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Not the Olympics | Day 10: A tough race to medal for B Sai Praneeth
Four months after the International Olympic Committee and officials in Japan postponed the Games amid soaring coronavirus infection rates and lockdowns across the world, uncertainty prevails. The unpredictable nature of the virus is making it impossible for officials to say definitively that the Games will happen or, if they do, what they might look like. Though we are missing the fervour of the quadrennial event, we are soaked in the Olympic spirit. For the next two weeks, we will be writing a series of article with the title “What if Olympic Happened”, where we will hypothetically discuss the day-wise performances of the Indian athletes, which were actually scheduled in the Olympics 2020 roster.
Day 10: 2 August 2020
Today would have been the tenth day at the Olympics and India could have been a part of two gold-winning title matches.
Badminton
India might not be able to send the desired number of shuttlers to Tokyo Olympics if the current situation persists. PV Sindhu among women's and Sai Praneeth among men's would have had the best chances at the Olympics. On day 10, men's gold medal match was on the roster and B Sai Praneeth had a fair chance to win a medal.
Badminton was our prime event to look forward in the Tokyo Olympics, but that can't be said now. There have been plenty of lacklustre performances recently by Indian badminton team, but one good thing happened recent time is how Sai Praneeth found some consistency. Though Indian fans would love to see Srikanth and Prannoy getting back to their forms, Sai Praneeth is a capable contender to win a medal. As he proved that in world championships winning the bronze medal. Praneeth also made the semifinal at the Japan Open and reached a career-high ranking of 10. The 27-year-old shuttler is currently the top-ranked Indian men's singles player and one of the favourites to represent India in the category at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.But with Kento Mamota being a solid favourite for gold, the Indian should work immensely hard to win a medal in Tokyo.
Chance of winning medal: 60%
Athletics
Athletics is, without doubt, one of the most significant events of the Olympics. On Day 10 of the games, the only medal match that was supposed to take place was Men's 3000m Steeplechase where Avinash Sable would have performed.
The recent world champion is a proof where Avinash really stay among world-class athletes. Avinash Sable finished 13th in the final race of the World Championships with a national record, which actually gave him Olympic qualification. it would be commendable if he could finish in top-8.
Chance of winning medal: 10%
Shooting
With as many as 15 Indian shooters having secured quota places, India is all set to send its largest-ever shooting contingent to Tokyo. On Day 10, 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men's and 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men's were supposed to be held. In the former event, Anish Bhanwala was supposed to take part, wherein the latter Sanjeev Rajput and Aishwarya Pratap Singh would have represented.
India got a chance to win a medal. but not as high as 10m but maybe with low expectation, an experienced player like Sanjeev Rajput can finally turn the table this time around.
Chance of winning medal: 60%
Other events on day 10 and possible contenders:
Hockey
Women’s Team QF
Equestrian
Eventing Jumping Individual Qualifier/Final Fouaad Mirza
Athletics
Men's 3000m Steeplechase Final Avinash Sable
Women's 1500m Round 1: PU Chitra
Women's 200m Round 1/SF: Dutee Chand
Women's Discus Throw Final: Navjeet Dhillion
Men's 400m SF: Rajiv Arokia/Muhammed Anas Yahiya
Women's 5000m Final: Sanjivani Jadhav/Parul Chaudhary
Wrestling
Men's Greco-Roman 77 kg RD16/QF/SF: Gurpreet Singh
Men's Greco-Roman 97 kg RD16/QF/SF: Ravi Rathee
Women's Freestyle 68 kg RD16/QF/SF: Divya kakran
Women Freestyle 76kg 50m Repechage/Bronze/Final: Kiran
Greco Roman 60kg Repechage/Bronze/Final: Manish
Greco Roman 130kg Repechage/Bronze/Final: Naveen