The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris started with a unique opening ceremony on Friday night. It will be remembered, though maybe not exactly how the organizers planned.

It wasn’t the night Paris 2024 organizers had hoped for. But Friday was a great chance to show off Paris, its culture, and its people.

During the ceremony, organizers included ‘Hindi’ along with five other languages in infographics to honor the contributions of important French women in a segment called ‘sisterhood’.

HINDI was one of the 6 languages featured during Olympic opening ceremony. certainly reflects our strong diplomatic ties with france & one of the future global leaders in geopolitics. pic.twitter.com/Guybg0mW18

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— sugar kane (@vegetarianmee) July 26, 2024

Two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu and table tennis legend A Sharath Kamal led the Indian group, ranked 84th in the lineup. Women wore sarees, and men wore traditional ‘kurta-payjama’ in the colors of the national flag. Overall, 78 Indian athletes and officials participated in the ceremony.

On Saturday, July 27, the Indian contingent at the Paris 2024 Olympics aims to kickstart their medal quest as Indian shooters gear up for the 10m air rifle mixed team event.

Ramita Jindal and Arjun Babuta, along with Elavenil Valarivan and Sandeep Singh, will kick off their campaign in the 10m air rifle mixed team event with the qualification rounds starting at 12:30 PM IST at the National Shooting Center in Chateauroux.

The top two teams from the qualification round will advance to compete for gold, while the third and fourth-placed teams will compete for bronze in the medal rounds starting at 2:00 PM IST.

Indian Shooting Challenges Begin

India’s last Olympic shooting medals were won at the London 2012 Games. Notably, India has never secured an Olympic shooting team medal.

Later in the day, Manu Bhaker, one of India’s top shooters, will participate in the 10m air pistol women’s qualification round alongside Rhythm Sangwan.

In the men’s and women’s 10m air pistol events, the top eight athletes from the qualification rounds advance to the finals.

Also Read: India To Feature 78 Athletes, Officials From 12 Disciplines In Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Arjun Singh Cheema and Sarabjot Singh, who secured gold at the Asian Games in team events, will compete in the men’s 10m air pistol qualification round.

India’s other strong contenders for medals will begin their quests on Saturday. Indian athletes are set to compete in hockey, badminton, tennis, table tennis, rowing, and boxing events.

The Indian men’s hockey team, which won bronze at Tokyo 2020, will take center stage at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium for its Pool B opener against New Zealand, the team that knocked them out of last year’s Hockey World Cup.

India holds the record for the most successful men’s hockey team at the Olympics, boasting a total of 12 medals – eight gold, one silver, and three bronze.

Led by Harmanpreet Singh, the Indian hockey team must secure a top-four finish in Pool B, which includes defending champions Belgium, Tokyo 2020 silver medallists Australia, Argentina, and Ireland, to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Badminton and Tennis Matches

In Group C, Indian badminton stars Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, ranked world No. 3, will compete against French shuttlers Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar, ranked 40th.

Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen, ranked world No. 18, aims to avoid an early setback against Guatemala’s Kevin Cordon, ranked world No. 41, in his men’s singles badminton Group L match.

In women’s doubles, Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa, ranked world No. 19, will take on South Korea’s Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong, ranked world No. 8, in Group C.

Tennis ace Rohan Bopanna, a Rio 2016 mixed doubles semi-finalist, and his partner N Sriram Balaji will compete against Fabien Reboul and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France in the round of 32 on the clay courts.

Table Tennis action will see Harmeet Desai face Jordan’s Zaid Abo Yaman in the men’s singles, while Balraj Panwar, India’s sole rowing representative, will compete in the men’s single sculls heats.

Indian boxer Preeti Pawar will take on Vietnam’s Thi Kim Anh in the women’s 54kg round of 32 bout later in the day.

The schedule for the Paris 2024 Olympics

Shooting

Ramita Jindal and Arjun Babuta, along with Elavenil Valarivan and Sandeep Singh, will compete in the 10m air rifle mixed team qualification at 12:30 PM.

The medal rounds for the 10m air rifle mixed team (subject to qualification) will commence from 2:00 PM onwards.

Arjun Singh Cheema and Sarabjot Singh will participate in the 10m air pistol men’s qualification starting at 2:00 PM.

Manu Bhaker and Rhythm Sangwan will compete in the 10m air pistol women’s qualification at 4:00 PM.

Badminton

Lakshya Sen will face Kevin Cordon (GUA) in the men’s singles Group L match at 7:10 PM.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will take on Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar (FRA) in the men’s doubles Group C match at 8:00 PM.

Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa will compete against Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong (KOR) in the women’s doubles Group C match at 11:50 PM.

Tennis & Table Tennis

In tennis, N Sriram Balaji and Rohan Bopanna will face Fabien Reboul and Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) in the first round of men’s doubles at 3:30 PM.

In table tennis, Harmeet Desai will compete against Zaid Abo Yaman (JOR) in the preliminary round of men’s singles at 7:15 PM.

Hockey, India will face New Zealand in Men’s Pool B at 9:00 PM.

In boxing, Preeti Pawar will compete against Vo Thi Kim Anh (VNM) in the Women’s 54kg round of 32 at 12:02 AM (July 28).

Also Read: Taiwan Olympic Champion Sees Her Story In Aamir Khan’s Dangal