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With just eight days to go before the Tokyo Olympics get underway, Indian athletes' preparations are in full swing. Spread across different parts of the country and abroad, they're busy training with their coaches.
Coaches are sometimes unsung heroes who play a vital role in the success of a player's career but they don't often get due credit for their contributions. At the Tokyo Olympics, 124 Indian athletes will feature across 18 sporting events.
On that note, let's take a look at the coaches who will be accompanying the Indian contingent for the quadrennial event in Japan:
Also read: Tokyo Olympics 2020 broadcast schedule India: where to watch, timings, and more details
Graham Reid (India men's hockey team): Appointed in 2019, Graham Reid will accompany the India men's hockey team to the Tokyo Olympics as head coach. Ever since his arrival, the players have enjoyed a remarkable improvement in their performances under his guidance.
Reid's main objective now will be to end India's 41-year medal draught in Olympic hockey. The 57-year-old was part of the Australian hockey team that won the silver medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Sjoerd Marijne (India women's hockey team): Sjoerd Marijne was appointed head coach of the India women's national hockey team in 2017. The 47-year-old has been credited for playing a crucial role in the rise of the the squad's performance since his signing.
Marijne has his eyes set on helping the women's hockey team bring home their first Olympic medal from the Tokyo Olympics. He previously coached the Indian men's hockey team for two years before Graham Reid took over.
Also read: Indian women's hockey team have reached another level since my time, says former coach Neil Hawgood
Laxman Manohar Sharma (Gymnastics): Laxman Manohar Sharma will be escorting India's lone gymnast Pranati Nayak to the Tokyo Olympics. His appointment didn't go down well with Minara Begum, Nayak's former coach. It eventually led to Manohar getting caught up in a bit of controversy, with Begum insisting she should be the one accompanying Nayak to Tokyo.
Mathias Boe (Badminton): Mathias Boe will accompany Indian badminton doubles players Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy to the Tokyo Olympics. The former Danish badminton ace was appointed India's doubles coach last year to help the duo prepare for the quadrennial extravaganza.
Boe was a silver medalist in the men's doubles at the 2012 London Olympics.
Also read: Indian badminton at Tokyo Olympics 2020: All the participants, events, schedule, streaming details
Shako Bentinidis (Wrestling): Shako Bentinidis is likely to get the nod to travel to the Tokyo Olympics with the Indian wrestling team. The 45-year-old has been coaching Bajrang Punia, one of India's best medal hopefuls, for a while now.
Bentinidis and Punia are currently training in Russia. The former Greek wrestler competed in the men's 74 kg and lost in the quarterfinals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Agus Santoso (Badminton): Coach Agus Santoso will travel with the Indian badminton contingent to the Tokyo Olympics. The Indonesian has been training men's singles player B. Sai Praneeth.
Former Indian badminton stalwart and national coach Pullela Gopichand was supposed to travel to Tokyo but backed out to accommodate Santoso. The 55-year-old had coached players like PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth when their forms took a dip.
Also read: Nine-member Indian badminton contingent to leave for Tokyo Olympics on July 17
Park Tae-sang (Badminton): Park Tae-sang is one of the coaches who will fly to Tokyo with the Indian badminton contingent. The 42-year-old has been coaching India's female badminton star and medal hopeful PV Sindhu for some time now.
The former South Korean shuttler competed in the men's singles at the 2004 Athens Olympics, where he was defeated in the third round.
Also read: PV Sindhu, Sai Praneeth to face opponents from Israel in Tokyo Olympics opening matches
CA Kuttappa (Boxing): CA Kuttappa was appointed head coach of Indian men's boxing in 2018. He will be traveling with the country's boxing contingent for the Tokyo Olympics. He has been credited with playing a vital role in the country's significant rise in boxing in recent years following the 2016 Rio Olympics disillusionment.
Chotte Lal Yadav (Boxing): Chotte Lal Yadav will be one of three boxing coaches who will be traveling to the Tokyo Olympics with the Indian contingent. He has been coaching Mary Kom since 2016.
Yadav was a professional boxer who represented India in the Asian Games, Asian Boxing Championships and South Asian Games.
Mohammed Ali Qamar (Boxing): Mohammed Ali Qamar will head to Tokyo as chief coach of the Indian women's boxing team. He was selected for the position in 2019. Since then, Ali Qamar played a crucial role. Under his guidance, more than one female boxer has qualified for the Olympics for the first time.
The Arjuna Award winner is a former boxer and 2002 Commonwealth Games gold medalist in the men's light flyweight category.
Also read: Tokyo Olympics 2021 | India boxing team schedule and timings
Woller Akos (Wrestling): Woller Akos will be traveling to the Japanese capital as a personal coach of Vinesh Phogat. He has been credited with shaping Phogat's wrestling career following the 2016 Rio Olympics disappointment, where she lost in the quarterfinals due to a knee injury.
Murad Gaidarov (Wrestling): Murad Gaidarov will be traveling with the Indian wrestling team for the Tokyo Olympics. The 48-year-old will escort Deepak Punia as a personal coach. Under his tutelage, the 22-year-old won a gold medal at the World Junior Wrestling Championships and followed it up with silver at the World Wrestling Championships in 2019.
Gaidarov was a silver medalist in the men's 74kg freestyle category at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Ronak Pandit (Shooting): Ronak Pandit is a pistol coach who has been coaching Indian shooters. He will be traveling to Tokyo with the country's shooting contingent instead of foreign shooting coach Pavel Smirnov.
Pistol shooters such as Saurabh Chaudhary, Manu Bhaker, Rahi Sarnobat, Abhishek Verma, and Yashaswini Singh Deswal will train under Pandit for the Tokyo Olympics.
Also Checkout: Tokyo Olympics 2021 Schedule
Sanmay Paranjape (Table Tennis): Sanmay Paranjape will be accompanying the Indian table tennis team to the Tokyo Olympics after receiving a special request from Narinder Batra. He is a personal coach for India's female table tennis star Manika Batra.
Paranjape is the only personal coach who will be traveling with the Indian table tennis contingent for the quadrennial event.
Uwe Hohn (Javelin Throw): Uwe Hohn will be traveling to the Tokyo Olympics as coach to three javelin throwers, including Neeraj Chopra, Annu Rani and Shivpal Singh. The former German javelin thrower was appointed coach in 2019.
The 58-year-old is the only javelin thrower to throw at a distance of over 100 meters (104.80m), shattering the world record of 99.72m at the Olympic Day of Athletics in 1984.
P. Radhakrishnan Nair (Athletics): P. Radhakrishnan Nair is expected to accompany the Indian athletics contingent to the Tokyo Olympics. He was appointed as head coach of Indian track and field by the Athletics Federation of India in 2020. As chief coach, his main aim will be to ensure that the athletes won't return home empty-handed from the quadrennial event.
S. Murali (Athletics): S. Murali is the father and coach of Indian long jumper Murali Sreeshankar. He is expected to get the nod to travel to the Tokyo Olympics with his son and the Indian athletics contingent.
Oleg Mikhailov (Shooting): Oleg Mikhailov is head coach of the Indian rifle shooting team. He was appointed by the National Rifle Association of India in 2017. Since then, Mikhailov played a vital role in the success of the country's rifle shooters, and is expected to accompany the shooting contingent to the Tokyo Olympics.
Rifle shooters such as Divyansh Singh Panwar, Deepak Kumar, Sanjeev Rajput, Elavenil Valarivan, Anjum Moudgil and Apurvi Chandela will train under Mikhailov during their time in Japan.
Also read: Rifle shooters who can win medals for India at Tokyo Olympics
Ismail Baig (Rowing): Ismail Baig has been the chief of Indian rowing for 22 years now. He will be traveling with rowers Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh to the Tokyo Olympics. His tutelage has won India 156 international medals.
Nicola Zanotti (Fencing): Nicola Zanotti has been Indian fencer CA Bhavani Devi's coach for five years. By making the Tokyo Olympics cut, Devi became the first fencer from her country to qualify for the Summer Games.
N Ramesh (Athletics): N Ramesh is the national coach of women's track and field and will be escorting Dutee Chand to the Tokyo Olympics. Chand has qualified for women's 100m and 200m sprints.
Mohinder Singh Dhillon (Shot put): Mohinder Singh Dhillon will be part of the Indian contingent traveling to the Tokyo Olympics. The veteran coach is a personal trainer for Tajinderpal Singh Toor, the national record holder in shot put. Dhillon is a recipient of the prestigious Dhronacharya award by the Government of India.
Amrish Kumar (Athletics): Amrish Kumar, coach to 3000m steeplechaser Avinash Sable will be traveling with the Indian contingent to the Tokyo Olympics. Sable is the first Indian steeplechaser to qualify for the Olympics since 1952.
