Paris Olympics 2024: Lakshya Sen, Maheshwari Chauhan-Anant Jeet Singh Naruka finish 4th - Heartbreak for India continues
Earlier, Arjun Babuta, the duo of Dhiraj Bommadevara-Ankita Bhakat and Manu Bhaker all finished 4th at Paris 2024.
Anant Jeet Singh Naruka, Maheshwari Chauhan and Lakshya Sen (L to R)
Despite having opportunities to clinch two bronze medals in badminton and the mixed team skeet event, Indian athletes fell just short, with Lakshya Sen, as well as Maheshwari Chauhan and Anant Jeet Singh Naruka, finishing in fourth place in their respective events.
This is not an uncommon outcome, as many Indian athletes across various sports have missed out on medals by narrow margins, often finishing fourth. Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen lost to world No. 7 Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia with scores of 21-13, 16-21, and 11-21.
India has never won an Olympic gold medal in badminton, with PV Sindhu taking silver and bronze in Rio and Tokyo respectively, and Saina Nehwal securing bronze in London.
Similarly, Maheshwari Chauhan and Anant Jeet Singh Naruka narrowly missed out on a bronze medal in the mixed team skeet event, losing 43-44 against China. Lyu Jianlin of China proved to be simply brilliant as he did not miss any of his 24 strokes while Jiang Yiting, missed a few but got back her momentum.
Indian runner Kiran Pahal, who competed in Heat 5 of the women's 400m Round 1, went on to finish seventh.
Earlier, Arjun Babuta in Men's 10m Air Rifle, the duo of Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat in archery and Manu Bhaker in the 25m women's pistol event all finished 4th at Paris 2024.
On a positive note, in Table Tennis, the Indian women's team won against the 4th-seeded Romania in a thrilling Round of 16 match 3-2. They have reached the quarter-final where they will take on either Germany or USA.
Nisha Dahiya, started India's wrestling campaign, with a victory. She defeated former European Champion Tetiana Rizhko of Ukraine 6-4 in the Women's Freestyle 68kg Round of 16 bout in the opening round.