India shines in sports: Table tennis, shooting, and hockey victories

India turn on the style: Shah and Thakkar dig deep on the table, shooters strike silver, hockey women run riot

Table tennis: Manav and Manush show steel in Group F

India’s men’s table tennis team dug in and then pulled away against Indonesia, with Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah both delivering under pressure in their Group F tie.

Manav set the tone in a five-game scrap against Muhammad Junindra, a match that swung wildly before India’s World No. 48 finally slammed the door shut.

He started sharply, taking the opening game 11-7, only for Junindra to hit back 11-8 in the second. Manav then wrestled back control in the third, overturning a brief 4-5 deficit and tearing away to 10-5 before sealing it 11-6. Just when he seemed to have broken the Indonesian’s resistance, Junindra answered again, keeping a three-point cushion from the outset of the fourth and closing it out 11-6 to drag the contest into a decider at 2-2.

The final game was a test of nerve. Manav burst out to a 5-1 lead, but Junindra refused to fold and clawed back to 7-7. This time, though, Manav did not blink. He tightened up his serve, picked his angles, and closed the match 11-8 to secure a 3-2 victory and India’s second point of the tie.

If Manav’s win was about surviving swings in momentum, Manush Shah’s performance against Affan Pratama was about seizing it at the right moments.

In the third match of the tie, Manush trailed 3-6 in the opening game, looking briefly out of rhythm. Then the switch flipped. He strung together a series of precise, aggressive points to turn the game on its head and steal it 11-9.

The second game felt like déjà vu, only more extreme. Pratama raced to 6-1 and later led 9-7, apparently in full control. Manush refused to accept it. Reading the serve better and stepping in on the forehand, he rattled off four points in a row, again snatching it 11-9 to move 2-0 up.

Those late surges told their own story: India had the composure when it mattered. With Manav’s five-set win and Manush’s comeback charge, India surged into a 2-0 lead over Indonesia in the Group F team clash, leaving the tie firmly in their grip.

Shooting: Indian women claim team silver, two reach 10m air rifle final

On the shooting range, India’s women showed their own brand of precision.

The trio of Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod combined for a total of 1898 in the 10m air rifle women’s team event, good enough for silver. Only the Chinese team went higher, posting 1904.2 to take gold, while Japan edged into bronze with 1897.1.

Within that team effort, there were standout individual performances. Sonam’s 634.1 and Elavenil’s 633.5 were strong enough to carry both into the individual final. Vidarsa, with 630.4, finished 12th, narrowly missing out but underlining the depth in India’s rifle squad.

The stage is now set for the individual final at 11:00 AM IST, with two Indian shooters in the mix and a fresh medal chance on the line.

Hockey: India women smash records in 19-0 demolition of Uzbekistan

On the hockey pitch, India did not just win. They overwhelmed.

In their first-ever clash with Uzbekistan, India’s women ran out 19-0 winners, falling just short of matching their famous 22-0 scoreline but sending an unmistakable message at the start of their campaign under coach Sjoerd Marijne.

This was not a contest. It was a statement.

At the heart of it all stood Deepika Sehrawat, who produced an individual scoring performance for the ages. She struck eight times, the most goals ever scored by a woman in a single hockey match. Every touch in the circle seemed to carry menace, every shot a threat.

India pressed relentlessly, recycled possession with ease, and kept Uzbekistan pinned back from the opening whistle to the last. By the end, the scoreboard read IND 19-0 UZB, a reflection of both India’s attacking depth and their ruthless refusal to ease off.

For the table tennis team, for the shooters, for the hockey side, the pattern was the same across the day: pressure applied, nerves held, standards raised. If this is the level at the start of the campaign, the obvious question is how high they can push it when the stakes climb even further.