An assessment of India’s 10 major medal hopes:
Neeraj Chopra | Athletics, Men’s Javelin Throw: India’s finest athlete and single biggest medal hope.The Tokyo Olympics gold medalist has won every championship of note, including the prestigious Diamond League. A dodgy adductor muscle, though, is an area of slight concern.
Nikhat Zareen | Boxing, Women’s 50kg: The reigning queen of Indian boxing for the past two years, she has won back-to-back gold medals in the 2022 and 2023 World Championships. Nikhat is expected to win a medal.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty | Badminton, Men’s Doubles: 2023 was a landmark year for the talented duo. They won nearly everything, including the BWF World Tour Super 1000 title and the gold medal at Asian Gamesand climbed up to world No. 1 ranking. The fast courts in Paris will suit their aggressive style. If they can handle the pressure, they will finish on the podium.
PV Sindhu | Badminton, Women’s Singles: Silver in 2016 Rio, bronze in 2020 Tokyo, Sindhu is aiming to become the first Indian in badminton to win three Olympic medals. No Indian has won three individual Olympic medals either. However, she hasn’t been in the greatest of form lately and a tough draw is likely to pit her against defending champion Chen Yufei in the quarterfinals.
Antim Panghal | Wrestling, Women’s 53kg Freestyle: To her credit, she has won medals in every senior international tournament she has participated in, including a bronze in the 2023 World Championships. Fortunately for Antim, Japan’s unbeaten Akari Fujinami isn’t in her half and she stands a decent chance of making it to the final.
Aman Sehrawat | Wrestling, Men’s 57kg Freestyle: Speedy and agile, the debutant Olympian is in top form, having struck gold at both the 2022 Asian Games and the 2023 Asian Championships. At the selection trials for the qualifying events, he overcame childhood idol and Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Ravi Dahiya. A good bet to win a medal at Paris.
Sift Kaur Samra | Shooting: Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions: Shooting’s brightest hope. Samra’s strength is her incredible calm. The 22-year-old from Punjab clinched an individual gold and team silver at the Hangzhou Asian Games. Last year, she also broke the 50m rifle 3 positions’ world record. In the Asiad, she outperformed her nearest competitor by a staggering margin of 7.3 points.
Manu Bhaker | Shooting: Women’s 25m Pistol & 10m Air Pistol Team: It will be redemption time for Bhaker after Tokyo 2020 saw her in tears following a pistol malfunction. The 22-year-old will represent India in three separate events: women’s 25m air pistol, women’s 10m air pistol and 10m air pistol mixed team. Interestingly, her reunion with former India shooter Jaspal Rana as her coach last year has resulted in a sharp upswing in her scores.
Tarundeep Rai, Dheeraj Bommadevara, Pravin Jadhav | Archery, Men’s Recurve Team: India has never won an archery medal at the Olympics despite winning medals by the sackful at various World Cups. This time, the men’s recurve team seems the best bet. At the World Cup Stage 1 in April, the trio toppled reigning Olympic champions South Korea to grab the team gold.
Hockey | Men’s Team: The men’s hockey team ended a 40-year-long medal drought and sparked celebrations by winning a bronze in Tokyo. This was followed by gold at the Hangzhou Asiad, which booked its trip to Paris. India is in Pool B along with reigning Olympic champion Belgium, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand and Ireland. The team, led by Harmanpreet Singh, must finish among the top four to progress to the quarters.
Do You Know?
Kolkata-born sprinter Purma C Bannerjee was India’s first Olympic flag-bearer in Antwerp 1920.
