A supremely confident Manu Bhaker was at the top of her game as she entered the 10m women’s air pistol final, salvaging the day for Indian shooting after an underwhelming start by her compatriots in the Olympic Games here on Saturday.
The 22-year-old Bhaker shot 580 to finish third in the qualifications in which Hungarian ace Veronika Major claimed the top spot with a score of 582. The other Indian in the competition, Rhythm Sangwan, ended 15th with a score of 573. The final will be held on Sunday.
Reduced to tears following her forgettable outing in her Games debut in Tokyo three years ago, Bhaker is seeking redemption. On Sunday, Bhaker looked determined
to keep the Tokyo memories behind.
The Haryana shooter made a bright start with a total of 97 points to take the fourth spot at the end of Series 1. Bhaker got a 97 in the second series to slip to fourth but was back in the top two after an excellent 98 in her third series. Bhaker got an 8 in the fifth series but she still remained in the mix and eventually made the final.
India's Harmeet Desai during his 4-0 win over Jordan's Zaid Abu Yaman during their round table tennis match. PTI
But the other Indian shooters flattered to deceive. Sarabjot Singh and Arjun Singh Cheema sparkled in patches but could not make the men’s 10m air pistol final. Sarabjot finished ninth with a total score of 577 in the qualifications while Arjun ended way behind at 18th with 574.
In the 10m air rifle mixed team qualifications stage, Ramita Jindal and Arjun Babuta finished sixth with a total score of 628.7, while Elavenil Valarivan and Sandeep Singh ended 12th with an aggregate score
of 626.3.
Rowing hope
India’s lone rower in Paris Olympics, Balraj Panwar moved to the repechages after finishing fourth in Heat 1 of the men’s singles scull competition here on Saturday. The top three in each Heat qualifies for the quarter-finals. In repechages, Panwar will have a second chance to advance to the semi-finals and finals.
Easy for Harmeet
Paddler Harmeet Desai advanced to the second round of the men’s singles table tennis event with a convincing 11-7, 11-9, 11-5, 11-5 win over Jordan’s Zaid Abo Yaman. In Paris, Harmeet is competing as one of the two men’s singles players from India alongside veteran Sharath Kamal.
Rain has no match
In tennis, the men’s doubles match between India’s Rohan Bopanna and Sriram Balaji and France’s Gael Monfils and Edouard Roger-Vasselin was cancelled on Saturday due to persistent rainfall.
Paddler, Sharath Kamal, in a picture shared on X, will begin his Paris Olympics campaign on Sunday X
Boxing win
Preeti Pawar defeated Vietnam’s Vo Thi Kim Anh by unanimous decision in the women’s 54kg round of 32 bout. Kim Anh was on top after the first round, where the judges gave her a 3-2 split lead. However, the Indian made a terrific comeback in the next two rounds to seal a victory.
