Tokyo 2020
Which Indian athletes can qualify for the Tokyo Olympics in May?
Here, we look at Indian athletes who can qualify for the Tokyo Olympics in the month of May.
After being delayed for almost a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics is just less than three months away. Even though the pandemic continues to rage on causing destruction around the world, this time it seems as if the organisers are determined to go ahead with the Olympics as planned from 23rd July 2021 to 8th August 2021.
With the Olympics just around the corner, athletes from across the globe are sweating it out to realise their Tokyo dreams. The situation is no different in India. Even though the country is struggling with a deadly second wave of the pandemic, the athletes are trying their best to put it all behind and working towards booking a berth at Tokyo. Here, we look at Indian athletes who can qualify for the Tokyo Olympics in the month of May:
Wrestling
The month of April was a fruitful one for Indian wrestling with two youngsters – Sonam Malik and Anshu Malik qualifying for the Tokyo Games with their stunning performances at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers.
While the others who faltered at the Asian Qualifiers in Almaty, have yet another chance to book their berth at Tokyo – The World Olympic Qualifiers which will be held at Sofia, Bulgaria from 6th to 9th May 2021.
A total of 12 Indian grapplers would be in contention across various weight divisions to earn an Olympic quota at Sofia.
Men's Freestyle
Amit Dhankar (74kg), Satyawart Kadian (97kg), Sumit Malik (125kg)
Women's Freestyle
Seema Bisla (50kg), Nisha Dahiya (68kg), Pooja Sihag (76kg)
Men's Greco-Roman
Sachin Rana (60kg), Aashu (67kg), Gurpreet Singh (77kg), Sunil (87kg), Deepanshu (97kg), Naveen (130kg)
Taekwondo
No Indian has ever qualified for Taekwondo at the Olympics. But, things might change a bit in the month of May as an eight member Indian contingent would be seen fighting it out for their spot at Tokyo Olympics during the Asian Olympic Qualifiers at Amman, Jordan.
The following players might have a chance to qualify for the Tokyo Games, if they ensure a top-two finish at their event in Amman.
Men's
Shourya Pratap Rathee (-58kg), Yashraj Singh Gohil (-68kg), Navjeet Mann (-80kg), Akshay Kumar (+80kg)
Women's
Anisha (-49kg), Kashish Malik (-57kg), Reshma Venu (-67kg), Rodali Baruah (+67kg)
Rowing
No Indian rower has qualified for the Tokyo Olympics until now. This can change in the month of May when a total of 8 Indians would be in contention to qualify for the Olympics during the Asian and Oceania Olympic qualifiers at Tokyo from 5th to 7th May 2021.
The following rowers would be in contention:
Men's
Jakar Khan, Arjun Jat, Arvind Singh, Suni Attri
Women's
Khushpreet Kaur, Vidhya Sankat, Rukmani Dangi and Sona Kheer
Weightlifting
Jeremy Lalrinnunga
With the 2021 Junior World Weightlifting Championship set to be held from 23rd to 31st May 2021, young Indian lifter Jeremy Lalrinnunga would be in contention to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
