PARIS: For India, the Olympics is not complete without hockey. India began their campaign against New Zealand here in their Pool B match on Saturday. However, it was not as expected as the Kiwis stormed into the lead in the eighth minute of the first quarter itself.
For India to at least finish among medals like they did in Tokyo 2020 (bronze medal finish), they needed to remain positive in the seesaw battle that played back and forth between the rivals until the end of the fourth quarter. India needed a couple of penalty corners before being awarded a penalty stroke to edge past New Zealand 3-2 in the last minute of the fourth.
In between, the two teams fought for control but India, being a higher-ranked team, dominated. Yet, after India drew parity through Mandeep Singh in the 24th and Vivek Sagar Prasad took India past New Zealand in the 34th minute but the Black Sticks restored parity with Simon Child scoring.
India is second behind Belgium in the six-team pool. Australia, who are in the same bracket, were third on goal difference.
Positive start in badminton
Badminton is another sport that has given medals to India since the bronze in the London Olympics. The men’s side of the matches went off as expected on the opening day of the event. Shutters eased themselves into the next round with relative ease on Saturday.
In men’s singles, Lakshya Sen had a relatively easy round against Kevin Cordon of Guatemala in Group L tie. The first game was routine as Sen won 21-8 in just 14 minutes. The second game stretched a bit but Sen did not let the Guatemala shuttler get past him. He won the second game 22-20.
Men’s doubles has been one of the most anticipated events of the Games with Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy coming to the tournament in cracking form. The two are expected to secure India's first ever doubles medal. The duo beat Lucas Corvee and Labar Ronan of France 21-14 and 21-17.
Meanwhile, India's lone rower at Games, Balraj Panwar moved to the repechage after finishing fourth in heat 1 of the men's singles scull competition.
Results: Hockey: India 3 (Mandeep Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Harmanpreet Singh) - 2 New Zealand (Sam Lane, Simon Child) ; Badminton: Lakshya Sen bt Kevin Gordon 21-8, 22-20; Chirag Shetty-Satwiksairaj Rankireddy 21-14, 21-17; Table-tennis: Harmeet Desai bt Zaid Abo Yaman 11-7 11-9 11-5 11-5