Tokyo Olympics: India's Top 10 Medal Prospects

Tokyo Olympics Mascot: Miraitowa & Someity
Tokyo Olympics Mascot: Miraitowa & Someity

#7 Men’s Hockey Team

Could this be the year when India finally puts an end to the 41-year medal drought in hockey? Going into the tournament on the back of some strong performances, the Men in Blue are definitely in the mix for a podium finish.

Graham Reid with the Indian Men's Hockey Team ©Hockey India
Graham Reid with the Indian Men's Hockey Team ©Hockey India

Ranked No.4 in the Latest FIH Rankings, the team under the leadership of halfback Manpreet Singh have defeated every team (except Spain, whom they have not faced) at least once since 2019. After the arrival of coach Graham Reid, the team has shown immense resilience, winning 27 out of 37 international matches while conceding defeat in only 5 outings.

Having a healthy mix of youth and experience, the squad has a solid defensive unit with the former skipper, PR Sreejesh, guarding the goal line. The lack of seasoned professionals in the attacking lineup may be a concerning point for Reid, with all five forwards making their Olympic debuts.

The team will be competing in Pool A, alongside Argentina, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Spain.

Biggest Hurdle: Belgium

Belgium will be hoping to go one further than their silver medal performance in Rio. They are coming into the tournament as the reigning European and World Champions and, they also emerged victorious in the recently concluded FIH Pro League.

The Red Devils are more determined than ever under the leadership of coach Shane Mcleod. Their attacking lineup, led by Florent Van Aubel and Cedric Charlier, will arguably be the strongest in Tokyo. Dragflicker Alexander Hendrickx is also in red hot form after emerging as the top scorer in the FIH Pro League.


#6 PV Sindhu (Badminton: Women’s Singles)

This inclusion might sound surprising to many, but if there is anyone who has mastered the science of giving it your absolute best when it matters the most, look no further than PV Sindhu.

As the reigning world champion, she is one of the favorites in Tokyo and will look to bring home the gold medal this time around. She has not had a very consistent run in the past few years and has a rather disappointing record of 10-6 in 2021.

Prior to Rio, Sindhu had participated in 13 tournaments while the match preparations, this time, were limited due to multiple event cancelations. She has utilized this time to work more on her defensive strategy with coach Park Tae Sang. With the withdrawal of the defending champion Carolina Marin, the field has been blown wide open.

Biggest Hurdle: Tai Tzu Ting, Chinese Taipei

Tai & Marin were very dominant during the beginning of this year, with Marin having the upper hand of winning 2 out of the three matches played this year. With the Spaniard out of the title race, all eyes will be on the 27-year-old World No.1 shuttler from Chinese Taipei, who has already defeated Sindhu once this year, during the BWF World Tour Finals, in January.


#5 Mirabai Chanu (Weightlifting: Women’s 49 kg)

As Mirabai Chanu heads to Tokyo, as India’s lone entry in Weightlifting, sports enthusiasts are confident that she can etch her name into the history books. She will hope to end the 21-year medal drought and thereby become the proud successor to Karnam Malleshwari, the 2000 Sydney Games bronze medallist.

After a disappointing debut at Rio, where Chanu failed to hoist the weight up in the clean & jerk segment, she has emerged as one of the brightest medal prospects in Tokyo.

Among the two highly ranked Chinese lifters, only one would board for Tokyo since a country can send only one lifter per category. Chanu's chances have increased even further with the withdrawal of North Korea from the games.

Chanu recently set a world record of 119 kg in the clean & jerk segment during the Tashkent Asian Championships in April and will be heading into the games with that much-needed confidence.

Biggest Hurdle: Hou Zhihui, China

While Chanu set the clean & jerk world record in Tashkent, Hou Zhihui, the current World Champion, shattered the world record in snatch & on the total in the same event, 8 kg clear of Chanu’s lift of 205 kg. If Chanu can improve her performance in the snatch, we could be in for a nail biting showdown in Tokyo.


#4 Bajrang Punia (Wrestling: Men’s Freestyle 65 kg)

Bajrang Punia will aim to emulate his mentor Yogeshwar Dutt
Bajrang Punia will aim to emulate his mentor Yogeshwar Dutt

Bajrang Punia is one of the finest wrestlers in the freestyle category and is a three-time world championship medallist and the reigning Asian Games Champion. Having participated in nine international events since the beginning of 2019, he has returned home with a medal every single time.

Bajrang has to ensure that he doesn’t concede too many points early in the game as he usually does while also managing the pressure of competing in his debut Olympics.

Bajrang has been learning English & Russian as per his mentor Yogeshwar Dutt’s advice to understand what the rival coaches & wrestlers are planning during the bout. He has also been attending training camps in the USA, Russia and Georgia, to get more exposure to their style of play.

Biggest Hurdle: Gadzhimurad Rashidov, Russia & Takuto Otoguro, Japan

Though Bajrang remains the favorite on paper, he could face tough challenges from the World Champions, Rashidov & Otoguro.

Rashidov, the current world champion, has been at the top of his game by winning gold in four of his last five tournaments.

Otuguro is the 2018 world champion and will be looking to capitalize on home advantage as well, and has been undefeated in his last three tournaments. More significantly, Bajrang has never won against Otoguro, with all three of those encounters being in the finals of a tournament.

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Edited by Diptanil