Who are India's biggest medal hopes at the Tokyo Olympics 2021?
Tokyo Olympics 2021 is knocking on our doors. The Tokyo Games will officially get underway with the Opening Ceremony on July 23. More than 11,000 athletes from 206 nations will be converging in Tokyo. The 2020 Olympics will see 339 gold medals being awarded across 33 sports.
India is sending its biggest Olympic contingent with over 120 athletes competing at the Summer Games.
After a poor showing at the Rio Olympics where India claimed only two medals, the Indian contingent for the Tokyo Games is determined and prepared to improve the medal haul manifold.
The Indian team is a good mix of youth and experience. The Indian team consists of world champions, World No.1s and youth olympic medalists. Naturally, there is an air of expectation from the class of 2020.
Checkout: Tokyo Olympics Medal Tally
Here are India's best medal bets for Olympics 2021
Neeraj Chopra: Neeraj Chopra will be representing India in the men's javelin throw. His personal best throw of 88.07m has made him a hot favorite to clinch an olympic medal.
Amit Panghal: Amit Panghal is the World No.1 in the men's 52 kg category. The boxer won gold medals at the 2018 Asian Games and silver medals at the 2019 World Championships.
Vikas Krishan: Vikas Krishna will be representing India in the men's 69kg boxing. Tokyo Olympics will be his third Olympic. He claimed gold at the 2010 Asian Games in the 60kg category. He is the only Indian male boxer to win gold medals at the 2018 Asian Games and the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Satish Kumar: Satish Kumar will be batting in the men's 91kg category in boxing. He is the first Indian boxer to qualify from the Super Heavy Weight category. At the 2014 Asian Games Satish Kumar won a bronze medal.
Pooja Rani: Pooja Rani is set to fight in the the women's 75kg category in boxing. She is a two-time gold medalist at the Asian Championships and has won bronze at the 2014 Asian Games.
Mary Kom: Tokyo Olympics 2020 will be Mary Kom's final Olympic Games. She is the first Indian woman to win a boxing medal at the Olympics. She is also a six-time World Champion. She will be boxing in the women's 51kg category.
Abhishek Verma: Abhishek Sharma will be participating in the men's 10m air pistol and 10m air pistol mixed team events. He has won three gold medals at the shooting World Cups. He claimed silver at the 2018 World Championships and won bronze at the Asian Games the same year.
Divyansh Singh Panwar: Divyansh Singh Panwar will be representing India in the men's 10m air rifle and 10m air rifle mixed team events. The 18-year-old has won four gold, one silver and one bronze at the ISSF World Cups.
Saurabh Chaudhary: Saurabh Chaudhary is set to represent India in the men's 10m air pistol and the 10m air pistol mixed team event. He won the gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games and became India's youngest gold medalist at the Asiads. He won gold, silver and bronze at the ISSF World Shooting Championships.
Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar: Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar will participate in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions. He is a two-time bronze medalist at the Asian shooting championships. Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar has also won gold, silver and bronze at the ISSF World Cups.
Manu Bhaker: Manu Bhaker will be representing India in the women's 10m air pistol and the 10m air pistol mixed team event. She won a gold and a silver at the 2018 Youth Olympics. Manu Bhaker also has two gold at the Asian Shooting Championships. Manu Bhaker also has seven gold medals from ISSF World Cups.
Anjum Moudgil: Anjum Moudgil will be participating in the women's 50m rifle 3 positions. She will also be seen in action at the 10m air rifle mixed team event. She won silver at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. She also has two silver medals from the World Championships.
Apurvi Chandela: Apurvi Chandela will be representing India in the women's 10m Air Rifle event. She won a gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Apurvi Chandela also has three gold medals, one silver medal and one bronze medal from the World Cups.
Rahi Sarnobat: Rahi Sarnobat will be participating in the women's 25m pistol event. She clinched gold at the 2018 Asian Games. Rahi Sarnobat is also a two-time Commonwealth Games gold medalist. She has four gold, one silver and two bronze from the ISSF World Cups.
Elavenil Valarivan: Elavenil Valarivan will be representing India in the women's 10m Air Rifle and 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team events. She is a four-time ISSF Junior World Cup Champion. She has also clinched a silver medal from the ISSF World Shooting Championships. She also claimed the gold medal at the 2019 ISSF World Cup.
Atanu Das: Atanu Das will participate in the men's team recurve event in archery. He has two gold, two silver and three bronze from the Archery World Cup. He also won a silver medal from the 2019 World Championships.
Deepika Kumari: Deepika Kumari will be representing India in the women's recurve event at the Tokyo Games. She is the current World No.1. Deepika Kumari won three gold medals from the Archery World Cup Stage 3.
Bajrang Punia: Bajrang Punia is set to represent India in the men's 65kg freestyle wrestling. Since 2016, he has claimed two Asian Championships gold medals. At the 2018 World Championships, he clinched a silver medal. In 2021, he won the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series in Rome, Italy.
Checkout: Tokyo Olympics 2021 Schedule
Deepak Punia: Deepak Punia will be wrestking in the men's freestyle 86kg category. He has one silver and two bronze medals from the Asian Championships. He has also won a gold and a silver from the World Junior Wrestling Championships. In 2019 he claimed a silver medal from the World Championships.
Ravi Dahiya: Ravi Dhaiya will be representing India in the men's freestyle 57kg in wrestling. He has two gold medals from the Asian Championships. He also won bronze at the 2019 World Championships.
Vinesh Phogat: Vinesh Phogat will be representing India in the women's freestyle 53kg wrestling. She won gold medals in the 2018 Asian Games and the 2018 Commonwealth Games. In 2019, she won a hat-trick of gold medals, winning the Asian Championships, the Yasar Dogu International and Poland Open wrestling tournament.
Achanta Sharath Kamal: Achanta Sharath Kamal is a table tennis player. He will be representing India in the men's singles table tennis and mixed doubles table tennis events. He is a four-time Commonwealth Games Champion. He also has one silver and three bronze medals from the Commonwealth Games.
Manika Batra: Manika Batra will be participating in the women's singles and mixed doubles table tennis events in Tokyo. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games she led the Indian women's team to a gold medal. She clinched another gold in the women's singles, before settling for silver from the women's doubles.
PV Sindhu: PV Sindhu will lead India's charge in badminton. She is ranked no.7 in the world. She is also the reigning World Champion. PV Sindhu is a firm favorite to win gold in the women's singles badminton at the Tokyo Games.
Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy: Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will be participating in the men's doubles badminton event at the Tokyo Games. The pair is ranked no. 10 in the world. The young duo have already conquered the Thailand Open in a historic first for Indian badminton. With a prestigious silver medal from the 2018 Commonwealth Games in their kitty.
Mirabai Chanu: Mirabai Chanu is the sole Indian weightlifter at the Tokyo Olympic Games. She has also won gold at the 2017 World Championships. Last year she won bronze at the Asian Championships.
Men's Hockey Team: India's men's hockey team will be led by Manpreet Singh and is being coached by Graham Reid. In the run-up to the Olympics, the men-in-blue have beaten South Africa, New Zealand, World Champions Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, England, Australia and Argentina.
Also read: Revisiting the Indian hockey team's eight gold medals at the Olympic