Paris Olympics 2024 Day 1: Full schedule for Team India
Paris: On the opening day—early on Saturday—India's shooting contingent will be at the forefront of the Paris Olympics 2024. The campaign begins with the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team event, featuring the pairs of Ramita Jindal-Arjun Babuta and Elavenil Valarivan-Sandeep Singh. These pairs will strive to bring medals to India.
The medal matches are scheduled for the latter part of the day, with the top four teams from the qualifiers advancing to the finals. Teams ranked first and second will compete for gold, while the other two will contest for bronze. Additionally, Arjun Singh Cheema, Sarabjot Singh, Manu Bhaker, and Rhythm Sangwan will participate in the 10m air pistol events, with only the qualifiers scheduled for the day.
India's largest-ever shooting contingent of 15 athletes represented the country at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where Saurabh Chaudhary was the sole finalist from that group. The rifle shooters had underperformed the last time.
India's hockey team will also begin their campaign in Pool B against New Zealand. In badminton, Lakshya Sen will compete in the men's singles group match. Following this, the men's doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will take to the court. Later in the day, veteran tennis player Rohan Bopanna will start his final Olympic appearance in the men's doubles with N Sriram Balaji.
Full Schedule:
Badminton
- Men's singles group match: Lakshya Sen vs Kevin Cordon (Guatemala) at 7:10 PM IST
- Men's doubles group match: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty vs Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar (France) at 8:00 PM IST
- Women's doubles group match: Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto vs Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong (Korea) at 11:50 PM IST
Boxing
- Women's 54kg opening round bout: Preeti Pawar vs Thi Kim Anh Vo (Vietnam) at 12:05 AM IST, Jan 28
Hockey
- Pool B match: India vs New Zealand at 9:00 PM IST
Rowing
- Men's single sculls: Panwar Balraj at 12:30 PM IST
Table Tennis
- Men's singles preliminary round: Harmeet Desai vs Zaid Abo Yaman (Jordan) at 7:15 PM IST
Tennis
- Men's doubles first round: Rohan Bopanna and N Sriram Balaji vs Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Fabien Reboul (France) at 3:30 PM IST
Shooting
- 10m air rifle mixed team qualification: Sandeep Singh/Elavenil Valarivan, Arjun Babuta/Ramita Jindal at 12:30 PM IST
- Mixed team 10m air rifle medal rounds: 2:00 PM onwards (if India qualifies)
- 10m air pistol men's qualification: Arjun Singh Cheema and Sarabjot Singh at 2:00 PM IST
- 10m air pistol women's qualification: Manu Bhaker and Rhythm Sangwan at 4:00 PM IST
India's contingent is set for an action-packed Day 1, hoping to start their Olympic campaign on a positive note.
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'PM is scared of questions': Cong slams govt after IYC chief's arrest
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi after Indian Youth Congress chief Uday Bhanu Chib was arrested in connection with the shirtless protest at the AI Impact Summit, saying the PM is "scared" of dissent and questions being asked of him.
Chib was arrested by Delhi Police in connection with the shirtless protest staged by a group of youth wing members at the AI Impact Summit here last week, officials said on Tuesday.
Police have also stepped up security across key locations in the capital in anticipation of possible protests following Chib's arrest, which took the total number of people held in the case to eight.
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Asked about Chib's arrest, Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera told PTI Videos, "It is the duty of the opposition to protest in a democracy but a dictator will never understand this."
"If you hear the speech of that dictator in Meerut recently you will get to know that the word democracy does not exist in his dictionary," Khera said, in a swipe at the prime minister.
Chib as well as other colleagues are being arrested from various parts of the country, Khera, who is in Bhopal for the party's Kisan Maha Chaupal against the India-US interim trade deal, said,
"This shows that Narendra Modi is scared of dissent and questions being asked of him. Narendra Modi is emerging as the most cowardly Prime Minister in the world. He is being blackmailed, he is a coward, he is scared," Khera alleged.
"It has been the Congress' history that no matter how much oppression we face, we will continue to raise issues of the people and will keep fighting with 'Ahimsa'," he said.
Police had earlier arrested seven Indian Youth Congress (IYC) workers, including three from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, for the protest at the Bharat Mandapam last Friday. They have been identified as Jitendra Yadav, Raj Gujjar and Ajay Kumar.
In addition, IYC's Uttar Pradesh general secretary Ritik alias Monty Shukla has been detained from Lalitpur in the state.
Senior officers said additional force has been deployed at the sensitive points, particularly in New Delhi, a hotspot for political demonstrations.
Security has been tightened around the Tilak Marg police station, where Chib is presently held, while barricades have been put up at the strategic points, with anti-riot teams on standby.
Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs) and additional companies of paramilitary forces have also been placed on alert to respond to any law and order situation, officials said.
Senior officers have directed the field staff to ensure that traffic movement remains smooth.
On Friday, a group of IYC workers staged a dramatic protest inside Hall No. 5 of the summit venue by removing their shirts to reveal T-shirts printed with slogans against the government and the India-US interim trade deal, before being whisked away by security personnel.
Police said the accused had registered online and obtained QR codes to gain entry into the venue.
The incident triggered a political slugfest, with the BJP calling it a "shameful act to tarnish India's image on the global stage", and the IYC defending it as a "peaceful" demonstration aimed at safeguarding national interests.
VIDEO | Delhi: On arrest of Indian Youth Congress president Uday Bhanu Chib in connection with 'shirtless' protest staged by a group of IYC members at the AI Impact Summit last week, Congress leader Pawan Khera (@Pawankhera) says, "Protesting is the duty and responsibility of the… pic.twitter.com/2MOujnPDLX
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 24, 2026
