Mumbai: Indian sailors, the first representatives from the country to reach Tokyo, set up their boats for sail and had their first training session at the Enoshima Yacht Harbor, the venue for Olympic Games sailing competition, on Thursday.
Four sailors -- Nethra Kumanan and Vishnu Saravanan (laser class), KC Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar (49er class) -- reached Tokyo from their training bases in Europe and got into training on Thursday.
Their boats had reached the Japanese capital a few days ago and the sailors had to set them up after collecting them from the authorities concerned.
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While the sailors went about their training session, Indian officials, led by Chef de Mission B.P. Baishya, and contingent doctor Dr. Arun Basil, are preparing to receive the first group of athletes reaching there from India.
The first batch of 90 Indian athletes and officials will leave India on July 17 and reach Japan the next day morning.
Indian athletes are among those from 14 countries that have to undergo three days of extra rigorous quarantine as per new regulations imposed by local health authorities.
The Indian officials checked into the Games Village on Wednesday and reported to the Indian Olympic Association that all the facilities were "very good".
IOA president Narinder Batra said he has been informed that the issue of the dining hall during the extra quarantine "also stands resolved". He, however, did not give any details of how it has been resolved.
Olympic Countdown: Table Tennis, China's Fiefdom
A total of 172 players from 24 countries will compete in the table tennis competition at the Tokyo Olympic Games from July 24-August 6.
A late entrant into the Olympic Games, table tennis has been a regular on the roster since 1988 and has become one of the popular sports on the programme.
China has dominated the Olympic Games table tennis competitions, winning 28 out of the 32 gold medals for which competitions have been held. They are expected to dominate in Tokyo too.
Here is a look at some numbers from the Olympics table tennis competitions held so far:
1988 the only Olympics in which China failed to win a single medal in men's singles. No Chinese player reached the semis
8 gold medals in eight editions won by China in women's singles and men's doubles competitions
2008 edition in which team competitions were introduced for both men and women instead of doubles events, thus curbing China's domination
172 total players would compete in Tokyo
5 disciplines in which competition will be held in Tokyo -- men's and women's singles, men and women team competition, and mixed doubles
22 players have represented India in 8 Olympics