At the end of 5 days of action in the Tokyo Olympics, the Indian fans haven't had too much to celebrate. The only moment to cherish upon was when Mirabhai Chanu won the silver medal in the women's 49kg Weightlifting event. However, all hope is not lost as the best is yet to come and India faces a real possibility of conjuring up more medals before the Tokyo Olympics finally concludes. Let us take a look at the remaining medal prospect events.
1) Badminton
All eyes will be on PV Sindhu when she takes on world no 34 Cheung Ngan Yi of Hong Kong tomorrow at 7.30am. PV Sindhu will surely try to make easy work of her opponent and progress into the knockout stages.The Indian fans would sincerely hope that she goes all the way to win that elusive gold which evaded her in the Rio Olympics.
Sai Praneeth will be taking on Mark Caljouw of Netherlands tomorrow at 2.30pm. The world championship bronze medalist should try to assert his dominance over the lower ranked opponent as this a must win game for him, after losing his first match in straight sets.
The nation of 1.3 billion people will hope that PV Sindhu and Sai Praneeth give them a moment to cherish by bringing home some medals.
2) Archery
After the disappointing losses to the mighty South Koreans in the team events, the Indian fans will be hoping for a different outcome in the individual events. The world no 1 Archer Deepika Kumari will begin her medal hunt against Karma of Bhutan in the round of 32. The Indian hopefuls would surely want her to live upto her expectation and go deep into the tournament. After the disappointing outing in the Rio Olympics where she got knocked out in the round of 16, Deepika will surely put her past omens behind to win India's first ever Archery medal at the Olympics. The task won't be easy as she has to go through the mighty South Korean women but if one person can do it, it's Deepika Kumari.
3) Wrestling
One sport that the Indian fans are hopeful of getting a plethora of medals is wrestling as athletes such as Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat will be participating. Indian wrestlers have been getting at least 1 medal in the last few years, and all eyes are on this sport to bring home the glory.
The wrestling contingent begins on 3rd August with Vinesh Phogat starting her medal quest on 5 August and Bajrang Punia beginning his quest on 7th August.
4) Athletics
India has taken its largest contingent for athletics this year and will be hoping to deliver a good performance. The main medal prospect for Javelin throw is Neeraj Chopra who will begin his campaign on 4th August along with Shivpal Singh. This year Neeraj Chopra has the 4th best throw in the world and his medal chances have improved when the defending Olympic champion Thomas Roehler pulled out of the games. The Indians fans are hopeful that Neeraj will break the medal drought and become the first Indian to win a track and field medal.
The discus thrower from Sonipat Seema Punia might be a dark horse heading into the tournament but she can certainly spring a surprise and win a medal. The 37 year old surely has a lot of big tournament experience which might be a deciding factor against the youngsters. Seema Punia starts off her campaign on 2nd August while the Indian contingent start their track and field campaign on 30th July.
5) Boxing
After the disappointment in shooting, the Indian fans will be looking forward to seeing some of the pre-tournament favourites to perform in the boxing ring. Amit Panghal slowly but steadily has become India's best men's boxer over the course of time and he has an impressive track record after winning a silver medal in the 2019 World Boxing Championships and gold in the 2020 Boxing World Cup. Amit plays his first match against Yuberjen Martinez of Columbia on 31st July at 7.30 am.
MC Mary Kom is arguably the most decorated boxer that India has ever produced and at the age 38 there is no stopping her. She faces Ingrit Valencia of Columbia in the round of 16 on 29th July. The Indian fans hope that she gets a medal as this could be her last ever tournament.
Lovlina Borgohain is another medal prospect who has already qualified to the quarterfinals. Over the years, she has established herself as the next up and coming boxer in India after winning the bronze medal in the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in 2019. Lovlina faces Chen Nien-Chin of Chinese Taipei on 30th July. The Indian fans will be looking forward to this match as it takes her one step closer to winning a medal for the country.
Also read: Day 5: Mixed results for the Indian Olympic Contingent in Tokyo
6) Hockey
After the disheartening loss to the Australians, the Indian Hockey team are still in a strong position to qualify for the quarterfinals. India are currently second in the group with 6 points but with an inferior goal difference of -2 which surely the Indian coach Graham Reid will look to improve upon.
The Indian Hockey team are playing with a renewed courage and vigor as the heavy loss against the Australian didn't dampen the spirits of the players, in turn they came out all guns blazing against Spain and won that match comfortably. If India manage to qualify in the top two then they might avoid the likes of Belgium and Netherlands in the quarterfinal which only enhances their chance to qualify for the semifinals. The Indian fans hope that the 41 year old drought for an Olympic medal in hockey will come to an end . The Indian Hockey team will face the defending Olympic Champions Argentina on the 29th of July at 6 am.
