Kolkata: The Indian athletes who will make their Olympic debut in Tokyo this year have a great deal of experience to back them up in their quest for a medal. While there are several veterans of the games, fans will also see a larger pool of teenage athletes waving the Indian flag high at the Tokyo Olympics.
Let’s take a look at all the athletes under the age of 20 who will make their Olympics debut in Tokyo.
Salima Tete (Hockey)
Former India U-18 women vice-captain Salima Tete will be Sjoerd Marijne’s vital cogs this year at the Tokyo Olympics. The 19-year-old had been a constant feature on the senior team for the last few years and is eager to showcase her skills and talent on the world stage. She had also captained India that won silver at the 2019 Youth Olympics.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (Badminton)
At the age of 18, Satwik won a gold (mixed team) and a silver medal (men’s doubles) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. He had also won Asia Team Championships bronze twice in 2016 and 2020. The Andhra Pradesh native will be the newest generation of the distinguished Pullela Gopichand Academy to compete at the Olympics. At Tokyo, Satwik will partner with Chirag Shetty in the men’s doubles event.
Saurabh Chaudhary (Shooting)
With each passing year, Saurabh Chaudhary became more of a medal contender. At the age of 19, he had already won every medal available and would go into Tokyo Olympics with ‘all guns blazing’ with the hope of winning an Olympic medal.
Manu Bhaker (Shooting)
Manu Bhaker, like many of her teammates, had taken the shooting world by storm in recent years. She had won multiple medals at various editions of the ISSF World Cup 2018, giving her the experience needed to win an Olympic medal for India. She is expected to win a medal in the 10m Pistol event and will compete in the mixed team event alongside Saurabh Chaudhary.
Divyansh Panwar (Shooting)
At the age of 18, Divyansh Panwar had already been a World No.1 in the 10m Rifle event. He would be competing alongside Apurvi Chandela in the 10m Air Rifle mixed event at his first Olympics this summer.
Srihari Nataraj (Swimming)
Srihari Nataraj, who missed the Olympic A cut by 0.05s at the Settecoli Swim Meet in Italy a few days earlier, had yet another shot at qualification when he timed 53.77s at the time trial making him the second Indian swimmer after Sajan Prakash to qualify for Tokyo Olympics. The 20-year-old will be competing in the men’s 100m backstroke event.
Anshu Malik (Wrestling)
Anshu Malik is another wrestler from one of Haryana’s well-known wrestling families. Her father and uncle were both excellent wrestlers, and it seemed only natural that Anshu would follow in their footsteps. It took her seven long years to realise her dream which was first suggested by her grandmother when she was 12 years old.
However her international experience is limited at her age, given that she had qualified for the Olympics, her talent will speak for itself the day the 19-year-old would take the mat for the first time.
Sonam Malik (Wrestling)
The 19-year-old from Sonipat was a surprise qualifier. She was highly regarded when she was younger, and in 2020 she defeated 2016 Olympic medalist Sakshi Malik twice. Several of her awards had come from the Cadet World Championships (2017 to 2019) and the School Games. In Tokyo, it’s highly anticipated that the Indian would bag a medal.
Aishwary Tomar (Shooting)
The 20-year-old got his first scent of shooting when he went hunting with his father, and he gradually developed an interest in competitive shooting. He began shooting at his local range, which led him to the Indian shooting circuit competing in the 10m and 50m Rifle events at the Asian Shooting Championship 2019.
Tomar already bagged a slew of awards, including gold medals at the ISSF World Cup in 2019 and bronze medals at the Asian Games, and the Eklavya Award in the same year.
Sharmila Devi (Hockey)
Sharmila Devi made her senior team debut in 2019 as an 18-year-old also contributed during the Olympic Qualifiers the same year at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar scoring against the USA. She was also the part of the Indian side that went to Great Britain last year and would look to lead India’s forward line in Tokyo this year.
