Indian wrestler Nisha Dahiya kicked off her campaign at the Paris Olympics on a strong note, winning her opening women's freestyle 68kg bout against Ukraine's Sova Rizhko with a 6-4 score on Monday. Dahiya, an Asian Championships silver medallist, secured a relatively comfortable victory in her first-round match. She will next face North Korea's Pak Sol Gum in the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, India's Lakshya Sen concluded his Paris 2024 campaign with a heartbreaking loss to Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia in the men’s singles bronze medal match. Despite a strong start, Sen lost the match 21-13, 12-16, 15-21.
Sen, who had made history as the first male Indian shuttler to reach the Olympic men’s singles semifinals, played with his right elbow heavily taped throughout the match. After winning the first game 21-13, Sen struggled as Lee Zii Jia came back to take the second game 16-12. In the final game, Sen trailed by five points at the break, and Lee secured the win to claim the bronze medal.
In his Paris Olympics journey, the 22-year-old from Almora defeated notable players such as Jonatan Christie, HS Prannoy, and Chou Tien-Chen to reach the semifinals. However, Sen's bid for gold was thwarted when he lost to defending champion Viktor Axelsen in two games, 22-20, 21-14, ending his medal hopes.