5 athletes who surprised us with their Olympic qualification this year

We are just under two months away from the start of the 2016 Rio Olympics. India has built a formidable contingent across all sports, leaving many hopeful of perhaps eclipsing their tally of 6 medals that they had achieved at London in 2012 and go further in Brazil.

There have, however, been a few in this contingent ,whose qualification has surprised quite a few.

Here are 5 athletes who surprised us with their Olympic qualification:

1.Dipa Karmakar

The 18th of April 2015 will go down as a red-letter day in the history of Indian sport as it was on that day that the first ever female Indian gymnast booked her place at an Olympics.

23-yer-old Dipa Karmakar from Tripura pulled off one of the biggest surprises in recent times at the final Olympic qualifier at Rio, when he put forth a total of 52.698 to finish 41st in the overall standings, but clinched the Rio berth thanks to the one athlete one nation rule.

Previously, 11 other Indian Male gymnasts have booked a berth for the Olympics, but Karmakar, who is only among the few to have successfully executed the Produnova vault and it would now be interesting to see whether she can raise her game at the biggest stage of them all and make the country proud at Rio.

2.The Indian badminton doubles pairing

When the deadline for qualification for Rio 2016 in badminton finished on the 5th of May, there was massive surprise generated over the inclusion of the Men’s Doubles pairing of Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy, who at the time were ranked 20th in the world.

The pairing, who have put in some good performances in smaller events, do look like having potential but to compete and more importantly, win against the best in the business at the biggest stage of them all is a completely different kettle of fish. So it would be interesting to see how much dividends comes out of the investment made on them.

To big die-hard fans of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa, their inclusion won't leave them amused. But the truth is that the pairing in the last 12 months or so

have done little to impress those who are keenly following their progress.

They clinched the Canada Open, but barring that there weren’t any significant results that would make stand up and take note. Hopefully, the duo can raise their game in Rio and win that Olympic medal that eluded them narrowly in London in 2012.

3.Manpreet Kaur

When one thinks about the shot put from India who will be going to Rio, the 1st (and only perhaps) name that would strike your mind would be that of Inderjeet Singh. But joining the burly Haryana shotputter will be Manpreet Kaur in the Women’s shot put category.

The 25-year-old qualified for Rio at the National Open Athletics Championships in Kolkata last year and certainly adds a bit more depth to the event. But it would be too harsh to expect Manpreet to get a medal for India from the event and it would be interesting to see how she fares in her maiden Olympics at Rio in August.

4.Dattu Bhokanal

While he may have done well in the previous competitions, when the news of his qualification for Rio 2016 did come, it caught quite a lot of ppl by surprise. If in last few years, the fan base of rowing has been associated with the name of Swarn Singh.

But Bhokanal’s qualification is an indication of his hard work and temperament as this feat hasn’t come early in his career. He would now hope to carry this forward and put forth a good showing at Rio 2016.

5.Avtaar Singh

Similar to gymnastics, there was very little expectations as well as judo was concerned as well. But Avtaar Singh surprised one and all last month when he made the cut for Rio 2016 in the 90kg category, by winning the continental quota.

His qualification for Rio was confirmed earlier this month and his qualification was indeed a surprise for many a fan.