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Olympic Games Tokyo 2020: India's top medal contenders Olympic Games Tokyo 2020: India's big wins, misses and top medal hopes
(12 days later)
PV Sindhu won silver at Rio and will be looking to add more medals to her tally in Tokyo PV Sindhu is first Indian woman to win two individual Olympic medals.
India is sending its largest ever contingent to the Tokyo Olympics in the hope of bettering its medals haul over previous Games. On Sunday, India's ace shuttler PV Sindhu created Olympic history. She won bronze after beating China's He Bing Jiao, and with that she became the first Indian woman to win two individual Olympic medals. She won her first Olympic medal - a silver - at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
With 120 athletes competing across 85 events, the country hopes to win medals for shooting, wrestling, boxing, archery and badminton. The Games are now 11 days in and India has two medals - the other from weightlifting champion Mirabai Chanu in the women's 49 kg category. She won a silver, putting to rest the disappointment of the Rio Olympics in 2016 where she was knocked out after a freak injury.
India returned with a meagre two medals from the 2016 Rio Olympics - a silver for ace 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. The women's and men's hockey teams have been in good form, and their medal hopes are still alive.
This time, India is participating in two events for the first time, with Bhavani Devi becoming the first fencer to qualify and Fouaad Mirza making it to the equestrian event. Here are India's big misses, and remaining medal hopes in Tokyo.
Shooting India's Gurjit Kaur scored the crucial win in the second quarter of the match
India's 15-member shooting contingent is the favourite to bring back a big haul of medals. Women's hockey team
The country's biggest hopes are pinned on Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary. India broke out into celebrations as the women's hockey team created history on Monday by beating Australia 1-0. The team has entered the Olympic semi-finals for the first time in history after the Rani Rampal-led side took the lead in the 22nd minute and defended it fiercely.
Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary (centre) are favourites to win in the pistol mixed event To put this win into context - the country's best result was a fourth-place finish at the 1980 Olympics.
Nineteen-year-old Bhaker, one of the top contenders in the 10m Women's Air Pistol event, has in the past won it all from World Cup gold medals to the Commonwealth medal and Youth Olympics. India, who will face Belgium in the last four, are historically the most successful team in Olympic hockey history.
Shooter Saurabh Chaudhary, world number two and Youth Olympics champion, became the youngest Indian shooter to win a gold at the Asian Games in 2018 when he was just 16. Men's hockey team
Both Bhaker and Chaudhary are top contenders for a medal finish when they pair up for the 10m Air pistol mixed event. The duo won five successive golds at international shooting events and a silver at the World Cup in Croatia in June. India beat Great Britain in the men's Olympic hockey 3-1 on Monday to earn a place in the semi-finals.
Badminton They will face Belgium in the last four. The India team are historically the most successful team in Olympics hockey history, but the last of their eight golds came back in 1980.
At the Rio Olympics, 21-year-old PV Sindhu bagged a silver - and won a billion hearts. Not everyone had expected a medal back then from the young shuttler. But five years on, expectations are high. Women's boxing
"I was just a participant back then, but now everyone says Sindhu has to get a medal," she told the BBC recently. Lovlina Borgohain has assured India of another medal - a bronze after she beat Chen Nien-chin of Chinese Taipei to enter the semi-finals. In boxing, there is no third-place match. Both semifinalists are awarded bronze medals. But she could still get a gold or silver if she wins her semi-final bout on Wednesday against Busenaz Surmeneli of Turkey.
Despite inconsistencies in her performance since 2019, Sindhu remains India's top medal hope Lovlina Borgohain is assured of a bronze medal but will look to win silver or gold on Wednesday.
Last year, the ace shuttler won the inaugural BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year award. Javelin throw
In 2019, she was crowned the World Badminton Champion but her form has had inconsistencies since then. However, she remains India's top medal prospect. The Indian javelin contingent is led by Neeraj Chopra who is expected to win a medal. He is the current national record holder with a throw of 88.07m at the Indian Grand Prix in March this year.
Boxing At the international stage, he has a best of 88.06m at the Asian Games in 2018.
Mary Kom, also known as Magnificent Mary, the Iron Lady and many other nicknames, is a medal favourite for India.
She won a bronze at the 2012 London Olympics and will be looking to change the colour of her medal this time when she participates in the Flyweight section (51kg).
This could be the last Olympic Games for the boxing star
In May, she picked up a silver when she lost the final to Kazakhstan's Nazym Kyzaibay during the Asian Boxing Championships in Dubai.
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.
WrestlingWrestling
India had a decent run at the Rio Olympics in 2016, with Sakshi Malik earning a bronze medal. In Tokyo, Vinesh Phogat leads the women's wrestling team. The Indian wrestling squad will begin its Olympic campaign led by Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat.
Having suffered a freak injury during the Rio Olympics, Phogat returned to India in a wheelchair and underwent surgery. With three world championships to his name, Punia is the top contender from India in the 65kg men's category at his first Olympics.
The 26-year-old is now roaring to go in the 53kg category with some great wins in the last couple of months, as well as reclaiming the number one ranking. Bajrang Punia is the top contender from India in the 65kg men's category at his first Olympics.
After an injury at the Rio Olympics knocked her out, Phogat will be looking to add to India's tally in Tokyo Having suffered a freak injury during the Rio Olympics, Vinesh Phogat returned to India in a wheelchair and underwent surgery.
"At one point, I thought my career was over due to the injury but now I have got a second chance and I want to make my dream come true," she says . The 26-year-old is now roaring to go in the 53kg category with some great wins in the last couple of months, as well as reclaiming the No.1 ranking.
With three world championships to his name, wrestler Bajrang Punia is the top contender from India in the 65kg men's category at his first Olympics. Discus throw
Kamalpreet Kaur booked a place in the women's discus throw final after she qualified on Saturday with a brilliant performance. Her video of a "monster throw" of 64 meters in her third attempt went viral on social media.
Watch it here.
There goes #IND's first #Athletics finalist at #Tokyo2020 🔥🔥After a slow start with a throw of 60.29m, Kamalpreet Kaur pulled out a monster throw of 64m in her third attempt to qualify for the final of women's discus throw event! 👏#StrongerTogether | #UnitedByEmotion pic.twitter.com/BwO8cIMgF4
The big misses for India's Olympic hopes
Shooting
India's 15-member shooting contingent was the favourite to bring back a big haul of medals but that did not go according to the plan. Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary, favourites for a podium finish in the mixed 10m Air Pistol event, crashed out in the second qualification stage in Tokyo.
Manu Bhaker suffered a pistol malfunction and crashed out as time and pressure built up.
Bhaker, pegged as a certain medal prospect even before the Games started, failed to reach the finals in any of the three events she participated in. She had a pistol malfunction in the 10m women's Air Pistol event, leading to more pressure as she lost time.
In the men's 10m Air Pistol event Saurabh Chaudhary, world No.2 and Youth Olympic champion, qualified for the final but failed to finish in the top three positions.
India's medal tally at recent Olympics:India's medal tally at recent Olympics:
2016 Rio Olympics: 1 Silver, 1 Bronze2016 Rio Olympics: 1 Silver, 1 Bronze
2012 London Olympics: 2 Silver, 4 Bronze2012 London Olympics: 2 Silver, 4 Bronze
2008 Beijing Olympics: 1 Gold, 2 Bronze2008 Beijing Olympics: 1 Gold, 2 Bronze
India has won a total of 28 medals since 1900 - 11 from hockey, five from wrestling, four from shooting, two each in badminton, boxing and athletics, and one each in tennis and weightlifting.India has won a total of 28 medals since 1900 - 11 from hockey, five from wrestling, four from shooting, two each in badminton, boxing and athletics, and one each in tennis and weightlifting.
Weightlifting Boxing
The Tokyo Olympics will be Mirabai Chanu's second time on the big stage. In 2016, she qualified for Rio but failed to record any legal lift in three attempts in the Clean and Jerk category, and was out of the running in the Women's 48kg category. Despite losing out on a second Olympic medal, Mary Kom is a winner for many Indians.
Mirabai Chanu is India's lone weightlifter in the Tokyo Olympics Mary Kom initially thought she had won the bout and was all smiles but later learnt that she had lost 3-2.
In 2017, she won gold in the World Weightlifting Championships and went on to win gold in the Commonwealth Games a year later and bronze at the 2019 Asian Weightlifting Championships. She made a heart-breaking exit from the Olympics after losing to Ingrit Victoria Valencia of Colombia in her flyweight section (51kg) bout.
She is the lone weightlifter in India's Olympics contingent and will be looking for redemption in Tokyo. She initially thought she had won and was shocked to later learn from social media that she had indeed lost the match. Losing on a 3-2 split decision verdict despite winning two of the three rounds left the boxer confused.
Archery She won a bronze at the 2012 London Olympics.
Only last month, archer Deepika Kumari won three golds at the Archery World Cup in Paris.
Deepika Kumari is the number one ranked recurve woman in the worldDeepika Kumari is the number one ranked recurve woman in the world
She is now the world number one in the women's recurve category and a strong candidate for a medal in Tokyo. Archery
Kumari has won nine gold, 12 silver and seven bronze medals at various World Cups and will be looking to add the Olympic medal to her tally now. Deepika Kumari, the world No.1 in the women's recurve category, crashed out of the quarterfinals in Tokyo, losing to Korean An San in straight sets.
This was her third Olympic outing for India, having lost in the quarters in Rio in 2016, and in London in 2012.
Her husband, Atanu Das, also crashed out of the Olympics after losing to home favourite Takaharu Furukawa, an individual silver medallist at the 2012 Olympics, in a pre-quarterfinal clash.
"I was told to cover my legs at training," wrestler Vinesh Phogat tells BBC Sport"I was told to cover my legs at training," wrestler Vinesh Phogat tells BBC Sport