With the Olympics having only just concluded, Firstpost.com takes a look back at some of the best performances from Indian athletes at the Games.
The Tokyo Olympics 2020 were the most successful Games in the history of Indian sport, with seven medals clinched in Japan.
With the Olympics having only just concluded, Firstpost.com takes a look back at some of the best performances from Indian athletes at the Games:
Neeraj Chopra
It’ll come as absolutely no surprise to anyone that Neeraj Chopra is first on this list. The 23-year-old javelin thrower made history on the penultimate day of the Tokyo Olympics, when he threw 87.58m in his second attempt in the final, an effort that would see him comfortably take home India’s first-ever medal in track-and-field events. The fact that it was gold just made it even sweeter.
Chopra began the Olympics in impressive style, sealing qualification for the finals with his first and only throw of 86.65m, which was a full metre further than anyone else managed during qualifying. He headed into the final as a favourite to win the silver medal, but with Johannes Vetter remaining in the contest, a gold seemed like it could be slightly out of reach. However, as the final round progressed, it became apparent that this was to be Chopra’s day.
Chopra began with an excellent effort of 87.03m, which in itself would have ultimately been enough to win him gold. He then bettered that in his second attempt, throwing 87.58m, a distance which will be remembered by Indian fans for many years to come. Vetter was a far cry from his usual self, and the German couldn’t even make it into the second half of the finals. None of the other competitors came even close to displacing Chopra, and just like that, we witnessed the birth of another Indian sporting icon.
Aditi Ashok
Barring Chopra, Aditi Ashok’s wonderful run was possibly one of the most surprising and inspiring storylines to come out of Tokyo. The 23-year-old golfer went into the tournament with barely any attention on her, and up against players who were ranked many places above her, Ashok wasn’t expected to do very much.
To put things into perspective, Ashok is currently ranked World No 200. The opponent she was consistently trailing by only a few strokes over the course of Round 4, Nelly Korda, is ranked World No 1. The two golfers who ultimately overtook Ashok and finished in the silver and bronze positions by the smallest of margins, Inami Mone and Lydia Ko, are ranked World No 28 and 11 respectively.
India’s Aditi Ashok in action in the final round of the women’s golf event in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. AP
Yet for the majority of the tournament, all the way from Round 1 until the final few holes of Round 4, Ashok more than held her own against the leaders of the sport, and gave them a run for their money. After the tournament, she expressed her disappointment in missing out on a medal, but she did end up winning the hearts of a nation.
Mirabai Chanu
Mirabai Chanu was one of the favourites to bring back a medal before the tournament began, seeing as she had consistently been placing in medal positions at every competition she participated in. Mirabai also has the current world record in the clean and jerk for women’s 49kg weightlifting, which she set at the recently concluded Asian Weightlifting Championships. Mirabai was extremely impressive over the course of the tournament, lifting 87kg in the snatch portion of the contest and 115kg in the clean and jerk to win silver.
Ravi Kumar Dahiya
Ravi Kumar Dahiya started his campaign in fine form, beating both Colombia’s Tigreros Urbano (13-2) and Bulgarian Georgi Valentinov Vangelov (14-4) by technical superiority to set up a semi-final contest against Nurislam Sanayev of Kazakhstan. Ravi’s match against Sanayev was a real cracker of a contest, and the Indian was trailing for a significant portion of the match. Ravi won the bout by fall, despite being 9-7 down at the time, and entered the final of the men’s 57kg freestyle. In the final, he was pitted against familiar foe Zavur Uguev, a two-time world champion who has beaten Ravi before. Ravi put in a spirited performance, but it wasn’t to be, and he finished with a silver medal.
Hockey Men’s Team
The Indian men’s hockey team have gone from strength to strength in recent years, and ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, they were considered strong contenders to win a medal. They began their tournament with a promising win over New Zealand, but in their second match, the Indians would suffer defeat at the hands of Australia, who beat them by a massive 7-1 margin.
It was a difficult result to take for the Indians, but they did ever so well to bounce back from defeat and beat Spain, Argentina and Japan to seal their spot in the quarter-finals. In the quarters, India beat Great Britain, and then in the semi-finals, they were defeated by a strong Belgium side. The bronze medal match saw the square off against Germany, who they successfully beat to claim India’s first medal in the sport since Moscow 1980.
Hockey Women’s Team
In Rio 2016, the Indian women’s hockey team made their return to the Olympics after 36 long years. That, in itself, was an achievement to be proud of. However, that team was perhaps not best-prepared for the rigours of such a tournament, and they ended in bottom place, 12th out of 12 teams. Five years later, after once again having qualified for the Olympics, the expectations on the team were slightly higher, and boy, did they deliver!
Members of India women’s hockey team celebrate after beating Australia. AP
After losing the first three matches in a row, Rani Rampal and Co managed to eke out slender wins against Ireland and South Africa, thus qualifying for the knockout stages by the skin of their teeth. In the quarter-final, they came up against one of the tournament favourites in the shape of Australia, and managed to eliminate them with a hard-fought 1-0 victory to enter the semi-finals. In the semis, they lost to Argentina, and then, in the bronze medal contest, India did well to test Great Britain, but they eventually lost 4-3 and finished the tournament in fourth place.
Lovlina Borgohain
Lovlina Borgohain was far from a bonafide medal prospect heading into the Tokyo Olympics, but she soon created a buzz around her when she defeated veteran German Nadine Apetz in the pre-quarter-finals of the Welterweight category. Borgohain’s next opponent was Nien-Chin Chen of Chinese Taipei, whom she beat by split decision to enter the semi-finals and assure India of a medal.
In the semi-finals, Borgohain came up against the fearsome Turkish boxer Busenaz Surmeneli. The Turk was brutal in her approach, and despite Borgohain’s best efforts, she managed to take control of the fight and win it by unanimous decision, ensuring that Borgohain would return with bronze. Considering the fact the Surmeneli eventually went on to win gold, it’s incredible that she was posed a challenge at all, and Borgohain’s fighting performance at the Games will live on in our memories.
PV Sindhu
PV Sindhu was among the medal hopes for India at the Tokyo Olympics. Having won a silver in Rio 2016, everyone was expecting big things from the Indian shuttler, and she came good on those expectations, as she won a bronze medal to become the first-ever Indian woman to have won two Olympic medals. Sindhu was more or less dominant in every match she played in the tournament, and the only games she dropped came in that semi-final defeat at the hands of Tai Tzu-ying. Her impressive run saw her beat the likes of China’s He Bing Jiao, Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi and Mia Blichfeldt of Denmark.
Bajrang Punia
Wrestler Bajrang Punia was another major big medal contender for India, having only just won a silver medal in the Asian Wrestling Championships. However, with reports of a knee injury in the build-up to the Tokyo Olympics, there were doubts over his fitness heading into the contest. Bajrang began by beating Ernazar Akmataliev of Kyrgyzstan, after which he was able to get the better of Iran’s Morteza Ghiasi to enter the semi-finals. In the semi-finals, he would be beaten by Haji Aliyev of Azerbaijan, in a match where he looked a shadow of his usual self. That defeat meant he could only win the bronze and then, with a win over Daulat Niyazbekov, Bajrang secured India’s second wrestling medal of the Games.
Satish Kumar
Satish Kumar’s inclusion in this list might surprise many, but for anyone who watched his quarter-final tie against world champion Bakhodir Jalolov, it’s a no-brainer. Kumar went into that bout as a heavy underdog, and was outclassed by his opponent on pretty much every front. Uzbekistan’s Jalolov was taller, had a longer reach, was much more agile and was just a better boxer overall. In spite of the odds being stacked against him, however, Kumar gave it his best shot, throwing huge punches with incredible intensity. Ultimately, Kumar did end up getting beaten quite handily, but the boxer from India did manage to test his opponent and bow out of the competition on a high.
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