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Tokyo 2020

Curtains drawn on Tokyo Olympics – How has India fared in different sports?

Here, we take a look at India's performance in each of the 18 sports the country competed in at the Tokyo Olympics.

Neeraj Chopra and Saurabh Chaudhary
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How has India fared at the Tokyo Olympics?

By

Abhijit Nair

Updated: 9 Aug 2021 6:44 AM GMT

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics has finally come to an end after around 17 days of intense sporting action. The United States of America (USA) finished at the top of the medal tally, while People's Republic of China took the second spot and hosts Japan rounded off the top 3.

While it was quite certainly India's best-ever campaign in their Olympic history, with a total of 7 medals including a gold, when one looks back it feels it could have been a lot better.

Here, we take a look at India's performance in each of the 18 sports the country competed in at the Tokyo Olympics.

Athletics

Rating: 8/10

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics was probably India's best-ever showing in athletics at the Olympic Games. A gold medal from Neeraj Chopra, a final appearance for Kamalpreet Kaur and the men's 4x400m relay team and steeplechaser Avinash Sable missing out on the final appearance by a whisker, the Indian athletics contingent surely delivered more than what was expected.

Archery

Rating: 6/10

Archery, as has been the norm, was disappointing for India. Both the men's and the mixed team reached the quarterfinals but failed to get past the hurdle. Yes, Deepika Kumari did become the first Indian to reach the quarterfinal in the individual section, and Pravin Jadhav shone during his debut, but was it enough?

Badminton

Rating: 7/10

Much like the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, India's only saving grace in badminton in Tokyo has been the women's single star, PV Sindhu. While Sindhu clinched silver in Rio, she had to settle for a bronze in Tokyo.

Tennis

Rating: 4/10

Tennis, like always, provided the much-needed drama ahead of the Olympics. There was a war of words between the players and administration, but in the end, nothing mattered. The women's doubles pair exited in the first round, and the country did not have any representation in Mixed doubles. Competing in men's singles, Sumit Nagal stood as the lone star for India in tennis.

Table Tennis

Rating: 7/10

The Indian table tennis contingent has been one of the biggest surprises for India in the first half of the Tokyo Olympics. While the Indians started their campaign in the sport on a disastrous note with the Mixed doubles pair exiting in the very first round, things did get better.

Sutirtha Mukherjee registered a wonderful come from behind victory in the very first round of singles, while Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra ensured that India reached round 3 of singles in table tennis for the first time in their Olympic history.

Wrestling

Rating: 7/10

The Indian wrestlers returned with two medals – a silver and a bronze from Tokyo. But was it really the best they could have? Quite certainly not. Deepak Punia's missing out on the bronze medal in the final ten seconds, and the country's best medal bet Vinesh Phogat failing to qualify for the semifinal was surely a big disappointment.

Weightlifting

Rating: 10/10

Weightlifting has been been India's best sport at the Tokyo Olympics. The only Indian representation in the sport, Mirabai Chanu, ensured that the country opens its account in Tokyo on the very first day with a silver.

Boxing

Rating: 6/10

Out of the total 9 Indian boxers who competed in the Tokyo Olympics, only one managed to qualify for the semifinals. While all the women pugilists from the country gave a good account of themselves, the men failed badly. Only Satish Kumar, out of the total five qualified Indian male boxers, could register even a single win at the Kokugikan arena.

Swimming

Rating: 5/10

Two Indian swimmers, Sajan Prakash and Srihari Natraj created history by earning the 'A' qualification cut for the Olympics, while Maana Patel joined them via universality quota. All three of them failed to go past the heats but provided a good account of themselves in Tokyo.

Rowing

Rating: 9/10

The Indian men's lightweight doubles sculls pair of Arvind Singh and Arjun Jat created history by becoming the first rowers from the country to qualify for the semifinals at the Olympics and finished 11th overall.

Sailing

Rating: 7/10

Four Indian sailors – the highest in country's history, qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. And all four of them sailed above the expectations. While Vishnu Sarvanan finished 20th overall, Nethra Kumanan took the 35th position, and the men's 49er pair of KC Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar ended 17th.

Golf

Rating: 7/10

A total of four Indian golfers competed at the Tokyo Olympics, and one – Aditi Ashok, stood out. The 23-year-old finished fourth in women's strokeplay and missed out on winning a medal by the barest of all margins. On the other hand, Anirban Lahiri finished 42nd while Udayan Mane and Diksha Dagar ended at 56th and 50th spot respectively.

Fencing

Rating: 9/10

India had a representation in the sport of Fencing for the first time in their Olympic history. And Bhavani Devi, quite certainly, made it count by winning her first match. Though she fell to a defeat immediately after against the world number 3, her performance has surely been one of the best moments for India in Tokyo so far.

Shooting

Rating: 2/10

Shooting has, undoubtedly, been the biggest letdown for India during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Yes, it is one of the most unpredictable sports played at the Olympics, but all the Indian shooters apart from Saurabh Chaudhary put up a shambolic show at the Asaka Shooting Range. From a widely predicted four-five medal, the Indian shooters returned empty-handed with just one final appearance from Tokyo.

Equestrian

Rating: 7/10

Fouaad Mirza shone bright with his horse-riding skills at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The first Indian equestrian to qualify for the Olympics since the 2000 Sydney Games, the 29-year-old Mirza qualified for the final and ended his campaign as the 23rd ranked equestrian in Tokyo.

Artistic Gymnastics

Rating: 2/10

India's sole representation in gymnastics, Pranati Nayak, finished in the bottom half of Women's individual qualifying round last week. In fact, Pranati did not even perform her second vault due to an apparent lack of confidence.

Judo

Rating: 1/10

The only Indian judoka in action at the Tokyo Olympics, Sushila Devi, bowed out of the Games falling to a defeat against Hungarian Eva Csernoviczki in her very first bout.

Hockey

Rating: 9/10

The hockey teams were probably the biggest positive for India at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. While the men's team led by Manpreet Singh bagged a medal in the sport for the first since 1980, the women-led by Rani Rampal made their way into the semifinal for the first time in the country's Olympic history.


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