Tokyo Olympics 2020: 4 sporting disciplines that can fetch gold medals for India

We are well and truly into the Olympic year with the Tokyo Olympics 2020 qualification process for most of the sports going on and athletes putting their best foot forward to qualify for the global event, preserving the maximum push for the glory of representing the nation at the big stage.

Indian athletes have also been showing consistent performances at international events over the last 12 months, especially in sports such as shooting, boxing and wrestling.

While the number of athletes who have qualified for the quadrennial meet is still relatively low with qualification for several events yet to finalize, there are quite a few athletes who have been earmarked to clinch a gold medal for the country.

And as history suggests, most of those names come from shooting and on that note, let's have a look at the four sporting disciplines that can bring about gold medals for India at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

#4 Wrestling (Bajrang Punia)

He went the complete season of Pro Wrestling League undefeated.

The recent Khel Ratana Awardee would be India's biggest hope to win the much coveted yellow medal and become just the second individual gold medalist from the country. His performances have been consistent and top notch.

He's the only Indian wrestler with three medals at the World Championships and he has had successive podium finishes in last two years. However, rather than the happiness of winning a medal, it has been overshadowed by the disappointment of losing the gold, sometimes to younger opponents, and last year to dubious refereeing decisions.

The previous two to three years have been brilliant for Bajrang Punia, where he has effectively stepped into his favoured weight class, vacated by his Guru Yogeshwar Dutt and he has dominated the division full of talent.

He is also the reigning Asian and Commonwealth Champion and almost went unbeaten last year. If he can get the rub of the green on his side and maintain his form, he can do one over Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt to become the first wrestler to win an Olympic gold medal.

#3 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team (Manu Bhaker / Saurabh Chaudhary)

They will have to first get through with their board examinations before the Olympics.

If we had an experienced campaigner looking to achieve something never achieved before, two young athletes would be looking to follow and emulate a role model set by Abhinav Bindra 12 years ago. Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary, two unbelievably gifted athletes who haven't even crossed 18 yet, have been breaking down senior and junior records left right and centre. Both will go into the 2020 Tokyo Olympics full of form and as genuine contenders, in Saurabh's case, as the favourites.

However, it's the mixed team event where they have obliterated the competition. They have won every single World Cup and even in the World Cup finals, where partners are chosen randomly, it was little surprise to see both of them competing in the final against one another. While the other team that would go into the Tokyo Olympics 2020 would also be a strong challenger, it's difficult to see anyone barring these two standing on the top of the podium.

#2 10m Air Pistol Men (Saurabh Chaudhary)

The weight of lot a whole of expectations would be on a 17-year-old as he enters into his first edition of the Olympics, the Tokyo Olympics 2020 in red hot form. His progress and steady development can be attributed to the presence of a more experienced but equally world-class talent in Abhishek Verma, both of whom have dominated the event for a year and a half. On form and their performances over the past year, one can make a strong case for them being the two best 10m pistol shooters in the world.

And if Saurabh doesn't see a dip and he manages to maintain his prime form at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, he can emulate Abhinav Bindra and could even script history by becoming the first Indian athlete to win multiple medals at the same edition of the Olympics.

And while both of them would be disappointed to not have scored a podium at the World Cup Finals, if everything goes by the book, they can land India the much-awaited gold.

#1 10m Air Rifle (Apurvi Chandela / Elavenil Valarivan)

Both teams have been performing well on the circuit.

While the pistol event has been dominated by one of the Indian teams, it's an event where both Indian teams have tasted success. Of the four World Cups, Indian teams clinched the top honours from three of them. Just like from the Pistol category, in the World Cup Finals, there were two Indian athletes facing off for the gold medal with their partners.

It's difficult to gauge which teams will be fielded since the women's 10m Air Rifle category has three genuine medal contenders, but on form one can believe that Elavenil Valarivan and Apurvi Chandela will be the likely picks. It must be kept in mind though that several countries haven't been as enthusiastic about the mixed events as India and they might be back with full force at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

With three of the four sporting disciplines coming from shooting, it just speaks volumes about how far Indian shooting has come from the debacle of four years ago. Yet, notably, the list does not include Manu Bhaker and the women 10m Air Rifle shooters who have consistently won gold medals at the World Cups and can take the competition out if they are in the best of form.

Related links: Olympics 2020 Medal Tally