Paris Olympics day 7 highlights: Lakshya Sen becomes first male Indian shuttler to enter Olympic semifinals

Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei withstood surging Ethiopian team tactics to claim gold in the men’s Olympic 10,000m at the Stade de France on Friday.

The three-time world champion and world record holder, silver medallist at the Tokyo Games, timed an Olympic record of 26min 43.14sec for victory. - AFP

French swimming superstar Leon Marchand won his fourth gold medal of the Paris Games with an emphatic victory in the men’s 200m individual medley on Friday.

Marchand won in 1min 54.06sec, the second-fastest time in history and an Olympic record, with Britain’s Duncan Scott taking silver and China’s Wang Shun third. - AFP

Australia’s Cameron McEvoy won gold in the men’s 50m freestyle with a time of 21.25sec at the Paris Olympics on Friday.

Great Britain’s Ben Proud was 0.05 seconds behind to take silver with France’s Florent Manaudou collecting bronze. - AFP

Lakshya Sen inched closer to a maiden Olympic medal after becoming the first Indian male shuttler to advance to the semifinals with a thrilling three-game win over Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen at the Paris Games in Paris on August 2.

The 22-year-old from Almora, a 2021 World Championships bronze medallist, combined pace with precision and held his nerve during key moments to emerge 19-21 21-15 21-12 winner against world number 11 Chou, a 2022 World Championships bronze medallist in an intense quarterfinal battle.

Sen, the reigning Commonwealth Games champion, will face the winner of the match between 2021 World Champion Loh kean Yew of Singapore and Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in the last four.

Women’s singles players PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal are the only Indians to have crossed the quarterfinal stage in Olympics. In men’s singles, Parupalli Kashyap and Kidambi Srikanth had reached the quarterfinals in 2012 London and 2016 Rio editions respectively.

Indian badminton star Lakshya Sen, playing in his debut Olympics, entered the semifinals at the Paris Olympics 2024. Lakshya Sen won the third set by 21-12 against Chinese Taipei opponent Chou Tein Chen.

Lakshya Sen became the first Indian men badminton player to enter the semifinals.

India’s Lakshya Sen bounced back strongly in the second set to level it by winning it 21-15 against Chinese Taipei player Chou Tein Chen. Interstingly, Lakshya Sen has not lost a set till now in this Olympics

One of the boxers at the centre of a widening gender scandal at the Paris Olympics won her opening bout on Friday to reach the quarterfinals.?

Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting beat Sitora Turdibekova from Uzbekistan on a unanimous points decision in the women’s 57kg class.?

Lin, 28, is at the centre of a political punch-up over the eligibility of women boxers, along with Imane Khelif, after the Algerian beat her Italian opponent Angela Carini in just 46 seconds on Thursday.?

Lin, a tall 28-year-old fighter, won with finesse rather than power, using her reach to score with jabs and sidestepping Turdibekova’s attempts to make the fight a close-quarters brawl.?

After the victory she avoided talking to the media, although her coach Tseng Tsu Chiang paused briefly.?

“This is how the sport is. We respect the ruling and all the rules,” he said adding that Lin “was a little nervous in her first bout. Anyway, we just enjoyed the contest.”?

Both Khelif and Lin fought at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics without controversy or success -- both lost in the round of 16.?

They were then disqualified from the 2023 world championships in New Delhi run by the International Boxing Association (IBA) after failing to meet “eligibility criteria”.

Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tein Chen takes the first set 21-19 against India’s Lakshya Sen

India’s Lakshya Sen in action against his Chinese Taipei opponent in the quarterfinals of the men’s badminton singles at the Paris Olympics.

Star Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the final of the men’s singles tennis event by beating Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime in the semifinal at the Paris Olympics on August 2.?

Alcaraz won 6-1, 6-1 in straight sets against Felix Auger-Aliassime at the Court Philippe Chatrier. The Spaniard displayed his best show of the season in the semifinal match and became the youngest player to reach the men’s singles gold medal match.

The record books will show that Afghanistan’s Kimia Yousofi ran the slowest time in her preliminary round of the women’s 100m competition at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Competing in her third Olympics — Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo — Yousofi finished with a time of 13.42 seconds, slower than the 13.29 three years ago. Most athletes would be disappointed at this point, with years of struggle and hard work culminating in a less-than-impressive finish.?

But for Yousofi, this race is just the beginning. As the competition concludes, she removes the bib pinned to the back of her jersey, turns it around, eager to show the camera what is written on the other side. It’s important that people see it.?

“Education, Sport, our right,” it reads.?

Each of the runners in the preliminary rounds has their own story. Faiqa Riaz, from Pakistan, is participating in her first international competition. She’s never run in a stadium as big and filled with as many people as the Stade de France.

South Korea won the gold medal in the mixed team archery event at the Paris Olympics on August 2.?

Germany took the silver and the United States claimed the bronze medal.?

World number one Iga Swiatek claimed bronze in the Olympic women’s tennis on Friday, a day after her 25-match Roland Garros win streak came to an end.?

Four-time French Open champion Swiatek of Poland eased past Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-1, 6-1 in an hour of one-sided action on Court Philippe Chatrier.?

Swiatek was defeated by China’s Zheng Qinwen in Thursday’s semifinals — her first loss in Paris since 2021 — while Schmiedlova went down against Donna Vekic of Croatia.?

The 23-year-old Swiatek was in tears following her loss to Zheng and she wept again Friday despite becoming the first Polish player to win an Olympic tennis medal.

Another heartbreak for Indian fans as Dhiraj and Ankita lost the bronze medal to the USA.

India still in the match with a convincing performance from Dhiraj and Ankita. They won the third set and still have an outside chance in the bronze medal match.

USA dominates the bronze medal match against India and took the second set also.?

USA wins first set against India in the bronze medal match of the mixed archery team event.

Indian mixed archery team will be facing USA in the bronze medal match. USA lost to Germany while India lost to Korea in the semifinals.

Just a couple of years ago, Dutch rower Marloes Oldenburg was undergoing life-threatening back surgery after a nasty bicycle accident. Now, she is celebrating an Olympic gold medal.?

Oldenburg helped the Dutch team win the women’s four class on Thursday, despite still being unable to fully move her head sideways because of the crash that shattered her back into multiple pieces.?

“Amazing,” Oldenburg said. “For everybody who needs a little bit of inspiration, it’s possible to break your neck and get the Olympic gold.” It didn’t look so good right after the accident. Doctors asked Oldenburg if she wanted to donate her organs if the surgery didn’t go well. They said they didn’t know if she would survive or walk again.?

Rowing was far from a priority for Oldenburg, so competing at the Olympics was not in her thoughts at the time.?

“At that moment, not at all,” she said. “I was in a lot of pain, could not move, could not walk. But, that was two years ago. This year I didn’t think about the neck at all.” At the time of the accident, Oldenburg was celebrating the silver medals she had won at the world championships a week earlier.?

She landed on top of her head after her bicycle flipped over while she went across a tiny bridge on a mountain biking route in the Netherlands. She broke the first vertebrae and damaged a main artery in the neck during the fall.?

The surgery lasted nearly six hours as doctors screwed six pins into her spine. Oldenburg still couldn’t move her legs right after the operation, and it took almost a month before she could walk again.?

She said the recovery process was gruelling, as she had to relearn how to do many things, including how to swim.?

“Sometimes when I look back, I see a memory on the phone, like videos from two years ago, and I’m like, Oh yeah, I could move my head,’” she said with a laugh. “Now, I cannot move my head anymore.” But, she can still win an Olympic gold medal.

Germany defeated USA in another mixed team archery event and entered the final to meet Korea. On the other hand, USA will be meeting India for the bronze medal match.

Korea defeated India 6-2 in the archery mixed team event and entered the final in a convincing manner. Dhiraj Bhommadevara and Ankita Bhakat will be vying for the bronze medal later in the day.

Korea wins the third set with Dhiraj missing the last arrow by a wide margin.

India vs Korea archery mixed team semifinal: India’s Dhiraj Bhommadevara and Ankita Bhakat took the first set, the Koreans fought back to take the second set. It is intriguing match indeed

Indian mixed archery team of Dhiraj Bhommadevara and Ankita Bhakat started on a strong note and won the first set against the mighty Koreans.

Australia scored through a penalty stroke in the fourth stroke to narrow the lead. India leads 3-2 in the match

Indian archery mixed team, Dhiraj Bhommadevara and Ankita Bhakat entered the semifinal with an impressive win over Spain in the quarterfinal.

India holds on to its two-goal difference against Australia. India leads 3-1 in the third quarter. If India wins this match, this will be the first time they are defeating Australia in an Olympic game since 1972.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Boxing Association (IBA) have tried to justify their own stands following the unwanted episode of Italian woman boxer Angela Carini withdrawing from her 66kg pre-quarterfinal bout with Imane Khelif in 46 seconds amid accusations of the Algerian being a “biological male.”?

The incident triggered international outrage and forced the IOC to issue a statement and defend the inclusion of Imane.?

The IBA, which has been terminated by the IOC for several irregularities, has advocated safety of the athletes and stood by its decision to disqualify the Algerian midway through the 2023 World championships in New Delhi.?

The IOC, which conducted boxing competitions in the Tokyo Olympics through its Boxing Unit after suspending IBA and is now doing the same here, said, “Every person has the right to practise sport without discrimination. All athletes participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations set by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit (PBU). As with previous Olympic boxing competitions, the gender and age of the athletes are based on their passport.” -- Y.B. Sarangi

Captain Harmanpreet Singh scored a penalty stroke to take India 3-1 lead over Australia at the Paris Olympics 2024.

Australia bounced back to score a goal in the second quarter but India still leads the match 2-1 at the Paris Olympics.

After a field goal from Abhishek, captain Harmanpreet fired a goal from a penalty corner and take India to a 2-0 lead over Australia in the Group B encounter at the Paris Olympics

India is up against Australia in a Group B encounter in the men’s hockey event at the Paris Olympics 2024, on August 2, 2024. India opened their account in the first quarter with Abhishek scoring.

After qualifying in the quarterfinal in the archery recurve mixed team event at the ongoing Paris Olympics, India shooter Dhiraj Bommadevara said that he and Ankita Bhakat are feeling ‘confident’. Speaking after the qualification round, Bommadevara said they have set their mindset for the quarterfinal round. ”We are feeling pretty confident. We have one mindset today, that we won’t be regretful for our own shooting. On the first day when I played team matches, I assumed the pressure would be like 10 per cent more than World Cup stages. But when I came here, it’s like 90% up,” Bommadevara was quoted by Olympics.com as saying. ”I realised that in the Olympics, there are no limits for pressure. So I started accepting it. I started facing pressure. I focused on myself. I prepared for that,” he added. -- ANI

Finally, some drama at Olympic diving. After three days of domination, powerhouse China received its first serious challenge from Mexico in the men’s synchronized 3-meter event on Friday.?

The Chinese team of Long Daoyi and Wang Zongyuan trailed after the fourth of six dives — the first time any duo from the Big Red Machine was not in the top position during the synchro events.?

But, they rallied on the final two dives to take their country’s fourth straight gold medal and stay on track for an unprecedented sweep of all eight diving events.?

Long and Wang finished with 446.10 points, holding off the Mexican team of Juan Celaya and Osmar Olvera with 444.03.?

Jack Laugher and Anthony Harding of Britain took the bronze in 438.15.?

The final round was downright nerve-wracking, a far cry from the first three synchro events in which China blew away the competition — not just winning gold but posting the highest scores in every round, 22 dives in all.

Two-time medallist P.V. Sindhu’s dream of a historic third medal at the Olympics remained unfulfilled after a heart-breaking loss to world No.9 He Bing Jioa of China in the women’s singles pre-quarterfinals. Sindhu lost the match in straight sets by 19-21, 14-21.

A day after the loss, P.V. Sindhu in an instagram post said “Regarding my future, I want to be clear; I will continue, albeit after a small break. My body and more importantly, my mind need it. However, I plan to carefully evaluate the journey ahead finding more joy in playing the sport I love so very much.”

Sha’Carri Richardson launched her bid for Olympic redemption with a comfortable victory in the opening heats of the women’s 100 metres at the Stade de France on August 2.

The 24-year-old Texan burst out of the blocks smoothly and was quickly into her stride before pulling away early on and then shutting it down well before the finish line to loud applause.?

Richardson is competing in Paris three years after her dreams of Olympic gold in Tokyo were wrecked by a positive test for marijuana following her victory at US trials.?

Richardson will return for Saturday’s semi-finals where she will be aiming to reach the final later in the day to claim one of the first high-profile golds of the athletics competition.

- AFP

“Slovakia swimmer Tamara Potocka is under medical assessment after collapsing following her women’s 200 metres individual medley heat at the Paris Olympics on August 2,” a venue official said.

Medical staff rushed to assist Potocka and carried her away from the pool-side on a stretcher with an oxygen mask on her face after she finished seventh in the third heat of the event in the morning session at La Defense Arena.

The venue’s media manager confirmed Potocka was conscious and under medical assessment.

- Reuters

Indian rower Balraj Panwar ended his Paris Games campaign in 23rd position in the men’s single sculls event after signing off at fifth in the Final D round here on August 2.

The 25-year-old from Haryanna clocked 7:02.37, his best timing of the Games, in Final D, which was not a medal round.

Panwar had progressed to the quarterfinals after finishing second in his repechage round race on Sunday. He had finished fourth in his first round heat race on July 27 to make it to the repechage round.

- PTI

After Imane Khelif-Angela Carini fight, Taiwan’s presidential office and former president on August 2 expressed support for Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting who has been embroiled in a row over gender at the Paris Olympic Games ahead of her opening bout.

“Let’s cheer for Lin Yu-ting together,” wrote Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan’s first female president, who ran the island between 2016 and 2024, on her official Facebook page, adding that Lin was seeking victory for herself and honour for Taiwan.

Lin, 28, is one of two boxers, who were disqualified by the International Boxing Association (IBA) from last year’s World Champion?ships for failing gender eligibility tests but were given the green light to compete in the Paris Olympics.

Indian judoka Tulika Mann crashed out of the women’s +78kg event at the Paris Olympics after going down in the opening round to London Games champion Idalys Ortiz of Cuba on August 2.

The 25-year-old from Delhi, a silver medallist at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, lost to the Cuban, who has four Olympic medals including two silver and a bronze, 0-10 by ippon at the Champ-de-Mars Arena.

With the defeat, India’s judo campaign ended as Tulika was the lone judoka from the country competing at the Games.

- PTI

Switzerland’s Chiara Leone won the gold in the women’s 50-metre rifle three positions at the Paris Olympics on Friday.

Sagen Maddalena from the United States wins the silver while China’s Zhang Qiongyue took the bronze.

- Reuters

Indian archers Ankita Bhakat and Dhiraj Bommadevara advanced to the quarterfinal in the archery mixed team event after beating Indonesia’s Diananda Choirunisa and Arif Pangestu at the ongoing Paris Olympics on August 2.

Ankita-Dhiraj defeated the Indonesian 5-1 in the Round of 16 match at the Les Invalides. Ankita-Dhiraj will take on Spain or the People’s Republic of China in the quarter-final of the archery recurve mixed team event on August 9.

- ANI

Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise is expected to make an appearance at the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics ceremony on August 11.

The action star, known for blockbusters such as “Mission Impossible” series, “Top Gun” and “Edge of Tomorrow”, will reportedly perform a stunt at the event as the Olympics flag is handed over to the 2028 games host city, Los Angeles, reported Deadline quoting a well-placed source.

Although the details about the event are kept secret, the Olympic flag would be transferred from Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo to L.A. Mayor Karen Bass.

- PTI

Esha Sign moves to third place in Precision level with a perfect 100 in series-3.

Inida’s Lakshya Sen and China’s Chou Tien Chen Quaterfinals match is rescheduled to 09:05 P.M. IST.

Shooter Manu Bhaker will be back in action after winning two medals in the ongoing marquee event. She will be participating in the 25M Pistol Women Qualification (Precision) along with Esha Singh at 12:30 P.M. IST. The duo will be seen in 25M Pistol Women Qualification (Rapid) at 3:30 P.M. IST.

- ANI

China’s state media, athletes and netizens rallied to support Olympic swimming champion Pan Zhanle after critics including an Australian swim commentator said his world record swim in the 100 metres freestyle was not “humanly possible”.

Pan smashed his own 100m freestyle world record, shaving 0.40 seconds off the previous mark he set at the World Championships in Doha in February, to humble rivals including Australia’s Kyle Chalmers and Romania’s David Popovici.

The 19-year old Pan finished in 46.40 seconds to take China’s first swimming gold medal at the Paris Olympic Games. His win came after he “completed rigorous doping test programs prior to and during the games with zero positive results,” the China Daily said on August 2.

Pan said he took 21 doping tests from May to July prior to the games. “I cooperated with all the testing procedures and stayed confident that I am competing fair and clean,” he told the newspaper.

- Reuters

It was a day of massive disappointment for India on the badminton courts of the Olympics at the Porte de La Chapelle arena on August 1.

Two-time medallist P.V. Sindhu’s dream of a historic third medal remained unfulfilled while a strong medal hope, the Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty pair, could not rise to the expectations.

Lakshya, a World championships bronze medallist, will play against another World medallist, Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien-chen in the quarterfinals today.?