Tokyo Olympics 2020

The Tokyo Games were thrown open with a  grand opening ceremony in Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium on Friday night. Boxing great MC Mary Kom and Indian hockey team skipper Manpreet Singh lead the Indian contingent in the athletes parade at the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo. India had 19 of their athletes represent the country in the opening ceremony. Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 began on 23 July 2021 and ends on 8 August 2021.

Mirabai Chanu opened India’s medal tally at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday, clinching a silver medal in the women’s 49 kg weightlifting category. After topping the qualification rounds, Saurabh Chaudhary finished seventh in the 10m air pistol final. In archery, the pair Deepika Kumari and Pravin Jadhav progressed to the quarters in the mixed team event but bowed out to South Korea.

The men’s hockey team beat New Zealand 3-2 in their first group match to make a good start to their campaign. In women’s hockey, India was beaten comprehensively by Netherlands (1-5).

On the other hand, Sumit Nagal became the first Indian to win a tennis singles match since Leander Paes in 1996 Atlanta Games. Table tennis players Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra lost to third seeds from Chinese Taipei, Lin Yun-Ju, and Cheng I-Ching, in the mixed doubles round.

In boxing, Vikas Krishan bowed out in his round of 32 welterweight bout against Japan’s Sewonrets Okazawa.  Shuttler PV Sindhu won her opener in a fierce start to better Rio campaign. Sania Mirza and Ankita Raina crash out of the women’s doubles after losing to the twins of Ukraine.