Paris Olympics 2024, India’s Day 3 Highlights: Manika registers huge win in TT; Harmanpreet scores late equaliser vs ARG, Manu shines again (2024)

Here's the schedule for Day 4, as we take your leave for the night.

Paris 2024 Olympics, India’s Day 4 schedule: Manu Bhaker-Sarabjot Singh in bronze contention, hockey team back in action,

As Manika registers a huge win, a good time to read this feature by Shivani Naik that was written as part of our Olympic Games countdown.

Manika Batra’s secret to potential Olympic success: A fat motivational book, a surprise twiddle switch of racquet, and a mother’s emotional support

Historic win for Manika. And a dominant one at that to close out India's events for Day 3.

Milestone moment ?

Manika Batra achieves India's best ever singles performance in an Olympic Games by reaching R16 ?#PingPong #TableTennis #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/rgCnWtuxzH

— World Table Tennis (@WTTGlobal) July 29, 2024

The thing about that Manika Batra win... was how easy she made it look at times! If you had watched Felix Lebrun vs Harmeet Desai last night, you'd have known the atmosphere the French crowd could bring. But today, could be barely heard through the broadcast. Manika just stunned Prithika, and it wasn't just all out attack. The backhand defence was superb too. What a win, huge result!

MANIKA BATRA, WHAT A WIN: Manika beats World No. 18 and home favourite Prithika Pavade in straight games! This is a huge win for the Indian and she creates history by becoming the first paddler to enter the Rd of 16 in women's singles at the Olympics! Manika is looking extremely confident in this tournament and with this win, there's no saying how far she can go!

Anil Dias

Manika has put Prithika under the pump here to win the third game and take a 3-0 lead. Prithika, down 3-0, decided to take a Timeout but it was no use as Manika was just strolling away with the game. But then Prithika, down 10-5, suddenly fought back to win four straight points to force Manika to take the Timeout. Prithika got one more point, but Manika got it done with the last game point in hand. One game away now for the Delhi girl!

Anil Dias

MANIKA TAKES THE THIRD GAME: The Pavade pressure was starting to show on Manika but perhaps with a bit of luck, she draws the error from the French paddler. A roar in relief more than joy and Manika is one game away!

Manika Batra with a stunning backhand winner, just after Pavade had to take a timeout to try and douse the momentum the Indian had at the start of the third game.

#Paris2024 #Olympics#TableTennis Oh what a backhand across the table from Manika there! She turns around and not just celebrates, but with a smile... just enjoying what was a really good shot. https://t.co/jtXVyB0A5G pic.twitter.com/0KetPJj2f6

— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) July 29, 2024

This is sensational. Manika takes a 2-game lead against home favourite Prithika. She needs to win two more games in the match to create history by becoming the first Indian to enter the Rd of 16 in the women's singles event at the Olympics.

Anil Dias

MANIKA TAKES THE SECOND GAME TOO:This is superb from the Indian star, who is being backed by the Indian TT contingent.

So Manika uses long pimples on the backhand and that's generally supposed to slow the game and reverse the spin. But with her coach Aman Balgu, Manika has begun attacking with the backhand. It's a weapon she has only started using in the past year but it seems to be working quite well. Against an attacking player like Prithika, she'll need to be accurate with it too.

Anil Dias

Prithika has been in great form this year, reaching the Rd of 16 at the Singapore Smash and the WTT Champions. She was also the finalist at the WTT Star Contender in Ljubljana. Manika seemed down at the start but has fought back superbly to take a crucial lead in the first game. Prithika was unable to match Manika's power-hitting and the Indian would want to try to unleash her forehand smash more often.

Anil Dias

She’s French, has Indian roots and at the Paris Olympics, six months away, she’ll be ranked higher than any other female table tennis player from the country of her birth and ancestry.

No wonder, then, that 19-year-old Prithika Pavade is making heads turn in both the countries.

At the table, things have been upbeat as she snicked a win over Chinese Wang Manyu, closely behind teammates Ayhika Mukherjee and Sreeja Akula who notched Top 3 scalps. "There's no specific reason why India is doing well. We are all working very hard and the fear of facing Chinese players has gone down a little. There's belief we can beat any opponent," she adds.

A Delhi girl through and through,Manikafollowed her older sister and brother into the sport, inheriting her parents' tall frames - mother Sushma is 5'6 1/2" and her father 5'11". Sushma started off as a housewife, and then ran a fashion boutique for some years. "People asked me why's she wasting her time in sport 15 years ago when most pushed their kids into becoming doctors or CAs. But i always thought sport had potential," Sushma recalls. "I knew kar jaaegi woh kuchh table tennis mein. (She will go far in sport). In school I loved playing badminton in our sports period, but couldn't do anything with it. Now, I'm living my dream through my daughter," she adds.Manika's older siblings would drift into careers in finance and ease Sushma's workload, but the youngest hung around climbing unscaled heights.

Read more here.

Canadian street skateboarder Matt Berger filmed himself and his fellow countrymen Cordano Russell skating down the streets of Paris after their bus broke down mid way to their practice venue.

What do Olympic skateboarders do when bus breaks down on way to competition? They skate to venue of course. (READ MORE)

Harmanpreet Singh, captain of the Indian men’s hockey team, spoke about the team’s performance, after the first two games - "The team is playing really well. We're strong defensively, with or without the ball. With the ball, we're creating a lot of chances and getting into the opponent's circle. We can improve the outcome and the finishing in the upcoming games. We have a plan, we're creating chances, but our finishing needs to better," he told Jio Cinema.

Singh also shared his thoughts on the planned steps to improve the penalty conversion rate (The Indian team scored one out of ten penalty corners today) – We had our discussions with the coach on where to flick, and we were just following that. To be honest, if you look at the rushers today and during the match against New Zealand, and even our rushers, the first rushers are playing a very important role for every team. We need to devise a plan and strategy on how to beat them. Hopefully, in the next match, we will come with a better plan and finish well."

Singh on scoring the equaliser and the discussions with the coach - "The coach tells us where to flick the ball for every penalty corner. They're sitting outside and analysing the game, so we just follow the planning. But we fought and created chances until the last whistle. You definitely feel relieved when you score the equalizer, but the result wasn't in our favour as we wanted to win the match."

Singh on the approach in the next match against Ireland - "Our plan is to focus on one match at a time. Till now, we were focused on the Argentina match. Now, whatever time is left before tomorrow’s match, we will analyse Ireland’s game because they're a great team as well. They have played well so far and we know that no team is easy to beat.”

Tom Daley wouldn’t be in Paris, biting into his 5th Olympic medal, a silver in the synchronised 10m diving, if not for a visit to a museum in Colorado. And a recurring dream. In 2023, two years into his semi-retirement after the Tokyo gold, Daley was at a US Olympic and Paralympic museum with his partner Dustin Lance Black and two kids when a video played about what it means to be an Olympian. Daley broke down.

“I remember the video finishing and I was there crying. It was Robbie (his first son) who turned and said, ‘Papa, what’s the matter?’ Lance looked at me, saw me crying and thought, ‘oh no. I know what this means…’ I said, ‘I just really miss diving in the Olympics’, and Robbie said, ‘but Papa, I want to see you dive in the Olympics’ – and that was that.”

READ Sriram Veera's riveting story on the Olympics icon from England.

Boxing action clicks into top gear from Tuesday as three pugilists take to the ring. Preeti will be fighting her 2nd bout but Amit and Jaismine are kicking off their campaigns.

-Men’s 51kg R16, Amit Panghal vs Patrick Chinyemba: 7.16 pm IST
-Women’s 57kg R32, Jaismine vs Nesthy Petecio: 9.24 pm IST
-Women’s 54kg R16: Preeti Pawar vs Yeni Castaneda: 1.22 am IST (Wednesday)

-Manu Bhaker-Sarabjot Singh in bronze contention

-Satwik-Chirag and Ashwini-Tanisha in action in Badminton Doubles

-Hockey team play Ireland

Complete schedule of the Indian contingent for Day 4 of the 2024 Paris Olympics. (READ HERE)

Clay King Rafael Nadal has had enough of the 'is it your last' questions. Speaking after his loss to Novak Djokovic on Monday, the Spaniard asked not to be rushed into making the decision.

"I cannot spend every day thinking about whether it is the last or not, because otherwise it is impossible. I have been suffering a lot of injuries the last two years so if I feel that I am not competitive enough, or physically if I am not enough ready to keep going, I will stop and I will let you know."

As an almost teary-eyed author Deepti Babuta shows her son Arjun Babuta’s trophy cabinet moments after the 25-year-old finished fourth in the men’s 10m air rifle final at the Paris Olympics, the award-winning author points towards an anthology of poems Sab toh Khatarnak by Punjabi poet Avtaar Singh Paash.

The author and emotional mother recites a verse as a message to her son post the heart-breaking finish at the Chateauroux range.

"Sab toh khatarnak hunda hai sade supnayen da mar jana (The most dangerous thing is the death of our dreams). It’s just the start of Arjun’s Olympic dream and a fourth place can’t end his journey as a shooter or his dream to win an Olympics medal for India some day." (READ Nitin Sharma's story)

“Fourth is the worst position to be in. The pain is unbearable. It’s very hard to deal with.”

Arjun Babuta, who on Monday missed an Olympic medal in the 10m air rifle in the cruellest of ways, sounded like a man who would pay a fortune to be anywhere but the cramped room at the shooting ranges in Chateauroux. (Mihir Vasavda's report from Paris, READ HERE)

Among the key results for India on Day 3 was Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh making the bronze medal match of the 10m air pistol mixed team event.

In the women's category of the same event, Bhaker had secured a bronze on Sunday - India's first and only medal so far at Paris 2024. Should Bhaker and Sarabjot triumph, the former will become the first Indian to win more than one medal in a single edition of the Games.

Simone Biles has five elements – two each on Vault and Floor exercise and one on Beam – named after her. There’s a very good chance that the city of Paris cedes its title rights to these Games, and turns 2024 altogether into the Simone Biles Olympics. The start to this high-style takeover, on Sunday, was sensational.

Olympic medals never come easy, extracting every ounce of fight from an athlete. So, Simone limped at one point after a dodgy landing during the All-Around team championships qualification. And then she crawled towards her teammates on her hands and knees till she found strength in her niggling ankle and calf. They talk of the glamour and grandeur of her superhuman feats in the air, but Simone was all grit in her Paris opening, as she went from limp-crawl to fly, a 0 to 100, on the cue of a start. (Shivani Naik encapsulates the historic moment, HERE)

#Paris2024 #Shooting

An emotional Deepti Babuta, mother of Arjun Babuta, speaks with @IndianExpress after her son missed an #Olympics medal by a whisker.

Video: Jasbir Malhi

READ @Nitinsharma631's story: https://t.co/GVFzuyZiHv pic.twitter.com/ccZNOEzYQQ

— Express Sports (@IExpressSports) July 29, 2024

Before droning into what seems to be an epilogue to this 60-chapter-long epic rivalry between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, an acknowledgement is due.

For much of its modern history, tennis has thrived on its key rivalries – personal contests that determine high-stakes outcomes. Evert-Navratilova, Borg-McEnroe, Federer-Nadal.

Without the same kind of universal adoration and resonance though, the pre-eminent rivalry of this generation, and perhaps Open Era men’s tennis at large, is the one between Nadal and Djokovic. Across 60 evenly-contested meetings through 18 years, none have shared this sustained level of greatness throughout a period so long, and left an imprint on the game so large. (READ Namit Kumar's analysis)

Turkey, who defeated India a while earlier, have lost the semifinal.

France win an archery match by the closest measure that is possible. Tied 4-4 after 4 sets. Tied 27-27 after the shootoff. But France shot the 10 that was closest to the center in the tiebreak! Crazy scenes.

Flying a drone over the opponents’ training session to gather information is perhaps the most indiscreet piece of espionage carried out in recent sporting history. The buzzing saucers with spidery limbs are spotted everywhere, from weddings and funerals to political rallies and warfronts, underwater and in outer space too. So it was not a piece of improvised spying when some members of the Canadian women’s football employed drones to peep into New Zealand’s training session before their counter.

(READ Sandip G's weekly football column)

Top seed Novak Djokovic outplayed long-time rival Rafael Nadal in their 60th all-time meeting to progress into the third round of the Paris Olympics men’s singles on Monday.

Djokovic, the 24-time Grand Slam champion, obliterated Nadal from the start, asserting complete dominance over serve and return to find the early breaks. While the Serb was on the verge of completing his first bagel over Nadal, the Spaniard marginally held fort before conceding the first set 6-1 in only 39 minutes. (READ MORE about the heavyweight meet)

India captain Harmanpreet Singh rose to the occasion once again, converting from a last-minute penalty corner to rescue India from a certain defeat against Argentina and grab a point in a 1-1 draw.

This, after India fluffed as many as nine penalty corners. Argentina were left to rue the missed penalty stroke by Maico Casella in the 36th minute.

It was Lucas Martinez, who had put his side ahead in the 22nd minute with a field goal and Harmanpreet, who had struck against New Zealand in the dying moments, found the net a minute before the final hooter.

It’s a club that counts as its members the the likes of Olympics champion Abhinav Bindra, Olympics medallist Leander Paes and certified legends of Indian sport like PT Usha and Milkha Singh as members. Yet, it’s also one club that no Indian athlete would want to be a part of: the club of fourth-place finishers at an Olympics.

It’s this club that rifle shooter Arjun Babuta joined on Monday after ending just outside the medal places in the men’s 10m air rifle event at the Châteauroux shooting range in France. (READ MORE)

Dhiraj: "Wind was challenging. But it was same for everyone. We couldn't succeed. Especially me. It's heartbreaking. But competition isn't over. We'll fight till last breath."

Jadhav: "No one loses because of one person. It's a whole team that wins or loses. We'll try hard in mixed and individual."

(via Sports18 broadcast)

Abhinav Bindra knows about winning the Olympics gold, but he'd be the first to tell you he knows more about not winning at the Olympics too. He knows about finishing fourth. So there couldn't be a better message for Arjun Babuta than from the man himself.

Arjun, congratulations on your inspiring performance today. You came so close, and your dedication shone through every shot. I couldn't be more proud of your composure under pressure. This performance is just the beginning and am sure a sign of things to come. Keep pushing, keep… pic.twitter.com/mYKeJbSLe9

— Abhinav A. Bindra OLY (@Abhinav_Bindra) July 29, 2024

Atanu Das says, one of the experts for Sports18, "the Italians are on a 60 poundage". All three Indian males are operating on 50-54 bow string poundage, one of the higher ones possible, anything above 47 is considered heavyweight. So they have maxed what's physically possible for them. But is the rest of the equipment comparable to other countries? Watching Italians and French archers, you wonder.

Shivani Naik

Shivani Naik on Sen at Seine stuff:

"Happy with the way I converted in the first game. ...Tough at the start when lifts were going short. But I didn't try to play a perfect game, just retrieve more shots back and take chances whenever I could.

Took Kevin Cordon withdrawal as just a practice match'. Now it's one match at a time. It's either Jonatan Christie or me who will go forward. (No menace intended in the mixed zone tone. But full Almora-wo ya main-energy spotted)
Time to rest and recover. Wish Kevin speedy recovery."

IF YOU AR WONDERING ABOUT ARCHERY SCORING

Archers shoot over a distance of 70 metres at targets measuring 122 centimetres in diameter, aiming to hit a 10-ring measuring just 12.2 centimetres in diameter. Matches in the knockout bracket are decided using the set system. Archers and teams shoot series of arrows called ‘sets’. The highest score in a set is awarded two set points. A draw awards one set point each. The goal in a team match is to accrue five set points. a set consists of six arrows, two per archer. (A team consists of three archers of the same gender.)