India at Tokyo Olympics 2020 updates, news, photos, training & analysis: Indian team in training sessions

Good night!

It is way past midnight in Tokyo and an action-packed day comes to a close. Tomorrow, as the Games near, we'll definitely have much more of what today had offered but it will be exciting for sure.

We'll be back on tomorrow (Thursday) morning and give you all the latest from what is happening with the Indian contingent in Tokyo.

We'll leave you with this image of Mirabai Chanu at the Tokyo Olympics Games Village. See you tomorrow!

Mirabai Chanu at the Games Village (PC: Mirabai Chanu)

Training time for Indian swimmers

Indian swimmers were seen at the Tokyo Aquatics Center, preparing for their upcoming events with coach Nihar Ameen.

Srihari Nataraj will be competing in the men's 100m backstroke event, Sajan Prakash will compete in the men's 200m butterfly event and Maana Patel will feature in the women's 100m backstroke event.

Indian swimmers Maana Patel, Sajan Prakash and Srihari Nataraj at the games village. (PC: SAI)

Indian swimmers Maana Patel and Srihari Nataraj at the Tokyo Aquatics Center. (PC: SAI)

Wishes from Yogeshwar Dutt

Indian wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt shared a video message on Twitter to wish the Indian athletes competing at the Tokyo Olympics. "I hope our athletes win more medals than before and reach new heights," Dutt said.

Yogeshwar Dutt had won the bronze medal in the 60kg men's wrestling event at the 2012 London Olympics.

एक संदेश #Tokyo2020 में भाग लेने वाले सभी भारतीय खिलाड़ियों के लिए।#Cheer4India @ianuragthakur pic.twitter.com/x8QMaRPG71
— Yogeshwar Dutt (@DuttYogi) July 21, 2021

When Sai Praneeth met Novak Djokovic

Any Olympic sojourn is incomplete without meeting the heroes of different sports and Indian badminton star Sai Praneeth lived one dream today.

Pic of the day 😍✌️@DjokerNole pic.twitter.com/Lw5YOZxLez
— Sai Praneeth (@saiprneeth92) July 21, 2021

Special wishes for PV Sindhu

Badminton star PV Sindhu's parents wished their daughter luck in a video message as she gears up to take the court at the Tokyo Olympics. PV Sindhu's nephew can also be seen cheering for her.

PV Sindhu will be the favorite to clinch the gold medal in the women's singles. She had won a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

You can view the video here.

Spectacle in the air

With just two days before the commencement of the Tokyo Olympics, the residents of Tokyo and the athletes competing in the Olympics were treated to something incredible!

The Blue Impulse, Japan's aerobatics team, pulled off a spectacular stunt as they drew five Olympic rings over the Tokyo sky.

The team was rehearsing for a similar event that is scheduled to take place later this week.

Read the entire spectacle in the link below!

Japanese pilots pull off an unbelievable stunt in air, creates the five rings of Tokyo Olympics 2020

Can do better in Tokyo?

The Tokyo Olympics hold a lot of promise for the Indian contingent.

India is sending its largest-ever Olympic team to Tokyo and after an underwhelming two-medal show in Rio 2016, India hopes for a better Games in Tokyo.

Read the link below to find out whether India can do better than Rio!

10 reasons why India can surpass Rio tally at Tokyo Olympics

Check out the radiant Howrah Bridge (Rabindra Setu), world's busiest cantilever bridge in Kolkata immersed in the colors of #Olympics to support our #Tokyo2020 bound Contingent. #Cheer4India @PMOIndia @ianuragthakur @NisithPramanik @shripadynaik @shipmin_india @WeAreTeamIndia pic.twitter.com/cZ1y1zeKOB
— SAIMedia (@Media_SAI) July 21, 2021

Draws for Indian table tennis team announced

The mixed doubles pair of Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra will run into the third seeds in the first round, Sharath Kamal is slated to meet Rio Olympics champion Ma Long in the third round in men's singles, should he win his second-round match.

Follow more updates.

Tokyo Olympics Table Tennis Draw LIVE updates: Live commentary, schedule, matches and analysis

Some news from USA

This might be of some interest. The USA's flag bearers would be five-time basketball Olympian Sue Bird and baseball player Eddy Alvarez.

We hope you know who India's flag bearers are.

Yes, Hockey captain Manpreet Singh and boxer Mary Kom!

COVID-19 continues to run havoc in Games village

A Chilean taekwondo athlete and a Dutch skateboarder are the latest Tokyo Olympic athletes to test positive for coronavirus.

Chilean fighter Fernanda Aguirre took to Instagram to share her disappointment. "I feel so much sadness, anguish, frustration. It's something that angers me a lot and I feel it's just unfair that my dream is crushed after so much sacrifice," she wrote.

Candy Jacobs, the skateboarder, said she was “heartbroken” but hopes to compete in Paris in 2024 instead.

In a third case, a Czech table tennis player tested positive later in the day, according to authorities.

Candy Jacobs (left) and Fernanda Aguirre.

That's how you start your day

The Indian women's hockey team started their day in Tokyo with an activation session.

The women hockey players first started with warm-up exercises and then moved on to some yoga in a picturesque setting.

The Indian women start their Tokyo Olympics journey on July 24 against The Netherlands.

Also, the Indian athletes and the Australian athletes are staying in adjacent towers at the Games Village.

The Indian women hockey players at a warm up session. (PC: Hockey India)

Followed by a yoga session. (PC: Hockey India)

Serene and tranquillity. (PC: Hockey India)

Olympics 2032 in Brisbane

Australia is set to host the Olympics for the third time. After hosting the 1956 edition in Melbourne and the 2000 edition in Sydney, the 2032 Olympics will now be played in Brisbane!

The redeveloped Gabba will be the main stadium for the Olympics.

Can we see cricket making a comeback into the Olympic Games?

Relay teams practice hard at home

While most of the Indian contingent is busy sweating it out in Tokyo, the Indian relay teams are having an intense session at the SAI, Patiala centre.

The Indian track athletes will leave later for Tokyo as their events start in the end of July and first week of August.

The women's relay team at Patiala. (PC: SAI)

The men's relay team during a practice session. (PC: SAI)

The ball is rolling

After softball, football commences at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

We have Great Birtain vs China and Sweden vs United States playing today.

The only sad part - they will play in front of empty stands!

We are all set for football action at the Tokyo Olympics. (PC: Olympics)

Table tennis draw

We have a LIVE updates section rolling for the table tennis draw that will happen later tonight. Make sure to tune in to the LIVE updates blog where we will get you all the latest from the draw.

Tokyo Olympics Table Tennis Draw LIVE updates: Live commentary, schedule, matches and analysis

Who dominates table tennis?

Indian paddlers Sharath Kamal, Sathiyan G, Manika Batra and Sutritha Mukherjee will be up against some tough competition from some of the world's best paddlers.

Who leads the TT charts?

Since the 1996 Olympic Games, China has failed to clinch the gold medal in only one event. It was in the men's singles event at the 2004 Athens Summer Games.

China won all of the gold medals in all the Table Tennis events at the 1996 Atlanta, 2000 Sydney, 2008 Beijing, 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics.

Can India end China's dominance this time around in Tokyo Olympics?

China's unparalled dominance in table tennis at the Olympics

Fencer Bhavani Devi gets down to business

Indian sabre fencer Bhavani Devi commenced her training in Tokyo on Wednesday. The lone Indian fencer will be competing in events on July 26.

Bhavani Devi is also the first Indian fencer to play at the Olympics.

Bhavani Devi during a practice session. (PC: SAI)

Bhavani Devi is all ears as her coach explains something during training. (PC: SAI)

Picturesque

What a beautiful setting this is! Who wouldn't want to do well in such a setting?

A bird's eye view of the archery field. (PC: World Archery)

Japanese support for Indian archers!

The people of Kurobe City are packing gifts for Indian archers. Kurobe City is the host city for archery.

Video: SAI#TokyoOlympics2021 #Japan #TokyoOlympics2020 #archery #Kurobe #KurobeCity #India #TokyoOlympics #Tokyo2021 pic.twitter.com/DFzAoIdw6z
— Hari Kishore Malladi (@journomalladi) July 21, 2021

A request from Manika Batra

Table Tennis player Manika Batra requests Chef de mission Birendra Baishya to allow her personal coach for Field of Play (FoP) access.

Table Tennis player Manika Batra requests Chef de mission Birendra Baishya to allow her personal coach for Field of Play (FoP) access.

She has requested so. As of now, I don't know whether her personal coach will be given FoP access or not: TTFI Secy Arun Banerjee to ANI pic.twitter.com/TzZoxKQrf2
— ANI (@ANI) July 21, 2021

Japanese support for Indian archery

Japan is rallying behind India in archery. The mayor of Kurobe City Hisayoshi Ono poses at the #Cheer4India selfie stand.

The mayor of Kurobe City cheers for India. (PC: SAI)

Narinder Batra to miss Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony

Indian Olympics Association president Narinder Batra will not be attending the Tokyo Olympics 2020 opening ceremony on July 23 as he would be under the mandatory quarantine period on arrival.

Only six officials from an NOC will be allowed to attend the opening ceremony, said the Chef de Mission, after a meeting in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Five magical rings

A very good morning from #Tokyo @WeAreTeamIndia @ISSF_Shooting @Tokyo2020 #Cheer4India #indianshootingteam #shooting pic.twitter.com/o5Lk0zxsm9
— NRAI (@OfficialNRAI) July 21, 2021

Will there be another Neeraj Chopra?

Neeraj Chopra's rise to fame has not been due to the system but despite it. His rise aptly sums up why India, a nation of billions, isn’t able to churn out top-level athletes on a regular basis to make an impact at the Olympics.

Sadly, Neeraj Chopra's success story hasn’t changed much at the grassroots level in Haryana.

We give you a reality check.

Will Haryana churn out another javelin throw prodigy like Neeraj Chopra in the future?

Tokyo Olympics events commence - Japan beats Australia in softball

Although the Tokyo Olympics start officially on July 23, softball and football events have kickstarted in Tokyo today, two days before the event commences.

Host nation Japan is off to a rousing start in softball, beating Australia 8-1.

Japan is off to a winning start at the Tokyo Olympics softball. (PC: Olympics)

One for memories

The Indian women boxing team pose with the Olympic rings in Tokyo.

Practice under flood lights

The Indian Archery team comprising Atanu Das, Pravin Jadhav, Tarundeep Rai and Deepika Kumari had an intense practice session on Tuesday.

To get a feel of different conditions, the Indian archery team had a late-night practice in Kurobe City on Tuesday under floodlights. The Indian coach had kept a keen eye on the archers.

Indian archers during night practice. (PC: SAI)

Deepika Kumari, the lone woman Indian archer at the Summer Games. (PC: SAI)

Good morning. Welcome to Sportskeeda's LIVE updates of India at Olympics.

The Indian team has been undergoing intense training sessions in the Japanese capital for the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

With just three days to go for the Summer Games, this LIVE updates blog will be your one stop shop for all updates on India's contingent in Tokyo.

Watch out for breaking news, training photos previews, predictions, travel updates, COVID-19 news and much more as we make sure you stay updated on what India at Olympics are up to.

India at Tokyo Olympics 2020 updates, news, photos, training & analysis: Indian team in training sessions

All the news, training, photos & analysis about the Indian team taking part in Tokyo Olympics