Paris Olympics 2024 Day 9 Highlights: India advances to hockey semi-finals defeating Great Britain; Lakshya Sen loses to Axelsen in badminton

CHENNAI: India beat Great Britain 4-2 in penalty shoot-out to enter the semifinals of the men's hockey at the Paris Olympics, having played with only 10 players for more than 40 minutes on Sunday.

Lakshya Sen lost to the Danish player Victor Axlesen in two straight sets in the badminton singles semi-finals. At one point it looked like Lakshya would equalise by winning the second set after leading 7-0. But the defending champ was unstoppable and qualified for the final.

Lakshya will now play for the bronze medal against Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia on Monday.

Another upset for India in boxing as Lovlina Borgohain lost in the quarter-final to top seed Li Qian of China 1:4.

India’s Jeswin Aldrin failed to qualify to the Men’s long jump finals after only registering one successful jump of 7.61m which was not enough to make the cut. He ended up in 13th place.

It is a Super Sunday for the Indian contingents who are on the verge of their medal dream in the Paris Olympics 2024.

First up we have shooters Vijayveer Sidhu and Anish Bhanwala competing in the 25m rapid fire pistol. It is followed up by the group event where the Indian hockey team faces Great Britain for a spot in semi-finals just like they did in Tokyo 2020. That was a good outing for India as they won 3-1 where the Manpreet Singh-led Indian side en route to a bronze medal finish.

Lakshya Sen, who has made history by qualifying to the semi-finals in badminton singles, faces a tough test as he is up against Viktor Axelsen, who will be raring to get one step closer to defending his title.

In boxing, Lovlina Borgohain is one win away from winning a medal, which will be her second Olympic medal. She is up against China’s Li Qian.

12.30 - Shooting - Vijayveer and Anish Bhanwala in men's 25m Rapid fire pistol qualification

1.00 - Shooting - Maheshwari and Raiza in women's skeet qualification

1.30 - Hockey - India v Great Britian (quarter-final)

1.35 - Parul Chaudhary in women's 3000m steeplechase round 1

3.02 - Boxing - Lovlina Borgohain vs Li Qian in women's 75KG quarter-final

3.30 - Badminton - Lakshya Sen vs 'Great Dane' Viktor Axelsen in semis

3.35 and 6.05 - men's and women's sailing events

7.00 PM - Skeet finals (if Maheshwari or Raiza qualify)

Nishant Dev's maiden Olympic campaign ended in heartbreak after a devastating split verdict defeat to Mexico's Marco Verde Alvarez in the men's 71kg quarterfinal on Saturday.

India's Vijayveer Sidhu and Anish Bhanwala are competing in the 25m rapid fire pistol.

India's Shubhankar Sharma and Gaganjeet Bhullar are in action in Men's Individual Stroke Play Round 4. 

Vijayveer Sidhu shoots a score of 98, 98 and 97 in the first three series of stage 1 

Reminder.... only top 6 qualify into the finals 

In the head-to-head battle between these two teams since 2023, Great Britain won 3 out of the 4 occasions and 1 draw. 

PR Sreejesh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Harmanpreet Singh, Sumit, Shamsher Singh, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Abhishek, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh.

Great Britain couldn't capitalise on the PC as Amit's brilliant block helped India not concede an early goal 

Despite a couple of chances, the great save from Olie made no room for India to score

Early intent were showed from both the teams with Great Britain leading the charge and creating 3 to 4 chances to score. But a great save from Amit and goalie Sreejesh helped them not let GB score. India too had some opportunities in the first quarter to score, but GB goal keeper Ollie saved a great shot from Harmanpreet

Amit Rohidas gets a red card and sent off for intentionally hurting a player

After a big blow for India with defender Amit getting a red card GB got a chance to pounce with a PC. But Sreejesh once again saved. Forward Abhishek sprinted the other way and had the opportunity to score but the ball hit the post and both teams stand 0-0 with 10 minutes to go before the second quarter ends. 

It's 1-1 in the half time and what a second quarter we had. A red card for Amit Rohidas for intentionally hurting a player. That stirred a fire among the Indian players and within five minutes they managed to score a goal. It was once again the skipper Harmanpreet Singh who did it for India and was looking pumped. But just 5 minutes before the half-time saw Great Britain's Lee Morton take a swing which then deflects off an Indian defender and went into the net. The scores are 1-1 at the end of half-time.  

Great Britain had a couple of chances to score but Sreejesh looks magnificent in the defence  

Tamil Nadu's Jeswin Aldrin set to be in action soon

Athletes who jump the qualification standard of 8.15m will secure automatic qualification to final. If not, the best performing top 12 will make it to final. 

It was a quite third quarter after an aggressive second quarter. Both teams had equal possession of the ball and a couple of penalty corners which both of them failed to score. Just when 30 seconds left before the quarter ends Amit got a green card.  

Maheshwari Chauhan stays in 6th place after all the shooters completed their fourth series of shots. Raiza Dhillon stays in 26th place. 

After full time, India holds world number 2 Great Britain to a 1-1 draw.

Jeswin picks up a foul in his next attempt as well

Sreejesh you beauty. What a save!

Lakshya Sen has a challenging task ahead of him, with the 6-foot 'Great Dane' Viktor Axelsen standing between him and a podium finish.

The Danish powerhouse delivers returns at a speed of 400 kph, which look like shots raining from the sky, given his height that allows him to open his chest and increase racquet speed.

That said, Axelsen has had his share of injury concerns in the recent past, and there wouldn't be a better time for Lakshya, who's in the form of his life, to capitalise and secure his second win against the reigning Olympic champion

Lakshya 7- 6 Axelsen

Sen is hitting hard smashes which Axelsen couldn't tackle

After a long rally. Sen takes a point

After midway through SET 1, Lakshya clearly has a edge over Axelsen. He leads 5 points ahead of him.

Indian Badminton player lakshya Sen takes a early advantage by winning set 1 against Denmark's Axelsen 

But the game is not over yet, Axelsen might power up in set 2. 

LAKSHYA 21 - 19  ALEXSEN

After a long rally, Denmark's Axelsen takes the game in his way against Lakshya. In the midway of the match, Lakshya was clearly taking a lead and was dominating in his game. But, Denmark player gave a tough fight and won the set 1 game.

But the game is not over yet, SEN might power up in set 2.

LAKSHYA 20 - 22 ALEXSEN

Danish player not allowing Sen to lead that easy and giving a strong comeback in the game 

Jeswin Aldrin registered just one successful jump of 7.61m which was not enough to make it into the finals.  

Axelsen equals against Sen in Set  2

Lakshya 10  - 10  Sen 

Lakshya 12  -  12  Axelsen

Danish player is breaking Lakshya's confidence throughout the game

LAKSHYA 14 - 19 AXELSEN

LAKSHYA 14 - 21  ALEXSEN

That's it. Lakshya Sen loses to the Danish player Victor Axelsen in two straight sets in the badminton singles semi-finals. At one point it looked like Lakshya would equalise by winning the in second set after leading 7-0. But the defending champ was unstoppable and qualifies for the final. Lakshya will now play for bronze medal

India's Lakshya Sen will be facing Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia in the bronze medal match.

Live at 6 pm tomorrow.

    Men's ILCA dinghy

Vishnu Saravanan finishes at 14th position at the end of the seventh race.

Top 10 racers at the end of 10 races will qualify for medal contention round

                                  1            2             3                4              5            6        7                                                    

Vishnu Saravanan    10         34            20             19             21          12       7

Total Points - 124; Net points - 94

Both Anish Bhanwala and Vijayveer Sidhu have failed to qualify for the 25m air pistol rapid final event

Maheshwari and Raiza finishes at 14th and 23rd