Paris, July 31 (IANS) Lakshya Sen pulled off an upset win over the third seed Indonesian Jonatan Christie 21-18, 21-12 in his final Group L men’s singles match at the Paris Olympics.

Despite a rocky start which saw the Indian trailing 8-2 in the first game, Sen dug deep to turn the game on its head and fought back to level it at 10-all. A topsy-turvy encounter saw both shuttlers tied at 18-18 before Sen pulled ahead to take the 21-18 win in the first game.

The 22-year old continued his aggressive style of play and brilliantly fended of any attempts that the World No. 4 shuttler made of inching back into the game, sealing the match with a 21-12 win in the second game.

The win sealed Lakshya’s spot in the pre-quarterfinal round, where he may face compatriot H.S Prannoy if the latter wins his matchup against Vietnamese shuttler Le Duc Phat later in the day.

India’s medal hope in the women’s singles category, PV Sindhu was in action before Sen’s match, where she comfortably defeated Estonia’s Kristin Kuuba 21-5, 21-10 and topped Group M to seal Round of 16 berth.

–IANS

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Chateauroux, July 31 (IANS) India’s Swapnil Kusale qualified for the 50m Rifle 3 Positions men’s final after finishing seventh in qualifications at the Paris Olympics.

Kusale scored a total of 590, including 38 inner 10s, in the 60-shot qualifying round.

He began with two impressive scores of 99 in the kneeling position, setting a solid foundation. He maintained his form in the prone position, scoring 98 and 99. Despite a slight dip in the final standing position, where he posted scores of 98 and 97, Kusale’s overall tally was enough to secure his place in the final.

On the other hand, fellow Indian shooter Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar narrowly missed out on a spot in the final. Tomar ended the qualification round in 11th place with 589 points (with 33 inner 10s).

Tomar was in contention for a top-eight finish until a challenging first series in the standing position, where he scored 95, ultimately derailed his chances.

The qualification round was dominated by China’s Liu Yukun, who set an Olympic qualification record with an impressive score of 594. However, in a surprising turn of events, his compatriot Du Linshu, who holds the World qualification record, failed to make the final cut.

–IANS

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Vaires-sur-Marne, July 31 (IANS) India’s lone rower Balraj Panwar clocked 7:04.97 to finish sixth in the men’s singles sculls semi-final C/D at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium in the ongoing Paris Olympics.

The sixth-placed finish saw Panwar advance to final D which is a classification event to seal his ranking from 19th-24th place which will take place on Friday.

He had two solid outings at the Games after finishing fourth in the first heat and second in the second repechage rounds but was eliminated from medal contention after finishing fifth in the quarter-finals with a time of 7:05.10.

–IANS

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Johannesburg, July 31 (IANS) Afghanistan will host South Africa for three-match ODI series from September 18 to 22 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The ODI series is the first-ever bilateral series between the two sides with all three matches to be played at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

South Africa has faced Afghanistan on two occasions in ODI cricket during the last two ICC Men’s Cricket World Cups in 2019 and 2023.

This series will mark their first encounter since South Africa defeated Afghanistan in the semi-final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 in Trinidad and Tobago last month.

“We are excited to embark on this historic ODI series with Afghanistan, who have become a very competitive all-round team as evidenced by their recent performances in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 and most recently at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. This is a significant milestone in our cricketing relations, and we look forward to a competitive and entertaining series,” said CSA chairman Lawson Naidoo in a joint statement with ACB released on Wednesday.

ACB chairman Mirwais Ashraf added, “These fixtures were not initially part of our FTP. Still, based on our productive negotiations with our counterparts at Cricket South Africa, we concluded that we will host the Proteas for an ODI series in September. They are an excellent team, and we are eagerly looking forward to hosting them and playing them regularly in the future.”

Fixtures:

Wednesday, September 18

Afghanistan vs South Africa – Sharjah Cricket Stadium, UAE

Friday, September 20

Afghanistan vs South Africa – Sharjah Cricket Stadium, UAE

Sunday, September 22

Afghanistan vs South Africa – Sharjah Cricket Stadium, UAE

–IANS

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Paris, July 31 (IANS) Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu defeated Estonia’s Kristin Kuuba 21-5, 21-10 in the women’s singles Group M match on Wednesday at the 2024 Paris Games.

Sindhu secured the win in just 34 minutes and topped the group with two wins to advance to the round of 16 stage.

In her opening match, the ace Indian defeated Maldives’ Fathimath Nabaaha Abdul Razzaq.

Sindhu, who is playing her third successive Olympics, has never returned empty-handed from the Summer Games, having claimed silver at her debut Games at Rio 2016 before clinching bronze at the Tokyo Games.

–IANS

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