The Indian swimmers were considered for four available quotas after achieving the qualifying mark set by the Swimming Federation of India (SFI). The CWG swimming events will be held from July 29 to August 3.
It will be Sajan and Srihari's second successive CWG appearance. The duo, along with Virdhawal Khade, competed at Gold Coast 2018.
Sajan Prakash, who became the first Indian swimmer to directly qualify for the Olympics last year, will compete in the men's 50m, 100m and 200m butterfly events at Birmingham 2022, a olympics.com report said.
On the other hand, the 21-year old Srihari will swim in men's 50m freestyle, 100m and 200m backstroke events and Kushagra Rawat and Advait Page will compete in the men's freestyle categories.
Notably, India are yet to win a Commonwealth Games swimming medal.
Neeraj is currently working hard on his body, strength as well honing his skills with his coach Klaus Bartonietz at the training base in Turkey.
On the other hand, his rivals -- world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada and Tokyo Olympics silver winner Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic -- had come up with 93.07m and 90.88m throws respectively in the Doha Diamond League on May 13.
However, the star Indian athlete, who has a personal best of 88.07m and won gold in Tokyo Olympics with a throw of 87.58m, doesn't want to take pressure and instead wishes to give his best.
"There is no fixed target for any specific event, I try not to take that pressure on myself. Peters and Valdech must be working hard and so they are doing well. Yes, there is the aim of crossing 90m which I have always said and I am hopeful it will happen this year in some competition," Chopra said in a virtual media interaction.
"I know competition is tough and growing. It also depends on the day's performance, weather and other conditions, how we manage them. I normally don't think about surpassing anybody's performance or record. I just go out to give my best," he added.
The 24-year old hasn't taken part in any competition since winning gold in Tokyo on August 7 last year. His first competition of the season will be at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland on June 14, followed by the Kuortane Games four days later. Chopra is also planning to feature in the top-flight Diamond League Meeting in Stockholm on June 30 before heading for the June 15-24 World Championships in Eugene, USA.
Though Neeraj doesn't want to rush into things, he is hoping to do well in the World Championships.
"I don't have to hit 90m straightway, 86 or 87m at the start of the season will be fine. My main target this year is to do well in the World Championships. Then there is the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham (July 28 to August 8) where I will defend my gold (won in 2018 CWG)," he said.
The athlete also spoke about his training and preparations for the upcoming season.
"The off season was good. I have started throwing training, two throwing sessions in a week. I also do sprinting, lifting weights etc. I have started working on my technique, on my runway, picking up speed and blocking," said Neeraj.
"I don't need to make major changes, mostly focussing on my technique, which angle I have to throw, on my blocking, from where I have to start my runway. I don't want to get injured while doing major changes," he added.
The golden boy also mentioned that his goal is to remain injury free and wants to peak at the right time.
"My aim is also to end the season injury free. I am starting 40-45 days before the World Championships so that I can peak there. I am going to have three events next month in the space of just over two weeks," said Chopra.
"Initially, I had planned to compete in Doha Diamond League (May 13) but dropped later. I could have started a bit early had we known that Asian Games would be postponed," he added.
The measure comes just weeks before the country hosts the Winter Olympics in Beijing, roughly 1,000 kilometers (6210 miles) to the west.
There was no word on whether the virus was the newly surging omicron variant or the far more common delta. China has recorded just seven omicron cases four in the southern manufacturing center of Guangzhou, two in the southern city of Changsha and one in the northern port of Tianjin.
China has also been dealing with a substantial outbreak in several cities in the eastern province of Zhejiang near Shanghai, although isolation measures there have been more narrowly targeted.
Authorities have adopted strict pandemic control measures under their policy of seeking to drive new transmissions to zero, leading to frequent lockdowns, universal masking and mass testing. While the policy has not been entirely successful while leading to massive disruptions in travel and trade, Beijing credits it with largely containing the spread of the virus.
The Xi'an restrictions are some of the harshest since China in 2020 imposed a strict lockdown on more than 11 million people in and around the central city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus was first detected in late 2019.
Xi'an on Thursday reported another 63 locally transmitted cases, pushing the city's total to at least 211 over the past week. Xi'an is the capital of Shaanxi province, famed for its imperial relics, as well as a major center of industry.
We are not receiving any new guests and no present guests are allowed to leave the hotel," said a receptionist at the Hanting Hotel in Xi'an, who only gave her surname, Li.
Including the guests, we are required to take a test once every two days." Li said. There will be an impact on our business and we have no idea how long it will last.
The owner of a local bookshop said he had closed 10 days before fearing the worsening of the epidemic situation."
I am now staying at home watching television." said the owner, who gave only his surname, Xiao.
Movement outside his compound required permission from the local neighborhood committee, he said. I think the situation will get better eventually, and I don't worry at all because we have the government behind us, Xiao said.
One person from each household will be allowed out every two days to buy household necessities, a government order said. It took effect at midnight Wednesday, with no word on when it might be lifted.
China has reported 4,636 deaths among a total of 100,644 cases of COVID-19.
Patnaik made the announcement at a felicitation programme for Indian Men's and Women's Hockey teams in Bhubaneswar.
"The teams have scripted history with their brilliant performance at the Tokyo Olympics," the chief minister said, handing over a cash award of Rs 10 lakh to each player.
Patnaik also announced a cash award of Rs 5 lakh for each support staff of the two teams.
The state government started sponsoring the national hockey teams in 2018.
The Odisha government will continue to support the teams for another 10 years in recognition of their achievement and potential to be the top teams in the world, Patnaik said.
In return, each team was gifted a framed jersey autographed by the players to the chief minister.
"You made us all so proud with your spirited fight at Tokyo. These are deeply emotional moments for India to witness the revival of Indian Hockey," Patnaik said.
The way the entire country was glued to the screens to watch the hockey matches, it is quite evident that there is something more to hockey than just sports, the chief minister said.
"We, in Odisha, are elated that our partnership with Hockey India has led to this great achievement for the country. I believe Odisha and hockey are destined to become synonymous. We will continue our partnership with Hockey India. Odisha will support the Indian Hockey teams for 10 more years," he said.
The ceremony opened with a video that looked back on the 17 days of events and competition.
Fireworks went off at the stadium to mark the beginning of the final chapter in which the organisers "expressed gratitude for the countless individuals who lent us their strength and helped us make it to the Closing Ceremony."
This was followed by Japan's Crown Prince Akishino and the International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach's appearance in the official stand.
The focus of the opening video was not records and scores but the valiant efforts of all the athletes, who competed in a strictly enforced bio-bubble, undergoing daily COVID-19 tests.
The salient message of the ceremony was that the Games will open the door to a brighter future.
India Sign Off Tokyo Olympics With Promise Of Brighter Future
It started with a bang, tapered off in the middle and then ended with the kind of spectacular fireworks that make historic events grand. India was quite literally on a roller-coaster during the Tokyo Olympics.
So, there was the first medal in track-and-field which also happened to be the first gold in 13 years, the first medal in hockey in 41 years, the first silver in weightlifting, the first boxing medal in nine years, the first woman with two Olympic medals, the most number of debutants ending up on the podium, and the most number of medals ever won, it all happened in one single Games for India.
And it all happened at the Games which carried the tag of troubled long before the opening ceremony, thanks to the unrelenting COVID-19 pandemic. It all happened after one year of the shutdown that sent most training and competition schedules haywire.
Mighty impressive? No, it was way more than that.
India's campaign at the Olympic Games was as much a story of human resilience as of sporting excellence and it came to the fore on the opening day of competitions itself starting with Mirabai Chanu.
The Manipuri weightlifter stands a mere 4'11" but lifted 202kg (87+115) to fetch a silver and put India on the medals tally, showing the world why size doesn't and shouldn't matter.
In her moment of glory, the phenomenal weightlifter was a personification of perseverance. She had left the same stage in tears and dejection five years ago, failing to log a single legal lift.
And there she was smiling ear to ear on July 24 becoming India's first silver-medallist in weightlifting.
It was just the kind of start that the country needed but what followed was a lull.
Some top contenders bowed out without making an impact, the biggest disappointment being the 15-strong shooting contingent.
A lot many questions about their preparations came up after only one, Saurabh Chaudhary, managed to make the finals and none could get on the podium.
Nobody had a clear answer as to what went wrong even as stories of factionalism, ego battles and petty differences began to crop up from different corners.
It seemed that the Indian campaign had hit the disaster note early and would not be able to recover.
But, along came P V Sindhu and put things back on track with her bronze.
The seasoned Hyderabadi shuttler was looking to better the silver she won in the 2016 Games. She couldn't do that but managed to become the first Indian woman with two Olympic medals.
While she was at it, the two hockey teams also showed stomach for the fight after early setbacks.
And in the boxing ring, an heir apparent to the iconic M C Mary Kom began to take shape in Lovlina Borgohain (69kg).
The 23-year-old from Assam ended with a bronze on August 4 as women got down to the task of rebuilding momentum in the Indian camp. And it worked out quite spectacularly.
The very next day, Ravi Kumar Dahiya became only the second Indian wrestler to clinch silver at the Games but the first to do so on debut.
Hours before that came the long-awaited hockey medal, a bronze worth its weight and wait in gold.
Manpreet Singh and his inspired teammates scripted a comeback to remember against Germany in the play-off to sow the seeds of hockey's resurgence in the country for a generation that grew up hearing tales of greatness while watching a painful slump in the sport.
There were tears, joy, nostalgia and above all a sense of renewed pride because hockey was India's sport before it declined and cricket took over the mind space.
The stage seemed set for a grand finale and it was with Neeraj Chopra's javelin striking gold, India's first in 13 years overall and the first in athletics.
Bajrang Punia's resolve paid off for him with a bronze on the wrestling mat as the debutant grudgingly accepted the medal after falling out of the expected gold medal contention.
Then there were those who were hit by the curse of the fourth-place finish. Their agony was a story in itself as golfer Aditi Ashok and the women's hockey team ended within touching distance of the podium but not quite there.
So, India's performance at the Games was bigger than the unprecedented seven medals.
It reflected confidence, best personified by Chopra when he owned the Olympic stadium with his self-assured gait during the final in which the 90m man -- the great Johannes Vetter -- wilted.
In Tokyo, the Indians who did well were not surprising anyone, they were living up to the billing earned over the last three years.
The surprise was some of them falling short like the shooters and the archers.
And in that lay the country's story of progress in sports. India is not quite there yet but is certainly inching closer one step at a time.
Chopra, who is a Subedar with 4 Rajputana Rifles in the Indian Army, created history after he clinched the gold in the javelin throw with an attempt of 87.58 metres, becoming only the second Indian after Abhinav Bindra to win an individual gold medal at the Olympics.
Congratulating the ace javelin thrower, who became the first athlete in Independent India to win a medal in a track & field at the Olympics, Rajnath Singh said: "Gold medal in javelin throw event at the Olympics is unprecedented. Proud of him for creating history."
He further stated that the golden victory of Subedar Neeraj Chopra at the Olympics has brought laurels for the Indian Army, adding that he performed like a true soldier at the Olympics.
"It is indeed a historic and proud moment for the entire country, including the Indian armed forces! Many congratulations to him," the Defence Minister stated.
Congratulations to India’s ace Javelin Thrower, @Neeraj_chopra1 for winning the prestigious Track and Field medal for the first time in the history of Independent India. Gold medal in the Javelin throw event at the #Olympics is unprecedented. Proud of him for creating history!
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) August 7, 2021
The Golden victory of Subedar Neeraj Chopra at the Olympic brings laurels for the Indian Army. He performed like a true soldier at the Olympics. It is indeed a historic and proud moment for the entire country including the Indian Armed Forces! Many congratulations to him! pic.twitter.com/nMfwXT9Tfy
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) August 7, 2021
Indian Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane and all ranks of the force also congratulated Chopra for his historic achievement.
Chopra set a new benchmark in Tokyo, holding off two athletes from the Czech Republic to finish atop the podium. Jakub Vadlejch took silver while former world champion Vitezslav Vesely won the bronze.
In 2018, Chopra became the first athlete from India to win gold in javelin throw both at the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games.
Star javelin thrower Neeraj became only the second Indian to win an individual gold in the Olympics, out-performing the field by quite a distance to notch up the first track-and-field Games medal for the country.
The 23-year-old farmer's son from Khandra village near Panipat in Haryana produced a second-round throw of 87.58m in the finals to stun the athletics world and end India's 100-year wait for a track and field medal in the Olympics.
Congratulatory messages poured in from different quarters for the gold medallist.
President Ram Nath Kovind congratulated Neeraj and extended his heartiest congratulations through his Tweet. He Tweeted: "Unprecedented win by Neeraj Chopra!Your javelin gold breaks barriers and creates history. You bring home first ever track and field medal to India in your first Olympics. Your feat will inspire our youth. India is elated! Heartiest congratulations!"
Unprecedented win by Neeraj Chopra!Your javelin gold breaks barriers and creates history. You bring home first ever track and field medal to India in your first Olympics. Your feat will inspire our youth. India is elated! Heartiest congratulations!
— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) August 7, 2021
Elated Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended a congratulatory message to the first gold medallist from India in Tokyo Olympics 2020 event through his Tweet.
His Tweet read: "History has been scripted at Tokyo! What @Neeraj_chopra1 has achieved today will be remembered forever. The young Neeraj has done exceptionally well. He played with remarkable passion and showed unparalleled grit. Congratulations to him for winning the Gold. #Tokyo2020"
History has been scripted at Tokyo! What @Neeraj_chopra1 has achieved today will be remembered forever. The young Neeraj has done exceptionally well. He played with remarkable passion and showed unparalleled grit. Congratulations to him for winning the Gold. #Tokyo2020 https://t.co/2NcGgJvfMS
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 7, 2021
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik also congratulated Neeraj through his Tweet. His post read: "A golden throw! Congratulations #NeerajChopra on historic first-ever track & field #Gold medal for India in #Javelin throw at #Tokyo2020. The country is so proud of you. With this, you took India to its highest ever medal tally at the #Olympics. You will inspire generations."
A golden throw!
— Naveen Patnaik (@Naveen_Odisha) August 7, 2021
Congratulations #NeerajChopra on historic first-ever track & field #Gold medal for India in #Javelin throw at #Tokyo2020. The country is so proud of you. With this, you took India to its highest ever medal tally at the #Olympics. You will inspire generations. pic.twitter.com/fQ5TAeI7Bg
Chopra won the country's seventh medal and first gold in this Olympics and joined shooter Abhinav Bindra (2008 Beijing Games) as India's individual gold winners in the showpiece.
With this, the country surpassed the previous best haul of six medal achieved in the 2012 London Games.
Czech Republic throwers Jakub Vadlejch (86.67m) and Vitezslav Vesely (85.44m) took the silver and bronze respectively.
Chopra came into the final as a medal contender after topping the qualification round on Wednesday with a stunning first round throw of 86.59m.
But few would have thought he would bludgeon his way to gold in such a dominant fashion at the grandest of the stage.
Season leader and pre-tournament gold favourite Johannes Vetter of Germany, who had thrown the javelin to 90m plus distances seven times between April and June, was eliminated after the first three throws as he was placed ninth with a best effort of 82.52m.
Top eight after the first three throws get three more attempts while the remaining four in the 12-man final are eliminated.
With his fifth career best throw, Chopra has done something which the likes of late Milkha Singh and P T Usha could not do in 1960 and 1984 editions.
No Indian has won a medal in athletics since the country started taking part in the Games in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium.
Three track and field athletes were part of the five-member team -- the other two being wrestlers -- in that Games.
The International Olympic Committee still credits Norman Pritchard's 200m and 200m hurdles silver medals in the 1900 Paris Olympics to India though various researches, including the records of then IAAF (now World Athletics), showed that he had competed for Great Britain.
In any case, Pritchard was not an Indian and the country's first Olympic participation under a national Olympic body was in 1920.
Since then, track and field athletes have been an integral part of Indian contingents in almost all the editions of the Games.
(With Inputs From PTI)
Bajrang, who had lost to Haji Aliyev of Azerbaijan in the semifinals on Friday, came up with a tactical bout as he took early lead in the first period and capitalised with counterattacks when his Kazakh rival, a two-time medallist at the World Championships, went on the attack.
Bajrang's bronze medal took India's tally in the Tokyo Olympics to six medals -- two silver and four bronze. India thus tied for its best medal haul in the Olympics at 2012 London when they won two silver and four bronze.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded Punia's achievement at the Olympics. Expressing his happiness, he Tweeted: Delightful news from #Tokyo2020! Spectacularly fought @BajrangPunia . Congratulations to you for your accomplishment, which makes every Indian proud and happy.
Delightful news from #Tokyo2020! Spectacularly fought @BajrangPunia. Congratulations to you for your accomplishment, which makes every Indian proud and happy.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 7, 2021
Meanwhile, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik also congratulated the Olympic medallist through his Tweet. His congratulatory message read: "Well done! Congratulations #BajrangPunia on securing the #Bronze medal, on his debut Olympics, for #TeamIndia at #Tokyo2020 with a comprehensive victory in men’s freestyle 65kg #wrestling. Wish him all the best for future. #Cheer4India"
Well done!
— Naveen Patnaik (@Naveen_Odisha) August 7, 2021
Congratulations #BajrangPunia on securing the #Bronze medal, on his debut Olympics, for #TeamIndia at #Tokyo2020 with a comprehensive victory in men’s freestyle 65kg #wrestling. Wish him all the best for future. #Cheer4India
The team comprising Muhammed Anas, Noah Nirmal Tom, Arokia Rajiv and Amoj Jacob finished fourth in the second heat at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium with a timing of 3:00.25.
Italy (2:58.91) and Netherlands (2:59.06), who ran in the first heat, took the slots for the 'fastest losers' combined from both heats to reach the final.
Poland emerged as the winners of the second heat with a timing of 2:58.55. Jamaica finished second with 2:59.29 while Belgium came third with 2:59.37.
Anas clocked a timing of 45.67 in the first leg and moved ahead of South Africa and Colombia. Noah ran 45.06 in the second leg while Rajiv clocked 44.84 in the third leg.
Jacob made an incredible effort in the last leg to move from sixth to finish fourth, but fell short of making the final.
Overall, India were placed ninth behind the eight finalists including the USA (2:57.77), Botswana (2:58.33) and Trinidad & Tobago (2:58.60) from the first heat.
The Indian team bettered Qatar's gold medal timing of 3:00.56 set in the 2018 Asian Games at Jakarta.
The men's relay team was ranked 13th out of the 16 teams to make the cut for the Olympics.
They had achieved a season best timing of 3:01.89 at the Inter-State Athletics meet in Patiala held in the last week of June to improve their ranking.
Dahiya, who had reached the final by beating Nurislam Sanayev of Kazakhstan with a last-minute fall in the semifinal, found Uguev, a two-time world champion, too strong and too determined to win the gold. The Russian won early points and then defended strongly, without giving Dahiya many chances.
Dahiya won India's second silver medal in Olympic wrestling after Sushil Kumar who won in 66kg freestyle in the London Olympics in 2012.
India has won five medals, including two silver, at the Tokyo Olympics so far.
This was two-time Asian champion Dahiya's second straight loss to Zavur Uguev, a two-time world champion, in as many meetings. The two met in the semi-finals of the 2019 World Championships in Nur Sultan and the Indian wrestler lost in the final seconds of the bout in a closely fought contest.
Dahiya, who hails from Nahri village in Sonipat district of Haryana, was initially trained by Asian Games gold-medallist Satpal Singh at the Chhatrasal Stadium in north Delhi. Old-timers at the stadium would recall 'ow Dahiya's father Rakesh Dahiya, a small farmer, would travel every day from their village to the stadium to deliver fresh milk and fruits, which were part of th' wrestler's diet, for more than a decade. Those visits proved successful as Dahiya made his father proud on Thursday by winning the silver medal.
At the Makuhari Messe hall, Dahiya began the final cautiously as he was aw're of Uguev's strength and tried to assess how ready his opponent was before launching his attack. However, Uguev was strong in his defence and turned the tables on the Indian, and claimed two points.
With the bench encouraging Dahiya, a bronze-medallist in the World Championships, and gold medallist in the Asian Championships, to match th' ROC wrestler's pace, the Indian grappler dipped further to find a hold and turn Uguev around for his first takedown.
But Uguev was quick to turn around and return the favour as they headed into the break with the reigning world champion leading 4-2.
Though Uguev seemed visibly tired in the second period, he didn't allow Ravi Dahiya a clear opening to make a move. Ravi himself was quite tired but made a last-ditch effort.
With the clock running down, the Indian wrestler went for the kill and scored two points. But Uguev was quick to counter-attack and bagged three points to win the bout.
Punia, who had lost to USA's David Taylor in the semifinals on Wednesday, had a one-point lead going into the last minute of the bout but let it slip as he came under attack and lost the bout 4-2. Having expended all his energy in keeping Amine at bay, Punia looked exhausted and could not defend well as the San Marino grappler launched a desperate attack in the final seconds.
Punia's coach raised an objection over the three points awarded against his ward but the table officials, after watching the action on a monitor, ruled in favour of his opponent.
Punia, a world junior champion and a silver medallist in the senior World Championships in 2019, tried his best against Amine as both grapplers tried for a breakthrough in the first part of the bout. He managed a two-point takedown and though Amine reduced the margin by one point soon after, the Indian did not get any further chances. He was cautioned by the referee for not trying enough and though Punia avoided any action by being more proactive in defense, he could not unleash any attacks in the last part of the bout.
His rival however managed to bring him down with a quick ankle lock in the final minutes and claimed three points that ended Punia's hopes.
Vinesh Phogat Bows Out Of Olympics, Bronze Medallist Wrestler Sakshi Malik Expresses Disappointment
Olympic bronze medallist wrestler Sakshi Malik on Thursday expressed her disappointment over India's strong medal contender Vinesh Phogat's shocking defeat in the quarterfinal of the 53 kg category at Tokyo 2020.
Vinesh was knocked out 3-9 by Vanesa Kaladzinskaya of Belarus at the Makuhari Messe Hall on Thursday morning.
The Haryana grappler looked off-colour during the last-eight clash against the Belarusian wrestler. She struggled to break Kaladzinskaya's solid defense. The loss, however, was not end of medal hope as repechage remained a possibility.
However, Kaladzinskaya then lost to China's Pang Qianyu in the semifinal, ending Vinesh's Tokyo Olympics campaign.
Disheartened with the news, Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi told IANS: "I couldn't hold back my tears. I just saw the semifinal match and I can't tell you how I am feeling right now. This is our bad day in wrestling. In Rio, Vinesh got injured and she was so hurt at that time. But she then made a strong comeback and worked really hard for Tokyo Olympics. I can't imagine how she would be feeling right now.
"She was our strong contender. We are still unable to believe that she has lost. This is really a very bad day of my life. I will speak to Vinesh now," said an emotional Sakshi.
Vinesh had started her campaign on a strong note, winning her opening bout 7-1 against Sweden's Sofia Magdalena Mattsson, the 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medallist.
In a pulsating bronze play-off, India edged past Germany 5-4 to earn a podium finish at the Games after 41 years.
"Historic! A day that will be etched in the memory of every Indian. Congratulations to our Men's Hockey Team for bringing home the Bronze," tweeted Modi.
"With this feat, they have captured the imagination of the entire nation, especially our youth. India is proud of our Hockey team."
Historic! A day that will be etched in the memory of every Indian.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 5, 2021
Congratulations to our Men’s Hockey Team for bringing home the Bronze. With this feat, they have captured the imagination of the entire nation, especially our youth. India is proud of our Hockey team. 🏑
India's only individual gold medallist at the Olympics and ace shooter Abhinav Bindra also cherished the "proud moment".
"An emotional moment for the entire nation, a moment of pride. The long wait has ended! Congratulations to the Indian Men's Hockey team for their splendid achievement," tweeted Bindra.
An emotional moment for the entire nation, a moment of pride. The long wait has ended! Congratulations to the Indian Men's Hockey team for their splendid achievement. @TheHockeyIndia
— Abhinav A. Bindra OLY (@Abhinav_Bindra) August 5, 2021
Iconic cricketer Sachin Tendulkar also hailed the hockey team and praised the efforts of goal-keeper PR Sreejesh for saving a penalty corner in the dying moments of the game.
"Congratulations to each & every member of the hockey contingent on winning the #Bronze (medal) for India! A fantastic hard fought win. The penalty corner save by Sreejesh in the dying moments of the game was amazing. Entire (India) is immensely proud! ," tweeted Tendulkar.
Congratulations to each & every member of the hockey contingent on winning the #Bronze for India!
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) August 5, 2021
A fantastic hard fought win…The penalty corner save by Sreejesh in the dying moments of the game was amazing.👏🏻
Entire 🇮🇳 is immensely proud!#Hockey #Tokyo2020 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/7Rtko9kS63
Ace tennis player Mahesh Bhupathi was impressed with the approach of the Indian players.
"Lion Hearts!!! Can't say enough about the attitude, first coming back and then holding on. Congrats @TheHockeyIndia on making history. Truly emotional moment for the country. @allthatglittersisnotgold#Olympis, tweeted Bhupathi.
Lion Hearts !!!! can’t say enough about the attitude , first coming back and then holding on . Congrats @TheHockeyIndia on making history. Truly emotional moment for the country. #allthatglittersisnotgold #Olympics
— Mahesh Bhupathi (@Maheshbhupathi) August 5, 2021
Sports Minister Anurag Thakur too congratulated the Men in Blue' for their performance.
"A BILLION CHEERS for INDIA! Boys, you've done it! We can't keep calm! #TeamIndia! Our Men's Hockey Team dominated and defined their destiny in the Olympics history books today, yet again! We are extremely proud of you! #Tokyo 2020," tweeted Thakur.
A BILLION CHEERS for INDIA 🇮🇳!
— Anurag Thakur (@ianuragthakur) August 5, 2021
Boys, you’ve done it !
We can’t keep calm !#TeamIndia 🥉!
Our Men’s Hockey Team dominated and defined their destiny in the Olympic history books today, yet again !
We are extremely proud of you!#Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/n78BqzcnpK
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, whose government has supported both the hockey teams, congratulated the team.
"Brilliant in Blue. Congratulations Indian Men's #Hockey Team on the spectacular victory to give us an Olympic medal after 41 long years. This historic win at #Tokyo 2020 will inspire generation of sportspersons. All the very best for the future. #Cheer4India @thehockeyindia," tweeted Patnaik.
Brilliant in Blue 👏
— Naveen Patnaik (@Naveen_Odisha) August 5, 2021
Congratulations Indian Men’s #Hockey Team on the spectacular victory to give us an Olympic medal after 41 long years. This historic win at #Tokyo2020 will inspire generation of sportspersons. All the very best for future. #Cheer4India @thehockeyindia
India cricketers Shreyas Iyer, Harmanpreet Kaur also savoured the moment.
"Terrific achievement and one for the history books! What a wonderful team! Congratulation's boys," tweeted Iyer.
Terrific achievement and one for the history books! What a wonderful team! Congratulations boys 🇮🇳👏 pic.twitter.com/CArtZVH4LF
— Shreyas Iyer (@ShreyasIyer15) August 5, 2021
Kaur tweeted, "41 years was a long wait. Well done boys @manpreetpawar07 and Team. You've been stunning on the field. We are all so proud of you. Jai Hind."
41 years was a long wait . 🥉
— Harmanpreet Kaur (@ImHarmanpreet) August 5, 2021
Well done boys @manpreetpawar07 and Team . You’ve been stunning on the field .
We are all so proud of you .
Jai Hind 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/YZgAevDYaE
Former India pacer RP Singh said the bronze medal was no less than a gold.
"Bronze looks like gold as it has come after 41 long years. Proud of our boys!," tweeted RP.
Bronze looks like gold as it has come after 41 long years. Proud of our boys!
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) August 5, 2021
Noted boxer Vijender Singh, himself a former Olympic medallist, tweeted, "Well done boys."
Well done boys 🇮🇳
— Vijender Singh (@boxervijender) August 5, 2021
From there to hosting the prestigious FIH Hockey World Cup Hockey tournament in Bhubaneswar in 2018 was but a logical progression. The ground for the marquee event, of course, had already been laid with the Champions Trophy in 2014 and the Hockey World League finals in 2017. And after winning the rights to host the Hockey World Cup for the second time running in 2023, the first time any state has got the right to host the event twice in succession, Odisha has truly emerged as the newest hockey hub in the country. In between, the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar has also hosted the FIH Men’s series finals and the Olympic hockey qualifiers in 2019 and the FIH Pro league in 2020, further emphasizing the state’s growing importance in the international hockey map. Besides sprucing up the infrastructure, the Odisha government, in collaboration with the Tata group, has also set up a high performance centre at the Kalinga Stadium in 2018. As many as 2,500 young, upcoming players are being trained at the 12 grassroots centres set up to unearth and groom young hockey talent.
However, the Kalinga Stadium emerging as the hub of hockey in Odisha was a bit of an anachronism because it is not in the ‘catchment area’ of young hockey talent. Hockey is not played in areas close to it. For decades, almost all the players from Odisha who have gone on to sport the national colours have come from the predominantly tribal district of Sundargarh. Former Indian captain Dillip Tirkey, former internationals Lazarus Barla, Ignace Tirkey and Prabodh Tirkey, current members of the team Birendra Lakra and Amit Rohidas are some of the illustrious names who have honed their skills on the rugged natural turf of the district. It is the unquestioned cradle of hockey in Odisha, which has provided a few players for almost every Indian hockey team for as long as one can remember. For thousands of young Adivasi boys and girls in the district, hockey is a way of life. As a wag commented once, children here ‘learn to walk with hockey sticks’! No wonder the ‘Khasi’ tournaments (where the winning side gets a goat to feast on by way of prize) organized in the villages of the district are a big draw for the people.
It is heartening that after decades of apathy, Sundargarh is finally getting its due. The Birsa Munda hockey stadium coming up at Rourkela, which is co-hosting the 2023 World Cup Hockey, will be the biggest in the country with a seating capacity of 20,000. More importantly, synthetic turfs are being laid in each of the 17 blocks in the district to give budding players the feel of international standard turf from an early age to prepare them better for international competitions.
Together, the multiple – and multifarious – initiatives being taken are expected to throw up more hockey players who can represent the national side. One can look forward to a time in the none too distant future when players from Odisha would constitute a sizeable section of the Indian hockey team, like Punjab has been doing all these years.
Apart from Sundargarh, Odisha never really had a hockey culture. But thanks to the initiatives of the Odisha government over the last few years, the state is beginning to witness early signs of such a culture gaining ground.
(DISCLAIMER: This is an opinion piece. The views expressed are the author’s own and have nothing to do with OTV’s charter or views. OTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)
Dahiya, the reigning Asian champion and World Championships bronze medallist in his weight category, dictated the terms early on and kept Tigreros under pressure.
The Indian soon got rewarded as he executed a single-leg takedown to go 2-0 up. Tigreros, a two-time Pan American silver medallist, however, responded with a fine two-point move of his own to level up the scores.
In the closing exchanges of the first period, Dahiya went ahead again as he took a one-point lead.
In the opening exchanges of the second period, Dahiya used his nimble footwork and speed to good effect to overwhelmed the Colombian.
Dahiya landed attack after attack and went 13-2 up, winning the bout by technical superiority with minutes to spare. In wrestling, building up a 10-point lead over the opponent results in a victory by technical superiority.
Dahiya will take on Bulgaria's Georgi Vangelov, who won his opening bout against Algeria's Abdelhak Kherbache by fall, in the quarterfinals.
Australia defeated Germany 3-1 in the second semi-final at the Oi Hockey Stadium on Tuesday.
India had lost to world champions Belgium 2-5 in the first semi-final earlier in the day.
Australia have won their lone Olympic Games gold medal in 2004 in Athens while Belgium had lost to Argentina 2-4 in the final in 2016 in Rio.
On Tuesday, Tim Brand (7th min), Blake Govers (27th min) and Lachlan Sharp (58th min) scored for Australia while Lukas Windfeder scored the lone goal for Germany in 10th minute.
Australia had gone in lead early but Germany responded within three minutes. Govers made it 2-1 for the Kookaburras just three minutes before half-time.
Germany fought well in the third quarter but the Australian defence held strong. Germany had 12 shots at the goal while they made 20 circle penetrations while Australia had nine shots at the goal and just 10 circle entries.
Germany enjoyed 53 percent possession while Australia had 47. Germany earned six penalty corners and converted one while Australia capitalised on one of its two penalty corners.
India scored three field goals through Dilpreet Singh (7th minute), Gurjant Singh (16th) and Hardik Singh (57th) to seal the win for the eight-time Olympic champions.
The lone goal for Great Britain was scored by Sam Ward in the 45th minute.
Even though India's last of the eight Olympic gold medals came way back in 1980 Moscow Games, there were no semifinals in that edition as only six teams participated in the event.
The last time India featured in the semifinals of the Olympics was in 1972 Munich Games where they lost 0-2 to arch-rivals Pakistan.
India will take on world champions Belgium in the semifinal on Tuesday.
Belgium defeated Spain 3-1 in another quarterfinal to seal their place in the last four round.
The other semifinal of the men's hockey competition will be played between Australia and Germany.
In the two years between April 2017 and March 2019, 100 per cent of the metals required to manufacture the approximately 5,000 gold, silver and bronze medals were extracted from small electronic devices contributed by people from all over Japan.
Every medal being awarded to athletes during the Games is made from recycled metals.
The Japanese government had to launch a two-year nationwide campaign to collect ample recycled material for the production of 5,000 bronze, silver, and gold medals for the Tokyo Olympics, which commenced on July 23.
While the concept of making medals from discarded laptops, mobile phones and other electronic commodities is not new, the Japanese took it to an altogether different level, enlisting the support of nearly 90 per cent of the country's cities, towns and villages.
In the end, the country was able to produce 32kg of gold, 3,492kg silver and approximately 2200kg of bronze from nearly 80 tonnes of electronic devices, which then went into the crafting of the glittering Olympic medals.
During the Rio 2016 Olympics, about 30 per cent of the gold and silver for the medals came from recycled material extracted from car parts and mirror surfaces.
The Tokyo 2020 project enlisted, among other sectors, municipal corporations, companies, schools and local communities across the country.
"The campaign called on the public to donate obsolete electronic devices for the project," Tokyo 2020 spokesperson Hitomi Kamizawa was quoted as saying by dw.com. "We are grateful for everyone's cooperation."
In April 2017 after months of planning, the project was launched with great fanfare, with the Japanese government posting a two-minute video of the process -- from collection of discarded electronic goods, separation of precious metals and the final crafting of the medals -- on the completion of the project in 2019.
"The #Tokyo2020 Medal Project aims towards an innovative future for the world. From April 2017 to March 2019, small electronic devices including mobile phones were collected to produce the Olympic and Paralympic medals," the Tokyo 2020 organisers had tweeted following the successful completion of the project.
Renet Japan Group devised a "waste management movement" for the production of the medals.
"We developed a waste management movement for the medal project with the cooperation of many stakeholders, from the Japanese government to local communities," said Toshio Kamakura, director of Renet Japan Group.
The task was not simple as it involved thousands of hours of extraction followed by the precious metals being moulded into Junichi Kawnishi's design concept.
Meanwhile, the Tokyo 2020 organisers made an interesting observation about their medals -- which have been made by extracting precious metals from discarded mobile phones and laptops -- and within minutes the tweet had gone viral.
The organisers posted a picture of an athlete smiling and biting her gold medal, and wrote, "We just want to officially confirm that the #Tokyo2020 medals are not edible! Our medals are made from material recycled from electronic devices donated by the Japanese public.
"So, you don't have to bite them... but we know you still will (Face with tongue) #UnitedByEmotion," read the tweet.
Sindhu defeated China's He Bingjao 21-13, 21-15 at the Musashino Forest Sports Plaza to add a second medal to India's tally at the Olympics.
It is Sindhu's second medal at the Olympics after she won a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. She also becomes the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals.
With Sindhu's bronze, India has now equalled its tally of 2016 Rio Olympics.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hailed ace badminton player P V Sindhu as India's pride after she won bronze in the Tokyo Olympics.
He tweeted, "We are all elated by the stellar performance by P V Sindhu. Congratulations to her on winning the Bronze at @Tokyo2020. She is India's pride and one of our most outstanding Olympians."
Modi also spoke to Sindhu on phone to congratulate her.
The reigning world champion became only the second Indian and the country's first woman to win two Olympic medals, securing a bronze after a straight-game win over world No. 9 He Bing Jiao of China in the badminton women's singles third-place play-off.
She had secured a silver in the 2016 Rio Games.
Wrestler Sushil Kumar is the first and only other Indian to win two Olympic medals, following up his bronze at 2008 Beijing with a silver at the 2012 London edition.
Rajput, Tomar India's Last Medal Hopes In Shooting On Last Day Of Competition
Former Navy man Sanjeev Rajput, now into his third Olympics, and young Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, who is on his Olympic debut, will look to bring cheers to the Indian shooting contingent in Tokyo, when they compete in the men's 50m Rifle 3 positions qualification round, at the Asaka Shooting range on Monday, the 10th and concluding day of the shooting competitions.
Rajput and Tomar are ranked sixth and second in the world in this most gruelling shooting event on schedule.
Both Indians will have to fight hard for a top-eight spot, given the presence of the likes of defending Olympic champion Sergey Kamenskiy of Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and world No. 1 Istvan Peni of Hungary in the 48-strong field, among other heavyweight 3P exponents.
The Indian shooters have had a dismal outing in Tokyo, with only Saurabh Chaudhary making it to the finals of the 10m air pistol event but finishing seventh. All the other shooters in pistol, rifle and shotgun shooting have dished out sub-par performances.
Schauffele said grabbing the Olympic gold medal is the biggest win of his career. "I really wanted to win for my dad. I am sure he is crying somewhere right now. I kind of wanted this one more than any other."
India's Anirban Lahiri had a one-over in the final round and finished joint 42nd with three others with a five-under for the tournament. Udayan Mane was 56th with a one-over in the final round and a total of three-over.
Heading into the final round on a tied-28th position, Lahiri carded a one-over 72 in the final round to slip further to the tied-42nd spot with a total score of five-under 279 (67, 72, 68, 72).
Olympic debutant Mane too shot a one-over 72 in his fourth round to finish 56th in the 60-player field with a score of three-over 287 (76, 69, 70, 72).
Slovak golfer Rory Sabbatini grabbed the silver, one shot behind. The world No. 204 player surprised the course with an Olympic record-setting 10-under-par round of 61 on Sunday.
"To shoot 10-under on this golf course surprised me. I played nicely but still, 10-under is a tough score to make on this golf course." Sabbatini said.
"Just being here was an honour, to be a Slovakian representative. To be here and the medal is something that hopefully really gets the fires started to build golf in Slovakia, especially with the juniors."
Chinese Taipei's Pan Cheng-tsung clinched the bronze after a play-off.
The women's competition will take place from August 4 to 7.
India finished their group A league proceedings in fourth place with six points, riding on back-to-back wins over Ireland and South Africa and will now face pool B toppers Australia in the quarter-final on Monday.
The top four teams from each pool made it to the knockout stage.
Indian women team's best finish at the Olympics was in Moscow back in 1980 when they reached the semi-finals but ended fourth.
While Great Britain's win was required, no one can take away credit from Vandana Kataria, who scored a hat-trick in India's win in a pulsating morning clash against the South Africans.
Kataria (4th, 17th, 49th minutes) achieved a rare feat by becoming the first Indian woman hockey player to score a hat-trick in the Olympics.
Young Neha Goyal (32nd) was the other goal getter.
South Africa's goals came from the sticks of Tarryn Glasby (15th), skipper Erin Hunter (30th) and Marizen Marais (39th).
"Today's game was really tough, South Africa gave us a really good fight. They converted their chances in the circle. Defensively, we can be a lot better," skipper Rani said.
India's chief coach Sjoerd Marijne heaved a sigh of relief but was not happy with the number of goals his side conceded.
"We gave too many goals away, and I think we can score more goals, that is the main thing for today. We did what we had to do, we had to win this match, and we did," he said.
"Playing in these circumstances, you feel it, the humidity and I think it's more than 35 degrees on the pitch, it does not make it easy, he added.
Needing a win to stay alive in the competition, the Indians meant business and pressed hard on the South African defence from the start.
In doing so, India secured two penalty corners in the first two minutes of the match but drag-flicker Gurjit Kaur's poor execution continued in the tournament.
Still, it didn't take India long to open their account and in the fourth minute, Kataria gave her side the lead, tapping in from close range after being set up by Navneet Kaur's great run from the right flank.
India kept up the pressure and penetrated the South African circle many times without much success.
But seconds from the end of first quarter, a lapse in concentration from the defence cost India dearly as South Africa drew level through Tarryn Glasby, who deflected in a long shot from Taryn Mallett.
India had enough time to regain their lead through a penalty corner but wasted the opportunity.
Two minutes into the second quarter, Kataria restored India's lead when he deflected in Deep Grace Ekka's flick from their fourth penalty corner.
The Indians had three more chances to extend their lead in the second quarter but they couldn't do so.
The Rani Rampal-led side got two more penalty corners which they wasted, and then, Goyal's effort from open play was saved by the South Africa goalkeeper.
Just like in the first quarter, India gave away their lead seconds away from half time when Hunter found the net from her team's first penalty corner.
Two minutes after the change of ends, Goyal restored the lead again, deflecting in a Rani hit from a penalty corner as the Indians executed a fine variation.
The fragile Indian defence wilted under pressure once again, when South Africa drew level for the third time in the match, through a Marais strike.
South Africa enjoyed a good run of play in the initial minutes of final quarter and, in the process, secured three penalty corners quickly, but this time the Indian defence did enough to thwart the danger.
In the 49th minute, a brilliant Kataria saved the day for India when she deflected in Gurjit Kaur's flick from another penalty corner.
Thereafter, the Indians fell back and looked content to keep the possession as South Africa pressed hard.
Two minutes from the final hooter, the Indians successfully referred a penalty corner decision given against them.
"It is about consistency. Yesterday (Friday), we played a really good match. And now we have a back to back and your legs are heavier, things are not going as smoothly. So these things you just know. You saw our basics were not as good as yesterday, it is all about that," Marijne said.
"It is important to play matches. I am not someone, I hope you see that, who ever finds excuses, but we just have not done it. I don't blame anyone, it is just the way it is."
Marijne feels the knockout stage would be different ball game from the group stage.
"The tournament starts again. If you play well, or not well in the pool matches it does not matter, it starts all over.
"It will be another type of game because it is high pressure, everything or nothing. The good thing is we had that in the last two matches, so we have already experienced that."
The 26-year-old silver-medallist from the Rio Games, however, remained in the hunt for a bronze medal and will be competing against China's He Bing Jiao in the third place play-off at Musashino Forest Plaza on Sunday.
One of the most consistent players, who claimed medals in all big-ticket events in the last five years, Sindhu couldn't counter Tai Tzu's deception with her aggressive game, going down 18-21 12-21 here.
This is Sindhu's 14th loss to the Taiwanese second seed in 19 meetings, having also lost to her in the last three face-offs.
On Friday, Sindhu, seeded sixth, had beaten Japanese world no.5 Akane Yamaguchi in the quarterfinals.
Earlier, men's singles player B Sai Praneeth and the men's doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy had failed to qualify for the knockout stage.
Dutee took to the social networking site Facebook to express her dissatisfaction. “Our State government has failed to keep its promise of providing residential plots to the Olympians. Two years have passed since the announcement. How long should we wait for it?”Dutee wrote in her post.
Speaking to odishatv.in, Dutee said, “On May 2016, before the Rio Olympics, the State government promised us a residential plot within six months. But nothing has been done yet.”
The Olympian rued that she has been trying to follow up the matter with the Odisha Sports Minister Chandra Sarathi Behera and Sports Secretary Vishal Dev.
The Secretary Sports informed me that the department has done its job by submitting a letter to the GA department. They asked me not to worry and that the Chief Minister will look into the matter. Meanwhile I have been making efforts to meet the CM but international competitions are keeping me busy.
---Dutee over phone from Hyderabad
Notably, the State government, on May 2016 had issued a letter to the General Administration Department to allot government houses or plots to five international athletes including Dutee Chand, Srabani Nanda, Amiya Kumar Mallick, Jauna Murmu and Purnima Hembram. All the five athletes had represented the Nation in the 22nd Asian Athletics Championships held in Bhubaneswar last year.
Earlier this month, Dutee had taken to social media expressing her dissatisfaction after she was denied to use the VIP parking area near Jagannath Temple in Puri.
Mirabai was greeted at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, surrounded by security forces. The 26-year-old, with a face shield and mask on her face, was felicitated by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) officials.
"Happy to be back here in amidst so much love and support. Thank you so much [emoticon: India flag]," Mirabai tweeted after landing.
The Manipuri weightlifter lifted a total of 202kg (87kg in snatch and 115kg in clean and jerk) in the 49 kg category, finishing behind China's Hou Zhihui on Saturday.
Mirabai became the second medallist from India in weightlifting, bettering Karnam Malleswari's bronze in the 69 kg category at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Mirabai had, on Monday, tweeted before her departure from Tokyo: "Heading back to home. Thank you #Tokyo2020 for memorable moments of my life."
With a superlative performance in Tokyo, Mirabai laid to rest the horrors of 2016 Rio Olympics, where she failed in two out of three lifts in snatch and was unable to register a valid lift in clean and jerk.
Mirabai was gold-medallist in the 2017 World Championships and 2018 Commonwealth Games in the 48 kg category.
She was training in St Louis, USA under Dr. Aaron Horschig in the run-up to the Olympics and lived up to the billing.
Mirabai, ranked third in the world, had a total lift of 202kg with 87kg in snatch and 115kg in clean and jerk. This is India's second medal in the sport after Karnam Malleswari's bronze in the 69kg category at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Manika Batra Through To Second Round InTable Tennis
Indian paddler Manika Batra made it to the second round of women's singles table tennis at the Tokyo Olympics with a straight-sets win over Great Britain's Tin-Tin Ho at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.
Following the 4-0 win, Manika will now face Ukraine's 20th seed Margaryta Pesotska.
Manika had a slow start against Tin-Tin, ranked 94th in the world. But she found her rhythm quickly to take the first game 11-7. Manika had a smooth run for a 2-0 lead by winning the second game 11-6.
After trailing the paddler from Great Britain for much of the third game, Manika crossed the finish line with 12-10 for a 3-0 lead. She sealed the match with 11-9 in the fourth game.
It was an easy win for Batra, who had earlier made an exit from the round of 16 in the mixed doubles event pairing Sharath Kamal. The duo lost in straight sets 11-8, 11-6, 11-5, 11-4 to Chinese Taipei's Lin Yu-Ju and Cheng I-Cheng after leading 5-1 and 5-3 in the first two games.
Sumit Nagal Beats Istomin To Record India's First Tennis Singles Win Since 1996
India's lone hope in men's tennis singles Sumit Nagal powered to a 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-4 win over Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan in the first round here at the Ariake Tennis Court on Saturday.
Nagal's win was the first for an Indian men's singles tennis player at the Olympics since Leander Paes' bronze medal-winning run at Atlanta 1996.
Nagal won the first set 6-4 in 42 minutes but lost the second set in tie-breaker in 71 minutes. He, however, came back to win the final set in 41 minutes with a 6-4 margin.
The 34-year-old Istomin, ranked 197th in the world was no match to his 23-year-old Indian opponent who is ranked 37 places above him.
Nagal was more agile and covered the court better.
Istomin fired 17 aces against eight by Nagal. The Indian also committed more double faults with nine against three.
However, it was in break-points and forced errors that Nagal was better than his Uzbek opponent.
Istomin committed 32 forced errors to Nagal's 17. The Indian also won 10 out of 10 net points while his opponent won just five out of nine.
Nagal managed to convert four out of the five break-points he got - 80% conversion -- while Istomin could convert only two out of the 14 he had got - 14% conversion.
Badminton: Shetty-Rankireddy Hold Nerve To Win; Sai Praneeth Loses
Indian men's doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy defeated the higher-ranked Chinese Taipei pair of Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin 21-16, 16-21, 27-25 in their first Group A badminton match at the Tokyo Olympics.
However, India's hope in men's singles, B Sai Praneeth suffered a shock loss against Misha Zilberman of Israel in his first Groupd D match.
The Indian pair won the first game before the Chinese Taipei duo bounced back in the second game.
The final game was closely fought till the end as the Indians ensured they wouldn't give in.
The Chinese Taipei pair seemed to have moved into a decisive lead at 16-13. But Chirag and Satwik refused to budge.
The Indians saved a match point at 24-25 in the final game before closing it out.
Top seeds Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo from Indonesia, and Ben Lane and Sean Vendy of Great Britain are the other pairs in Group A.
Only the top two teams from the group will advance to the quarterfinals.
Sai Praneeth, the No. 13 seed, who lost 17-21, 15-21 to world No. 47 Zilberman had started off well, taking a 3-0 lead. The Israeli bounced back to make it 4-3 before the Indian took 8-4 lead.
However, Zilberman wasn't the one to give in as he pushed the Indian into corner and earned some points. Both were almost level, with Sai Praneeth moving to 11-10.
But then Zilberman cashed in on an error-prone display from Sai Praneeth and moved to game-point. Praneeth tried hard and saved three break-points but the Israeli player won the game.
Sai Praneeth tried to come back in the second game but Zilberman moved to 11-7 at the break.
Sai Praneeth came hard at the Israeli in the second game as the pair was locked at 4-4. But Zilberman showed good defence and court coverage to move ahead and went 11-7 into the mini-break. He maintained the lead and defeated the Indian.
Sai Praneeth will now take on Mark Caljouw of Netherlands in his second and final group match. Only the topper from the group will progress to the Round of 16.
AFI's selection committee, in an emergency meeting, arrived at a "unanimous decision" to not pull the two athletes out of the 26-member squad.
Despite the strong opinion from some members that both should be withdrawn after they under-performed in the trials in Bengaluru, the committee noted that the federation had called the trials to assess fitness and not form.
AFI President Adille Sumariwalla said the coaches of both the athletes had been spoken to about their lacklustre form in the trials.
"The coaches have promised that their respective athletes would give their best in Tokyo. Sreeshankar's father and coach have assured of good performance from his athlete.
"If athletes do not perform well in the Olympics, we will take action against them," he said, asserting that the message is meant for all those who are on the flight to Tokyo.
During a fitness trial held on Wednesday at the Sports Authority of India Centre in Bengaluru, Sreeshankar's best jump was 7.48m, a far cry from the 8.26m he had come up during the Federation Cup in March to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
Sreeshankar had pulled out of the National Inter-State Championships (June 25-29) just before his event after warming up on the field at the NIS Patiala.
Sreeshankar's father S Murali, who is accompanying him to Tokyo as coach, said he will do well in the Olympics.
"He (Sreeshankar) will do well. There is not much of an issue," he simply said, when asked about Sreeshankar's dip in form.
Irfan, who underwent a fitness trial on July 9, was the first track and field athlete to qualify for the Olympics way back in March 2019 during the Asian Race Walking Championships in Nomi, Japan.
His last competition was during the National Race Walking Championships in March in Ranchi, where he did not finish the race. He had contracted COVID-19 in May and has recovered since then.
Sumariwalla said the selection committee recommended that there be a national championship ahead of all major events and that athletes would need to perform in that selection meet.
"The selectors were of the view that athletes, especially those who meet qualification standards early, need to compete in the final selection trial and show their performance," he said.
The first batch of the 28-member contingent, including 18 athletes, left for Tokyo from here this evening.
Dutee Chand (100m and 200m), Tajinder Pal Singh Toor (shot put), Kamalpreet Kaur (discus throw), Avinash Sable (3000m steeplechase), Sreeshankar and the men's 4x400m relay and mixed 4x400 relay team members were among the 18 athletes who left for Tokyo on Friday.
Another women's discus thrower Seema Punia and her coach will head for Tokyo on Sunday.
Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, along with his physio and coach, will arrive in Tokyo on July 26 from his training base in Sweden.
Three support staff members, including javelin coach Uwe Hohn will leave for Tokyo on July 29 while the 11-member race walk group, including six athletes, will fly out on July 30 for Sapporo, where the marathon and race walk events will be held.
Athletics events will be held from July 30 to August 8.
The 27-year-old Deepika, winner of a hattrick of gold medals at the in the World Cup Stage 3 in Paris late last month which helped her reclaim the No.1 spot in the world, has now been paired with Bhutan's Karma in the elimination round.
On a day when South Korea's An San created an Olympic record, scoring 680 and finishing on top of the charts, Deepika's performance fluctuated between brilliant and mediocre as the Indian world No. 1 started at No. 8 after the first six shots but slipped to 14th, finishing the first half placed fourth on the leaderboard.
Deepika again saw a slump in the second half but recovered with a fine 58 and moved to sixth after 10 rounds. But a penultimate round of 53 saw her come down to seventh with an 609 aggregate of points, before another below-par round of 54 saw her dip further to ninth spot, for a final aggregate of 663 points.
Deepika is competing in her third Olympics. She will take part in women's individual and mixed team event where she is paired with husband Atanu Das.
The archery competition comprises a ranking round, where 128 archers -- 64 men and as many women -- shoot 72 arrows at a targets 70 metres away, Each archer is given two minutes to shoot six arrows in each round with 720 being the perfect score.
Based on the scores in the round, the first-ranked archer goes up against the 64th-ranked archer, the second is pitted against the 63rd, and so on.
South Korean An San, who finished with an Olympic record of 680, surpassed that of Lina Herasymenko of Ukraine, who had shot 673 points in 1996.
Australia has already hosted the Olympics twice, in Melbourne in 1956 and Sydney in 2000.
In 2017, the IOC awarded the 2024 Games to Paris and the 2028 Olympics to Los Angeles, reports Xinhua.
In February, 2021, the IOC said that Brisbane was the preferred candidate to host the 2032 Games.
However, Qatar reiterated its desire to host the 2032 Games despite the IOC handing the preferred tag to Brisbane.
On June 10, the IOC's 15-strong executive board approved Brisbane as the single candidate for election.
Bhubaneswar: Representing the country in hockey tournaments like Olympics, Asia Cup, Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, Champions Trophy not only command respect for being great ambassadors, but also being fountainhead of expertise and experience which will foster improvements and development of the sport. However, such sportsmen of our State allege that they are being grossly sidelined in the Hockey India League (HIL) a tournament which aims to popularize Hockey in the country.
Such is the behaviour meted out to our former hockey players that they are not being offered tickets or seats to watch the tournaments held in Bhubaneswar. Rather than using those for developing our own franchise – Kalinga Lancers – the players not even allowed watching the matches in their own State.
Olympian Lazarus Barla, William Khalko and former captain of the Indian Hockey team Prabodh Tirkey have levelled such allegations and along with the office bearers of the Hockey Gangpur Association submitted a memorandum to the executive director of Odisha Sports Development and Promotion Company (OSDPC), which jointly owns Kalinga Lancers.
“It feels like there is no contribution from the hockey players of the State in the HIL. The fact is that we are losing respect by complaining about it. It feels like as if we are begging for respect and it hurts,” said Lazarus.
Also Read: Ranchi Rays trounce Kalinga Lancers 7-2 for first win in HIL 2017
“It is very unfortunate that we have to get tickets and then watch the matches because we have done so much for Odisha and the country as well. Even I was also associated with Kalinga Lancers. At least we should be given passes,” said Prabodh.
Meanwhile, executive director of OSDPC, Sushant Das had assured that steps will be taken to not repeat such callous attitude towards former players.
“We had made provisions to make calls to all the players personally give them tickets. Some Olympians have collected tickets from us. We will take steps to ensure that they get tickets and car passes going forward,” said Das.
The move to add "together" into the Olympic motto of "faster, higher, stronger" was unanimously approved at the 138th IOC session here on Tuesday.
It was proposed by Thomas Bach after his re-election as the IOC president during the virtual 137th IOC Session in March, reports Xinhua.
Bach also reiterated his firm stance in organising the Tokyo Olympics despite the COVID-19 pandemic, saying cancellation of the Games was "never an option."
"Cancellation was never an option for us: The IOC never abandons the athletes," declared Bach in his opening speech of the 138th IOC Session here on Tuesday.
"At the beginning of the pandemic outbreak last year, we faced a choice: cancellation or postponement. There was nothing in between. It was either cancelling or postponing the Olympic Games.
"Cancellation would have been the easy way for us. But in fact, cancellation was never an option for us," he said. "Therefore, we took the unprecedented decision to postpone the Olympic Games. The only certainty we had was that rather than cashing in on the insurance, we would have to invest much more to make these Olympic Games possible."
"There was no blueprint. Nobody had ever done this before."
Bach said the IOC had therefore set three goals of organising the postponed Olympic Games, supporting the Olympic community to overcome the crisis and emphasising the essential role of sport in society.
"The first principle we established was that the Olympic Games need to be safe and secure for everyone. This principle still stands true today," Bach noted.
He also shed light on the complexity that local organisers faced in moving the Games forward.
"Tens of thousands of contracts had to be reviewed and renewed. The Olympic Village and all 42 sports venues had to be secured. Adjusting staff numbers and adapting tasks in the context of simplified Olympic Games."
Bach mentioned that everyone here in Tokyo has experienced the COVID-19 countermeasures first-hand, ranging from immigration requirements to testing, social distancing, contact tracing, and many more.
The German also revealed that 85 per cent of Olympic village residents and 100 per cent of IOC members present in Tokyo have been either vaccinated or are immune.
"We can only look ahead to the opening ceremony of these postponed Olympic Games, because of this unified and powerful support.
"We did it together. We did it for the athletes," he said.
Bach revealed that to make the postponed Olympic Games happen, the IOC set up a financial envelop of up to 800 million US dollars, including 650 million related to the costs of organising postponed Olympic Games and 150 million as an aid package for the Olympic Movement to enable everybody to participate in the Olympic Games.
Bach also called for confidence and trust in getting out of the crisis, highlighting solidarity and digitalisation as two examples of the lessons they have learned and are putting into action with Olympic Agenda 2020+5.
"We need more solidarity. More solidarity within societies and more solidarity among societies.
"This digital world comes with great potential and great challenges. We have got a glimpse of this potential during our current digital and marketing campaign for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020," he remarked.
In an exclusive interview to OTV at the Biju Patnaik International Airport here, the sprinter said, “This was my first Olympics. I got an opportunity to experience how to perform in the mega event.”
“Earlier, I had participated in some national and two-three international events. But I was completely new to Olympics. Naturally I was very nervous to perform in front of such a huge crowd,” Dutee added.
“Getting a medal in Olympics is not so easy. You have to do a lot of practice for it. I did not have much time for practice as I qualified for the mega event only in June. I barely got one month for practice. You need at least six months to practice to bag a medal in Olympics,” the star sprinter stated.
She also claimed that the environment at Rio put adverse effect on her performance.
“The weather at Rio also affected my performance. My body could not recover due to the incessant rain there. Besides, I have never run at 11 pm earlier,” she said.
The ace sprinter will represent India in the 100-metre event in the women’s category which will be held in the morning tomorrow(IST).
In an exclusive interview to OTV from Rio before her event, Dutee said, “I have won many medals at national and international events. But I had a dream to represent India in Olympics and now it has come true.”
“Though getting a medal in the Olympics will not be an easy task, I will try my best to bag a medal in the event and bring laurels for my country and state,” a confident Dutee said.
Sharing her experience about the stay at the Olympics village, an overjoyed Dutee said, “It is my first time to reside at the Olympics village. This is a very good experience for me. We are being offered good accommodation and healthy diet here. The most memorable experience for me so far is that I wore a saree at the opening ceremony.”
Ahead of her maiden event at the Olympics, the star sprinter created a hashtag #flyingchand and asked her countrymen to wish her well for the event. Hundreds of Indians have responded to her call since her Twitter post.
“I was selected for the Rio Olympics in 4X400 metre relay event. I had qualified for this event in two international meets in Turkey and Poland. After participating in these two events, I had returned with the team to Hyderabad from where we had gone to Bangalore for training. Till that period, I was in the national team. I do not know how the selectors excluded my name from the team in the final selection. I had to return home after I was asked to leave the camp,” a distraught Jauna told OTV today.
Though the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has not made official announcement of the team, reliable sources said Jauna is no more in the team.
Alleging that she had become the victim of a conspiracy, a disappointed Jauna has requested the state government to immediately intervene in the matter.
Asked about the reason for Jauna’s exclusion from the national team, Radhakrishnana Nayar, foreign expert of AFI, said several influential persons are involved in matters of selection of athletes, . “We don’t have any power in such matters as we work as ordinary servants under them,” he told OTV over phone.
Notably, six women from Odisha have qualified for Rio Olympics.
While Dutee Chand has qualified to participate in the 100-metre run, Srabani has qualified for 200-metre run event. Both the sprinters have also qualified for 4X100-metre relay race.
Besides, four hockey players of the state—Deep Grace Ekka, Namita Toppo, Lilima Minz and Sunita Lakra—have found place in the Indian women’s hockey team for the mega event.
According to sources, Dutee qualified for the Olympics after covering 100 metres in 11.30 seconds in a race held at Kazakhstan.
In her first reaction to OTV after qualifying for the once-in-four-years marquee event, Dutee said, “I am very happy for getting the tickets to Olympics. This success is an outcome 14 years of hard work and toil.”
“I am here because of the unstinting support of my family,” Dutee said.
Talking to OTV, Saraswati Chand said before the event her sister Dutee, in a facebook message, had told her that she is determined to qualify Olympic timing in Kazakhstan.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik has also congratulated Dutee for qualifying for the Rio Olympics and wished him best of luck.
Terming her performance as historic, he said it is a moment of pride for Odisha
Expressing happiness over the stupendous performance of Dutee, Sports and Youth Affairs minister Sudam Marandi said the state government would provide all help to her.
Meanwhile, the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) secretary Asirbad Behera has announced a cash award of Rs one lakh while the Odisha Olympic Association (OOA) has also announced a cash award of Rs 50,000 for Dutee.
IOA wanted the first batch of athletes and officials to leave on July 14 and serve three days of mandatory quarantine on reaching Tokyo. More than 120 athletes are bound for the Games.
But in a letter to Kate Yoneyama, Regional Manager (Asia and Ocenia, NOC Relations) of the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (TOCOG), Batra wrote with the necessary approvals still pending, IOA was left with no other option but to send the first batch on July 17," Batra stated.
He, however, did not divulge the strength of the group that will leave on July 17.
"...since we have not received the necessary approvals from TOCOG hence we are now coordinating for the departure of the Indian contingent from Indian 17 July 2021 and arrive in Tokyo on 18 July 2021," the IOA chief wrote.
"We are extremely disappointed that our request has not been approved. However, given the medical protocols imposed on India for the 7 days prior to departure we have no other option now but to depart on 17 July and arrive on 18 July," he added.
In view of the raging COVID-19 cases, the Tokyo Olympics will be held under a state of emergency in Japan without spectators from July 23 to August 8.
In his letter, the IOA chief has also asked for certain other clarifications like transfer from airport to the Games Village, meals of athletes, test kit distribution flow, and protocols related to pre-opening services like accommodation of athletes/support staff.
He has also sought an advisory on the laundry services during the three-day quarantine period.
The Indian athletes who are training abroad, such as boxers and shooters, will be exempt from the stricter regulations that have been put in place for those arriving from high-risk COVID-hit countries like India.
The ban was announced by the International Olympic Committee and Japanese organisers, reducing the games to a made-for-TV event.
Fans from aboard were banned months ago, and the new measures announced by Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will clear venues around Tokyo indoor and outdoor of any fans at all.
The emergency declaration made for a rude arrival in Japan for IOC President Thomas Bach, who landed in Tokyo on Thursday just hours before the new measures were announced. He was to spend three days in self-isolation at the five-star hotel that lodges IOC members.
Suga said the state of emergency would go into effect on Monday and last through August 22. This means the Olympics, opening on July 23 and running through August 8, will be held entirely under emergency measures. The Paralympics open on August 24.
"Taking into consideration the impact of the delta strain, and in order to prevent the resurgence of infections from spreading across the country, we need to step up virus prevention measures," Suga said.
Suga, who had long favoured fans, hinted at a no-fan Olympics in announcing the state of emergency.
"I have already said I won't hesitate to have no spectators," he added.
Just two weeks ago, organisers and the IOC allowed venues to be filled to 50 per cent of capacity but crowds not to exceed 10,000. The state of emergency has forced a late turnaround, which was always an option if infections got worse.
"We will have to consider the option of no spectators," Marukawa said in opening remarks with the IOC and others as they went into meetings to discuss a ban on fans.
The main focus of the emergency is a request for bars, restaurants and karaoke parlors serving alcohol to close. A ban on serving alcohol is a key step to tone down Olympic-related festivities and keep people from drinking and partying. Tokyo residents are expected to face stay-home requests and watch the games on TV from home.
"How to stop people enjoying the Olympics from going out for drinks is a main issue," Health Minister Norihisa Tamura said.
The present state of emergency ends Sunday. Tokyo reported 896 new cases on Thursday, up from 673 a week earlier. It's the 19th straight day that cases have topped the mark set seven days prior. New cases on Wednesday hit 920, the highest total since 1,010 were reported on May 13.
The no-fan atmosphere will include the opening ceremony at the USD 1.4 billion National Stadium, which is traditionally the most watched event during the Olympics.
"It's not too late. Cancel or postpone it," said Yukio Edano, the head of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition party to Suga's LDP
The uptick in infections has also forced the Tokyo city government to pull the Olympic torch relay off capital streets, allowing it to run only on remote islands off the Tokyo coast. It's unclear how the torch will enter the stadium for the opening ceremony.
"The infections are in their expansion phase and everyone in this country must firmly understand the seriousness of it," Dr Shigeru Omi, a top government medical adviser, said.
He urged authorities to quickly take tough measures ahead of the Olympics, with summer vacations approaching.
Omi has repeatedly called for a ban on spectators, and has said it's "abnormal" to hold the Olympics during a pandemic.
Separately, a government COVID-19 advisory panel met on Wednesday and expressed concerns about the ongoing resurgence of the infections.
"Two-thirds of the infections in the capital region are from Tokyo, and our concern is the spread of the infections to neighbouring areas," said Ryuji Wakita, director-general of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases.
The Olympics are pushing ahead against most medical advice, partially because the postponement stalled the IOC's income flow. It gets almost 75 per cent of its income from selling broadcast rights, and estimates suggest it would lose USD 3 billion to USD 4 billion if the Olympics were cancelled.
About 11,000 Olympians and 4,400 Paralympians are expected to enter Japan, with tens of thousands of officials, judges, administrators, sponsors, broadcasters, and media also entering. The IOC says more than 80 per cent of resident of the Olympic Village will be vaccinated.
Nationwide, Japan has had about 810,000 cases and nearly 14,900 deaths. Only 15 per cent of Japanese are fully vaccinated, still low compared with 47.4 per cent in the United States and almost 50 per cent in Britain.
"The Government has selected 152 elites under Target Olympic Podium (TOP) scheme. All the athletes will get benefit from this decision. The stipend will be paid with effect from September 1, 2017, the ministry said in a statement.
Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore also announced the decision on Twitter. "MYAS @IndiaSports announces Rs 50k/month pocket allowance for 152 elite athletes preparing for Tokyo/CWG/Asian Games. Athletes first, always!"
"The allowance applies wef 1 Sep 2017 & is purely for pocket expenses of elite athletes. Committed to providing all resources to our champions"
The ministry is getting in touch with all the athletes selected under the TOP for their training and competition exposure plan and any further assistance required for preparation for prestigious competitions.
The 36-year-old claimed her sixth gold at the world event, making her the most successful boxer in the tournament's history with an overall tally of seven medals.
"I have a medal in Olympics (a bronze in 2012), but gold is something I dream for. I am very happy about my championship win, as it boosted my confidence to face life head-on," she told reporters on the sidelines of an athletics event here.
"I am eyeing a gold at Tokyo Olympics. I will train doubly-triply hard to get a gold for my country," she said.
Mary Kom won her world title in the 48kg category but for the Olympics, she will have to bulk up to the 51kg division.
Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi, who was also present at the function held at the JLN Stadium, called Mary Kom a "national treasure".
"She has won six world titles and we are happy that she administered a pledge to the children present here on keeping the fairness and sportsmen's spirit in any game," Gandhi said.
Mary Kom, during her interaction with the media, said a disciplined training regimen is what keeps her bout-ready at all times.
"I have been very sincere during my training. If I have 2-3 sessions, I will make it a point to not miss them, I attend as many as possible. If I don't train, I won't succeed," she said.
Asked if her training schedule will undergo any change keeping the Olympics in mind, the Manipuri said she will talk to her coach and the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) to work out her plan.
"I will speak to my coach, the BFI, the SAI (Sports Authority of India). We have already got some good facilities and hope to get better results this time," Mary Kom said.
Bindra became the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games -- he achieved the feat at the quadrennial event held in Beijing in 2008.
Indian target shooters fared pretty well in the recently concluded Commonwealth Games in Australia.
Young shooters Manu Bhaker and Anish Bhanwala shined in the Gold Coast Games along with experienced marksmen like Heena Sindhu and Tejaswini Sawant.
"This year Indian shooters picked up a lot of gold medals and it is entirely because of Abhinav as he showed the path. His gold medal has inspired entire generation of shooters. Abhinav's achievements are inspiring.
"One of our main motivation to make the film is that more young people should get inspired to take up shooting as a profession. I think Indians can become a world power in shooting," sources close to the makers told PTI.
Bindra is actively involved in the biopic being made on his extraordinary journey, that will have actor Harshvardhan Kapoor playing his part.
"Abhinav is aware of everything that we are doing. Anytime there is a significant development in the script, we run it through him. He is very happy in terms of the way the story has been made," the sources added.
Bollywood filmmakers are smitten by the journey of sports personalities and movies like on former Indian track-and-field sprinter Milkha Singh and cricketer M S Dhoni, only reflect the love the Hindi cinema has for sports.
The yet-to-be-titled movie is being adapted from Bindra's autobiography -- 'A Shot at History: My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold and Beyond'.
"Ours is a unique biopic, the format of the biopic is different. We can't reveal what is the uniqueness. Though it is adapted from a book, which Abhinav himself has written, but the way it has been adapted it is unique. We are presenting the narrative in a different way. It is not a standard biopic format," the sources said.
When asked can one expect to see Abhinav himself in the film, the sources revealed, "Of course, but how we are planning to do it we can't talk about it."
The real life father-son duo of Anil Kapoor and Harshvardhan will be sharing screen space for the first time in the 35-year-old Bindra's biopic.
Currently, Harshvardhan is busy with his upcoming film "Bhavesh Joshi" and once the film releases" on May 25, the actor would begin his full-fledged training in shooting for the biopic from June.
"He does prep work in between when he gets time. Harsh is very passionate about authenticity. He wants to be close to Abhinav's style as far as possible for which he has been consulting this great woman shooter of India Suma Shirur," the sources said.
Anil would be seen playing the role of Abhinav's father in the movie.
"He (Anil) has spend sometime with Abhinav's father just to get acquainted with the story and pick up nuances for his character. For the father's character there are more Punjabi touches and Anil ji is would be getting it."
The film is likely to go on floors from October and major portions will be shot in Punjab and a chunk of it will be shot abroad as well.
Pattnaik said he had created a 5 ft high sand sculpture yesterday to congratulate Sindhu and also thank her coach Gopichand. He used about 4 tons of sand for the work.
"I congratulate PV Sindhu through my sand art; she is the pride of India. I would also like to thank Guru GopiChand, the real hero behind Sindhu's success," he said.
Sudarsan has participated in more than 50 international championships and festivals and won many prizes for the country. He tries to give social messages through his sculptures.
In its effort to encourage sports persons to excel in national and international fora, the government had come up with this decision, he said while attending the state Boxing Championship at Chaupadia here.
The appointment would be in addition to cash incentives to sports persons announced by the state government, the minister said.
An in-principle decision has been taken in this regard, but in view of the DSP post being a gazetted one, concurrence by the selection board concerned was awaited, he said.
Besides Olympics and Asiad, those who win medals in other national and international events would be appointed as inspectors, havildars and constables directly, he said adding a final decision has been taken in this connection.
The Odisha government had given an award of Rs 30 lakh to international hockey player Birendra Lakra and Rs 12 lakh to badminton player Pramod Bhagat as per cash incentive scheme for international players.
Altogether 205 pugilists from 14 districts participated in the championship to vie for medals in 11 different categories.
In Patiala, Dutee broke her own record by clocking 11.17 seconds in the 100m sprint heats. Despite this, she missed out on the Tokyo Olympics spot. Dutee missed the Olympics train by 0.02 seconds as the qualification mark for the same was set at 11.15 second. In another significant milestone, the Women's 4X100m Relay team featuring the quartet of Dutee Chand, Hima Das, S Dhanalakshmi and Archana Suseendran also created a new national record with a timing of 43.37 seconds at the Grand Prix.
They won the race ahead of India 'B' team (48.02 seconds) and Maldives (50.74) in the three team race. Earlier, India was placed at the 22nd position on the basis of its timing of 43.81 seconds during the 2019 Asian Championships. Monday's record will propel India to the 20th spot. Unfortunately, that was still not good enough for Tokyo Olympics qualification.
But was she is right in publicly airing her grievance about not being allowed to park her car in the VIP parking place near the Jagannath temple? The answer to this question, I am afraid, has to be an emphatic ‘No’. Far from enhancing her status as an international athlete, her Facebook post on Friday rhetorically asking “Who is a VIP?”actually demeaned her in the eyes of many of her fans. Many in fact derided her for her post, some politely and others not so politely. At a time when public resentment against the all-pervasive VIP culture is mounting in the country, her clamour for the VIP label actually showed her as someone with feet of clay rather than as the fleet-footed sprint queen that she is.
Her grievance, of course, is perfectly legitimate given the kind of people who have walked away with the VIP tag. Everyone from the President down to the Chairperson of a zilla parishad is a VIP in our country. For many of these ubiquitous VIPs, traffic comes to a halt to facilitate their hassle-free passage through the road. And their ‘achievements’, which mainly come from winning an election, are nothing compared to what Dutee has achieved in her sporting career. So Dutee, who already has so much to show for her efforts on the track, was well within her rights to expect to be treated at least on par, if not better, than the dime-a-dozen so-called VIPs.
But her outburst on being left out of the VIP list was wrong on at least two counts. First, such distractions are the last thing an athlete of her promise, who still has plenty to achieve, needs at this stage of her career. There are plenty of examples in the sporting arena of promising sportspersons ruining their career in their craze for the trappings of celebrity status. Second, she was barking up the wrong tree. If the traffic policeman in charge at the VIP parking lot in Puri did not allow her to park her car there even after she revealed who she was, he was only doing his duty: to allow only those who have the ‘VIP pass’ to park their car. Athlete that she is, she should have taken it sportingly and moved on. In fact, she has herself revealed in her post that she had the same experience earlier too. Hence, she should have known what to expect and not insisted on being allowed in. If she was so keen to have the VIP tag, she could have taken it up with the concerned authorities discreetly without raising a din over it. By going public, she laid herself open to the charge of hankering after VIP status. It is possible that in doing so, she wanted others to take up her case rather than do it herself. But unwittingly, she lost the respect of a lot of people in the process as is evident from many of the comments on her post. The fact that she was asking for VIP treatment while on a darshan of Lord Jagannath, in particular, did not go down well with many of her well wishers.
At a personal level, I must confess I was disappointed with her public outburst because I have always liked the girl from Gopalpur and admired her tenacity, resolve and determination. I have seen from close quarters her ordeal when she was banned by the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) for hyperandrogenism. The way she put that disappointment behind and fought back with grit to book a place in the Indian athletic contingent for the Rio Olympics was one of the great sporting comebacks of our times.
But sorry Dutee, you could have done without this needless controversy!
(DISCLAIMER: This is an opinion piece. The views expressed are author’s own and have nothing to do with OTV’s charter or views. OTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)
In the Paralympic Games, which started in 1960, only one athlete from Odisha has competed so far. Markanda Reddy, the lone Paralympian, finished fifth in the T46 category of the men’s 100m heats at the Beijing Games in 2008. But none from the state has been able to feature in the Winter Games of Olympics or Paralympics yet. However, a medal either in Summer Olympics or Paralympics has remained a distant dream for the Eastern India state till date.
Of course, legendary hockey fullback Michael Kindo was part of the Indian team that won the bronze medal in 1972 Munich Olympic Games. But Kindo, who led Odisha to semifinals in the Senior National Championship, worked, settled and breathed his last in Rourkela, is not considered an Odisha Olympian.
That is because he was born in Simdega, Bihar (now Jharkhand), bagged the Olympic medal while serving in Indian Navy and came to Odisha only after joining Rourkela Steel Plant in 1977. It is unfortunate that despite playing a major role in equipping the Rourkela-based SAIL Hockey Academy with an astro turf and bringing up a number of well-known Odisha players, including the first home-grown international Peter Tirkey, Kindo never got any recognition from his adopted state.
Dilip Tirkey, one of the all-time great hockey defenders of the world, became the first Olympian of Odisha at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. He went on to represent the country in three successive Olympics but could not win a medal. Inspired by Tirkey - a Padmashree awardee and former Rajya Sabha member, eight more tribal hockey players from the state featured in the biggest sporting show of the earth. They include four men - Lazarus Barla (2000), Ignace Tirkey (2004, 2012), William Xalxo (2004), Birendra Lakra (2012), and four women - Deep Grace Ekka, Sunita Lakra, Lilima Minz, Namita Toppo (all 2016).
Woman sprinter Rachita Mistry (nee Panda) and hurdler Anuradha Biswal became the first two sportspersons to represent Odisha in individual discipline - athletics. In the 2000 Sydney Games, Rachita, who was then settled in Mumbai and represented Maharashtra in the National championships, competed in 100m sprint and 4x100m relay but without success. In the case of Anuradha, the Olympic debut turned out to be a sad experience as she did not get a chance to compete.
India’s fastest woman Dutee Chand and her equally competent statemate Srabani Nanda also failed to live up to their reputation in the 2016 Rio Games, crashing out of the 100m and 200m heats respectively. Among 64 sprinters in the 100m event, Dutee finished at the 50th position, clocking 11.69 seconds, while Srabani stood 55th among 72 competitors in 200m.
Katulu Ravi Kumar, the unassuming weightlifter from Silk City Berhampur, was the best medal hope for Odisha in 2012 London Games. But he came a cropper, finishing sixth in the inferior Group B and 15th overall in the men’s 69kg category.
With Tokyo trying its best to overcome all hurdles and be able to host the 2020 edition this year from July 23 to August 8, hopes have resurfaced for Odisha to win its first medal. An Olympic medal has become a must-win challenge for Odisha since the state is now touted as a major global sports destination and the sports capital of India. Even a Paralympic medal will be a historic achievement for the state.
Hockey has been and will be the discipline for Odisha to expect the maiden Olympic medal. Five men (Birendra Lakra, Amit Rohidas, Dipsan Tirkey, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Shilanand Lakra) and four women (Deep Grace Ekka, Lilima Minz, Namita Toppo, Rashmita Minz) are hopeful of making it to the respective National teams for the Tokyo Games.
Star sprinter Dutee Chand is almost certain to compete in the Olympics for the second successive time, albeit through her world ranking quota of 37th position in 100m and 41st in 200m. Hopefully, she is preparing well at the National camp and would have no issues such as event timing, weather condition and nervousness etc, which she faced last time at the 2016 Rio Games.
Compared to the ensuing Summer Olympics, the Tokyo Paralympics seems to carry much better chances for Odisha to claim its first medal through para-shuttler Pramod Bhagat or para-athlete Jayanti Behera. Both have directly qualified for Tokyo Games, which is set to take place from August 24 to September 5.
Being World No 1 in men’s SL3 singles category and winner of 44 international medals, including 21 gold so far, Pramod would be the favourite for the yellow metal. In fact, the shuttler from Attabira in Bargarh district would have been in the line to bag medals also in men’s doubles and mixed doubles if these two events were there along with singles.
Sprinter Jayanti would, most probably, vie for a medal in women’s 400m event in T47 category, even though she has the reputation of winning international medals in 200m event as well. Be it the hockey players, athletes or shuttlers and be it Olympics or Paralympics, one hopes Tokyo would end Odisha’s long wait for its first medal at the biggest Games of the World.
(DISCLAIMER: This is an opinion piece. The views expressed are the author’s own and have nothing to do with OTV’s charter or views. OTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)
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Bajrang, who recently bagged the first position in the 65-kg category at the United World Wrestling (UWW) event, also said he is not under pressure to be the top wrestler as he simply believes on performing on the mat each time.
Talking to IANS, the 25-year-old wrestler said: "I feel happy to be the number one wrestler but in true sense, rankings doesn't matter much for me. My aim is to deliver my hundred per cent every time and get medals for my nation."
It is for the first time when 15 grapplers from India have made to the rankings released by the UWW. Bajrang is happy over the development and believes it will motivate other wrestlers to perform better.
"It shows that Indian wrestling is in right direction as many of our wrestlers are in the top 10. It will certainly motivate others to do even better," he opined.
Bajrang was defeated by Yianni Diakomihalis of the US in a thrilling bout at the iconic Madison Square Garden last month, going down to the American by a close margin of 8-10 in the 65 kg category bout. He, however, scripted history as he became the only Indian to fight a bout at the Madison.
"It was a great moment to fight at the Madison Square as I am the only Indian who got an opportunity to do so. The American Wrestling Federation had invited me there and I learnt a lot there. It was a tough fight and I will always remember it. Many Indians came to watch the fight and cheered for me which boosted my confidence," he said.
Bajrang, who mostly trains abroad, said that there is not much difference in practice but the weather is better. "I underwent training in America and the experience was great. Though the training is more or less same everywhere but the climate is ideal over there as in India, it gets difficult to practise in hot weather."
With the world celebrating World Olympic Day on June 23, Bajrang said: "For me, Olympic Day will be the day when I bag a medal at the Olympics. But yes, it is a good thing to celebrate such a day as Olympics is a major sporting event."
By Abhishek Upadhyay
The 23-year-old Dutee became the first Indian woman track and field athlete to clinch a gold medal in the World Universiade after she won the 100m dash event in Napoli, Italy on July 9.
Dutte said the gold was an answer to her critics, who had written her off after her admission of same-sex relationship.
"Many people have commented in bad languages. They said that Dutee is now focussed on her personal life and her athletics career will be over. I wanted to let them know that I am not finished yet," she told PTI in an interview.
"Just like any other human being is concerned about his or her personal life, I also need to think about my personal life. That is why I came out and made everybody know about my relationship (with a girl of her village).
"But that does not mean that I will neglect my athletics career. I have done (admitted the same-sex relationship) what I thought was needed and now I am focussing on my athletics more than even before," she added.
After winning the yellow metal at the World Universiade, she had also tweeted: "Pull me down, I will come back stronger!"
Dutee also described her history-scripting gold in the World Universiade as the "highlight" of her career but wants to keep her feet rooted to focus on the "tougher" tasks of qualifying for the World Championships and Olympics.
She is yet to qualify for both the World Championships, to be held in Doha later this year, and next year's Olympics in Tokyo.
Dutee, who holds the 100m national record of 11.24 seconds, will have to be at her best if she is to qualify for the September 27-October 6 World Championships.
"The 100m gold was my first at World level, it is my career highlight so far. But it is a tough road ahead. My target is to qualify for the World Championships and then the Olympics," she said.
"I am overwhelmed by the congratulatory messages from so many people including such important people. But I am not going to be carried away by this (historic 100m gold at World Universiade) and I have to focus on the important events ahead," said the Odisha runner.
The World Championships qualification timing is 11.24, which is higher than the 2017 standard of 11.26, while the Tokyo Olympics 100m qualifying time is 11.15 which is a much tougher task.
Dutee ran her season's best of 11.26 during the Asian Championships in Doha in April and she will have to at least repeat it in less than next two months' time.
"I have not qualified for either the World Championships or the Olympics and the qualifying timings have been made more difficult this time. I have asked the AFI (Athletics Federation of India) to arrange for some meets in Asia or Europe so that I can qualify for the World Championships," she added.
The AFI, on its part, said it's trying to give Dutee two or three meets in Asia or Europe so that she can try and qualify for the World Championships. The World Championships qualification period ends on September 6.
"Dutee and her coach (N Ramesh) have requested for some meets and we are trying to arrange two or three races in either Asia or Europe. She should get them," AFI Communication Manager Divesh Bhal said.
"Even otherwise also, Dutee may get to run in the World Championships just like in the 2017 edition when she got the quota place after the total number of qualified athletes did not reach the stipulated number for the event (women's 100m)," he added.
Dutee took part in the 2017 World Championships in London, where she could not reach the semifinals after clocking a much below-par 12.07 in heats.
Talking about the 2020 Olympics, Dutee said, "Olympics is the ultimate target and I could not do well in the 2016 Games. So I want to do better in the 2020 Olympics but I will have to qualify first and it is not going to be easy."
The 2020 Olympics qualifying mark has got tougher this time and Dutee will have to breach the 11.15 seconds as compared to 11.32 seconds for the 2016 Rio Games.
She could not advance to the semifinals after clocking a poor 11.69 seconds in the heats.
The decision is effective from Monday and the last event in which the archers can participate under the Indian flag is the World Archery Youth Championships in Madrid from August 19-25.
"World Archery is implementing the decision taken in June by suspending the Archery Association of India," World Archery secretary general Tom Dielen said in a statement, accessed by PTI.
The AAI had to find a solution by the end of July as per the deadline given WA's executive board and since no progress has been made, the world governing body implemented the suspension order.
"If no solution is found by the end of this month, the executive board will decide what can be done to preserve the chances of Indian athletes participating in the Asian Championships and Asian Para Championships," Dielen said in the statement, accessed by PTI.
Since a court judgement is expected on the dispute, the AAI had requested the WA to give it a few more days but it was turned down. Interestingly, suspension order has come a day before court hearing on the issue.
Olympic quota places will be up for grabs at the Asian Championships and Asian Para Championships, to be held in Bangkok in November.
India so far have three men's places secured for the next Olympics but has yet to win a women's spot.
"At the same time, World Archery will also decide whether individual athletes can participate in the Indoor Archery World Series."
Tournaments on the Indoor Archery World Series, held from November-February, are open to all athletes rather than just the national teams. But archers must be a member of a national federation in good standing to register.
In two separate elections, held simultaneously on June 9 in New Delhi and Chandigarh, AAI elected two presidents Arjun Munda and BVP Rao. Munda had support of 20 state associations while 10 state bodies backed Rao.
World Archery had sent a representative, Kazi Rajib Uddin Ahmed Chapol, as a mediator and observer for the elections but could not get both the factions to agree to a common election.
The Sports Authority (SAI) of India is now conducting trials for the upcoming Asian Championships in Sonepat and will announce the squad on Friday.
"Nothing is happening for us for last eight years. There has been no planning whatsoever. First, we were told that this will be for the Asian Championships and now after reaching here we were told that they are picking the squad for the Olympics as well," he said from Sonepat.
"Many senior archers have failed to come for the trials so does it mean that they would miss out on the Olympics selection? There has been no planning whatsoever."
The WA had earlier suspended the Polish Archery Federation, its member association in Poland, under similar circumstances in October last year but only to lift it in February this year.
Amit was joined in the last-16 by Asian silver-winning duo of Kavinder Singh Bisht (57kg and seeded 5th) and Ashish Kumar (75kg and seeded 7th) alongside two-time India Open medallist Sanjeet (91kg) after draws were unveiled on Sunday here.
Of these, Ashish (seeded 7th) and Sanjeet are making their debut at the big event, while Panghal and Bisht had finished quarterfinalists in the 2017 Hamburg edition.
"We have got a decent draw and it is upto us to make it a good draw," Indian Boxing's High-Performance Director Santiago Nieva told PTI after the draw ceremony.
India will start their campaign on Tuesday with Brijesh Yadav (81kg) taking on Poland's Maleusz Goinski in his opening round bout.
The coveted Olympic berths are no longer at stake, but the Indians will not be short of motivation when they step inside the ring to better a record which states four medals from 20 editions.
Vijender Singh (2009), Vikas Krishan (2011), Shiva Thapa (2015) and Gaurav Bidhuri (2017) make the exclusive club which has experienced what it feels like to be on the podium at amateur boxing's marquee event. All these men ended with bronze medals.
"It is going to be tough. The aim is to improve on what we have done in the past. That's what we work for," Nieva said.
It was meant to be an Olympic qualifier and features the revised eight weight categories (52kg, 57kg, 63kg, 69kg, 74kg, 81kg, 91kg, +91kg) earmarked for Tokyo 2020, instead of the traditional 10 divisions.
However, the event was stripped of Olympic qualifier status after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) lost patience with the long-standing administrative mess in the International Boxing Association (AIBA) and took control of the entire process, which will now start next year. With that status gone, the tournament has lost a bit of sheen.
Nevertheless, it is still likely to feature around 450 boxers from 87 countries in 400 fights spread across 12 days.
India's hopes will be majorly pinned on pint-sized dynamo Panghal. The reticent 23-year-old from Haryana has been on a roll for more than a year.
Besides being Asian champion, he is also an Asian Games gold-medallist. The Army-man came quite close to a world medal in his 2017 debut when he exhausted the then defending champion Hasanboy Dusmatov in the quarterfinals but went down 2-3 in the 49kg category.
Panghal had his revenge in the Asian Games final where he outpunched Dusmatov for the gold and showed himself to be a serious contender for glory at the Worlds.
Then there is Bisht, an Air Force man, whose bloodied face after a brutal quarterfinal in 2017 is a disturbing but unforgettable image.
Like Panghal, Bisht too lost 2-3 in a fight that could have given him a sensational medal. He has improved considerably since then.
At the Asian Championships this year, he accounted for the reigning world champion Kairat Yeraliyev during his silver medal-winning run. And, he now has some unfinished business to take care of in the World Championship.
Veteran Satish Kumar (+91kg) is the only other Indian, apart from these two, who has the experience of competing at the Worlds. The former Asian Games bronze-medallist will try to ensure that ill-health does not ruin his campaign the way it did in 2017. He has American Richard Torrez to contend with in the first round.
The rest of the Indian line-up holds promise too. There is Manish Kaushik (63kg), the silver medallist from last year's Commonwealth Games. The Army-man has been in and out of the team, locked in a tough battle for the spot with Shiva Thapa.
A medal here would help him cement the place. He will start against Kyrgyzstan's Argen Kadyrbek on September 12.
Sanjeet, also a Services boxer, is another dark horse. His fearless approach makes him an interesting boxer to watch out for and he could well outsmart a few here. His first opponent is Scotland's Scott Forest.
Ashish, who won a gold at Thailand Open this year, is also slowly rising into prominence in a category which has been owned by Vijender and Vikas in the past.
The Team:
Amit Panghal (52kg), Kavinder Bisht (57kg), Manish Kaushik (63kg), Duryodhan Singh Negi (69kg), Ashish Kumar (75kg), Brijesh Yadav (81kg), Sanjeet (91kg) and Satish Kumar (+91kg).