Manu Bhaker-Sarabjot Singh Clinch Bronze

PARIS, July 30: Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh shone bright on Day 4 of medal events at the Paris Olympics 2024 as they clinched the bronze medal in the 10m air pistol mixed team shooting event. The duo defeated South Korea.

Bhaker became the first athlete in the history of independent India to win two medals in a single Olympics edition.

In boxing, Amit Panghal (men's 51 kg - Rd of 16) and Jaismine Lamboria (women's 57 kg - rd of 32) have lost. Preeti Pawar will be in action later.

In archery, Bhajan Kaur reached Round of 16 in women's archery individual round event.
Coming to rowing, Balraj Panwar finished 5th in the men's single sculls quarterfinal.
India men's hockey team defeated Ireland 2-0.

Jaismine has lost her bout quite comprehensively. Today has been a bad day for Indian boxers. Now, all hope lies with Preeti Pawar who will face Yeni Marcela Arias (Colombia) in Women's 54kg Round of 16 match.

Manu Bhaker Makes History, Becomes First Indian Woman Shooter To Win Olympics Medal

PARIS, July 28: 22-year-old shooter Manu Bhaker won bronze in the women's 10m air pistol final, becoming the first Indian to win a medal in Paris Olympics 2024. Manu Bhaker also created history by becoming the first female Indian shooter to win an Olympic medal.
Bhaker maintained an excellent standard from start-to-finish, showing incredible skill and composure and spending the majority of the event in the top 3. Bhaker opens India's medal tally at Paris, as the nation aims to eclipse their medal count of seven from Paris 2024.

Bhaker was 0.1 ahead in second heading into the final shot, but slipped to third after it. Bhaker finished on 221.7 points, hitting a 10.3 on her final shot, as silver medalist Yeji Kim hit a 10.5 This caused Bhaker to lose the second spot at the final gasp, being eliminated but still clinching bronze.

Bhaker had qualified to the final in third position, having salvaged an underwhelming day for Indian shooting on Saturday, July 27. 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 representative, Rhythm Sangwan, had ended 15th with a score of 573.

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 too and remained in fourth as Sangwan slipped to 26th after a poor outing including an 8. But Bhaker was back in the top two after an excellent 98 in her third series.

Bhaker got an 8 in the fifth series, her first bad shot in an otherwise excellent qualification, but she still remained in the mix and eventually made the final.

Ramita makes 10m air rifle final

India's Ramita Jindal gave a strong display of marksmanship to qualify for the women's 10m air rifle final in fifth place even as Elavenil Valarivan succumbed to pressure to miss out despite being among the contenders, finishing 10th at the Olympic Games in Chateauroux, France on Sunday.

Ramita, the Hangzhou Asian Games bronze medallist in the event, aggregated 631.5 to become the second shooter from the country after pistol exponent Manu Bhaker to secure a berth in the final, while Elavenil scored 630.7.

French high-speed rail sabotaged before Olympic ceremony

PARIS, July 26: For France's Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin - the man with the task of securing the Paris Olympics - the sabotage attacks on the high-speed rail network will have come as a blow.

He has vowed the attackers will all be quickly arrested, but so far he has not indicated who might be to blame.

Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra promised that the culprits were not going to spoil the party, but they struck the TGV network hours before the opening ceremony - causing chaos for travellers and exposing the vulnerability of a symbol of France's technical prowess.

Caretaker Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has advised caution in drawing conclusions, but said those behind the attack clearly had a good understanding of what would cause most damage.

Suspicion fell immediately on ultra-left radicals, from security sources briefing French media, but there has been no claim of responsibility from any source.

So far all we know is that the methods used to set fire to critical optical fibres and other cables in ducts along the rail network in the early hours of Friday were reminiscent of previous attacks by the extreme left.

When cable ducts were set alight beside railway lines near Hamburg in Germany last September, an anonymous claim appeared on a left-wing website condemning "capitalist infrastructure".

That is inconclusive, of course, because the broad nature of the French attacks suggests a degree of co-ordination across four distinct regions that would not normally be associated with the extreme left.

But whoever did target the rail lines stretching out of Paris in the early hours of 26 July, it was clear they had the Games in their sights.

The big TGV arteries to the north, east and west were all choked off and the high-speed line to the south-east would have been brought to a halt too, but for an alert crew of engineers who by chance spotted a team of saboteurs in "vans".

Regional forces are collecting evidence under the overall command of the national police, the national gendarmerie as well as the anti-terrorist SDAT. Their biggest hope may be in tracking down the failed saboteurs who fled the scene near Vergigny, apparently leaving their intact incendiary devices behind.

There have been attacks on French railways before, including one in January 2023 east of Paris.

Another incident has only just emerged back in early May 2024, on the high-speed line to the south, just outside Aix-en Provence.

It is that attack that bears most similarity to Friday's sabotage, because it reportedly took place on the day the Olympic flame arrived by ship in the southern port of Marseille. So far no arrests appear to have been made.

Even though it was a botched attempt, reportedly involving makeshift petrol-bombs, France's security services will be looking at potential links to that attack.

France has fallen victim in recent years to a wave of deadly jihadist attacks, but none resemble the acts of sabotage inflicted on the rail network. Friday's incidents caused misery for hundreds of thousands of travellers, but no bloodshed.

PV Sindhu, Sharath Kamal Lead Indian Contingent at Paris Olympics Ceremony

PARIS, July 26: An unprecedented and ambitious show with up to 7,000 athletes parading down the River Seine past the historic monuments of the French capital despite the risk of rain dampening spirits.

For the first time in Olympic history, the opening ceremony is taking place outside the main stadium, with some 300,000 people watching in person from specially built stands on the river banks, and another 200,000 from overlooking balconies and apartments.

The Indian contingent is being led by PV Sindhu and Sharath Kamal. They sail on the Sienne river and the hope is India will get double digit medals.

Abhinav Bindra Conferred With Olympic Order, Becomes First Indian To Get The Award

PARIS, July 22: Abhinav Bindra, the first Indian to win an individual medal at the Olympics, has been conferred with the Olympic Order for his outstanding services to the Olympic movement.

The Olympic Order is the highest award given by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for meritorious services. Bindra, a member of the IOC Athletes Commission, is the first Indian to receive the Olympic Order and was hailed by many prominent persons for this achievement.

The decision to confer the award on Bindra was taken at the IOC Executive Board meeting in Paris on Saturday. The information was put on social media by many handles associated with government bodies.

"It is with great pleasure that I inform you that the IOC Executive Board has today decided to award you with the Olympic Order for your outstanding services to the Olympic November," IOC President Thomas Bach informed Bindra in a letter on Monday.

Bindra was informed that the award ceremony will take place during the 142nd IOC Session to be held in Paris on August 10.

"May I take this opportunity to address you my most sincere congratulations on this award. Looking forward to seeing you in Paris," Bach said in the letter dated July 20, 2024.

Rohit Sharma's Team India Wins T20 WC After 17 Years

BARBADOS, June 29: India edged past South Africa by 7 runs in the final match of T20 World Cup 2024 at Kensington Oval, Barbados on Saturday to clinch an ICC title after 11 years.

Virat Kohli announced his T20I retirement after the game.

India's dream of ending their ICC title drought seemed well over with South Africa needing run-a-ball 30 to win with set batters Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller at the crease.

The Rohit Sharma-led side needed a magic to turn things up and it actually produced one! Jasprit Bumrah bowled a four-run over before Hardik Pandya dismissed Klaasen in what was another four-run over from India. Burmah conceded only two runs in the 18th over and removed Marco Jansen. Arshdeep Singh followed it up with a four-run penultimate over.

Hardik Pandya was handed the task to bowl the final over and he got the wicket of Miller on the very first ball, thanks to Suryakumar Yadav's sensational catch at long-off.

India held their nerves well and eventually won the game with a seven-run margin.

Earlier, Virat Kohli anchored the Indian innings with a gritty 76 off 59 as the team posted a total of 176 for 7 - the highest total by any team in the final of a men's T20 World Cup. India were reduced to 34 for 3 in 4.3 overs but a crucial 72-run stand between Kohli and Axar Patel bailed the team out of trouble. Axar fell for 47 off 31 while Kohli smashed 76 off 59.

Virat Kohli Retires From T20Is After India's T20 World Cup Triumph

BARBADOS, June 29: Virat Kohli, former Indian cricket team captain and Player of the Match in the T20 World Cup 2024 final, announced his retirement from the format right after India's historic win over South Africa in the final In Barbados on Saturday.

Kohli, who has been one of India's best-ever crickets, said that it was time for the next generation to take over. For a boy who rose from the by-lanes of Delhi to rule world cricket, it was the perfect culmination of a T20I career that saw several highs as well as lows as captain.

“This was my last T20 World Cup, this is exactly what we wanted to achieve,” Kohli told the broadcast after India's win in a global tournament after 11 years.

“One day you feel like you can't get a run and this happens, God is great. (It is) just the occasion, now or never kind of situation. This was my last T20 game playing for India. We wanted to lift that cup,” he said.

“Yes I have, this was an open secret (retirement). Not something that I wasn't going to announce even if we had lost. Time for the next generation to take the T20 game forward,” Kohli confirmed when asked if he was making the official announcement about him calling it a day.

“It's been a long wait for us, waiting to win an tournament. You look at someone like Rohit (Sharma), he's played 9 T20 World Cups and this is my sixth.

"He deserves it. It's been difficult to hold things (emotions) back and I think it's going to sink in later. It's an amazing day and I'm thankful,” Kohli added.