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While the world is trying to tamp down the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, the 100-day countdown to the Tokyo Olympics has well and truly begun. As the clock ticks, the world is gearing up to see what this year’s Olympics will bring.
The Indian contingent will eye a historic medal haul when the pandemic-postponed Olympics get underway with the opening ceremony at the Olympic stadium in Tokyo on July 23. Never before in the history of India has it sent a contingent to the Olympics with so many medal prospects.
A sizeable number of competitors have already confirmed their Tokyo berths, with the likes of boxing icon Mary Kom and shooting prodigy Saurabh Chaudhary set to grace the big stage in about 100 days. With the exception of a handful of sports where athletes have qualified before March 2020, most qualifying events will continue through the end of June this year.
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About 86 Indian athletes have already qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, with many more in contention to secure quotas. The country is eyeing its first-ever double-digit medal haul this year. It is anticipated that India will secure a century of berths as the countdown to the Tokyo Olympics continues.
Also Read: Best Olympics ever for India? Here is the full list of medal prospects at the Tokyo Olympics
Tokyo Olympics: India earned the maximum quotas in shooting, athletics, boxing, & wrestling
A strong 15-member Indian shooting squad has already made it to Tokyo against the odds. The country's shooters have secured the maximum number of Olympic quotas this year.
A total of 11 Indian track and field quotas have been secured, and most athletes will decide their Olympic berths by June. If things go as planned, this year's Tokyo Games could be the best-ever Olympics in the history of Indian athletics. Neeraj Chopra and KT Irfan are among a new crop of athletes who are re-igniting India's hopes for a podium finish at the Tokyo Olympics.
Also Read: Hima Das and Dutee Chand in race against time to qualify for Tokyo Olympics
India has secured an unprecedented tally of nine quotas in boxing at the Asia Oceania Olympic qualifiers held last year.
The past few years have seen India reaching its peak of glory in wrestling. With as many as six Olympic berths, wrestlers look well-equipped to mount a tough challenge in Tokyo.
Shooting
Men’s:
- Divyansh Singh Panwar - 10m Air Rifle
- Deepak Kumar - 10m Air Rifle
- Sanjeev Rajput - 50m Rifle 3 Position
- Aishwarya Pratap Singh Tomar - 50m Rifle 3 Position
- Saurabh Chaudhary - 10m Air Pistol, Mixed 10m Air Pistol
- Abhishek Verma - 10m Air Pistol
- Angad Veer Singh Bajwa - Men’s Skeet
- Mairaj Ahmad Khan - Men’s Skeet
Women’s:
- Anjum Moudgil, 10m Air Rifle
- Apurvi Chandela, 10m Air Rifle
- Tejaswini Sawant, 50m Rifle 3 Position
- Manu Bhaker, 10m Air Pistol, 25m Pistol, Mixed 10m Air Pistol
- Yashaswini Singh Deswal, 10m Air Pistol
- Rahi Sarnobat, 25m Pistol
- Elavenil Valarivan, 25m Pistol
Athletics
Men’s:
- KT Irfan - 20km race walking
- Sandeep Kumar - 20km race walking
- Rahul - 20km race walking
- Avinash Sable - 3000m Steeplechase
- Neeraj Chopra - Javelin throw
- Shivpal Singh - Javelin throw
Women’s:
- Bhawna Jat - 20km race walking
- Priyanka Goswami - 20km race walking
- 4x400 Mixed Relay Team of Muhammed Anas, Vismaya, Krishna Mathew and Noah Nirmal
Boxing
Men's:
- Vikas Krishan - 69kg
- Ashish Kumar - 75kg
- Satish Kumar - 91kg
- Amit Panghal - 52kg
- Manish Kaushik - 63kg
Women’s:
- Lovlina Borgohain - 69kg
- Pooja Rani - 75kg
- Mary Kom - 51kg
- Simranjit Kaur - 60kg
Wrestling
Men’s:
- Bajrang Punia - Freestyle 65 kg
- Ravi Kumar Dahiya - Freestyle 57 kg
- Deepak Punia - Freestyle 86 kg
Women’s:
- Vinesh Phogat - Freestyle 53 kg
- Anshu Malik - Freestyle 57kg
- Sonam Malik - Freestyle 62kg
Table tennis & Archery - 4 quotas & 1 team quota, Hockey - 2 team quotas
A slice of good fortune at the Asian qualifiers last month saw Indian table tennis bag four individual quotas and one team quota for the Tokyo Olympics. Looking at India's seamless upward trajectory in the sport, the star paddlers will have a real shot at a podium finish in Tokyo.
Meanwhile, five quotas should represent the Indian archery juggernaut in good stead ahead of the quadrennial event.
Archer Deepika Kumari heads into Tokyo Olympics as potential medalist for India
The Indian men's and women's hockey teams sealed a berth each for the Tokyo Olympics with their commanding wins at the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers in November 2019.
Table Tennis
- G. Sathiyan
- Sharath Kamal
- Sutirtha Mukherjee
- Manika Batra
- Mixed doubles pair of Manika Batra and Sharath Kamal
Archery
Men's
- Tarundeep Rai - Recurve
- Atanu Das - Recurve
- Pravin Jadhav - Recurve
- The men’s trio of Tarundeep Rai, Atanu Das, and Pravin Jadhav
Women's:
- Deepika Kumari - Recurve
Hockey
- Women's national team
- Men's national team
Lesser-known sports where India has earned Olympic berths
In a historic first, India will compete in three sailing events at the Olympics this year. World Cup bronze medalist Nethra Kumanan was the first Indian female sailor to qualify for the quadrennial event.
Tamil Nadu's Bhavani Devi shot to fame after becoming the first Indian fencer to qualify for the Olympics. She sealed an Olympic quota through the Adjusted Official Ranking (AOR) method at the Budapest Sabre World Cup last month.
Double Asian Games medalist Fouaad Mirza became the first Indian to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics in equestrian.
Sailing
- Nethra Kumanan
- Vishnu Saravanan
- Pair of KC Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar
Fencing
- Bhavani Devi
Equestrian
- Fouaad Mirza
In which events is India likely to qualify for Tokyo Olympics?
Big names yet to qualify
Athletics: Dutee Chand, Hima Das, Muhammed Anas, S. Dhanalakshmi, 4*100m women's relay / 4*400m men's relay
Badminton: PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy, Sai Praneeth, doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy
Weightlifting: Mirabai Chanu, Jeremy Lalrinnunga
Tennis: Leander Paes, Rohan Bopanna, Sania Mirza, Divij Sharan
Also Read: Expect 10 medals from India at Tokyo Olympics 2021: Vikas Krishan Yadav
