At the age of just 18, Manu Bhaker has won 8 gold medals in World Cup shooting representing the country. Apart from this, Manu is also a gold medalist in Commonwealth Games and Asian Shooting Championships. The young talent is now participating in the Tokyo Olympics. While talking to ABP News, Manu shared her practice schedules and aim to win gold.

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) on Monday announced a 26-member team to compete in the Tokyo Olympics to be held from July 23 to August 8. The list included the name of India’s star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra.

“We are happy that the national squad is well prepared, physically and emotionally, for the Olympic Games. We are pleased that our athletes have remained in training ever since the lockdown was lifted. The federation is looking forward to a good show by the team,” said Adille Sumariwalla, president AFI, in a release issued on Monday.

The Tokyo Olympic Games will officially open on July 23, but track and field events will start from July 31.

As many as 12 athletes and the 4x400m mixed relay team has achieved entry standards laid down by World Athletics, to secure automatic berths.

Dutee Chand (women’s 100m and 200m), MP Jabir (men’s 400m hurdles), Gurpreet Singh (men’s 50km race walk) and Annu Rani (women’s javelin throw) qualified for the Olympics in their respective events on the basis of their world rankings points.

The squad:

Men: Avinash Sable (3000m steeplechase); MP Jabir (400m hurdles): M Sreeshankar (long jump); Tajinderpal Singh Toor (shot put); Neeraj Chopra and Shivpal Singh (javelin throw); KT Irfan, Sandeep Kumar and Rahul Rohilla (20km race walk) and Gurpreet Singh (50km walk); 4x400m men’s relay: Amoj Jacob, Arokia Rajiv, Muhammed Anas, Naganathan Pandi, Noah Nirmal Tom; 4x400m mixed relay: Sarthak Bhambri, Alex Antony.

Women: Dutee Chand (100m and 200m); Kamalpreet Kaur and Seema Antil-Punia (discus throw) and Annu Rani (javelin throw); Bhawna Jat and Priyanka Goswami (20km race walk) and Revathi Veeramani, Subha Venkatesan and Dhanlakshmi Sekhar (mixed 4x400m relay).

Tokyo Olympics 2021: Fencer Bhavani Devi, sprinter Dutee Chand, and javelin thrower Shivpal Singh were congratulated by the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Training (KIIT) in Bhubaneswar ahead of the Tokyo Games. This institute in Odisha supports all three athletes. 

Shivpal Singh, who represents India with Neeraj Chopra in Javelin Throw, is confident of bagging a medal in his discipline. Shivpal, who covered a distance of 85.47 meters in South Africa, says “India is expected to get medals from javelin throw this time.”

“In the last Olympic Games, the medal (in men’s javelin throw) was won by 85 meters throw only. This time I and Neeraj Chopra have covered this distance many times so I hope to win the medal for India in Tokyo,” Shivpal Singh added.

“Many people felt that this sport has no future in the country,” CA Bhavani Devi, the first athlete from India to qualify for the Olympics in fencing, expressed her feelings. 

“People had no hope of progressing in this sport, but my family supported me. I will try to win a medal at Tokyo Olympics. If I can’t do it, I will try again,” CA Bhavani Devi shared her views. She is currently training in Italy and will reach France on Monday to prepare for the Tokyo Olympics. 

Sprinter Dutee Chand said that this time her goal is to achieve a timing of 11.10 seconds at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Dutee Chand, who won a silver medal in the Asian Games, said that this time her target is to qualify and compete in the semi-finals.

In independent India, no athlete has won an Olympic medal in track and field events so far. Milkha Singh and PT Usha were the only athletes to secure the fourth position at the Olympics. This time if the country gets a medal from the Javelin Throw event, then it will be a historic win for India.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Monday confirmed that boxer Mary Kom and men’s hockey team captain Manpreet Singh would be the flagbearers for the Indian contingent at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. Wrestler Bajrang Punia will be the flagbearer at the closing ceremony.

“The flagbearers for the Indian contingent of Tokyo 2020 for the opening ceremony on July 23rd are Mary Kom and Manpreet Singh,” IOA President Narinder Batra said in an official letter.

“The flagbearer for the Indian contingent at the closing ceremony on August 8 will be Bajrang Punia,” he further stated.

Batra also confirmed that the total contingent for the Olympics would be around 126 athletes and 75 officials, and as a result, the total contingent would be around 201.

The contingent comprises 56 percent of men and 44 percent of women. It has 76 quota places and will compete in about 85 medal positions.

The Tokyo Olympics would be held from July 23 to August 8. The event was slated to be held last year, but it had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

India will be testing its luck in Tokyo Olympics 2021 amid Coronavirus. For the festival of games, Indian sportsmen and women are ready to win big. Vinesh Phogat, a Wrestler, said that she would win at any cost as she was so passionate about it. Apart from her, India hopes huge from Mary Kom, PV Sindhu, etc.