Opoyi predictions: India’s medal tally at the Tokyo Olympics

The quadrennial sporting gala, that is the Olympic Games, brings along a lot of childish exuberance and excitement. Reminds us of the good old days when we would scribble down on the back of our notebooks every Indian competing at these events, if they would win a medal or not. 

And as we enter the early phases of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, it seems not a lot has changed over the years as we still maintain our personal little prediction notebook here at Opoyi. So feel free to tally the results along with our humble opinions on the number of medals Team India will win in this year’s Olympics.

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Prediction Time: We predict India will win six medals, four silvers and two bronzes. 

In Rio 2016, India finished with only two medals — a bronze and a silver. Considering that, albeit our predictions are a bit bold but most of these professionals have performed superbly in their respective international tournaments building up to the Olympics.

Although the Olympic Games are a completely different cup of tea, in sports, there are not many predictions that take place without considering the kind of momentum an athlete is bringing into the tournament. 

Mirabai Chanu – Silver

Our first prediction is not much a prediction itself. Mirabai Chanu has already conquered the silver in women’s weightlifting in the 49kg category, breathing life into a lot of Indian sports fanatics who were disappointed by the showings from the shooting contingent on the very first day.

PV Sindhu – Silver

Although we pinned our hopes down and predicted a Silver medal for Sindhu, with World Champion Carolina Marin out of the Olympics, an incredible opportunity has opened up for the Indian shuttler. Seeded sixth in the grand tournament, Sindhu started off with a dominating win against Israel’s unseeded Ksenia Polikarpova in straight games.

But the world no. 1

Tai Tzu Ying and Nozomi Okuhara, who is representing the hosts, can pose a threat for Sindhu.

Bajrang Punia – Silver

Coming into Tokyo 2020, in Men’s wrestling, Bajrang Punia, coached by Olympian Yogeshwar Dutt, has been a favourite in the 65 kg division. 

He has clinched the gold medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games. Hopefully, he continues to do the same in Japan and validates our predictions.

Vinesh Phogat – Silver

Although Vinesh Phogat‘s 2016 Rio Olympics ended with an injury, she has made an incredible comeback to the sport by sweeping up the gold in the 50 kg category in both Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games in 2018.

Following her victories, the Haryana wrestler switched to the 53 kg category. While most thought it would take her a while to settle in the new weight division, she kept securing more medals on her way to the Olympics.

This makes her a prime candidate and one of the best Indian prospects to return from Tokyo as an Olympic medallist. 

Manu Bhaker & Saurabh Chaudhary – Shooting

Albeit India’s shooting delegation has had a poor start to the Olympics, a lot of that can be attributed to the nerves of gracing the grand tournament for the very first time.

Even after suffering some issues with her gun, Bhaker had a modest outing in the women’s 10 m air pistol qualifications, narrowly missing out on the finals. 

We expect her and Saurabh Chaudhary to form a formidable duo in the Mixed Team event and hand India a bronze medal.

Neeraj Chopra – Bronze

While Athletics have never really been India’s forte, the first two Olympics medals for the country came in this very sport.

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In the Tokyo Olympics, however, we are predicting India has an outside chance of grabbing a medal in one of the disciplines.

Neeraj Chopra sealed the Olympic qualification in Javelin Throw with an 87.86-metre throw at the Athletics Central North East Meeting in 2020. While there were a lot of doubts following his elbow injury, Chopra showed that he had gained enough fitness to throw competitive distances at the Olympics.

The 23-year-old already has Asian Games and Commonwealth Games gold to his name.

Sharath Kamal (Table Tennis)

Sharath Kamal is another great contender to bring home medal for India. The 39-year-old was brilliant in his round 2 win against Portugal’s T Apolonia and will have to be at his A-game if he hopes to advance any further than the men’s singles, where he faces China’s Ma Long, the current world champion and ranked number 3 in the world.

Abhishek Verma (Shooting)

While all the hopes in shooting lie on Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary’s shoulders, Abhishek Verma has the potential to surprise a lot of people with a podium finish. He is ranked number one in the world in the 10m air pistol category and will be one to watch in the mixed 10m air pistol event.