Paris Olympics 2024: A Look At India's Position In The Olympics Rankings
The Paris Olympics has entered the concluding moments with three days left for the tournament to wrap. India, meanwhile, has endured an underwhelming outing this season. Thursday marked India’s top medal contender, Neeraj Chopra, performing in the final of the men’s javelin throw event. The champion managed to win a silver medal for the contingent as Arshad Nadeem clinched the gold, becoming Pakistan’s first-ever individual gold medal winner. However, with the conclusion of the Javelin Throw event, India now seems to have lost any chances of clinching a gold this season.
Indian Medal Haul At The Paris Olympics 2024
India has managed to clinch a total of 6 medals at the Paris Olympics: 5 bronze and a silver. Manu Bhaker opened the medal tally for India, winning the bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol individual shooting event. The 22-year-old then returned in the 10m air pistol team event with Sarabjot Singh as the duo added another bronze to the haul. The third medal also happened thanks to shooting as Swapnil Kusale clinched a bronze in the Men’s 50m rifle 3P event.
The interval between India’s third and fourth medal witnessed the contingent suffering major setbacks, with India’s top medal contenders including the star shuttler duo Satwik-Chirag and PV Sindhu walking off empty-handed from the tournament. The badminton squad consisting of 7 shuttlers performing across 4 medal events concluded the Paris Olympics without securing even a single accolade. PV Sindhu, the sole Indian player in the women’s singles event, lost at the pre-quarterfinal stage, facing a 21-19, 21-14 defeat against China’s He Bing Jiao.
The Lackluster Show Of India Badminton Squad At The Olympic Games
The pair of Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the quarter-finals of the men’s doubles event, where they eventually ended their campaign. The duo faced a 13-21, 21-14, 21-16 defeat against Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia. Meanwhile, the women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto crashed out in the group stage after losing 3 consecutive matches.
Lakshya Sen, making his debut at the Olympics, treaded the farthest in the campaign. The 22-year-old became the first-ever shuttler to advance to the semi-finals of the men’s singles event. The young ace scripted some historic wins on his way to the semi-final, beating World No. 3 Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in the final group stage match. Next, Sen faced India’s HS Prannoy in the pre-quarterfinal, easily edging past him to gain his access to the quarter-final. Sen’s skills and luck supported him as he beat Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen in straight games in the quarter-final.
However, it was the semi-final when Lakshya Sen finally relented and lost track of the gold medal run. The young shuttler faced World No. 2 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, who beat Sen 22-20, 21-14. Axelsen went on to win the gold medal as Lakshya faced Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia in the bronze medal match. Despite winning the first set, Sen succumbed to the pressure of the medal event as Jia snatched a 13-21, 21-16, 21-11 win against the Indian.
The Fourth Place Curse For India At The 2024 Olympics
India at the Paris Olympics witnessed eerily increased cases of fourth-place finishes. Apart from Lakshya Sen, Manu Bhaker claimed the fourth position in her third medal event at the Games. Moreover, the archery duo of Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat lost to the United States in the bronze medal match of the mixed team archery event. Furthermore, Mirabai Chanu on Wednesday came in fourth in the women’s weightlifting event, where she lifted 199 kgs cumulatively across the snatch and clean and jerk categories.
Another event that delivered a huge blow to the Indian medal chances turned out to be Table Tennis. The trio of Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula, and Sharath Kamal came to Paris as among the major athletes bound to bring glory at the Paris Olympics. However, Kamal faced a first-round exit in the men’s individual table tennis event. While Manika Batra became the first-ever woman table tennis player from India to enter the Round of 16, she lost the round against Japan’s Miu Hirano 4-1 to exit the tournament. Sreeja Akula faced a similar fate as she lost her Round of 16 match to China’s Sun Yingsha 4-0.
Moreover, the table tennis team’s event also delivered heartbreak to India as the Indian women's team, consisting of Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula, and Archana Kamath, lost in the quarter-final against Germany, once again losing a chance at a medal. The men’s team, Sharath Kamal, Harmeet Desai, and Manav Thakkar, faced a pre-quarterfinal defeat against China.
India's Position At The Olympics Medal Rankings
India’s closest encounter with a golden finish happened at the hands of wrestler Vinesh Phogat. Phogat won 3 consecutive bouts on Tuesday to advance to the women’s 50 kg freestyle wrestling final. However, in what turned out to be the biggest hit to the contingent, Phogat faced disqualification from the tournament on the day of her final bout. Phogat failed the weight test as she showed up 100 grams over the 50 kg mark, resulting in losing her chance to play in the final and claiming a gold medal. The disqualification, furthermore, snatched the silver out of Phogat’s hand, which she had otherwise ensured with her semi-final win.
With the conclusion of the Javelin Throw event, India’s medal haul at the Paris Olympics seems to have wrapped up too. The contingent’s 6 medals are a decline from the 7 earned in Tokyo in 2021, which also included a gold medal win by Neeraj Chopra. The team, despite some shining performances, has delivered a disappointing performance this season. In fact, the medal rankings now have placed India’s arch-rivals Pakistan above India. With a gold medal win by Arshad Nadeem, Pakistan has locked the 62nd spot as India remains in the 71st position.
