s Quentin Antognelli who clocked 7:10:00. The first two finishers in each repechage qualify for the quarterfinals to be held on Tuesday.