Olympics 2024: Indian hockey team's historic semis and other highlights from Day 9

It was an important day for India on the ninth day of Paris Olympics.

India's brightest medal prospects were in action today including the men's hockey team.

The team led by Harmanpreet was in action in the quarterfinals against Great Britain.

India faced an early setback in the 2nd quarter when Amit Rohidas was sent off. Despite being on the back foot, the team channeled their energies effectively.

Skipper Harmanpreet managed to score through a penalty corner, giving India the lead. However, Great Britain equalized before the end of the 2nd quarter.

With India reduced to 10 men, Great Britain took advantage of the extra player and attacked relentlessly.

Nevertheless, India held firm in defense, managing to hold on for the remainder of the match and forced a shoot-off, which they went on to win 4-2 with the heroics of Sreejesh.

Here's the highlights of all the action at Paris Olympics 2024 on day 9:

Badminton

India's Lakshya Sen faced a setback, losing to Viktor Axelsen in the Paris Olympics 2024 semifinals. Despite a strong start, Lakshya fell 20-22, 14-21 to the top-seeded Dane.

Lakshya led 15-9 but Axelsen saved two game points and won 22-20.

Lakshya started 7-0 but Axelsen closed the gap and won 21-14.

Lakshya will compete for the bronze against Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia on Monday. Despite the loss, he remains a strong medal contender.

Shooting

The Indian shooters fell short of finals on day nine at the Paris Olympics in Chateauroux.

Maheshwari Chauhan placed 14th in the Skeet Women’s event with a total score of 118, missing the final by two points. In the 25m Rapid-Fire Pistol Men’s event, Vijayveer Sidhu and Anish Bhanwala finished ninth and 13th, respectively, after strong initial performances.

Raiza Dhillon, also competing for the first time, finished 23rd in the Skeet Women’s event with 113 points. India will next compete in the Mixed Team Skeet event. So far, Indian shooters have won three bronze medals at the Games.

Boxing

In the women’s 75 kg category on Sunday, Lovlina Borgohain, the Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist, was defeated 1-4 by China’s top-seeded Li Qian in the quarterfinals.

Li Qian started strongly, winning the first round, but Lovlina fought back in the second. The third round was closely contested, but a split decision favored Li Qian, ending Lovlina’s campaign.

Athletics

In the 3000m steeplechase heats, national record holder Parul Chaudhary finished eighth in her heat with a season's best time of 9:23.39.

She did not advance to the finals, as only the top five from each heat progressed and the event did not have a repechage round.

In the long jump, Jeswin Aldrin had a disappointing performance, achieving a best jump of 7.61m. He finished 13th in Group B and 26th overall, falling short of the 8.15m qualification mark needed to advance.

With these results, Parul and Jeswin's Olympic campaigns have concluded.

Golf

Shubhankar Sharma and Gaganjeet Bhullar have completed their Round 4 play, with final positions of T40 and T45, respectively.

Sailing

In the Women's Dinghy, Nethra Kumanan remains in 25th place with two races remaining. Despite her efforts, she has struggled to match her performance from Race 1 and will likely finish outside the Top 20 unless she achieves a remarkable turnaround in the final races.

Vishnu Saravanan had a strong day, finishing 13th in Race 7 and 7th in Race 8. This performance propels him into the Top 20 of the overall standings in the Men's Dinghy event, where he is currently in 18th place.