India is sending its largest group to the Tokyo Olympics in the hopes of improving on its previous medal haul.
India began the Games on Friday with ninth-place finishes in the men’s team and mixed team ranking for archery. Earlier in the day, Deepika Kumari finished ninth in the qualification round for women.
The country aspires to win gold in shooting, wrestling, boxing, archery, and badminton with 120 competitors competing in 85 events.
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The 2016 Rio Olympics yielded only two medals for India: a silver for shuttler PV Sindhu in the Women’s Singles Badminton event and a bronze for wrestler Sakshi Malik in the Women’s 58kg Freestyle Wrestling event.
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India is competing in two events for the first time this year, with Bhavani Devi qualifying as the first fencer and Fouaad Mirza qualifying for the equestrian event.
Shooting:
India’s 15-member shooting team is expected to bring home a large number of medals. Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary are the country’s biggest hopes.
Saurabh Chaudhary, the world number two shooter and Youth Olympic champion, was the youngest Indian shooter to win a gold medal at the Asian Games in 2018, at the age of 16.
Badminton:
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PV Sindhu, 21, earned a silver medal and a billion hearts in the Rio Olympics. Back then, hardly everyone anticipated the young shuttler to win a medal. However, five years later, the stakes are enormous.
Boxing:
Mary Kom, popularly known as Magnificent Mary, the Iron Lady, and a variety of other nicknames, is India’s medal favorite in boxing.
She earned bronze in the 2012 London Olympics and will compete in the Flyweight division this time, hoping to change the color of her medal (51kg). At 38, Kom may well be taking part in her last Olympics, and India will be rooting for her to increase her tally before she takes off her gloves.
Wrestling:
India had a good showing in the 2016 Rio Olympics, with Sakshi Malik taking home a bronze medal. Vinesh Phogat is the head coach of the women’s wrestling squad in Tokyo.
Phogat returned to India in a wheelchair and had surgery after suffering a bizarre accident during the Rio Olympics.
Also Read: Manu Bhaker wins India’s first-ever gold in shooting at Youth Olympics
Archery:
Archer Deepika Kumari recently won three gold medals at the Archery World Cup in Paris. She has risen to the top of the global rankings in the women’s recurve category and is a strong contender for a medal in Tokyo.
Tokyo Olympics: Bhutan's archer Karma waits to challenge #DeepikaKumari https://t.co/KZI8pwn9Wk #Cheer4India #Tokyo2020 #TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/SgFfPFdkdq
— The Times Of India (@timesofindia) July 24, 2021
Kumari has nine gold, 12 silver, and seven bronze medals to her name from previous World Cups, and she now hopes to add an Olympic medal to her collection.
India’s latest Olympic medal tally:
1 Silver, 1 Bronze in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro
Two silver medals and four bronze medals were awarded at the 2012 London Olympics.
1 gold, 2 bronze medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics
Since 1900, India has won 28 medals: 11 in hockey, five in wrestling, four in shooting, two in badminton, boxing, and athletics, and one each in tennis and weightlifting.
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Here is the Indian schedule for the day–
July 24: Women’s 10m Air Rifle Qualification — Elavenil Valarivan, Apurvi Chandela from 5 AM
July 24: Men’s 10m Air Pistol Qualification — Saurabh Chaudhary, Abhishek Verma, from 9:30 AM
July 24: Women’s 10m Air Rifle Final — Elavenil Valarivan, Apurvi Chandela (if qualify), from 10:15 AM
July 24: Men’s 10m Air Pistol Final — Saurabh Chaudhary, Abhishek Verma (if qualify), from 12 PM
July 24: Women’s 48kg Round of 32, Successive Rounds — Sushila Devi Likmabam, from 7:30 AM
July 24: Women’s 49kg Medal Round — Mirabai Chanu, from 10:20 AM
July 24: Mixed Doubles Round of 16 — Sharath Kamal/Manika Batra, from 7:45 AM
July 24: Hockey Men’s Pool A — India vs New Zealand, 6:30 AM
July 24: Hockey Women’s Pool A — India vs the Netherlands, 5:15 PM
July 24: Men’s Welterweight Round of 32 — Vikas Krishan, from 3:50 PM
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