The most disheartening outcome in major sporting events like the Olympics is often finishing just outside the medals, in the dreaded fourth place. India has had its share of such agonizing heartbreaks in previous Summer Games, including the near misses of legends like Milkha Singh and PT Usha.
The ongoing Paris Games have been no exception, with India facing several heart-wrenching near misses despite securing three bronze medals so far.The Indian contingent has lost out on as many as five medals in the 10 days of competition so far, leaving fans and sports enthusiasts wondering ‘what if’.
The near misses in Paris have vastly hindered India’s ambition of a double-digit medal tally. Now, even bettering Tokyo’s tally of seven medals is getting tougher as the time passes by.
From shooting range to badminton court, here are the heartbreaking results for India so far at the Paris Olympics:

Archery Mixed Team: A heartbreaking bronze-medal playoff
The mixed team of Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat had a commendable run in the archery competition. They advanced to the semi-finals after defeating Indonesia (5-1) in the Round of 16 and Spain (5-3) in the quarter-finals. However, they lost 2-6 to South Korea in the semi-finals, pushing them into the bronze-medal playoff against the USA.
In a nail-biting bronze-medal match, India’s hopes were dashed as Bhakat and Bommadevara lost to USA’s Casey Kaufhold and Brady Ellison.
Despite three 10s in the first set, Bhakat’s opening shot of 7 proved costly, and India trailed 0-2. In the second set, Bhakat again started with a 7, and despite Bommadevara’s 10 and 9, Ellison’s double 10s secured the set for the USA.
The third set saw a brief resurgence for India, with Bhakat and Bommadevara scoring a total of 38 to win the set against the USA’s 34.
However, in the decisive fourth set, Bhakat’s 8s and Bommadevara’s 9 and 10 were not enough as the USA clinched the set with a score of 37, winning the match 6-2 and leaving India without a medal.

Men’s 10m Air Rifle: Arjun Babuta‘s agonizing miss
Arjun Babuta, who scored 630.1 points, finished seventh in the qualification round, ensuring his place in the final. However, his Olympic dream ended in heartbreak as he missed a medal by a whisker, finishing fourth in the men’s 10m air rifle final.
Babuta was in the top three for the majority of the final, but a 9.5 on his 20th shot led to his elimination from the medal race.
The shooter slipped from second to fourth with a 10.1 on his 18th shot and could not recover. Babuta needed a strong 20th shot to stay in the top three but managed only a 9.5, one of his only two sub-10 shots in the final after a 9.9 in the 13th shot, succumbing to the pressure.

Women’s 25m Pistol: No treble for Manu Bhaker
Manu Bhaker’s dream of a grand treble was shattered when she lost the tie-shoot for the bronze medal to Hungary’s Veronika Major by the narrowest of margins in the women’s 25m sports pistol event.
Bhaker started poorly, missing three out of five targets in the first series, but gradually improved, scoring consecutive fours in the second and third series. In the elimination round, Bhaker briefly held the top spot but slipped to third after three misses in the eighth round, leading to a tie with Veronika on 28 points. In the shoot-off, Bhaker scored three clear shots out of five, while Veronika had four, ending Bhaker’s medal hopes.
Despite the miss, Bhaker returned home with two bronze medals in the women’s 10m air pistol and the mixed team 10m air pistol (with Sarabjot Singh).

Badminton: Lakshya Sen‘s meltdown in bronze-medal match
Lakshya Sen kept the hopes of a medal in badminton after becoming the first Indian male to enter the semi-finals. He had a terrific run in Paris before two back-to-back meltdowns left him empty handed in the end.
Sen topped his group with an all-win record to enter the pre-quarterfinals. He then won the all-Indian match against HS Prannoy (21-12, 21-6) to book a slot in the quarters.
Sen registered a come from behind three-game win over Taipei’s Chou Tien-chen in the last eight stage to earn a spot in the semi-finals against defending champion Viktor Axelsen. But the 22-year-old squandered a three-point advantage in the first game and a 7-0 lead in the second to surrender 20-22, 14-21 to Axelsen in a 54-minute semi-final clash.
Sen’s bronze medal hopes were also dashed in a 71-minute clash against Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia. Sen started strong, winning the first game 21-13, but Lee mounted a comeback, winning the next two games 21-16 and 21-11.

Mixed Team Skeet: Third narrow miss for Indian shooters
India got a chance to increase their medal tally when the pair of Maheshwari Chauhan and Anant Jeet Singh Naruka qualified for the bronze medal match against the Chinese pair in the mixed team skeet event. The Indian duo shot 146 in the qualification round to finish fourth.
But in the final, Chauhan and Naruka narrowly missed out on a bronze medal, losing to China’s Yiting Jiang and Jianlin Lyu. The Indian duo shot 43, just one point short of the Chinese team’s 44 in a thrilling match that added to India’s near misses at these Games.