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Thursday, November 21, 2024

Arriving at the Olympics the Hindustani way!

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     “Tere saath tiranga hai, 

      Ye vijay ka udghosh hai! 

      Tu thaan le, tu thaan le, 

      Ab jeet ko anjaam de!”

 

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As India’s official theme song for Tokyo Olympics sung by Mohit Chauhan goes, with hope and ardour in the hearts the Indian contingent is all set to herald the country’s brilliant performance in the games.

Having 119 athletes, the 228-strong team for the Tokyo Olympics is officially India’s largest ever contingent to set out for the games. With 67 male and 52 female participants, and an unprecedented number of 6 athletes crowned Number 1 in the world in their fields, the country is looking forward to a shower of medals once the events commence from the 23rd of this month.

India’s campaign will start on the very first day with the archery qualification rounds, in which recently ranked world Number 1 Deepika Kumari will look to end her long wait for an Olympics medal. In the track and field events as well, way beyond the other 24 contenders, all eyes will be on javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra who is currently being seen as the brightest prospect to cease India’s long standing expectation for an Olympic medal in athletics.

With reigning world champion PV Sindhu and world championship bronze medallist B Sai Praneeth, along with rising doubles stars Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, there are hopes of the country claiming a hat trick of medals in the badminton events. The 26 year old Sindhu, who won the silver medal at Rio Olympics, will be bidding to become only the second athlete after Sushil Kumar to win two individual Olympic medals. Though the badminton contingent has shrunk in size from that of Rio with star studded names like Saina Nehwal, Srikanth Kidambi, HS Prannoy, and Ashwini Ponnappa among others missing out, the horizon continues to look gold strewn for the said sport.

Similarly, the boxing contingent this time features a record nine pugilists and hopes are high. In the spotlight will be six time boxing world champion and 2012 bronze medallist Mary Kom, who is also the flag bearer of the Indian contingent for the opening ceremony, for whom the Olympic gold is not too far away. Eyes will also be on Amit Panghal who has been in fine form on the circuit.

Flying above all obstacles just like his beloved horse Dajara 4, Fouaad Mirza has become the third Indian equestria after Indrajit Lamba and Imtiaz Anees to secure an individual spot in an equestrian event at the Olympics. Even though he has not enjoyed the limelight for long, Mirza had ended India’s 36 year old medal drought at the Asian Games by winning a silver at Jakarta 2018 and has a fair chance of repeating the achievement in these Games.

In a moment to remember forever, CA Bhavani Devi created history when she became not only the first woman sabre fencer but also the first ever Indian fencer to qualify for the Olympics. In yet another achievement, in artistic gymnastics, Pranati Nayak will be the second Indian woman gymnast to participate in the Olympics after Dipa Karmakar made history at the Rio Olympics in 2016. Going down in the golden pages of history will also be Nethra Kumanan, who has qualified for the Games as the first ever Indian woman sailor. India will also be competing in more than one sailing event for the first time.

Yet another historical feat was achieved when clocking 1:56:38 seconds in the men’s 200m butterfly event in Rome, Sajan Prakash became the first ever Indian swimmer to earn a direct Olympic qualification. Like Prakash, Srihari Nataraj has also earned an ‘A’ level in Olympics Qualification Timing and hence is a fan favourite.

Although tennis has become a heart breaker even before the initiation of the Games as India will be contending only in the women’s doubles event, Sania Mirza and Ankita Raina have a fair chance of bringing back the Moscow 1980 joy to the country. In table tennis the presence of two highest ranked second-placed players, Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra also brings rays of delight and anticipation.

India’s biggest hope for multiple medals at Tokyo 2020, the shooting squad will feature World Number 1 in her category Elavenil Valarivan among a number of veterans. Ranked World Number 2 Saurabh Chaudhary, who will be partnered by Yashaswini Singh Deswal in the mixed events, also starts out as one of India’s bets for a medal in the events. Star Manu Bhaker is also expected to defy all odds and shoot for glory.

Former World Champion and current Number 4, Mirabai Chanu, who has a world record of lifting 119 kg in clean and jerk, will also be carrying the country’s expectations for an early medal in the Games. In wrestling as well, serious bets like Vinesh Phogat, who has clinched gold in all the events she took part this year, Bajrang Punia and Deepak Punia will be riding plenty of hopes.

For other events like golf, rowing, judo and the sport that gave India her proverbial Olympics golden era, hockey, as well the athletes are in their best grits to feature in podium finishes.

 

EventAthletes’ NameAge
Archery
Men’s IndividualAtanu Das29
Pravin Ramesh Jadhav25
Tarundeep Rai37
Women’s IndividualDeepika Kumari27
Men’s TeamAtanu Das29
Pravin Ramesh Jadhav25
Tarundeep Rai37
Mixed TeamDeepika Kumari27
Gymnastics
Women’s IndividualPranati Nayak26
Athletics
Men’s 300m SteeplechaseAvinash Mukund Sable26
Men’s 400m HurdlesMP Jabir25
Men’s Long JumpM Sreeshankar22
Men’s Shot PutTajinderpal Singh Toor26
Men’s Javelin ThrowNeeraj Chopra23
Shivpal Singh26
Men’s 20km Race WalkKT Irfan31
Sandeep Kumar35
Rahul25
Men’s 50km Race WalkGurpreet Singh37
Men’s 4x400m RelayAmoj Jacob23
P Naganathan25
Arokia Rajiv30
Noah Nirmal Tom26
Muhammed Anas Yahiya26
Women’s 100mDutee Chand25
Women’s 200m
Women’s Discus ThrowKamalpreet Kaur25
Seema Punia37
Women’s Javelin ThrowAnnu Rani28
Women’s 20km Race WalkBhawna Jat25
Priyanka25
4x400m Relay MixedAlex Antony26
Sarthak Bhambri22
Revathi Veeramani23
Sudha Venkatesan21
Badminton
Men’s SinglesB Sai Praneeth28
Women’s SinglesPV Sindhu26
Men’s DoublesSatwiksairaj Rankireddy20
Chirag Shetty24
Boxing
Men’s FlyAmit Panghal25
Men’s LightManish Kaushik25
Men’s WelterVikas Krishan Yadav29
Men’s MiddleAshish Kumar27
Men’s Super HeavySatish Kumar32
Women’s FlyMC Mary Kom38
Women’s LightSimranjit Kaur Baatth26
Women’s WelterLovlina Borgohain23
Women’s MiddlePooja Rani30
Equestrian
Eventing IndividualFouaad Mirza29
Fencing
Women’s Sabre IndividualCA Bhavani Devi27
Golf
Men’s Individual Stroke PlayAnirban Lahiri34
Udayan Mane30
Women’s Individual Stroke PlayAditi Ashok23
Hockey
Men’s HockeySurender Kumar27
Birendra Lakra31
PR Sreejesh33
Vivek Sagar Prasad21
Amit Rohidas28
Nilakanta Sharma26
Dilpreet Singh21
Gurjant Singh26
Hardik Singh22
Harmanpreet Singh25
Mandeep Singh26
Manpreet Singh29
Rupinder Pal Singh30
Shamsher Singh23
Sumit24
Lalit Kumar Upadhyay27
Women’s HockeySharmila Devi19
Deep Grace Ekka27
Vandana Katariya29
Gurjit Kaur25
Navjot Kaur26
Navneet Kaur25
Lalremsiami21
Monika Malik27
Neha Goyal24
Nisha Warsi26
Nikki Pradhan27
Sushila Chanu29
Rani Rampal26
Savita Punia31
Salima Tete19
Udita Duhan23
Judo
Women’s 48 kgShushila Devi Likmabam26
Rowing
Lightweight Men’s Double ScullsJat Arjun Lal24
Arvind Singh25
Sailing
Men’s Dinghy LaserVishnu Saravanan22
Men’s Skiff – 49erKC Ganapathy25
Varun Thakkar26
Women’s Dinghy Laser RadialNethra Kumanan23
Shooting
10m Air Rifle MenDeepak Kumar33
Divyansh Singh Panwar18
50m Rifle 3 Positions MenSanjeev Rajput40
Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar20
10m Air Pistol MenSaurabh Chaudhary19
Abhishek Verma31
Skeet MenAngad Vir Singh Bajwa25
Mairaj Ahmad Khan45
10m Air Rifle WomenApurvi Chandela28
Elavenil Valarivan21
50m Rifle 3 Positions WomenAnjum Moudgil27
Tejaswini Sawant40
10m Air Pistol WomenManu Bhaker19
Yashaswini Singh Deswal24
25m Pistol WomenManu Bhaker19
Rahi Sarnobat30
Swimming
Women’s 100m BackstrokeMaana Patel21
Men’s 100m BackstrokeSrihari Nataraj20
Men’s 200m FreestyleSajan Prakash27
Men’s 100m Butterfly
Men’s 200m Butterfly
Table Tennis
Men’s SinglesAchanta Sharath Kamal39
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran28
Women’s SinglesManika Batra26
Sutirtha Mukherjee25
Mixed DoublesAchanta Sharath Kamal39
Manika Batra26
Tennis
Women’s DoublesSania Mirza34
Ankita Raina28
Weightlifting
Women’s 49kgMirabai Chanu Saikhom26
Wrestling
Women’s Freestyle 50kgSeema Bisla28
Women’s Freestyle 53kgVinesh Phogat26
Women’s Freestyle 57kgAnshu Malik19
Women’s Freestyle 62kgSonam Malik19
Men’s Freestyle 57kgRavi Kumar23
Men’s Freestyle 65kgBajrang Punia27
Men’s Freestyle 86kgDeepak Punia22

Earlier this year, Olympic analyst Gracenote had made a statistical projection that India will win eight medals in shooting, four in boxing, three in wrestling and one each in archery and weightlifting, taking the total tally to four golds, five silvers and eight bronze medals. And this was in April, when the complete list of qualifiers had not been out yet. But irrespective of whether or not the prediction turns out correct, the Indian warriors are here to fight.

Because whether India manages to achieve the astounding feat or not, our brilliant athletes shall continue to be winners. After all, like the country’s official cheer song by the legendary AR Rahman and equally amazing Ananya Birla, says—

     “Hey! The Hindustani way! 

      Jeet humari har nas mein!” 

 [author title=”Megha Satapathy” image=”http://goachronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/IMG_20210205_095950.jpg”]Journalist, Goa Chronicle

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Megha Satapathy
Megha Satapathy
"An orator, musician, bibliophile, and above all a nationalist. At 17, the author believes that anyone can make a difference in the universe, if they are daring enough!"

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