Paris 2024 Olympics Day 1: Medal Events for India on 27 July
After a stellar opening ceremony on Friday, 26th July, the Paris 2024 Olympics officially gets underway on Saturday, 27th July, and it's not an overstatement to say that the entire nation will have its eyes on how the Indian athletes perform over the next 15 days.
India has a chance to win a medal on the very first day of the Olympics, and the onus will fall on the shoulders of the 10 M Air Rifle Mixed Team Shooting Contingent.
Medal Events for India on 27th July 2024
1) 10 M Air Rifle Mixed Team Event
Qualifying Round (12:30 PM), Bronze Medal and Gold Medal Match (02:00 PM Onwards)
India Team 1 - Elavenil Valarivan and Sandeep Singh
India Team 2 - Ramita Jindal and Arjun Babuta
The Indian shooters will look to hit the bulls-eye and get India off to the best possible start in Paris in the 10 M Air Rifle Mixed Team event. India has two teams participating in the Qualifying Round, with Team 2 consisting of Arjun Babuta and Ramita Jindal, while Elavenil Valarivan and Sandeep Singh make up Team 1.
A total of 29 teams will participate in the qualifying round, with only four getting the opportunity to move on to the Bronze and Gold Medal matches, and going up against some of the world's best is easier said than done.
However, India will believe they have a good chance of making it to a Medal Match as they currently have the Qualification World Record in this event, which they set with a score of 635.8 in the Cairo ISSF World Championships.
Arjun Babuta and Sandeep Singh are ranked 14th and 16th respectively in the 10 M Air Rifle Men's Rankings. Meanwhile, Ramita Jindal and Elavenil Valarivan are ranked 19th and 20th respectively in the 10 M Air Rifle Women's Rankings.
The shooters are one of India's best bets for medals at the Paris 2024 Olympics, but despite being one of India's strongest sports, the last time India won a medal in Shooting at the Olympics was when Gagan Narang clinched a bronze medal at the London 2012 Olympics.
The two Mixed Teams taking part in tomorrow's 10 M Air Rifle event have a huge opportunity to set the record straight and deliver on the immense promise and show what a powerhouse India has become in the sport, and no matter what the odds are against them, their eyes will be on gold.