India at Paris Olympics 2024, Day 1 Highlights: Boxer Preeti advances to women's 54kg Round of 16; India defeat NZ in men's hockey

Anush Agarwalla certainly is impressed by the choice of venue!

WHAT A VENUE 🤩
First time in the main arena and wow! Truly goosebumps riding at this magical location🥹 Caramello felt great and super relaxed 🤎 pic.twitter.com/rw53wVnjbG

— Anush Agarwalla (@AnushAgarwalla) July 27, 2024

Veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh says scare against New Zealand a “good wake up call” for Tokyo 2020 bronze medallists India.

“The first match in the Olympics is never easy. New Zealand is not an easy team, We made some mistakes, but there were a few good things as well. It’s a good wake up call for the team,” Sreejesh said after the match.

“We got three points and that’s what is important. We gave them opportunities and they converted. The last few minutes were not easy but in hockey it’s always like that, from first whistle to the last there is tension,” the veteran keeper added.

With that, we come to the end of our coverage of India at Paris 2024, Day 1.

Turned out to be a largely positive day for the Indian contingent with victories for the men’s hockey team, Lakshya Sen, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, Preeti Pawar among others.

The day was looking gloomy for the Indian shooting contingent until Manu Bhaker came to the rescue, advancing to the women’s 10m air pistol final.

It’s all over! Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong hammer Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto 21-10 in the second game to their their Group C encounter in straight games!

While the first game between the two pairs was a lot more closely contested, the second couldn’t have been more one-sided!

A winning start for Olympic debutant Preeti!

Preeti wins her opening bout against Vietnam’s Vo Thi Kim Anh in the women’s 54kg preliminaries by unanimous decision!

Preeti had lost the first round despite putting up a tough fight, before bouncing back in the second. The Indian, however, ended up outpunching her opponent in the final round to move to the Round of 16!

Time for India’s final events of the day, with Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto facing Korea’s Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong in their women’s doubles Group C match.

Lakshya Sen as well as the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy had won their opening games earlier today. Can Tanisha-Ashwini also start on a positive note?

France defeat Fiji 28-7 at Stade de France to be crowed Rugby Sevens gold medallists, winning their first gold medal of the home Olympics in the process!

Fiji were the two time defending gold medallists and overwhelming favourites.

London 2012 bronze medallist Gagan Narang jumps to Sarabjot Singh’s defence after the latter misses out on the men’s 10m air rifle final by a whisker

Chin up @Sarabjotsingh30 you got this … pic.twitter.com/N65JtjavX2

— Gagan Narang (@gaGunNarang) July 27, 2024

Two more events to go today. Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto begin their women’s doubles campaign at 11.50 pm, with Preeti in action in the boxing women’s 54kg preliminary bout shortly after.

As for the men’s doubles clash between Rohan Bopanna and N Sriram Balaji against France’s Gael Monfils and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, the match has been postponed to tomorrow due to torrential rain.

FULL TIME: INDIA DEFEAT NEW ZEALAND IN A THRILLING POOL B CLASH! The Indians had defeated the Kiwis by a similar margin in their group-stage clash in Tokyo!

Phillips nearly helps the Black Sticks score their third goal, with the ball narrowly missing the Indian goalpost, and the hooter indicating Full Time goes off a few seconds later to bring the dramatic contest to an end!

Q4, 8’: GOAL! New Zealand find the equaliser in the final quarter! And it’s Simon Child who successfully converts for the Black Sticks!

New Zealand had been awarded a Penalty Corner seven minutes into the final quarter, and while the first attempt was blocked, the second one went wide. Child, however, ended up making the most of the opportunity in the third attempt.

Q3, 4’: GOAL! India’s attacking start to the second half pays off right away as Vivek Prasad puts the Indians in the lead for the first time today.

The referee, however, decides to have a second look before awarding the goal as the ball had been pulled back in quite close to the goal line. It’s a close decision, but is ultimately awarded in favour of the Indians!

Halftime in the Pool B clash between India and New Zealand men’s hockey clash at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium, with Mandeep Singh’s equaliser in the ninth minute of the second half suddenly turning things around for the Harmanpreet Singh-led INdian team.

India have had more possession (57 per cent) and circle penetrations (8) so far, but were also guilty of losing the ball from time to time, nearly conceding a field goal on one such occasion.

Q2, 10’: INDIA SCORE! India fail to breach the watertight Kiwi defence in their first Penalty Corner, but are awarded another right away.

And this Mandeep manages to get the ball past the Black Sticks defence after another powerful drag-flick by Harmanpreet is blocked!

New Zealand review the goal, but end up losing a referral.

India 0-1 New Zealand

Q1, 15’: India nearly find the equaliser with five seconds left on the clock, only for the ball to deflect wide off the stick of the Indian attacker who was stationed right in front of an open goalpost! The hooter goes off right after, signalling the end of the first quarter!