#5 Hockey
Hockey India have rid themselves of the unwelcome ‘minnows’ tag over the preceding few years, and with the latest silver medal at the prestigious FIH Champions Trophy 2016, they are now a formidable force that can give any national side a run for their money in the international arena.
The men’s team holds some unassailable Olympic records that have stood the test of time, and when they hit rock-bottom by missing out on a Beijing 2008 berth, a rebuilding process was initiated which has culminated in today’s status. Ranked 7th by the FIH, coach Roelant Oltmans’ confident side will chase a coveted podium finish in Rio, led by charismatic skipper PR Sreejesh.
Full Squad: PR Sreejesh (GK), Rupinder Pal Singh, Kothajit Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, VR Raghunath, SK Uthappa, Devinder Walmiki, Manpreet Singh Chinglansana Singh, Sardar Singh, SV Sunil, Akashdeep Singh, Danish Mujtaba, Nikkin Thimmaiah and Ramandeep Singh.
For the Indian eves, it’s a different scenario altogether. India’s women’s hockey team booked a place in the Olympics for only the 2nd time in history, and it’s happened after a long wait of 36 years since they made the cut in Moscow 1980. With Neil Hawgood at the helm today, we are eager to see a fine show by the spirited women’s team led by Sushila Chanu at Rio.
Full Squad: Savita Punia (GK) , Sunita Lakra, Sushila Chanu (C) , Deep Grace Ekka, Namita Toppo, Deepika Thakur, Monika, Navjot Kaur, Renuka Yadav, Anuradha Devi Thokchom, Nikki Pradhan, Poonam Rani, Vandana Kataria, Rani Rampal, Preeti Dubey, Lilima Minz.
#6 Gymnastics
18 April 2016 will go down history as the day India found its first ever female representative to compete in Gymnastics in the 22-year-old Dipa Karmakar.
The Tripura-born gymnast booked her spot for Rio 2016 after accumulating a total of 52.698 points in the three events combined at the final qualifying event which was held in the host nation earlier this year.
In a career as long as just under a decade, Dipa has scaled unprecedented heights and stacked numerous records for Indian sports and will certainly be a dark horse for a medal finish at Rio 2016, come August.
#7 Judo
24-year-old Avtar Singh bagged the continental quota in the 90kg category of the event by virtue of his consistent praiseworthy performances that fetched 182 valuable points and put him ahead in contention for the coveted Olympic seat with a world ranking of 79. Like Garima Chaudhary in London 2012, Avtar will be the Indian judoka to feature in the Rio Games.
