Boxing duo keeps India's double-digit medal hopes alive | Olympic Tales, Ep 06

After shooters, Indian boxers look to add to the medals tally at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Lovlina Borgohain advanced to the quarter-finals of the women's 75kg boxing event after defeating Norway's Sunniva Hofstad by unanimous decision.

On the other hand, unseeded Nishant Dev won his opening match against seventh-seeded Jose Rodriguez Tenorio of Ecuador with a 3:2 split decision. In the quarter-finals, Nishant will face second-seeded Marco Verde of Mexico, the reigning Pan-American champion. Mind you, both Nishant and Lovlina are just one step away from a podium finish at the Paris Olympics.

Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula also scripted history by becoming the first Indian Table Tennis players to reach the Round of 16 at the Olympics. However, India's hopes of a historic medal in TT crashed after both Manika and Sreeja lost their Round of 16 matches. Akula fought hard before losing to world number one Yingshaw Sun on her bitter-sweet birthday. But this is just the start for Indian paddlers in the Olympics. Never ever India had two singles players competing for quarterfinal berths, but seasoned Manika and Sreeja showed that TT had the potential to do better on the big stage by reaching the Round of 16.

Saurabh Kumar and Akshay Ramesh reflect on the first five days of the Paris Olympics in the latest episode of the Olympic Tales podcast.

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Produced by Anna Priyadarshini

Sound mix by Nitin Rawat