Tokyo Olympics: With under 100 days left, will India secure a century of berths at the Games?

While the world is trying to tamp down the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, the 100-day countdown to the Tokyo Olympics has well and truly begun. As the clock ticks, the world is gearing up to see what this year’s Olympics will bring.

The Indian contingent will eye a historic medal haul when the pandemic-postponed Olympics get underway with the opening ceremony at the Olympic stadium in Tokyo on July 23. Never before in the history of India has it sent a contingent to the Olympics with so many medal prospects.

A sizeable number of competitors have already confirmed their Tokyo berths, with the likes of boxing icon Mary Kom and shooting prodigy Saurabh Chaudhary set to grace the big stage in about 100 days. With the exception of a handful of sports where athletes have qualified before March 2020, most qualifying events will continue through the end of June this year.

Indian boxer Mary Kom heads into Tokyo Olympics as potential medalist.

About 86 Indian athletes have already qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, with many more in contention to secure quotas. The country is eyeing its first-ever double-digit medal haul this year. It is anticipated that India will secure a century of berths as the countdown to the Tokyo Olympics continues.

Also Read: Best Olympics ever for India? Here is the full list of medal prospects at the Tokyo Olympics

Tokyo Olympics: India earned the maximum quotas in shooting, athletics, boxing, & wrestling

A strong 15-member Indian shooting squad has already made it to Tokyo against the odds. The country's shooters have secured the maximum number of Olympic quotas this year.

Also Read: Tokyo Olympics: From Manu Bhaker to Saurabh Chaudhary: A look at India's best medal hopes in shooting

A total of 11 Indian track and field quotas have been secured, and most athletes will decide their Olympic berths by June. If things go as planned, this year's Tokyo Games could be the best-ever Olympics in the history of Indian athletics. Neeraj Chopra and KT Irfan are among a new crop of athletes who are re-igniting India's hopes for a podium finish at the Tokyo Olympics.

Neeraj Chopra has raised India's hopes of a podium finish in athletics at Tokyo Olympics.

Also Read: Hima Das and Dutee Chand in race against time to qualify for Tokyo Olympics

India has secured an unprecedented tally of nine quotas in boxing at the Asia Oceania Olympic qualifiers held last year.

The past few years have seen India reaching its peak of glory in wrestling. With as many as six Olympic berths, wrestlers look well-equipped to mount a tough challenge in Tokyo.

Shooting

Men’s:

Divyansh Singh Panwar - 10m Air Rifle
Deepak Kumar - 10m Air Rifle
Sanjeev Rajput - 50m Rifle 3 Position
Aishwarya Pratap Singh Tomar - 50m Rifle 3 Position
Saurabh Chaudhary - 10m Air Pistol, Mixed 10m Air Pistol
Abhishek Verma - 10m Air Pistol
Angad Veer Singh Bajwa - Men’s Skeet
Mairaj Ahmad Khan - Men’s Skeet

Women’s:

Anjum Moudgil, 10m Air Rifle
Apurvi Chandela, 10m Air Rifle
Tejaswini Sawant, 50m Rifle 3 Position
Manu Bhaker, 10m Air Pistol, 25m Pistol, Mixed 10m Air Pistol
Yashaswini Singh Deswal, 10m Air Pistol
Rahi Sarnobat, 25m Pistol
Elavenil Valarivan, 25m Pistol

Athletics

Men’s:

KT Irfan - 20km race walking
Sandeep Kumar - 20km race walking
Rahul - 20km race walking
Avinash Sable - 3000m Steeplechase
Neeraj Chopra - Javelin throw
Shivpal Singh - Javelin throw

Women’s:

Bhawna Jat - 20km race walking
Priyanka Goswami - 20km race walking
4x400 Mixed Relay Team of Muhammed Anas, Vismaya, Krishna Mathew and Noah Nirmal

Boxing

Men's:

Vikas Krishan - 69kg
Ashish Kumar - 75kg
Satish Kumar - 91kg
Amit Panghal - 52kg
Manish Kaushik - 63kg

Women’s:

Lovlina Borgohain - 69kg
Pooja Rani - 75kg
Mary Kom - 51kg
Simranjit Kaur - 60kg

Wrestling

Men’s:

Bajrang Punia - Freestyle 65 kg
Ravi Kumar Dahiya - Freestyle 57 kg
Deepak Punia - Freestyle 86 kg

Women’s:

Vinesh Phogat - Freestyle 53 kg
Anshu Malik - Freestyle 57kg
Sonam Malik - Freestyle 62kg

Table tennis & Archery - 4 quotas & 1 team quota, Hockey - 2 team quotas

A slice of good fortune at the Asian qualifiers last month saw Indian table tennis bag four individual quotas and one team quota for the Tokyo Olympics. Looking at India's seamless upward trajectory in the sport, the star paddlers will have a real shot at a podium finish in Tokyo.

Meanwhile, five quotas should represent the Indian archery juggernaut in good stead ahead of the quadrennial event.

Archer Deepika Kumari heads into Tokyo Olympics as potential medalist for India

Deepika Kumari will be one of India's prime medal contenders at the Tokyo Olympics.

The Indian men's and women's hockey teams sealed a berth each for the Tokyo Olympics with their commanding wins at the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers in November 2019.

Table Tennis

G. Sathiyan
Sharath Kamal
Sutirtha Mukherjee
Manika Batra
Mixed doubles pair of Manika Batra and Sharath Kamal

Archery

Men's

Tarundeep Rai - Recurve
Atanu Das - Recurve
Pravin Jadhav - Recurve
The men’s trio of Tarundeep Rai, Atanu Das, and Pravin Jadhav

Women's:

Deepika Kumari - Recurve

Hockey

Women's national team
Men's national team

Lesser-known sports where India has earned Olympic berths

In a historic first, India will compete in three sailing events at the Olympics this year. World Cup bronze medalist Nethra Kumanan was the first Indian female sailor to qualify for the quadrennial event.

Tamil Nadu's Bhavani Devi shot to fame after becoming the first Indian fencer to qualify for the Olympics. She sealed an Olympic quota through the Adjusted Official Ranking (AOR) method at the Budapest Sabre World Cup last month.

Double Asian Games medalist Fouaad Mirza became the first Indian to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics in equestrian.