5 Indian players to watch out for in 2020 Olympics- Part 2

With just seven months remaining for the biggest and grandest sporting extravaganza to kick start in the capital city of Japan, all eyes will be on our Indian athletes who will be looking to make their mark and make the country proud at the highest level.

As the experts say, with every new year comes new opportunities and new challenges and the biggest challenge for the Indian players making their way to Tokyo Olympics will be to win the prestigious yellow metal for the nation. As of this date, 62 Indian players, including 32 members of hockey(men's and women's) teams, have sealed their berth for the biggest quadrennial international multi-sporting event in history. India's last gold medal in Olympics came more than a decade ago when Abhinav Bindra took the top spot in men's air rifle event in 2008 Beijing.

With a huge contingent set to represent the country, let's take a look at five players to watch out for in 2020 Olympics along with their medal-winning chances.

#1. SAURABH CHAUDHARY (Shooting)

Saurabh Chaudhary, a 17-year-old shooting wizard from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh grabbed the spotlight after claiming the Olympic quota for India by creating a new World Record in the final of 10m Air Pistol event in the New Delhi World Cup. He later went on to win the gold medal in a mixed team Pistol event along with Manu Bhaker.

Interestingly, he has topped the chart when it comes to the number of gold medals in ISSF World Cups in 2019. Saurabh, a current world No.4, has won six golds including 2 in the individual event and 4 in the mixed team event along with Manu Bhaker, his exceptional performance played an important part in India finishing on top of the medal table with a historic 21 gold medals in 2019 ISSF World Cups.

He went one step ahead in the Munich World Cup ( May 2019) by shattering his own World Record of 245.0 by scoring 246.3 to create a new world record in the finals to grab the yellow metal. North Korean shooter Kim Song Guk marked the record on his name after scoring 246.5 in the finals of Asian Shooting Championships in November. At just 16, he held both junior and senior world records. His achievements also include gold in Asian Games, Youth Olympic Games, ISSF World Championships and ISSF Junior World Cups. Saurabh, who took up shooting at the age of 12, would be one of the top medal contenders for the country in Tokyo 2020.

Chances of winning the medal in the individual category - 50-55%

Chances of winning the medal in mixed team event - 90-95%

#2. DEEPAK PUNIA (Wrestling)

The year 2019 proved to be a fruitful year for the Indian grapplers as the team not only secured four Olympic quotas but also five medals at the World Wrestling Championships and one of the important contributors in this huge success was the 20-year-old wrestler from Jhajjar, Haryana, Deepak Punia, the name, which was relatively unknown to the world of wrestling at the start of the year became, household one for wrestling lovers towards the end. The year only saw the rise and rise in the stature of Deepak as he was declared as the best Indian male wrestler of 2019 in a poll initiated by WrestlingTV and was also chosen as the world junior wrestler of the year by the sport’s governing body United World Wrestling (UWW).

Ranked No. 1 in the world in the 86kg freestyle category, Deepak started the year by winning the yellow metal in the World Junior Championships in Tallinn, Estonia and later went on to win the bronze in Asian Championships followed by Silver in the World Championships. He is also the first Indian in 18 years to win a World Junior Championships title.

Deepak, whose father used to sell milk when he was a kid, is also known as 'Ketli Pehalwan' among his childhood friends for his immense appetite for milk. Going by his recent performances and ranking, Deepak would undoubtedly be one of the best medal prospects for the country in the next year's Olympics.

Chances of winning the medal – 75-80 %

#3. VINESH PHOGAT (wrestling)

On 18th September 2019, 25-year-old Vinesh Phogat, a former Olympian and a two time Commonwealth Games gold medalist, became the first wrestler from India to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 by winning the bronze medal in women's 53kg freestyle category at the World Wrestling Championships in Kazakhstan. Ranked No.2 in the world behind world champion Pak Yong Mi of North Korea in the United World Wrestling rankings, Vinesh was chosen as the best Indian female wrestler of 2019 in the same poll that chose Deepak Punia as the best male wrestler.

Vinesh, who was presented with the Arjuna Award in 2016 and was nominated for Padma Shri in 2018, had recently gone through tough training at the Belmeken High Mountain Sports Complex which is located 2,050 meters above sea level between Rhodope Mountain and Rila Mountain in sub-zero temperatures.

The year 2019 had been a successful year for the girl from Bhiwani as she grabbed her second consecutive gold at the Nationals by overpowering Anju of Haryana in the finals of the 55kg category. Apart from that Vinesh, who is also the reigning Asian Games Champion, secured the top finish in Poland Open wrestling tournament in Warsaw and the Yasar Dogu tournament. She is slated to participate in the latter tournament to defend her title which is scheduled to take place in Istanbul, Turkey from January 9 to January 12. With a bunch of experience and tremendous recent form under her belt, Vinesh would be roaring to set her mark at the biggest sporting event.

Chances of winning the medal – 65-70 %

Related links: Tokyo Olympics 2020 medal tally

#4. YASHASWINI SINGH DESWAL (shooting)

Yashaswini Singh Deswal, a 22-year-old shooter from Panchkula, Haryana, clinched the Olympic quota in women's 10m Air Pistol category after grabbing the gold medal at the ISSF World Cup in Rio this year. She got the better of former World and Olympic Champion, Olena Kostevych of Ukraine in the summit clash. Deswal, who started practising shooting in 2012, is currently ranked 5th in the world in her event. Pairing up with Abhishek Verma, she also won the silver in the mixed team event of the same tournament.

At the 2017 ISSF World Junior Championships, she equaled the junior world record of 235.9 and won the gold medal. Yashaswini, who took the top spot in mixed category at the recently concluded national championships with Abhishek Verma, comes from a well-reputed family where her father is an IPS officer and mother a Chief Income Tax Commissioner. She is currently being coached by T.S Dhillon who is also a qualified international A-grade judge. Going by her recent form, she has high chances of getting a podium finish at the Tokyo Olympics.

Chances of winning the medal in the individual category - 25-30%

Chances of winning the medal in mixed team event - 50-55%

#5. MEN'S HOCKEY TEAM

Indian men's hockey team has gone through a lot of ups and downs in the past few years but the year 2019 has surely ended on a better note as the team was able to seal the Olympic spot after defeating Russia in a two-match playoff at the final stage of FIH Olympic qualifiers in Bhubaneshwar. The year started fantastically as the Men in Blue, led by Manpreet Singh, finished runners-up after going down to South Korea in a nail-biting final encounter at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.

Ranked No. 5 in the world, the team then went on to whitewash the big guns in the game; Spain and Belgium. They won 2-0 against the World Ranked 2 and current World Champions Belgium in the opening encounter before thrashing Spain 6-1 and 5-1 in the next two games. This was then followed by 2-1 and 5-1 victory against the much stronger Belgian boys, thus claiming a clean sweep against the European powerhouses. In the FIH Series finals that took place in Bhubaneshwar in June, team India defeated South Africa 5-1 in the summit clash to become the champions.

After forgettable performances at London and Rio Olympics where the team finished 12th(last) and 8th respectively, team India, with the blessing of 1.3 billion Indians, would be striving to achieve a podium finish in Tokyo.

Chances of winning the medal - 30-35%