That’s it from us tonight! Do join us tomorrow for another exciting day of Olympic Games in Paris!

India’s love affair with fourth place at the Olympics continued on Monday as badminton player Lakshya Sen and the skeet shooting mixed team of Maheshwari Chauhan and Anantjeet Singh Naruka finished fourth in their respective events.

There was agony in wrestling as Nisha Dahiya, leading 8-1 in her 68kg quarter-final bout, suffered a bad arm injury and lost in the dying seconds of the bout.

There was something to cheer for Indian fans in Paris as Avinash Sable reached the final of the men’s 3000m steeplechase event.

Athletics, men’s pole vault final: Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis! WOW! The Swede breaks the Olympic and World Records to retain his Olympic title! He has now broken his own world record nine times with the latest one in Paris at 6.25m. He becomes only the second man to defend his Olympic title. He becomes the first man in 40 years to break a field World Record at an Olympic Games! A privilege to watch one of the greatest of all time in action! The USA’s Sam Kendricks takes silver with Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis taking bronze.

Wrestling, women’s 68kg: Nisha Dahiya's Olympics campaign comes to an official end as North Korea's Pak Sol Gum is defeated by USA's Amit Elor via technical superiority in just under 2 minutes of the semi-finals. There will be no repechage for Nisha.

Athletics, women’s 800m final: Keely Hodgkinson becomes the third British woman to win the 800m title! Hodgkinson, who won silver at Tokyo 2020, fought off Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma and Kenya’s Mary Moraa to win gold in Paris.

Athletics, women’s discus throw final: USA’s Valarie Allman retains her title in style! Throws a mighty 69.60m with her fourth attempt to clinch it. In fact, any of her four legal throws out of six could have won Allman the gold tonight! China’s Feng Bin and Croatia’s Sandra Elkasevic both throw a best of 67.51m but Bin takes silver as she had a better second-best throw (67.25m) than Elkasevic (64.25mm)

Athletics, women’s 5000m final: Beatrice Chebet wins a women’s 5000m final for the ages! Faith Kipyegon, attempting to do the 1500m and 5000m double, comes second behind her compatriot with Tokyo 2020 champion Sifan Hasan taking bronze. Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay, who holds the world record, had a tussle with Kipyegon around the last 800m, falls down to ninth. But hang on! Kipyegon has been disqualified for lane infringement! That must have happened when she jostled with Tsegay. Hasan moves up to silver with Italy’s Nadia Battocletti winning bronze.

Athletics, women’s 200m semi-finals: The women’s 200m final is set! Newly crowned 100m champion Julien Alfred clocks the second-best time of the semis, 21.98m, behind the USA’s Gabrielle Thomas 21.96s. Alfred coasted through in her semis even slowing down as she closed down on the finish line.

Athletics, men’s 200m round 1: It’s a USA 1-2 as Kenny Bednarek and Erriyon Knighton put up the best times across the six heats. The pair are the only ones to dip below 20s with Bednarek posting 19.96s with Knighton just 0.03s behind. Recently crowned 100m champion Noah Lyles wins his heat comfortably and posts a sixth-best time overall. The top three in each heat progresses to the semi-finals with the remaining racers who started, moving to the repechage round.

Athletics, men’s 3000m steeplechase qualification: A well managed race from Avinash Sable and he is through to the steeplechase final! He set the pace for the race right from the get go before dropping back and letting CWG 2020 champion Abraham Kiwiot to take over.

A group of five had formed exchanging pace-setting duties throughout the race. Morocco’s Mohammed Tindouft wins the heat with a personal best time of 8:10.62 minutes. Sable kept looking over his shoulder at the back straight as he slowed down before going over the finish line in fifth place with a time of 8:15.43 minutes.

Athletics, Paris Olympics: We begin the action at the Stade de France with a clutch of medal ceremonies for events that took place last night including the 4x400m mixed relay, the women’s high jump and the men’s hammer throw.

Tonight we will have three track and field finals — the men’s pole vault, the women’s discus throw and the women’s 800m. Will Mondo Duplantis break the pole vault world record? Can Keely Hodgkinson upgrade her Tokyo 2020 silver to gold? Will Valarie Allman defend her discus throw title?

Avinash Sable is the only Indian in action tonight as he competes in round 1 of the men’s steeplechase. Sable, the 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medallist, is in the second heat. The top five finishers from each of the three heats will qualify for the final on Thursday.

Vinesh to face Susaki in first round

Vinesh Phogat has been handed a nightmare draw in the women’s 50kg event. Phogat has been drawn against Tokyo 2020 and four-time World Champion Yui Susaki in the first round. Susaki won the title in Tokyo without dropping a single point. Susaki’s loses since her international senior debut can be counted on one hand. A very, very tough break for Phogat. The only silver lining being that she is almost guaranteed to be activated in the repechage round when Susaki reaches the final

Players need to take accountability: Prakash Padukone

Prakash Padukone, the legendary badminton player, has called on Indian athletes to take more accountability for failing to win medals at the Paris Olympics.

Padukone was speaking to reporters after Lakshya Sen lost in the bronze medal match today. Edited excerpts follow

[On players taking responsibility] I am personally disappointed, but having said that, I think this time the government, SAI, the foundations, TOPS, everybody has done their bit. I don't think anybody could have done anything more. I think it's high time some players also need to take some responsibility because all these years we could say that there were not enough facilities or encouragement, but I think this time it's only getting better. Across all sports, the top 30 or 40 who had a chance of getting a medal have been given whatever they wanted. They have never said no to anything, sometimes even unreasonable demands.

[On need for mental training] I think we need to focus more on mental training. I think I've always said across sports, I think we don't give enough attention for sports psychology, which is very important because it's a very boring, boring subject. People don't appreciate it, especially in events like this. A lot of the top players that have all lost, it's not because technically they were not good or physically they were not good. They couldn't handle the pressure. Olympics is all about handling pressure. So all the more important that we pay more attention to mind.

[On need to develop more top talent] We cannot remain satisfied in just having one player. We need to focus on the next line, maybe even the third line. There is a lot of talent. A combined effort is required and little bit of effort from the players also a little more responsibility, a little more accountability. The federations need to focus more on the next line like what China does. They don't depend only on one player. By the time the one top player retires, they know they already have a four or five players waiting in each of the events and they focus on them and give them all the encouragement.

Wrestling, women's 68kg: Oh no, this is heartbreaking. Heart-wrenching! Nisha was in immense pain but she gave it her all. But the pain seemed to be too much for her to give her best, the 18-year-old took the opportunity to score back-to-back points and race to 10-8 lead.
Great show of sportsmanship from the Korean who helps Nisha up but this just unfortunate.

Wrestling, women's 68kg: This time it is the Korean who is more attacking in the first ten seconds as she gets her first point on the scoreboard. Nisha, however, counters that immediately with a takedown to land two points and another two before she requires some medical attention. She looks in pain but will carry on.

Badminton, men’s singles: Viktor Axelsen becomes the first player since Lin Dan (2008 and 2012) to successfully defend his singles title.

Wrestling, women's 68kg: Nisha gets a brilliant opening as she lands two immediate points and tops them up with two more. But the young Korean is able to get back into it and nearly pushes the Indian to the edge of the circle. Yet, the Indian is holding on to her 4 point lead.

Wrestling, women's 68kg: In action again is Nisha against North Korea's Sol Gum Pak in the quarter-final. The Indian had defeated Tetiana Rizhko of Ukraine in the Round of 16 match. Can she get another win and qualify for the semi finals?

Badminton, men's singles: There's the inevitable. A perfect body smash from Lee Zii Jia and Lakshya Sen can't even imagine returning it. The Indian bows out 21-13, 16-21, 11-21 in 71 minutes in the bronze medal match.

No real celebrations from Lee Zii Jia, who just rushes to the net to embrace Sen in a hug. The Indian badminton juggernaut at the Olympics has been brought to an end.

India’s streak of winning a badminton medal at the Olympics since 2012 ends.

Wrestling, women’s 68kg: Nisha once again drives Rizhko out of bounds and gets a point. The Indian reviews seeking two points for a takedown. And another succesful challenge for Nisha! Rizhko is still winning this because of countback as she has two two-point moves compared to Nisha’s one. Rizhko defending resolutely. But Nisha gets the match-winning move done with 11 seconds left in the match. Drove Rizhko to the edge of the mat, got behind Rizhko and flipped her over! There is no time left for Rizhko to attack and Nisha wins the bout 6-4! On to the quarter-finals!

Badminton, men's singles: Not what Lakshya Sen and coaches Prakash Padukone and Vimal Kumar would have wanted to in the decider. The hands definitely seems a concern for the Indian, but more importantly he trails 6-11 despite having started from the better end of the court.

A mountain to climb for Sen.

Badminton, men's singles: Once again a stop in play as the doctor is once again out on court to tend to Lakshya's right hand. The Indian trails 5-10.

Wrestling, women’s 68kg: Nisha pushes Rizhko off the circle and wins a point. The Ukranian goes for a leg tackle and puts the India down for a four-point tackle. India’s coach reviews. Rizhko gets four points but India’s challenge is also successful as it is deemed that Rizhko did not get a four-point takedown, but a two point takedown followed by a further two points. That will help in case of a tie as the biggest point-winning move will be taken into consideration. Rizhko leads 4-1 at the break.

Badminton, men's singles: Lakshya Sen not off to the best of starts as he trails 2-4 in the decider. He seems to be bleeding as well now and gets a quick medical attention. Has his left hand taped for now.

Shooting: A haul of three bronze medals – two won by the same person – is an improvement from their exploits in Rio and Tokyo. But the question of what if, for Arjun Babuta, Manu Bhaker and the duo of Maheswari Chauhan and Anantjeet Singh Naruka, will hang over their heads for a while.

Skeet, mixed team, bronze medal match: Both teams once again hit all eight targets, but China take the bronze medal having missed a lesser number of targets to India and it's a fourth place finish again for the country as the Indian shooting contingent concludes their campaign in Paris.

Badminton, men's singles: The joy does not last long for Lakshya Sen. He has his lifts going long and Lee's ferocious attacks and smashes, as always, are too hot to handle. The Malaysian wins the second game 21-16 to force a decider.

Sen will have the better side of the court to start off in the decider and it is imperative that he gets a good start.

Skeet, mixed team, bronze medal match: Both teams hit all targets at the fifth station, but China have hit one more target and so India will need to have a perfect sixth station and hope that the Chinese miss two targets to get the bronze medal. If scores are tied, then there will be a shoot-off.

Skeet, mixed team, bronze medal match: Maheshwari Chauhan misses her final target and China take a slim lead having hit all their eight targets in the fourth station.

Badminton, men's singles: The break seems to have worked well for Lakshya Sen. He has started to mix up his shots and has won three in a row to equalise at 12-12.

Skeet, mixed team, bronze medal match: This time, both female shooters miss one target each and the number of targets hit stand at 20-all between both teams after three stations

Skeet, mixed team, bronze medal match: Jiang Yiting of China misses her last three targets and the number of targets hit stand level at 13 between both teams after two stations.

Wrestling, women’s 68kg: Wrestling action begins today at the Champ-de-Mars Arena. Nisha Dahiya will be up first with the 2023 Asian Championships silver medallist taking on Ukraine’s Tetiana Rizhko, a former European championships gold medallist.

Skeet, mixed team, bronze medal match: After the first stage, India have hit seven targets while China have hit all eight targets.

Badminton, men's singles: The same old problems for Lakshya Sen. He seems to have switched off completely. Multiple judgment errors at the backline coupled with a few poor shots sees him go from a 8-3 lead to 8-11 down at the mid-game interval.

Lee Zii Jia is fighting back with vengeance.

Skeet, mixed team, bronze medal match: Maheshwari Chauhan and Anantjeet Singh Naruka will compete for the bronze medal against China. There will be eight targets per team per station with four stations in total and the highest amount of hits will be converted into points.

The first team to reach 16 points will win the bronze medal. The women will shoot first, followed by the men.

Badminton, men's singles: Lakshya Sen makes a couple of bad judgement errors at the backline post the mid-game interval, but quickly rectifies. He coasts to take the opening game 21-13 in 20 minutes.

The Indian is just a game away from an olympic bronze.

Badminton, men's singles: Playing from the slower side, a good start for Lakshya Sen as he opens up an 11-5 lead at the mid-game interval. Lee Zii Jia is struggling to control the shuttle and his lifts have often gone long. The Malaysian's judgement at the backline not the best either as the drift seems to be keeping Sen's shots in.

Here we go!

Badminton, men's singles: The players are on court. Bronze medal match. Now is the time for Lakshya Sen. Remember, the Indian had won a bronze medal on his World Championships debut back in 2021. Can he replicate the performance on his Olympics debut?

Badminton, men's singles: A day after his loss to reigning champion Viktor Axelsen in the semi-final, India's Lakshya Sen is set to take on Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia in the battle for bronze.

The 22-year-old Sen struggled for form with constant injuries for almost the entirety of the 2023 season. He did not have a good start to 2024 as well, losing in the opening round of the Malaysia Open Super 1000 and then bowing out early with a loss to compatriot Priyanshu Rajawat in front of the home crowd at the India Open Super 750 in January.

Sen then made a late dash to qualify for the Paris Olympics with back to back semi-final appearances at the French Open Super 750 and the prestigious All England Open Super 1000. The former was played at this very venue – La Chapelle Arena – and Sen now stands as India's final hope to keep their badminton medal streak at the Olympics alive.

The Indian leads the Malaysian 4-1 in head to head encounters. However, if anything Sen himself has shown these numbers do not matter at this stage with his wins over Jonatan Christie and Chou Tien Chen.
A completely new day for Sen and he has history in his sights.

The match will begin at 6 pm.

Shooting, mixed team skeet event: Clutch shooting from Maheshwari Chauhan and Anantjeet Singh Naruka! The duo drop just one point in their final round to finish with 146/150 to finish fourth! They will take on China for bronze!

Table tennis, women’s team: The Indian women’s team will play the quarter-final against the winners of the Round of 16 match between the United States and Germany.

Table tennis, women’s team event, India 3-2 Romania, first round: Manika Batra wins it for India! They are through to the quarter-finals with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Romania. Batra was in control for much of the final game but Diaconu fought back after taking a timeout. Batra was in no mood to let this round of 16 tie drag on any longer as she completes a 11-5, 11-9, 11-9 win. India will await the winner of the match between Germany and the USA.

Table tennis, women’s team event, India 2-2 Romania, first round: Adina Diaconu gets off to a good start and opens up a three-point lead at 8-5. Batra under pressure but she does not get bogged down by it. She wins six of the next seven points to take a 2-0 lead. Solid for the Indian.

Athletics, women’s 400m Round 1: Kiran Pahal finishes seventh in heat 5 with a timing of 52.51. After finishing outside the top three in her heat, Pahal will now compete in the repechage round tomorrow, giving her another chance to qualify for the semi-final.

Table tennis, women’s team event, India 2-2 Romania, first round: Batra is the higher-ranked and more experienced player in the match and she delivers by taking the first game 11-5 in a jiffy.

Table tennis, women’s team event, India 2-2 Romania, first round: And we go to a fifth and final match in this tie! Archana Kamath gave her all but the higher-ranked Szocs takes the match 11-5, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9.

Manika Batra will face Adina Diaconu in the fifth in final match.

Table tennis, women’s team event, India 2-1 Romania, first round: Szocs takes control of the game and opens up a four-point lead. Kamath tries to fight back but the Romanian takes the game 11-7.

Table tennis, women’s team event, India 2-1 Romania, first round: A much better start by Kamath in the second game as she takes a 3-0 lead. Szocs mixes her shots up nicely to level the scores. Kamath on the up now and she brings up four gamepoints and gets the job done at the third time of asking!

Athletics, women’s 400m Round 1: Kiran Pahal will start her campaign in Heat 5. To qualify directly, she must finish in the top three, necessitating a personal best or even breaking the national record.

Table tennis, women’s team event, India 2-1 Romania, first round: Bernadette Szocs will take on Archana Kamath in the third singles match. The higher-ranked Romanian races away to a 7-0 lead before Kamath can get on the board. The Indian cuts the lead down to four points but Szocs wins the game 11-5 comfortably.

Badminton, women's singles final: Reigning world champion An Se Young is also the Olympic champion! The South Korean top-seed defeats He Bingjao of China to claim the gold in a dominant 21-13, 21-16 victory.

Table tennis, women’s team event, India 2-1 Romania, first round: Samara has all the momentum and takes a 4-1 lead! Costantini calls for a timeout and calms Akula down. It helps as Akula bounces back to level the score 6-6. Samara retakes her lead with two superb winners off her backhand and forehand and then brings up three match points. Akula saves one but Samara gets the job done to force a fourth match in this tie! She beats Akula 8-11, 11-4, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8.

Shooting, mixed team skeet event: A flawless series from Maheshwari Chauhan as she shoots all 25 of her targets. Anantjeet Singh Naruka misses two targets as the Indian pair score 48/50 in the second round. With 97/100, the pair are down in sixth but are still in contention in finishing in the top four. They need to shoot a perfect score in the final round.

Table tennis, women’s team event, India 2-0 Romania, first round: Samara is not going down without a fight! She wins the fourth game 11-6 to force a fifth and deciding game!

Table tennis, women’s team event, India 2-0 Romania, first round: After an even start, Samara opens up a 5-3 lead. Akula fights back to level the scores at 5-5 and 7-7 before taking the lead at 9-7. Good fight back from Akula after the second game and she takes the second game 11-7.

Table tennis, women’s team event, India 2-0 Romania, first round: Elizabeta Samara comes out all guns blazing in the second game. Races to a 5-0 lead, the highest by any Romanian in this tie so far. Akula tries to pulls Samara back but the Romanian takes the second game 11-4.

Table tennis, women’s team event, India 2-0 Romania, first round: A tight first game between Sreeja Akula and Elizabeta Samara. Akula was troubled by the angles the left-handed Samara was finding with her forehand across the table. She made sure not to give Samara too many opportunities and take the first game 11-8.

Table tennis, women’s team event, India 2-0 Romania, first round: Batra starts the second game with two nice forehand winners. Szocs levels the score before Batra unleashes her forehand once again on her way to retaking her two-point lead. Both players have held on to their respective serves so far. Batra wins on Szocs’ serve to take a 7-4 lead.

Romania call for a timeout. Batra wins the next point as well before a fortunate net-chord gives Batra a 9-4 lead and then brings up six game points. Szocs saves three and coach Massimo Costantini calls for a timeout. A timely one at that as Batra comes out and gets the job done at the first go! Batra wins 11-5, 11-7, 11-7 and gives India a 2-0 lead!

Table tennis, women’s team event, India 1-0 Romania, first round: A lot of self encouragement and fist pumping from Szocs in this game. Batra is not affected by it. Stayed ahead from the start and clinches the game 11-7.

Table tennis, women’s team event, India 1-0 Romania, first round: Batra was slow off the block with Szocs taking a 3-0 lead. However the India found her groove and raced ahead to win the first game 11-5.

Table tennis, women’s team event: Both pairs exchanging the lead. The Romanians led at 0-2. India led at 4-2 before the Romanians tied it up. The Indians once again opened up a two-point lead at 6-4 and 7-5 before the Romanians take a timeout. The Romanian coach clearly frustrated with what he has seen so far. In contrast, Massimo Costantini is calmly speaking with Akula and Kamath. The pep talk doesn’t seem to have worked out for the Romanians as the Indians increase their lead to 9-5 before sealing the match 11-9, 12-10, 11-7. India take a 1-0 lead in the tie! Up next, Manika Batra versus Bernadette Szocs in the singles match.

Table tennis, women’s team event: Brilliant comeback from Akula and Kamath! They save a game point and clinch the second game 12-10! A much closer game this time with the Romanians leading by just two points at one stage.

Shooting, mixed team skeet event: It has been a solid start to the qualification from Maheshwari Chauhan and Anantjeet Singh Naruka. Naruka nails all 25 of his shots in the first round while Chauhan misses just one shot. With 49 points, they are tied in second place alongside Australia, France, the two Italian teams and South Korea. The US pair are in the lead with 50 points.

Table tennis, women’s team event: A good start from Akula and Kamath as they race to a 9-3 lead. However, the Romanians fight back with Kamath struggling with the spin on the ball a bit. They go from leading 9-3 to 10-9 as the Romanians go on a five-point run. However, the Indians hold their nerve to secure the first game 11-9.

Table tennis, women’s team event: Sreeja Akula and Archana Kamath will be in action first in the women’s doubles match. They are up against the experienced pair of Elizabeta Samara and Adina Diaconu.

Table tennis, women’s team event: The team events get underway today with the Indian women’s team in action. 11th seeds take on fourth seeds Romania in the first round. It will not be an easy with Romania boasting of world No 10 Bernadette Szocs in their lineup. Szocs, like Sreeja Akula and Manika Batra, lost in the round of 16 in the women’s singles event. The first to three matches in the tie will move on to the quarter-finals where they will face the winner of the match between the United States and Germany.

Akula will team up with Archana Kamath for the first women’s doubles match before Batra takes on Szocs in the second match. The third match will see Akula face Elizabeta Samara. Should either nation win all three matches, we will not be in need for the fourth and fifth matches.

Triathlon mixed relay: Germany won gold in the mixed triathlon relay on Monday at the Paris Olympics, with the build-up to the event marred by news that a Belgian athlete had fallen sick after swimming in the Seine last week.

Table tennis, women’s team Round of 16: In action later in the afternoon will be the Indian women’s team against Romania. The Indian women’s team comprises of Archana Kamath, Sreeja Akula & Manika Batra.

Biles aiming for more glory

American gymnast Simone Biles could cement her legacy as the world’s greatest gymnast if she ends up taking gold in the balance beam and floor finals in the Bercy Arena on Monday.

The 27-year-old has already won gold in the all-round, vault and team events, taking her overall Olympics tally to seven golds across three editions so far.

Biles reckons that although she is “getting old”, she could be tempted to stick around for four more years and repeat her astounding feats in front of the home crowd at Los Angeles 2028.

via AFP

Duplantis, Hassan bidding to reign supreme

Armand Duplantis of Sweden and Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands will both be looking to secure their legacies in their respective events at the Stade de France on Monday night.

For Duplantis, it will be in the pole vault where he has been virtually unbeatable over the last five years. The Swede is the overwhelming favourite and is comfortable with the title. Having already set a new world record of 6.24 metres earlier this season, the only question is – how high can Duplantis go?

For Hassan, who is the defending champion in 5000m and 10000m, she is hunting the golden treble of 5,000, 10,000m and marathon to match Czech athlete Emil Zatopek, who achieved the feat at the 1952 Helsinki Games.

She also went for a treble in Tokyo, winning the 5,000m and 10,000m but only managed bronze in the 1,500m.

via AFP

Shooting, mixed team skeet event: It’s the final day of shooting and a final chance for India to win another medal in Paris. The pair of Maheshwari Chauhan and Anantjeet Singh Naruka are in action in the mixed team skeet shooting event. There are 15 pairs in the qualification event with the top two going through the gold medal match with the third and fourth ranked pairs battling for bronze.

The medal table at the start of Day 10. India is currently 57th in the list with three bronze medals.

Hello and welcome to Scroll’s coverage of 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

There is history on offer for India today. Lakshya Sen, who became the first Indian to reach the men’s singles semi-finals at an edition of the Olympics a few days ago, could add to the medal tally today when he takes on Malaysia’s Zii Jia Lee in the bronze medal match.

A win here will ensure India takes home at least one badminton medal from a fourth consecutive Olympic Games – Saina Nehwal (bronze in London 2012), PV Sindhu (silver in Rio 2016 and bronze in Tokyo 2020).

Badminton action will start at 6 pm today.

Before that though, there is table tennis action in the women’s team event, the mixed skeet shooters will be out on the range. And through the day, there will be competitions in athletics and sailing as well.

Stay tuned for another action-packed day.

Screenshots in blog courtesy Jio Cinema and 2024 Paris Olympics website.