The Tokyo Olympics open on Friday amidst rising concerns of the coronavirus in the host city of Tokyo. Athletes from all over the world have reached the Games village ahead of the opening ceremony.
India has sent a 127-member strong contingent and fans are hoping that the country surpasses its 6-medal tally of the 2012 London Olympics.
On Saturday, a few of India’s medal hopefuls will take the field and there is a chance that the country will bag its first medal of the Tokyo Games. Here is a glance through the schedule of the Indian athletes on 24 July.
Archery
Deepika Kumar and her husband Atanu Das will be one of the favourites in the mixed team event field. The duo have been training partners for a long time and a medal in Tokyo will be the culmination of all the hard work.
Mixed team event
Deepika Kumari, Atanu Das
Starts at 6 AM IST
Boxing
Lovlina Borgohain- Women’s Welterweight
Starts from 7:30 AM
Vikas Krishan- Men’s Welterweight
Starts from 7:30 am
Equestrian
Fouaad Mirza- Dressage
Starts from 1:30 PM
Field Hockey
The Indian men’s hockey team is ranked number 4 in the world and has been impressive off late in the FIH Pro Hockey league. Since winning the gold medal at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, India hasn’t been on the podium. The Manpreet Singh-led side will be aiming to end the medal drought and bring back the glory days.
Men’s team play New Zealand at 6:30 AM
Women’s team play Netherlands at 5:15 PM
Judo
Shushila Likmabam- Women’s 48kg category
Starts from 7:30 AM
Rowing
Arjun Lal and Arvind Singh- Men’s lightweight double sculls heats
Starts at 7:50 AM
Sailing
Vishnu Sarvanan- Laser (race 1 and 2)
Starts at 11:05 AM
Shooting
The Women’s 10m Air Rifle will be the first medal event of the Tokyo Olympics. India has a chance to be on the podium with world number 1 Elavenil Valarivan and seasoned competitor Apurvi Chandela in the ranks.
Apurvi Chandela, Elavenil Valarivan- Women’s 10M Air Rifle
Qualification begins from 5 AM, Final at 10:15 AM
Saurabh Chaudhary, Abhishek Verma- Men’s 10m Air Pistol
Qualification starts from 9:30 AM, Final at 11:15 AM
Table Tennis
G Sathiyan, Sharath Kamal, Manika Batra, Sutirtha Mukherjee- Men’s/Women’s Singles
Starts at 12:15 PM
Sharath Kamal/Manika Batra- Mixed Doubles, Round of 16
Starts 7:45 AM
Weightlifting
One of India’s brightest medal prospects, Mirabai Chanu will be in action also on the first day of the Games. The weightlifter is 3rd in the world rankings and will have a chance to become the first Indian since Karnam Malleshwari to win a medal in the sport at the big event.
Mirabai Chanu- Women’s 49kg, begins at 6:20 AM
Final at 10:20 AM
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)