India remained with a total of three medals and placed 49th in the medal tally with excitement high for Sunday as the main event featured Lakshya Sen in badminton, Lovlina Borgohain in boxing, and the hockey team in the quarterfinals in the roster.
Bhaker missed the chance to secure another historic Olympic medal, finishing fourth in the 25m pistol event.
Starting strong, he was immediately placed at No.1 but was inconsistent at crucial times.
After a tie for eighth out of five shots, she tied for third place with Hungarian shooter Veronika. Bhaker hit three of the five targets while Veronika hit four, clinching the third point.
Despite his ups and downs during the elimination rounds, Bhaker temporarily reached the top spot in the seventh round, only to fall to third after three missed shots in the eighth round.
The final shoot-off saw Bhaker hit three targets while Veronika went one better with four.
“I got really nervous, but again, I tried my best to stay calm and just try to do my best. But it wasn’t enough,” Manu said after the event.
Earlier, he shot 28 in the final to tie for third place after a tie for eighth. She missed two of five shots in the series, which earned her three points, while Veronika’s four shots secured the bronze.
Although Bhaker was unable to maintain his early lead, his performance was impressive. Occupying the No.1 spot briefly among the eight shooters, he showed strength, climbing back into contention after slipping to sixth early in the final.
The day produced no medals, but Sunday promises significant action. Badminton ace Lakshya Sen faces Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen for the men’s singles semi-final.
Tokyo Games bronze medalist boxer Lovlina Borgohain battled China’s Li Qian for another podium finish.
The Indian hockey team will also take on England in the quarter finals.
Bhaker will return home with twin bronze medals in the women’s 10m air pistol and mixed team 10m air pistol events, partnering Sarabjot Singh. Despite the intense pressure from millions of people back home, they see the Olympic journey this time as a mixed bag.
Naruka bowed, the woman was also disappointed in the skeet
In the shooting range, Indian skeet shooter Anant Jeet Singh Naruka concluded the qualifying round in 24th place out of 30 shooters with an aggregate of 116 out of 125 shots.
On the first day of qualifying, Naruka had scored 23, 22, and 23, and he followed up with the same 24 in the last two qualifying rounds. Six shooters advanced to the finals.
In the women’s skeet event, India’s Maheshwari Chauhan is in contention close to the top group, finishing eighth after Day 1 with an aggregate of 71.
She recorded scores of 23, 24, and 24. Meanwhile, Raiza Dhillon was ranked 25th among 29 participants with a score of 66 with scores of 21, 22, and 23.
Deepika caved in after raising hopes as the archery campaign ends
Deepika Kumari’s archery campaign ended when she lost to Korea’s Suhyeon Nam at the Olympics in Paris, despite having an early advantage, winning two of the first three sets.
Earlier in the day, she had won 6-4 against Germany’s Michelle Kroppen but was defeated by Nam by the same margin.
Deepika’s fortunes changed in the fourth set against Nam when she shot 7 with her second arrow, missing a crucial chance. The match concluded India’s archery event at the Games without a podium finish.
Teenager Bhajan Kaur was also eliminated before losing in the pre-quarterfinals to Indonesia’s Diananda Choirunisa in the shootout.
This was Deepika’s fourth Olympic appearance, and she again finished without a medal.
In the mixed team event, Ankita Bhakat and Dhiraj Bommadevara finished fourth, their best result in archery at the Olympics.
Nethra placed 24th in women’s sailing; Saravanan was 23rd in the men’s event
At Marseille Marina, India’s Nethra Kumanan had a tough day in the opening series of the women’s dighy sailing event as she dropped to 24th place after Race 6.
After finishing 11th after three races on Friday, the 26-year-old dropped after three more races on Saturday.
While in men’s dighy event, Vishnu Saravanan was in 23rd place after Race 6.
Nishant bowed
Debutant Nishant Dev (71kg) bowed out after a heartbreaking loss to Mexico’s Marco Verde Alvarez in the men’s 71kg quarterfinals.
The 23-year-old world championship bronze medalist from India lost a 1-4 split decision to second seeded Mexico in the quarterfinals at the Paris North Arena.
Nishant is the fifth Indian boxer to pull out of the Paris Games.