Page 15 - 2024 Olympics

Olympics 2024: Iga Swiatek loses to Zheng Qinwen in tennis semifinal

Iga Swiatek lost to Zheng Qinwen of China 6-2, 7-5 in the Paris Olympics semi-finals Thursday, a surprising setback for the No. 1-ranked woman and champion at the French Open four of the past five years. The result was hard to predict for several reasons. Swiatek entered the day with a 6-0 edge in their head-to-head matchups. She has led the WTA rankings for nearly every week since April 2022, while Zheng is No. 7. Plus, just when Swiatek appeared to be getting back into the match with a 4-0 lead in the second set, she faltered. The stunning part? Swiatek is as good as it gets on red clay and at this particular place. The 23-year-old from Poland has been dominant at Roland Garros, the facility used for the annual French Open and the site for tennis during these Summer Games. The 21-year-old Zheng, the runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka at the Australian Open in January, assured China of its first singles medal in Olympic tennis since the sport returned to the Games in 1988. In Saturday'

Olympics 2024: Indian duo Satwik, Chirag bow out of quarterfinals

Indian shuttlers Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty's Olympic dream came crashing down as they lost to Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia in the men's doubles quarterfinal at the Paris Games here on Thursday. One of the favourites for the gold medal, Satwik and Chirag, the reigning Asian Games champions and Commonwealth Games winners, squandered a first-game advantage to go down 21-13 14-21 16-21 in a hard-fought quarterfinal against the world number 3 Malaysians. Aaron and Chia, the 2022 world champions and Tokyo Games bronze winners, will face world number one and top seed Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in the semifinals.

Olympics: Archer Jhadav loses opening round, ends men's singles campaign

Indian archer Pravin Jhadhav bowed out of the Paris Olympics after losing his individual men's recurve opening round clash in straight sets to Kao Wenchao of China here on Thursday. Jhadhav lost 0-6 (28-29 29-30 27-28) in the round of 64. Even though Jhadhav shot as many as four 10s through the course of the match, the Chinese archer managed to pip the Indian by a point in each of the three sets. With Jhadhav's loss, India's campaign in the men's individual event ended as veteran Tarundeep Rai and Dhiraj Boomadevara lost their respective knockout match earlier this week. The seasoned Deepika Kumari and 18-year-old Bhajan Kaur still remain in contention in the women's individual event and will be in action in the pre-quarterfinals on Saturday. The Indian men's and women's teams had made quarterfinal exits earlier in the tournament.

'Please feed me': Sarabjot enjoys food at India house after winning bronze

"Please give me something to eat," Olympic bronze medal winning shooter Sarabjot Singh said on his arrival at India House -- a repository showing the soft power of the country that aspires to host the 2036 Olympic Games. Singh and Manu Bhaker combined to beat South Korea 16-10 in the 10 meter air pistol mixed team event to land India its second medal at the Olympics on Tuesday. The 22-year-old, soon after his podium finish, drove to India House - a hospitality house that showcases Indian architecture and artistic motifs, offers virtual reality tourism, yoga sessions, bollywood dance classes and workshops on henna tattooing and block printing. It also serves the best of Indian cuisines -- from biryani and mutton curry to curd rice and a host of desserts. He arrived to a rousing welcome by fans and Nita Ambani, chairperson of Reliance Foundation, which set up the pavilion in partnership with the Indian Olympic Association. Amid photo-ops and selfie moments, he was asked what he want

Didn't even call him to avoid distraction: Swapnil Kusale's parents

The parents of Olympic shooting bronze medalist Swapnil Kusale on Thursday said they were sure he would win a medal for the tricolour and the country. We let him focus on his work and didn't even call him yesterday so that he should not get distracted, Swapnil's father told reporters in Kolhapur, soon after their son won a bronze for India in Paris. For the last 10 to 12 years, he was mostly away from home, focusing on his marksmanship. People have been calling up incessantly to congratulate us, he said. Swapnil's mother said the family hails from a village in Kolhapur district of western Maharashtra. He studied in a public school and developed a liking for shooting while at Sangli, she said. He later went to Nashik for further training in the sport, she added.

2024 Paris Olympics: Athletes face food shortages, thefts, travel issues

Olympics Games 2024: Less food, transportation issues, thefts and non-AC rooms - all things making Paris remain in news for wrong reasons

Nikhat Zareen's Olympic campaign ends with shocking loss to China's Yu

Two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen (50kg) bowed out of the Olympic Games after a shock defeat to Asian Games gold-medallist Wu Yu of China here on Thursday. The unseeded Nikhat, who was making her Games debut, struggled to find her range and lost the bout in a 5-0 verdict. Yu, the reigning flyweight (52kg) world champion, had received an opening round bye. Nikhat, touted as one of India's strongest medal prospects before the Games, had defeated Germany's Maxi Karina Kloetzer in her opening round.

Olympics: Swapnil Kusale wins historic bronze medal in 50m rifle event

Being the first Indian to make it to the final of the event earlier, Swapnil has created history in the event. He was lingering in the top 5 positions earlier and made it into the medal positions only

Paris Olympics 2024: India schedule on August 1, live time (IST), streaming

India at Olympics: Nikhat Zareen to Sawpnil Kushale - check India's schedule, live match timings on Day 6 of the Olympics 2024

Paris Olympics 2024 HIGHLIGHTS, Day 5: Sindhu, Lakshya and Prannoy qualifies for pre-quartfinals

India at Olympics 2024 HIGHLIGHTS: Lovlina and Nishant Dev qualifies for Q/F, Swapnil Kushale qualifies to play medal match. Check Paris 2024 highlights here

Olympics 2024: Paralympic legend Deepa Malik congratulates Manu Bhaker

Paralympic medallist Deepa Malik praised ace shooter Manu Bhaker, who became the first athlete in independent India to win two medals in the same Olympics. Manu has won bronze in both 10m air pistol for women and mixed team event with Sarabjot Singh. Manu will compete in the 25m sports pistol qualifications on August 2. "I heartily congratulate Manu Bhaker. She is a very bright girl and I am glad she never gave up after her Tokyo heartbreak. She has emerged stronger and given India true joy to smile and celebrate. Once again, an Indian girl has opened the Olympic medal tally for India. Last time, it was Mirabai Chanu and this time it's Manu Bhaker," Deepa told PTI on sidelines of Subroto Cup football tournament. Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu won the silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the Women's 49 kg event. She has won gold medals at the World Championships and Commonwealth Games. "I have a special bond with her. We come from the same state of Haryana. I heartily congratulate

Superfan spends life savings to attend her 7th Summer Olympics in Paris

Covered with pins and adornments, Vivianne Robinson is hard to miss in the streets of Paris. The Olympics superfan has attended seven Summer Games for 40 years. But, this trip to Paris came at a hefty price. Robinson, 66 and from Los Angeles, maxed out her credit cards and worked two jobs to afford the trip and the 38 event tickets she purchased. She worked on Venice Beach during the day, putting names on rice necklaces, and bagged groceries at night. She said she has to work two more years to make up for the money she spent following her passion for the Summer Olympics in Paris. It was hard to save up and it's a big budget, but it's a thousand times worth it, she says. Even still, she was disappointed to pay USD 1,600 for the opening ceremony only to end up watching a screen on a bridge. You know how long that takes to make that much money? she asks, eventually adding: But, things happen in life and life goes on and you win if you lose a few. During her interview, a passerby su

Djokovic enters Paris Olympics quarterfinals; eyes his first gold medal

Novak Djokovic needed a bit of time to assert himself Wednesday at the Paris Olympics before taking control with a five-game run for a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Dominik Koepfer of Germany, reaching the Summer Games singles quarterfinals for the fourth time. A gold medal is pretty much the only accomplishment of significance missing from the resume of Djokovic, a 37-year-old from Serbia who has won a record 24 Grand Slam titles and spent more weeks at No. 1 than anyone in the history of the computerized tennis rankings. That is why Djokovic, the top-seeded man in Paris, has proclaimed success at these Olympics his priority for the year. His one medal so far was a bronze in 2008 in Beijing. This time, tennis matches are being played at Roland Garros, the facility that hosts the French Open, which Djokovic has won three times. One of his triumphs in a final at Court Philippe Chatrier came in 2021 against Stefanos Tsitsipas, the Greek who will be Djokovic's opponent on Thursday. Tsitsipas

2024 Olympics: Lovlina wins first match at Paris; Assam CM congratulates

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday congratulated boxer Lovlina Borgohain for winning her inaugural bout and advancing to the quarterfinals of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Borgohain defeated Norway's Sunniva Hofstad 5-0 in the women's 75 kg round of 16. "Fantastic, Lovlina! What a start. Your performance in the round of 16 bout against Sunniva Hofstad was absolutely stunning. All the best for the quarterfinals, champ! the Chief Minister posted on X. Earlier in the day, Sarma had expressed his best wishes for Lovlina's Olympic campaign in another post. "Assam's daughter and ace Indian pugilist @LovlinaBorgohai begins her #Paris2024 campaign today as she takes to the boxing ring to punch her way towards the coveted #Olympics glory," he wrote. Lovlina, who serves as a Deputy Superintendent of Police in Assam, also received congratulations from Director General of Police (DGP) G P Singh. "Best wishes @LovlinaBorgohai. The prayers of all of us are with you. God bless," Sin

Olympics 2024: Lakshya Sen stuns the crowd with his no-look backhand

While the victory was special in itself, what stayed with fans was his unbelievable no-look backhand shot against his opponent which had Christie surprised and beaten in the 1st game

Olympics: Jasmine Moore 1st US woman to play triple and long jump events

Jasmine Moore always loved jumping. For a while when she was a kid, she thought all those leaps, with a few twirls mixed in, might make her part of America's Team as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. How's this for a backup plan: She's on America's team in Paris. The 23-year-old, seven-time NCAA champion parlayed all that leaping ability into not one but two chances for an Olympic gold medal. Moore is the first US woman to make the Games in both triple jump and long jump. Moore, who grew up in the Dallas-Forth Worth area in Texas and got used to flying high as a kid in gymnastics and competitive cheerleading, eventually gave all that up to pursue a life in track and field. She leaned into the triple jump first, then took up long jumping because it wasn't all that different. For me, the goal was always free college,' getting a scholarship, she said. She did just that first in Georgia, then in Florida and now, she is in Paris, with a jam-packed schedule and maybe a little extra room

Local storms disrupts high speed trains, travellers left stranded in Paris

A local storm on Wednesday interrupted all high-speed train traffic connecting Paris to the southeast of the country as well as Switzerland in both directions, France's rail company said, leaving thousands of travellers stranded amid the Olympics and departures for summer vacation. The SNCF said all the fast trains leaving from and arriving at the Gare de Lyon train station in the French capital were immobilised due to a tree that fell on the tracks and was hit by a train in Burgundy, southeast of the French capital. Regular-speed trains use separate tracks and haven't been affected. Authorities cut the power off the track and a logging operation has already started to remove the tree, but initial observations showed the matter won't be fixed quickly, the SNCF said, adding that all on that line were being brought back to a station in order to help people find alternatives travel modes, the company added. This comes after France's train traffic was severely disrupted last week after

Paris Olympics 2024: Boxer Lovlina Borgohain advances to quarter-finals

Tokyo Olympics bronze-winner Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) advanced to the quarterfinals of the Paris Games after clinching a comfortable win over Norway's Sunniva Hofstad here on Wednesday. Borgohain prevailed 5-0 in the contest to remain on course for a second successive Olympic medal. The reigning world champion had won her Tokyo bronze in the 69kg category. She will take on top-seeded Chinese Li Qian in the last-eight stage on August 4. Qian is a silver-medallist from the Tokyo Games in the middleweight (75kg) division.

Olympics: PV Sindhu tops her group, through to women's pre-quarter-finals

Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu stormed into the pre-quarterfinals of the Olympic Games' women's singles competition after beating Kristin Kuuba of Estonia in straight games here on Wednesday. The two-time Olympic medallist won 21-5 21-10 in her second and last Group M match here. Sindhu, who had beaten Maldives' Fathimath Abdul Razzaq 21-9 21-6 in her first match, topped the group. The winner of each of the 16 groups qualifies for the round of 16. The Indian ace has previously won a silver medal in the 2016 Rio Games and a bronze in the Tokyo edition.

Swapnil Kusale books men's 50m rifle 3 positions final berth, finishes 7th

India shooter Swapnil Kusale on Wednesday qualified for finals of the 50m rifle 3 positions here after finishing seventh. Kusale shot an aggregate of 198 (99, 99) in the kneeling position, 197 (98, 99) in the prone position and 195 (98, 97) in the standing position as top eight shooters in a field of 44 made it to the final round. Kusale finished with an overall score of 590 (38x) while China's Liu Yukun finished with a total of 594 points at the first spot followed by Norway's Jon-Hermann Hegg at second with 593. The third place finish was secured by Ukraine's Serhiy Kulish with 592 points while France's Lucas Kryzs (592-35x) was fourth, Serbia's Lazar Kovacevic (592-33x) was fifth and Tomasz Bartnik (590-40x) from Poland was sixth. The last place was taken by Jiri Privratsky from Czech Republic with 590-35x). Kusale trains under Tejaswini Sawant in Kolhapur.