India at Paris Olympics 2024, Day 6 Highlights: Sindhu, Sat-Chi bow out; Kusale wins bronze as Sen advances

With key medal hopes PV Sindhu and the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty bowing out in the Round of 16 and the quarter-finals respectively, Lakshya Sen remains India’s last hope for a badminton medal in the Paris Olympics.

Sen, of course, knocked HS Prannoy out with a dominant win in an all-Indian Round of 16 clash, and faces Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien-chen in the men’s singles quarter-finals tomorrow.

India have won a badminton medal in each of the last three editions of the Olympics. Will the streak continue in Paris?

PV Sindhu 19-21, 14-21 He Bing Jiao

HE BING JIAO WINS! PV Sindhu returns empty-handed from the Summer Olympics for the first time after winning silver in Rio 2016 and bronze in Tokyo 2020!

Bing Jiao, who avenges her defeat at the hands of the Indian in the Tokyo bronze medal match exactly three years ago, sinks to her knees after Sindhu’s long shot goes out of the court.

PV Sindhu 19-21, 14-21 He Bing Jiao

Sindhu fought extremely hard in the first round, but could hardly catch up with her Chinese opponent for the better part of Game 2. She did not give up till the very end, but simply had too much catching up to do.

PV Sindhu 19-21, 13-20 He Bing Jiao

Bing Jiao is now two points away from a place in the quarter-finals and she has an eight-point lead at the moment. Sindhu wins the next two points before an error in judgement gives Bing Jiao seven match points!

PV Sindhu 19-21, 10-17 He Bing Jiao

Bing Jiao smothers another Sindhu fightback with a running smash down the court after Sindhu moves to double digits with back-to-back points.

PV Sindhu 19-21, 8-16 He Bing Jiao

Bing Jiao is back to an eight-point lead after Sindhu’s shot goes wide and the Chinese shuttler follows it up with a smash that cramps Sindhu for room. Looks like it’s the home stretch for Bing Jiao now.

PV Sindhu 19-21, 8-14 He Bing Jiao

Sindhu’s hopes of a third consecutive medal are hanging by a thread, but she appears to not have given up as yet, winning three of the last four points.

PV Sindhu 19-21, 5-13 He Bing Jiao

Sindhu’s body language isn’t very positive at the moment as Bing Jiao surges ahead to an eight-point lead! Will require an effort of Herculean proportions for her to take this contest into a decider.

PV Sindhu 19-21, 5-11 He Bing Jiao

Rare error of judgement from Sindhu as he ends up burning a review, thinking the shuttle had gone past the tramline. Bing Jiao wins the next two points as well, stretching her lead to six points at the mid-game interval.

PV Sindhu 19-21, 5-8 He Bing Jiao

Sindhu fights back though! After conceding seven points in a row, the Indian collects three on the bounce, the latest of which is a smash down the court that is too wide for Bing Jiao to be able to respond to.

PV Sindhu 19-21, 2-7 He Bing Jiao

A series of errors from Sindhu allows Bing Jiao to race to a 7-2 lead. Still too early to make any predictions, but the advantage is firmly with the Chinese shuttler at the moment. Will require a comeback for the ages for Sindhu go take this contest into a decider.

Bing Jiao stretches her lead to five after a series of drop shots at the net that concludes with her pouncing on the opportunity to put in a winner in the form of a smash.

PV Sindhu 19-21, 2-2 He Bing Jiao

Bing Jiao wins the opening point but Sindhu surges ahead by winning the next two points. The Chinese shuttler then goes level at two-all after Sindhu’s long shot lands just outside the baseline.

PV Sindhu 19-21 He Bing Jiao

Bing Jiao, however, has a gamepoint in hand after putting one beyond Sindhu’s reach, with the lanky shuttler unable to get to it despite putting in a slide. Bing Jiao then seals Game 1 after winning an intense rally that concludes with a cross-court smash that Sindhu tries to pick, only to hit the net.

Can Sindhu bounce back in Game 2? Or will she join Satwik-Chirag in bowing out of the tournament?

PV Sindhu 19-19 He Bing Jiao

Sindhu goes level at 19-all with a smash down Bing Jiao’s left! The Hyderabadi shuttler’s barely showing any nerves at the moment.

PV Sindhu 15-17 He Bing Jiao

Advantage Bing Jiao once again as she wins three points in a row to open up a three-point lead, needing four more to seal Game 1. Sindhu, however, once again shows excellent judgement to win a point.

PV Sindhu 14-14 He Bing Jiao

Sindhu’s shown excellent judgement so far when it comes to the trajectory of the shuttle. Not only has she been leaving the shots that have landed marginally out of her side of the court, she has also been on-point with the other side of the court, as evidenced by her superb review after the umpire had ruled her shot wide.

Both players currently going neck-and-neck at 14 points each.

PV Sindhu 12-12 He Bing Jiao

Out comes a roar from Sindhu as she goes level with Bing Jiao at 12 points each with back-to-back points!

PV Sindhu 10-12 He Bing Jiao

Sindhu wins the first point after the interval, with Bing Jiao attempting to go long but sending the shuttler beyond the baseline in the process.

Superb challenge by Sindhu next up after the umpire rules in favour of Bing Jiao assuming her shot went past the inner tramline. The shuttle, it turns out, was marginally inside.

Sindhu nearly catches up with her opponent when Bing Jiao restores a two-point lead with a smash.

PV Sindhu 8-11 He Bing Jiao

Sindhu is starting to mount a fightback close to the mid-game interval, winning two points in a row. Bing Jiao, however, goes into the interval with a three-point lead after a powerful smash down the court.

Both Sindhu and Bing Jiao, meanwhile, burn a review each.

PV Sindhu 5-8 He Bing Jiao

It’s been fairly one-sided so far with Bing Jiao racing to a 8-3. Bing Jiao also makes successful use of the referral after the chair umpire awards a point to Sindhu assuming the shuttler landed outside the tramline to Sindhu’s right. The review, however, shows the shuttle to be landing inside.

Sindhu, meanwhile, wins the last two points with a couple of neat finishes to reduce the deficit to three.

PV Sindhu 1-5 He Bing Jiao

Sindhu draws first blood after Bing Jiao begins the serve. The Chinese shuttler, however, response in style by winning five points in a row to surge to an early lead.

Right then, it’s time for the final event of the day as far as Indian athletes are concerned, with PV Sindhu up against China’s He Bing Jiao in the women’s singles Round of 16.

It’s been a mixed day so far for Indian shuttlers. While Lakshya Sen advanced to the quarter-finals at the expense of HS Prannoy, medal favourites Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty crashed out in the quarters.

Will the day end with a Sindhu victory? Stay tuned to find out.

India’s Nethra Kumanan, meanwhile, finished sixth in Race 1 of the Women’s Dinghy Event on Thursday. Race 2 was to take place right after Race 1, but has been postponed for now, according to the official website.

In the Men’s Dinghy event that took place earlier today, Vishnu Saravanan finished 10th and 34th in Race 1 and 2 respectively.

Meanwhile in golf, the men’s individual stroke play event has been put on hold due to a lightning risk, as per the Paris 2024 website.

Shubankar Sharma currently finds himself tied 29th while Gaganjeet Bhullar is further down the table tied 56th.

Did you know: It was on this very day in 2021 when PV Sindhu defeated He Bing Jiao in the Tokyo 2020 women’s singles bronze playoff to win her second Olympic medal.

Later tonight, the two shuttlers meet in the Round of 16 and the Chinese will certainly be hoping to avenge her defeat

#OnThisDay, PV Sindhu 🇮🇳 won the 🥉 at Tokyo 2020.

She is facing the same opponent Bingjiao He 🇨🇳 tonight at #Paris2024 in the round of 16! pic.twitter.com/7PUgDOndqU

— Olympic Khel (@OlympicKhel) August 1, 2024

After the pre-quarterfinals win, Sen said. “I think it was a good match. Playing him on the biggest stage, it was so nice that India played each other.

“I can take some good things from this match, maybe even some things I can improve on. I think it’s going to be a tough match against a tricky opponent, so I will have to prepare well. As of now, I am just focusing on that match.”

Sen faces Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen, seeded 12th, in the quarter-final tomorrow.

We have an hour to go before the badminton women’s singles competition gets underway, with two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu set to take on China’s He Bing Jiao.

Can the Hyderabadi shuttler keep her hopes of an unprecedented third medal alive? Stay tuned to find out.

Vishnu Saravanan finishes 34th in race 2 of the men’s dinghy sailing competition. He had finished 10th in race 1. Overall he is ranked 25th after race 2.

A total of 10 races will take place in the opening round. The top 10 at the end of the series will progress to the medal round.

Imane Khelif, who has been in the spotlight for failing a gender eligibility test at a tournament last year, progressed to the welterweight quarter-finals on Thursday but only after her Italian opponent Angela Carini abandoned the bout after 46 seconds. Carini, who took multiple blows to her face and body in just 46 seconds, broke down after pulling out.

Later she revealed a “strong plain” in her nose forced her to pull out.

Khelif’s victory, however, has resulted in a controversy with social media users slamming the International Olympic Committee for allowing the Algerian to fight in the women’s tournament.

PV Sindhu vs He Bing Jiao Round of 16 badminton women’s singles match is coming up at 10 pm.

The men’s dinghy sailing event and men’s golf are underway currently — the final standings for the day are still not out

Vishnu Saravanan finishes 10th in the race 1 of the men’s dinghy sailing competition. His second race will start shortly.

A total of 10 races will take place in the opening round. The top 10 at the end of the series will progress to the medal round.