The Tokyo Olympics will see a good change of trend for India, a country of over a billion people, which has not fared too well at Games in recent times. A big reason for that has been the lack of participation in Olympic sports at the grassroots level.
Only a handful of athletes have been able to train with adequate support and facilities and win medals for India. And when it comes to women's participation and wins, it gets worse.
Only five women have managed to secure Olympic medals for India: Karnam Malleshwari (Sydney 2000), Mary Kom (London 2012), Saina Nehwal (London 2012), PV Sindhu (Rio 2016), Sakshi Malik (Rio 2016).
However, over the past few years, more women have started taking up sports in the country. This is evident from the fact that of the 127 athletes headed for the Tokyo Olympics, 55 are women. Though the split between the sexes is still not even, it's a step in the right direction.
In this article, we look at India's women athletes headed to the Tokyo Olympics and where they come from.
Athletics:
Kamalpreet Kaur - Women's Discus Throw - Punjab
Dutee Chand - Women's 100m and 200m - Odisha
Priyanka Goswami - Women's 20km Race Walk - Uttar Pradesh
Bhawna Jat - Women's 20km Race Walk - Rajasthan
Annu Rani - Women's Javelin Throw - Uttar Pradesh
Seema Punia - Women's Discus Throw - Haryana
Revathi Veeramani - 4x400m Mixed Relay - Tamil Nadu
Subha Venkatesan - 4x400m Mixed Relay - Tamil Nadu
Dhanalakshmi Sekar - 4x400m Mixed Relay - Tamil Nadu
Archery:
Deepika Kumari - Women's individual and mixed team - Jharkhand
Shooting:
Apurvi Chandela - 10m Air Rifle Individual - Rajasthan
Elavenil Valarivan - 10m Air Rifle Individual, Mixed Team - Tamil Nadu
Manu Bhaker - 10m Air Pistol Individual, Mixed Team, 25m Pistol Individual - Haryana
Yashaswini Singh Deswal - 10m Air Pistol Individual, Mixed Team - Haryana
Rahi Sarnobat - 25m Pistol Individual - Maharashtra
Anjum Moudgil - 50m Rifle 3 Positions Individual, 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team - Chandigarh
Tejaswini Sawant - 50m Rifle 3 Positions Individual - Maharashtra
Badminton:
PV Sindhu - Women's Singles - Telangana
Also read: Analyzing PV Sindhu's chances of securing a Tokyo Olympic berth
Boxing:
MC Mary Kom - Women's Flyweight - Manipur
Simranjit Kaur - Women's Lightweight - Punjab
Lovlina Borgohain - Women's Welterweight - Assam
Pooja Rani - Women's Middleweight - Haryana
Wrestling:
Vinesh Phogat - Women's 53 kg - Haryana
Anshu Malik - Women's 57 kg - Haryana
Seema Bisla - Women's 50 kg - Haryana
Sonam Malik - Women's 62 kg - Haryana
Table Tennis:
Manika Batra - Women's Singles, Mixed Doubles - New Delhi
Sutirtha Mukherjee - Women's Singles - West Bengal
Also read: Can Manika Batra make India proud at Tokyo Olympics?
Swimming:
Maana Patel - Women's 100m Backstroke - Gujarat
Tennis
Sania Mirza - Women's Doubles - Telangana
Ankita Raina - Women's Doubles - Gujarat
Sailing:
Nethra Kumanan - Women's Laser Radial - Tamil Nadu
Weightlifting
Saikhom Mirabai Chanu - Women's 49 kg - Manipur
Gymnastics
Pranati Nayak - All-Around - West Bengal
Fencing
CA Bhavan Devi - Women's Sabre - Tamil Nadu
Golf:
Aditi Ashok - Women's Individual - Karnataka
Judo:
Shushila Devi Likmabam - Women's 48 kg - Manipur
Also read: Tokyo Olympics 2020 India schedule: when and where to watch and broadcast details