Olympics Highlights: India cruise past Ireland 2-0 in Men's Hockey; Amit Panghal defeated in RO16 by Zambia's Chinyemba

Paris Olympics: India schedule - Day 4

Shooting

* Trap Men's Qualification: Prithviraj Tondaiman -- 12:30pm

* Trap Women's Qualification: Shreyasi Singh and Rajeshwari Kumari -- 12:30pm

* 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team Bronze Medal Match: India (Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh) vs Korea -- 1pm

Rowing:

* Men's single sculls quarterfinals: Balraj Panwar -- 1:40pm

Hockey

* Men's Pool B Match: India vs Ireland -- 4:45pm

Archery:

* Women's Individual 1/32 Elimination Round: Ankita Bhakat (5:15pm) and Bhajan Kaur (5:30pm)

* Men's Individual 1/32 Elimination Round: Dhiraj Bommadevara (10:45pm)

Badminton:

* Men's doubles (Group stage): Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty vs Alfian Fajar and Muhammad Rian Ardianto (Indonesia) -- 5:30pm

* Women's Doubles (Group stage): Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto vs Setyana Mapasa and Angela Yu (Australia) -- 6:20pm

Boxing:

* Men's 51kg Round of 16: Amit Panghal vs Patrick Chinyemba (Zambia) -- 7:15pm

* Women's 57kg Round of 32: Jaismine Lamboria vs Nesthy Petecio (Philippines) -- 9:25pm

* Women's 54kg Round of 16: Preeti Pawar vs Yeni Marcela Arias (Colombia) -- 1:20 am (July 31).

Manika becomes first Indian TT player to reach Olympics pre-quarterfinals

Manika Batra made history by becoming the first Indian table tennis player to reach the singles pre-quarterfinals at the Olympic Games with a fluent 4-0 win over world number 18 and home favourite Prithika Pavade here on Monday.

The 29-year-old Manika dominated from start to finish for a 11-9 11-6 11-9 11-7 win over Prithika, who has Indian roots.

It turned out to be one of the most memorable matches for an Indian table tennis player in Olympics history. Manika had reached the round of 32 at the Tokyo Olympics and she bettered that performance on Monday.

-PTI

Manu Bhaker in contention for another bronze; archers crumble

Manu Bhaker was on course to make more Olympic history as she put herself in contention for an unprecedented second medal on a day when the men's hockey team managed an underwhelming draw, a fourth-place finish broke Indian hearts at the shooting range and the pampered archers simply capitulated.

For a second day running, Bhaker was the star of the India show as she combined with Sarabjot Singh to make the bronze medal match of the 10m air pistol mixed team competition at Chateauroux's shooting range.

The two will be up against the Korean combination of Oh Ye Jin and Lee Wonho, who shot 579, in the bronze-medal match. Should they triumph, Bhaker will become the first Indian to win more than one medal in a single edition of the Games.

-PTI

Men's Triathlon postponed to July 31 due to concerns over pollution levels in River Seine

The men's triathlon event at the Paris Olympics will not go ahead as planned on Tuesday, July 30 as pollution levels in River Seine remain too high, World Triathlon said in a statement, dealing a blow to organisers and leaving athletes facing more uncertainty.

The race was postponed to Wednesday at 10:45 am (0845 GMT), immediately after the women's event, which is scheduled for 8 am that day.

Organisers previously said they were confident water quality would improve in time for the race after heavy rains last Friday and Saturday dirtied the river.

"Despite the improvement of water quality levels over the last hours, the readings at some points of the swim course are still above the acceptable limits," they said early on Tuesday.

"Paris 2024 and World Triathlon reiterate that their priority is the health of the athletes."

Should levels of bacteria remain too high by Wednesday morning both the men's and women's races are likely to be postponed to Friday, the contingency day reserved for the events.

If by Friday the water quality is still not good enough the swim leg will be scrapped and athletes will compete in a duathlon instead.

For the mixed triathlon relay event on August 5, the contingency day is August 6.

Paris authorities have promised to make the Seine swimmable as a key legacy of the Games, and spent 1.4 billion euros ($1.51 billion) on wastewater infrastructure to contain sewage and minimise spillage into the waterway.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo took a dip in the river herself earlier this month, in a bid to convince doubters.

The gamble that the river would be clean enough on the day of the triathlon was never guaranteed to pay off, especially as water quality varies widely day-to-day.

Rain significantly increases concentrations of infection-causing bacteria like E. coli and enterococci.

Seth Rider, one of 55 triathletes entered in the men's race, has told reporters he took unconventional measures to prepare for exposure to bacteria.

"We know that there's going to be some E. coli exposure, so I just try to increase my E. coli threshold by exposing myself to a bit of E. coli in your day-to-day life", the US athlete said in a press conference on Saturday.

The Olympic triathlon course was conceived to maximise the wow factor, with the river swim a key element.

After diving into the Seine from a pontoon next to the Alexandre III bridge, athletes are set to race past the Musée d'Orsay and Grand Palais during the bike and run elements before ending back where they started.

Crossing the finish line on the bridge, competitors will be framed by stone columns topped with gilt-bronze statues of Pegasus, with the golden dome of the early 18th century Invalides monument as a backdrop.

-Reuters

India's Day 4 campaign to begin shortly with men's, women's Trap shooting qualification rounds

India's Athletics contingent lands in Paris

Women's Trap Shooting Qualification: India's Shreyasi Singh and Rajeshwari Kumari currently in action

Men's Trap Shooting: Prithviraj Tondaiman will look to bounce back today after finishing at position 30 in Day 1 qualifications

10m Air Pistol Mixed Team Bronze medal match underway as Manu Bhaker look to create history

Manu Bhaker, Sarabjot Singh clinch bronze for India in 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team Event, beat South Korea 16-10

Bhaker scripts history by becoming the first Indian to win multiple medals in the same Olympic edition post independence as she wins bronze pairing with Sarabjot Singh in 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team Event. This is Bhaker's 2nd medal in the Paris Olympics after she won bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol event on July 28.

PM Modi congratulates Manu Bhaker, Sarabjot Singh for winning bronze in 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team

Nita Ambani congratulates Bhaker, Sarabjot for winning bronze for India in 10m Air Pistol Mixed team

“Our athletes create history again with India’s first ever medal in a mixed-team event at the Olympics! Congratulations to Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh for winning Bronze in the mixed 10m air pistol. A special call out to Manu for becoming the first Indian woman to win two medals in a single Olympic edition. The entire nation is keeping its fingers crossed for her hat-trick now! Here’s wishing all our athletes the very best for the Games ahead. Go, India, go!” said Nita Ambani, IOC Member and Founder-Chairperson of Reliance Foundation.

Rowing: Balraj Panwar finishes 5th in Men’s Single Sculls Quarterfinals with a timing of 7:05:10, progresses to semifinals C/D

Priyanka Gandhi lauds Manu Bhaker for scripting history by winning 2 medals in single Olympic campaign

'Entire nation stands tall with pride': Sachin Tendulkar congratulates Bhaker, Sarabjot

Manu Bhaker responds to PM Modi's congratulatory message

Men's Trap Shooting Qualifications: Prithviraj Tondaiman eliminated despite good show in round 5

Men's Hockey: India's Pool B encounter against Ireland commences

India vs Ireland, Men's Hockey: Harmanpreet Singh scores from penalty stroke, India take 1-0 lead

Harmanpreet scores again as India extend lead against Ireland in their Men's Hockey Pool B encounter in Paris

Meanwhile, Neeraj Chopra has arrived at the athletes' village in Paris

Half time: India lead 2-0 against Ireland through goals from Harmanpreet Singh

The Indian Hockey Team leads the Irish team 2-0 thanks to Harmanpreet Singh scoring a penalty stroke and a from a penalty corner

Badminton: Satwiksairaj-Chirag set to begin their group match against Ardianto-Alfian

The Indian pair head to this match having won their match on Saturday. They hold the upper hand against the Indonesian pair, having won th past 3 encounters

Hockey: Second-half underway, with India leading 2-0

Hockey: Penalty corner to India, but they fail to score

Hockey: Penalty corner to Ireland, but they fail to score

Badminton: Satwiksairaj-Chirag take game 1 by 21-13

Hockey: 3rd quarter ends with India still leading 2-0 against ireland

Badminton: Satwiksairaj-Chirag lead 11-8 at Game 2 interval

Hockey: Final quarter underway for India vs Ireland, India lead 2-0

Badminton: Satwiksairaj-Chirag win second game by 21-13, win match 2-0 against Indonesian opponents

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty beat Indonesia's Muhammad Rian Ardianto and Fajar Alfian 2-0 (21-13, 21-13) in their third group game, therby winning Group C.

Archery: Bhajan Kaur beat Poland's Wioleta Myszor 3 sets to nil and heads to the quarterfinals of the women's individual

Hockey: India beat Ireland 2-0 in their Pool B match

India beat Ireland 2-0 thanks to Harmanpreet scoring a penalty stroke and a penalty corner in the first half.

Women's doubles, Badminton: Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto lose first against Australia's Setyana Mapasa and Angela Yu 15-21

Aswini Ponappa and Tanisha Crasto end Paris campaign as they crash out 15-21, 10-21 against Australian pair in women's doubles badminton

Boxing: Amit Panghal's round of 16 match against Zambia's Patrick Chinyemba underway

Chinyemba in front after Round 1

Chinyemba still in front as the match heads into last round

Boxing: Amit Panghal defeated in round of 16 by Zambia's Patrick Chinyemba

Boxer Amit Panghal lost the Men's flyweight round of 16 match against Zambia's Patrick Chinyemba by 4-1, ending is Paris games campaign

India's next event will be Women's featherweight boxing, where Jaismine Lamboria will face Nesthy Petecio of The Philippines

The event will start at 9:30 PM IST

China's Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha win gold in Table Tennis mixed doubles

North Korea's Ri Jong Sik and Kim Kum Yong claim silver after finals.

Nathan Hales of Britain wins gold in shooting men's trap

Qi Ying of China wins silver, Jean Pierre Brol Cardenas of Guatemala wins bronze, which is the country's second ever Olympic medal.

P T Usha met Indian hockey team after their 2-0 win against Ireland

Nagase Takanori of Japan claims gold in Men's 81 kg Judo

Tato Grigalashvili of Georgia claims silver. Somon Makhmadbekov of Tajikistan won bronze, first Olympic medal for the country.

Boxing: Jaismine Lamboria's fight against Nesthy Petecio of The Philippines is underway

Petecio leads after round 1 against Jaismine

Petecio in the lead still against Jaismine in round 2

Jaismine Lamboria defeated by Nesthy Petecio of The Philippinesin round of 32, ends her Paris Olympics campaign

Spanish star duo Alcaraz-Nadal take set 1 against the Dutch duo of Griekspoor-Koolhof by 6-4

Andreja Leski of Slovenia clinches Gold in Women's 63 kg Judo

Mexican Prisca Awiti Alcaraz claimed silver, while Laura Fazliu of Kosovo and Clarisse Agbegnenou of France claimed bronze.

Dhiraj Bommadevara match against Adam Li of the Czech Republic in round of 32 eliminations of Men's Individual archery is underway

Round 1 is a draw- 29 each for Bommadevara and Li

Dhiraj Bommadevara qualifies to next round

Sailing-Spanish men seize skiff lead from 'McKiwis' in breezy Med

Spain's SailGP winning duo of Diego Botin and Florian Trittel seized the initiative in the skiff on Tuesday, springing above Ireland and New Zealand to top the Olympic leaderboard.

Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie, dubbed the 'McKiwis', could not match their lighter wind consistency of previous days, while the Spanish savoured a stiffer breeze and bigger waves.

Britain's James Peters and Fynn Sterritt also got into their Mediterranean mode, lifting their overall position to fourth, one place behind the Kiwis.

The British crew stole the lead from Spain on the line in the last race of the day after a scintillating duel in the final leg, gybing away to keep their spinnaker full in fading wind.

Ireland's Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove, meanwhile, sailed solidly enough to maintain second overall.

In the women's skiff, Dutch duo Odile van Aanholt and Annette Duetz relished the wind to regain the lead from France. (Reuters)

Gymnastics-Biles soars high during team final in pursuit of fifth Olympic gold

Simone Biles made her long-anticipated return to the women's gymnastics team final at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, where she is in pursuit of a fifth Olympic gold medal for the United States, and dispel memories of her abrupt withdrawal from the event at the Tokyo Games.

A poised Biles began on the vault and soared high through the air as she performed the Cheng to earn 14.900 points, the highest score on the apparatus during the first rotation.

Biles, the most decorated gymnast of all-time, made a dazzling comeback on the Olympic stage on Sunday when she propelled the US to the top of the team qualifying standings. The American also topped the all-around qualifying standings as well as for the floor exercise and vault apparatus finals.

At the start of Tuesday's meet, Biles appeared so focused on competing that she emerged from the tunnel and headed straight towards the team's bench instead of pausing for the team's introduction by venue announcers. After being stopped in her tracks by her teammates, a sheepish Biles took a few steps back, and beamed a big smile as the crowd let out a deafening roar when her name was announced.

Biles is set to compete on all four apparatus in the team final alongside teammate Jordan Chiles, who recorded a solid 14.400 points on the vault. (Reuters)

Boxing-From office job to Games, Aussie Echegaray proud of 'tremendous feat'

Tiana Echegaray was eliminated from the Paris Olympics following a loss to Turkey's Hatice Akbas on Tuesday, but the Australian said she is still proud of herself for making it this far in such a short space of time.

Until 2019, the 30-year-old worked an office job for a music rights company, before quitting and taking up boxing as a way to keep fit. (Reuters)

Tennis-Italy's Paolini blames lack of focus for early Paris singles exit

 Italy's world number 5 Jasmine Paolini got sidetracked by unseeded Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in a tight Paris Olympics tennis singles match, 7-5 3-6 7-5, becoming the second major upset on Tuesday after American Coco Gauff.

Paolini's dream of an Olympic medal after disputing the finals in the French Open and Wimbledon this year were still alive, however, as she continues in doubles alongside Sara Errani later in the day at Roland Garros. (Reuters)

Judo-Japan's Nagase retains title, Leski wins gold for Slovenia

Japan's Takanori Nagase retained the Olympic under 81kg judo title he won in Tokyo three years ago before Andreja Leski triumphed in the women's under 63kg final to hand Slovenia its first gold medal of the Paris Games on Tuesday.

Nagase, a bronze medallist in Rio eight years ago, was already a point up when he secured a victory by ippon over three-times world champion Tato Grigalashvili of Georgia after two minutes, 48 seconds of the contest. (Reuters)

Football- Morocco, Argentina through to Olympic quarter-finals, Egypt snatch top spot from Spain

Morocco reached the quarter-finals with a crushing 3-0 win over Group B rivals Iraq in Nice, while Spain relinquished top spot in Group C after a 2-1 loss to Egypt in Bordeaux, in the final group-stage matches of the Olympic football tournament on Tuesday. (Reuters)

Rugby sevens-New Zealand win women's gold

New Zealand won the Olympic women's rugby sevens gold medal on Tuesday when they beat Canada 19-12 in the final.

The United States took the bronze after beating Australia 14-12. (Reuters)

Tennis-Nadal and Alcaraz down Dutch to reach quarter-finals

Spain's dream team of Rafa Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz reached the quarter-finals of the Olympic men's tennis doubles with a 6-4 6-7 10-2 defeat of Dutchmen Tallon Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof at Roland Garros on Tuesday.

A day after 14-time French Open champion Nadal was heavily beaten by Novak Djokovic in the singles, the 38-year-old bounced back with a commanding display alongside his compatriot.

The Spanish duo, dubbed Nadalcraz, delighted a packed and vociferous crowd on a sweltering Court Suzanne Lenglen arena as they combined their formidable firepower to keep their gold medal dream on course.

Alcaraz, 21, pummelled a forehand winner to get the crucial break of serve in the first set with Nadal roaring his approval.

Koolhof, a former doubles world number one, and Griekspoor provided stiff resistance in the second set before dominating a second-set tiebreak, winning it 7-2.

But a Nadalcaraz caught fire in the deciding third set, fist-pumping and roaring after a succession of electrifying winners as they blazed to victory. (Reuters)

Dhiraj Bommadevara loses his Men's individual 1/16 round after going down 5-6 against Canada's Eric Peters, after a shoot-off

Canoeing-Aussie Fox still hunting medals ahead of canoe climax

Australia's Jessica Fox was almost as relentless as the burning afternoon sun at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium on Tuesday as she began her bid for a second Olympic medal at the Paris Games by comfortably qualifying for the canoe single semi-final.

The 30-year-old stormed to victory in Sunday's single kayak final and on Tuesday she was at it again, easing to a second-place finish in the heat to see herself safely through to Wednesday's semi-final, with the final taking place later the same day. (Reuters)

Basketball 3x3-Champions Latvia kick off with solid win over Lithuania

Latvia got off to the perfect start in their quest to retain the 3x3 men's basketball title they won on the sport's debut in Tokyo by beating Lithuania 21-14 in their first match of the Paris Olympics pool stage on Tuesday. (Reuters)

Swimming-Wiffen takes men's 800 freestyle gold in Irish first

Daniel Wiffen became the first Irishman to win an Olympic swimming medal when he struck gold in the 800 metres freestyle at the Paris Games on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old world champion touched out in an Olympic record time of seven minutes 38.19 seconds.

Reigning Olympic champion Bobby Finke of the United States took the silver, 0.56 behind, and Italy's Gregorio Paltrinieri the bronze. (Reuters)

Fencing-Italy wins gold in women's epee team at Paris Games

Italy won gold in the women's team epee fencing event at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday.

France took silver and Poland bagged the bronze. (Reuters)

Paris 2024 flame to stay grounded on Tuesday amid thunderstorm warning

The Olympic flame will stay grounded near the Louvre Museum on Tuesday following a thunderstorm alert on Paris, organisers told Reuters.

The cauldron carrying the flame is usually scheduled to go up in the air every night from sunset until 2 am.

Meteo France on Tuesday issued a orange warning for thunderstorms on Paris. (Reuters)

Boxing- Preeti Pawar goes down fighting against Colombia's Yeni Arias 2-3 as she loses by split decision

Archery: India's Bhajan Kaur notched twin victories to advance to the women's individual pre-quarterfinals. Ankita Bhakat also made an early exit after stumbling in the opening round.