India National Thread

[nitinsanker 179]

*Indian  at the Tokyo Olympics ……..6 days to Olympics ……….post 5 of 10 by nitin sanker*

 

Reaching halfway point here , these post  are taking time ( a couple of hrs of research )  do let me know if you have them useful and share them in other groups 

We have looked at 3 out of the 8 medal possible sports of India  and Today we look at *Athletics* 

 

This is the blue riband sport in the Olympics which gets the maximum viewership, A sport with a huge number of 48 events (  this divided into track , field and road events ) , it has made famous names like Jesse owens , Usain bolt , Carl Lewis, Abebe Bikila  and so many great names

India has participated in athletics in 1900 with 2 silvers on the name of Norman Prichard , since then we have not won a single medal though came agonizingly close with *Milkha Singh , PT Usha* who  both finished 4th and the *Gurbachan Singh Randhawa and Anju George* who finished 5th  . Let us look at our chances in athletics this time . we have a squad of 26 participating in 14  events ( out of 48 ) .  Lets look at the medal prospects . we have only two 

 

*Javelin* - Neeraj Chopra is the best athlete we have had since Anju George , In 2016 he won the  world under 20 world championship gold medal , he has been a commonwealth and Asian Gold medal and comes into the Olympics  as 4th best on 2021 leading scores . his is an event where gold will almost undoubtedly go to Vetter of Germany who is well above the rest and there are many who have a personal best higher than Neeraj , but javelin is a sport where athletes rarely reach their personal best at the Olympics ,  Neeraj both has the big game temperament  and has been consistent this year , if he throws  close to 90 he will probably get a medal  ( personal best of 88.07  which he has done in 2021) . So a *Likely* 

 

*womens discus* - Kamalpreet Kaur , this lady has been in great form breaking the NR fairly often , she comes in ranked 6th in 2021 , but we have to see whether she can replicate that in a big event , as she has shot up the ranks fairly fast . Well not likely but a *possible*

 

While we have only two prospects let us look at other who can reach the finals and that itself is a good achievement , every  games we have had the rare privilege to see an Indian name in the atheletics in a final. This happens  usually in just 1-2 events . This time besides the above two . tejinder toor in mens shotput , racewalkers  in 20KM in both men and women ( there is no finals here so I would look for a  10th place or above finish ) , Annu Rani in womens javelin , the mens 4*400 and the mixed 4*400 may give us a position in the finals . *If we get more than 3 finalists* ( we had a max of 3 at the london olympics )that by itself would be a sign of improvement ( I feel that is almost sure , I am hoping for around 5 finalists). *Medal prediction 0-1 at tokyo*

[Madhusudhan 8]

We have been discussing and predciting how many medals india might win.....but can India win Gold medal this time?

 

In the entire olympics history India has won only one gold medal outside hockey!!!

 

Where do we can win gold medal this time....for me best option seems to be 10m Air pistol mixed team/Vinesha poghat.... give your views also

[tirtha22 64]

Can India get one spot in Tennis after this withdrawal?

 

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/tokyo-olympics/wimbledon-finalist-matteo-berrettini-out-of-tokyo-olympics-with-injury/articleshow/84525042.cms

[sanjaydas 9]

Cannot agree that we will have a medal in athletics.

[tirtha22 64]

Srabani Nanda participated in American track league yesterday.

 

5th in 100 m 11.35

 

4th in 200 m 23.11

 

https://finishedresults.trackscoreboard.com/meets/10170/events/7/Final

 

 

https://t.co/tCPZN0geZ0

 

https://t.co/63aL8R389I

 

Srabani Nanda's 100 m and 200 m dash yesterday in American track league

 

[sanjaydas 9]

She is not going to Tokyo?

[tirtha22 64]

 

 

All India Football Federation’s Technical Committee has recommended that Indian men's team Head Coach Igor Stimac be given a contract extension till September 2022. 

 

 

[nitinsanker 179]

*Indian  at the Tokyo Olympics ……..4 days to Olympics ……….post 7 of 10 by nitin sanker*

 

We have looked at 5 out of the 8 medal possible sports of India  and Today we look at *Badminton*

Badminton was a game which originated in India in the mid 1800s , originally called “poona” it was later renamed after the duke of beauforts country estate where it began to be played.

 

Despite its early Indian origin , we had no great names till prakash padukone flashed like a comet in the early 1980s winning the all England and won a bronze at the world championship , subsequently we have had good players like Pullela Gopichand ( the current head coach of badminton ) who won the all England in 2001 but nothing really earth shattering till the advent of the dynamic duo PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal in 2010s . Thanks mostly to them we have won a medal at every badminton world championships from 2011.

 

Badminton is a bit of a late entrant to the Olympics having its first appearance in 1992 , it  become very popular especially with the fabled rivalry between Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei . India  has done well in recent times with a bronze by Saina in 2012 and the very famous silver by Sindhu in 2016. So looking forward to Tokyo

Sadly we have a bit of a diminished side with single participation in 3 events – womens and mens singles and mens doubles . Sai Praneeth faces a very difficult draw where if he progresses to the quarters he meets world No 1 the Kento Momota in the quarters where I see no hope of him progressing , the dynamic pair of Chirag and Satwik are in group of death situation in the mens doubles facing the “minions” world number 1 pair from Indonesia and the current world no 3 from Taipei , I  do not see them crossing the group phase.

 

From a medal perspective we have only one likely medallist

 

*Womens Singles* : she is that rare Indian Sportsperson who brings her best game to her biggest events with 5 world championship medals and an Olympic silver,  she is a legitimate claimant to the title of G.O.A.T in womens badminton. She is the reigning world champion. Of course PV Sindhu . Her form has not looked the best in 2021 but without doubt she will play her heart out in Tokyo as she did in Rio. She is currently seeded 7^th but the way women’s badminton looking any of the top 8 will be able to win gold. She has a good to head to head record against most of them except current world number One - Tai Tzu Ying and Carolina Marin. Marin will not be in Tokyo because of an Injury.

 

As per the draw Sindhu’s first real battle will be in the quarter finals against Akane Yamaguchi in the quarters , Sindhu is ahead  11-7 record in the head to head and did beat her recently,  it will not be easy but I see Sindhu reaching semis.  There she most probably comes against her nemesis Tzu , who has a  13-5 record against Sindhu and has beaten her several times in the recent times. Still I will give Sindhu a fifty- fifty chance to get to the finals just because of Sindhus ability to bring her big game to crunch matches . If she reaches the finals  she might meet Chen Yufei. For me Sindhu is a “likely” medalist

 

*Medal Prediction* - 0 to 1 in badminton

[sanjaydas 9]

Few sports starting tomorrow.

[Sanjib 17]

Seems no telecast tomorrow.