India at Paris Olympics 2024, Day 6, Highlights: PV Sindhu bows out in R16; Swapnil headlines day with bronze medal

It was a poor day at the office for India in badminton at the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024 after it suffered a triple blow on Thursday (August 1) as top shuttlers were knocked out. The biggest defeat of the day came in the form of two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu having lost to China’s He Bingjiao in the R16 clash. The day also saw Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lose in their quarterfinal contest while HS Prannoy lost to fellow Indian Lakshya Sen in what was a triple blow for India.

Ace Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen cruised into the final eight in the men's singles category in badminton after beating compatriot HS Prannoy in an all-Indian pre-quarters at the Paris Olympics 2024.

Lakshya beat Prannoy 21-12, 21-6 in a one-sided affair. 

The medal hope at this year's Games, Lakshya will face next face the 12th seed, Tien Chen Chou, in the quarter-final on August 2.

The Indian women shooters Sift Kaur Samra and Anjum Moudgil have failed to reach the final of the women's 50m Air Rifle 3 Positions event for finishing outside the top eight.

While Anjum finished at 18 with a score of 584-26x, Sift Kaur Samra finished at 31 with a score of 575-22x.

One of India's medal hopes at the Paris Games - the men's badminton pair of Satwik & Chirag has crashed out in a tight quarterfinal clash against the Malaysian duo of Aaron & Wooi Yik Soh. 

The Indian duo won the first game but failed to hold on to the momentum as they suffered a shocking defeat, with the scorecard reading 21-13, 14-21, 16-21. 

India have lost to Belgium in men's hockey, but will have no issues reaching the knockout stage. India were beaten 2-1 despite having the lead at one stage. 

India's Nikhat Zareen bows out after a defeat to China's Wu Yu.

PM Modi wrote on X, "Exceptional performance by Swapnil Kusale! Congrats to him for winning the Bronze medal in the Men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions at the #ParisOlympics2024. 

His performance is special because he’s shown great resilience and skills. He is also the first Indian athlete to win a medal in this category. 

Every Indian is filled with happiness."

A brilliant dribbling run from Florent van Aubel and his shot is flicked in by Thibeau Stockbroekx as Belgium equalise with India soon after restart.

1-0!!! GOAL from Abhishek courtesy of a clumsy mistake from Belgium as India on the lead. Who would have thought?

SWAPNIL SCRIPTS HISTORY!!! The shooter wins bronze in men's 50m rifle 3 positions. He, thus, becomes the  third Indian shooter/team to win a medal in Paris Olympics 2024 edition. In addition, he is the first Indian in the history of Olympics to medal in the 50m rifle 3 positions event! 

Another medal for India via shooting at the Paris Games. Swapnil has been confirmed of a medal in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions. He is currently at the third spot.

This is really touch-and-go as Swapnil has moved to the fourth spot in shooting currently. Meanwhile, the men's hockey team's clash versus Belgium is underway.

Another one in the 9 (a 9.9) from Swapnil Kusale in the second round of kneeling. The Indian star remains firm at the sixth spot. 

At the halfway mark of the men's 20km racewalk, India's Vikash Singh has gone down to 29th among 49 athletes with a split of 40:27s. Meanwhile, Paramjeet Singh is 43rd at the moment with a split of 41:17s whereas Akshdeep opted out after he finished off at the 49th rank.

As many as 3 Indians are in action in men's 20km racewalk. 

Paramjeet Singh has a personal best of 1:20:08s and a season best of 1:22:10s.

Meanwhile, Akshdeep Singh has a personal best of 1:19:55s and a season best of 1:20.52s.

Vikash Singh, on the other hand, has a personal best of 1:20.05s and a season best of 1:21.59s. 

It is unlikely that any of the three Indians will end up on the podium, however, let's still hope for the best and wish them good luck.

The shooting squad of India have been on a roll in Paris Olympics 2024. Today, Swapnil Kusale will be riding on the hopes of millions of Indians as he is nearing a medal at the Games. His event starts soon after which the focus will shift on boxer Nikhat Zareen, men's hockey team's crucial game versus Belgium whereas the shuttlers take on the onus later.