India’s athletes are set to make their mark on the first day of the Paris 2024 Olympics, with a packed schedule featuring a variety of sports. The country’s shooting team will take center stage early on Saturday, with the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team event kicking off the action. The pairs of Ramita Jindal-Arjun Babuta and Elavenil Valarivan-Sandeep Singh will aim to secure a spot in the medal matches later in the day. The top four teams from the qualifiers will compete in the medal matches, with the first and second-ranked teams vying for gold, while the third and fourth-placed teams will contest the bronze.
In addition to the air rifle event, Arjun Singh Cheema, Sarabjot Singh, Manu Bhaker, and Rhythm Sangwan will participate in the 10m air pistol events, with qualifiers taking place on Day 1. Reflecting on the previous Olympics in Tokyo 2020, where Saurabh Chaudhary was the only Indian shooter to reach the finals, the team will be looking to improve their performances this time around.
The Indian men’s hockey team will also begin their campaign in Pool B against New Zealand, aiming for a strong start. In badminton, Lakshya Sen will compete in a men’s singles group match against Kevin Cordon of Guatemala at 7:10 PM IST. Following this, the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will face off against France’s Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar at 8:00 PM IST. Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto will take on Korea’s Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong in the women’s doubles group match at 11:50 PM IST.
Boxing fans will see Preeti Pawar in action in the women’s 54kg opening round bout against Vietnam’s Thi Kim Anh Vo, scheduled for 12:05 AM IST on January 28. In rowing, Panwar Balraj will compete in the men’s single sculls event at 12:30 PM IST.
Table tennis will feature Harmeet Desai in the men’s singles preliminary round, where he will face Zaid Abo Yaman of Jordan at 7:15 PM IST. Additionally, tennis veteran Rohan Bopanna, in what will likely be his final Olympic appearance, will pair with N Sriram Balaji in the men’s doubles first-round match against France’s Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Fabien Reboul at 3:30 PM IST.
The shooting events will continue with the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team medal rounds from 2:00 PM IST onwards, should the Indian pairs qualify. This will be followed by the 10m air pistol men’s qualification at 2:00 PM IST and the women’s qualification at 4:00 PM IST.
With a full lineup of events, Indian athletes are set to showcase their talents and compete for glory on the world stage of Paris 2024 Olympics.