On Day 3 of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, Indian shooters continued to shine as they added one more medal to the tally to help get five medals (one gold, one silver and three bronze). Rubina Francis finished at third place in women’s 10m air pistol SH1 event on Saturday, to help India take the 22nd place in the medal tally.
In this article, we will go through all the big news that took place on Saturday, August 31 at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
Shooting
Rubina Francis wins bronze as Indian shooters continue to shine in Paris
India's Rubina Francis held her nerves to win bronze in the women's 10m air pistol SH1 event on Saturday, 31 August. Rubina secured the bronze by shooting 211.1 in Paris' Chateauroux - Final Range. The 25-year-old shooter remained in the top 4 for the majority of the event finishing in the podium spots. The Indian shooter even reached the top 2 spots in her 19th and 20th shots but could not manage to hold on to the position. She finished with 211.1 points behind Iran's Sareh Javanmardi and Turkiye's Aysel Ozgan, who finished with 236.8 and 231.1 points respectively.
Archery
Sheetal Devi bows out of Paris Paralympics after loss in RO16
Armless wonder Sheetal Devi crashed out of the last-16 in the compound women's open category at the Paralympics in Paris Paralympics 2024 on Saturday. Sheetal, who draws the arrow with her toes, endured a blip in the second end where she shot the 7-point red ring to go down to Tokyo silver medalist Mariana Zuniga of Chile 137-138 in the pre-quarters.
Sarita Kumari crashes out of archery QF after loss to world number 1
Sarita Kumari's run at the Paris Paralympics came to a disappointing end as she was defeated in the Women’s individual quarterfinals by Turkey's world champion, Oznur Cure Girdi, with a score of 145-140. Sarita struggled to maintain her composure throughout the match, which saw her lose the first set 26-28 and then the second set 27-30. The most intense moment of the match occurred in the fourth set when both Sarita and Oznur shot three bullseyes each, resulting in a 30-30 tie for the set.
Badminton
Nitesh Kumar, Sukant Kadam enter men's singles SL3 and SL4 semifinals respectively
Indian shuttlers Nitesh Kumar and Sukant Kadam qualified for the semifinals of men's singles SL3 and SL4 categories respectively after recording straight-game wins in their last group matches in the Paris Paralympics on Saturday. Nitesh, who had won a silver medal in the Asian Para Games last year in China, beat Mongkhon Bunsun of Thailand 21-13 21-14 to notch his third successive win and top group A. In men's singles SL4 class, meant for athletes with lower limb impairments and minor balance issues in walking or running, Sukant joined compatriot Suhas Yathiraj in the semifinals after beating Thailand's Teamarrom Siripong 21-12 21-12 to top group B.
Others
Anita-Narayana finish third in repechage round of PR3 mixed doubles sculls event
India’s mixed doubles pairing of Anita and Narayana Konganapalle finished third in the heat 2 of repechage in the PR3 mixed double sculls category, clocking 7:54.33s at the Paris Paralympic Games on Saturday, August 31. However, they managed to finish ahead of Mexico, but failed to advance into the final with Great Britain (7:20.53) and Ukraine (7:29.24) finishing first and second respectively.
Arshad Shaik, Jyoti Gaderiya disappoint in track cycling events at Paris Paralympics
Indian cyclists Arshad Shaik and Jyoti Gaderiya failed to make an impact in their respective track cycling events as they crashed out in the qualification round in the Paris Paralympics on Saturday. In the qualifying stage of the men's 1,000m time trial C1-3, Shaik managed a disappointing bottom-place (17th) finish with a timing of 1:21.416, failing to make it to the final round. On Friday, he had also failed to progress in the men's 3,000m pursuit C2 event, managing a bottom-place (ninth) finish in the qualifying round. Jyoti too finished at the bottom (11th place) in the women's 500m time trial C1-3 qualifying event, with a timing of 49.233