Six years ago, a back injury had left his right leg temporarily paralysed but Sukhjeet Singh overcame the “toughest” phase of his life to earn a spot in the Olympic-bound Indian men’s hockey squad and is determined to prove his worth in the Games beginning July 26. The 28-year-old forward will be competing in his maiden Olympics. “Playing in the Olympics has always been a dream for me and my family. It’s the pinnacle of any athlete’s career, and I am honoured to have this opportunity,” Sukhjeet, who made his India debut in 2022, said in a Hockey India (HI) release.

“I believe my hard work and dedication have paid off. Now, I am determined to fulfil my role in the team with excellence and repay the trust of my coach and teammates by giving my all in Paris.” The Jalandhar-born Sukhjeet began playing hockey at the age of six, inspired by his father Ajit Singh, a former hockey player for Punjab Police. Despite the early start, his path to the senior Indian team was not an easy one.

In 2018, Sukhjeet was included in core probables camp for the senior team, but a freak back injury resulted in temporary paralysis of his right leg, putting his dream on hold.

“That period was one of the toughest times of my life. Being bedridden for almost five months was physically and mentally draining. I couldn’t walk, let alone play hockey, and even the simplest tasks like eating by myself became impossible.

“Each day felt like my dream of playing hockey was slipping further away, and it was incredibly disheartening,” he recalled.

Sukhjeet said his family, especially father’s, unwavering support and belief in his potential kept him going at a time when he “felt like giving up.” “…his refusal to let me lose hope was crucial in helping me get back on my feet. His determination to see me back on the field was infectious, and it gave me the strength to push through the pain and challenges,” he said.

After recovering from the injury, Sukhjeet finally donned the coveted blue jersey against Spain during the 2021-22 FIH Pro League season, marking his debut with a goal.

Over the past two years, Sukhjeet has showcased his remarkable talent and consistency, scoring 20 goals in 70 matches that he played for the country.

He played a key role in the 2023 FIH Hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar, striking three goals in six games. He was also a part of the gold-medal winning teams at the Asian Champions Trophy in Chennai and the Hangzhou Asian Games last year.

Recently, Sukhjeet contributed significantly in the FIH Hockey Pro League, netting five goals.

“The last two years have been incredibly rewarding for me. Every match has been a learning experience, pushing me to improve and contribute more to the team’s success,” he said.

“My focus is now entirely on the Paris Olympics, and I am determined to give my best performance to help our team achieve the highest honours.” 

It’s often said that finishing fourth in the Olympics is peak agony. If coming last carries the sting of embarrassment, securing the fourth place inflicts the pain of being so near yet so far, something that can either drive an athlete to future glory or leave them completely crushed. India’s affair with near misses at sport’s grandest stage has been a long-standing one, beginning way back in 1956. Here is a look at the instances when Indian athletes came close but ended at just that.

1956, Melbourne: Football

The Indian football team made the semifinals after beating hosts Australia 4-2 in the quarterfinals, with Neville D’Souza becoming the first Asian to score a hat-trick at the Games.

By giving his team the lead, Neville looked like doing an encore in the last-four clash against Yugoslavia. But the Yugoslavians came back strongly in the second half to seal the contest in their favour.

In the bronze medal classification match, India lost to Bulgaria 0-3, drawing to a close an eventful few days which the great P K Banerjee would often reminisce with a hint of understandable anguish.

1960, Rome: Athletics

The legendary Milkha Singh missed out on a bronze by the narrowest of margins.

Competing in the 400m final and touted as a medal contender, the ‘Flying Sikh’ fell short by a mere 1/10th of a second after slowing down to steal a glance at his fellow competitors, an error that he would regret for the rest of his life.

This would go down as his worst memory after losing his parents in the aftermath of the partition.

Milkha almost gave up the sport after this loss and it required a lot of persuasion for him to hit the track again and win two gold medals in the 1962 Asian Games.

1980, Moscow: Women’s Hockey

With top hockey nations such as the Netherlands, Australia and Great Britain boycotting the Moscow Games over the USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan, the Indian women’s hockey team had a great chance to finish on the podium in its first attempt itself.

But the team endured the agony of narrowly missing out on a medal, losing its last match to erstwhile USSR 1-3 to finish behind Zimbabwe, Czechoslovakia and the hosts.

1984, Los Angeles: Athletics

LA Olympics brought back memories of Milkha in Rome when PT Usha missed the 400m hurdles bronze by 1/100th of a second, making it the closest-ever miss for an Indian athlete in any competition.

Known as the ‘Payyoli Express’, she ended fourth behind Romania’s Christina Cojocaru, but her heroic effort left a lasting impression and she became a household name.

2004, Athens: Tennis

After a long gap of 20 years, the curse of the fourth place returned to haunt the Indian contingent when the celebrated duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi missed out on the podium at the Athens Games.

Arguably India’s greatest doubles pair in tennis, Paes and Bhupathi missed out on a bronze medal after losing a marathon match to Croatia’s Mario Ancic and Ivan Ljubicic 6-7 6-4 14-16 to end fourth.

Before that, the Indian pair went into the semifinals as favourites but lost to the German duo of Nicholas Kiefer and Rainer Schuttler in straight sets 2-6 3-6.

At the same Games, Kunjarani Devi finished fourth in women’s 48kg weightlifting competition, but she was not really in medal contention.

Disqualified in her final attempt to lift 112.5 kg in the clean and jerk category, Kunjarani finished with a total effort of 190kg, 10kg behind bronze-medallist Thailand’s Aree Wiratthaworn.

2012, London: Shooting

Shooter Joydeep Karmakar experienced the terrible feeling of finishing a place behind the bronze medal winner in this edition.

Karmakar had finished seventh in the qualification round of men’s 50m rifle prone event, and in the finals, he ended just 1.9 points behind the bronze medal winner.

2016, Rio de Janeiro: Gymnastics

Gymnast Dipa Karmakar became the first Indian woman gymnast to compete at the Games. After making the final of the women’s vault event, she finished fourth overall with a score of 15.066 and missed the bronze medal by 0.150 points.

She introduced the sport to India and gave the message that one doesn’t have to be born in the USA or Russia to become an excellent gymnast.

At the same Games, Abhinav Bindra’s illustrious career was headed for a fairytale finish but a shooter of even his class was not spared of the curse of the fourth, as he missed the bronze medal by a whisker, eight years after his historic gold medal at the Beijing Games.

2020, Tokyo: Women’s Hockey

A little more than four decades after the 1980 Moscow Games, the members of the Indian women’s hockey team once again endured a similar pain at the Tokyo Olympics, missing out on the bronze.

The Indian side punched above its weight triggering an upset to knock three-time Olympic champions Australia to make the semifinal.

In the semifinals, they suffered a 0-1 defeat to Argentina but still had a shot at the bronze. They looked on course to win the elusive medal as Rani Rampal and Co. took a 3-2 lead against Great Britain.

But Britain scored twice to go up 4-3 and clinch the medal, leaving the Indian team in tears.

At the same Games, golfer Aditi Ashok also experienced the agony of missing out on a historic podium finish.

Ranked 200th in the world, the 26-year-old matched the best golfers in the world shot for shot. But, she eventually fell short after coming agonisingly close and finished fourth.

File image of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.© AFP

Badminton ace PV Sindhu says she is “going all-out” in her quest to become the first Indian to win an unprecedented third individual Olympic medal in Paris, drawing on her experience from a successful past. Sindhu stands on the brink of history as she pursues the gold medal in the upcoming Games, having won a silver and bronze in 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo edition respectively. In an exclusive conversation on JioCinema’s ‘The Dreamers,’ Sindhu spoke about her unwavering focus on making history at Paris, though it is going to be an extremely difficult task for the Indian star.

“That third medal at Paris definitely motivates me, and I am going all-out to get that gold medal. For me, the Olympics is where I give my 200%,” Sindhu said.

“The journeys in 2016 and 2020 were wonderful, filled with immense effort and unforgettable moments.

“As I prepare for Paris 2024, it’s a fresh start, and I have to give my 100% no matter what.” Ranked among the world’s top players, Sindhu draws from her past experiences to fuel her quest for gold.

“There are a lot of experiences from my previous outings at the Olympics that I will take into Paris 2024, but I don’t want to get overconfident thinking about the medals.

“I hope I can fulfil the hope of the nation and get the third medal because getting three consecutive medals is not a joke. My mindset is focused on winning the gold and this gives me a lot of motivation and confidence.” She spoke at length about her preparation for the mega event, which will run from July 26 to August 11.

“My preparations are focused on putting in the hard work while being smart and focused on that particular day.” The former world champion understands the fierce competition that awaits and respects the calibre of her opponents.

“The Olympics is extremely competitive, and all the athletes are at their peak. The top 10-15 players in the world are of the same standard, be it the likes of AN Se Young, Akane Yamaguchi, Carolina Marin, or TAI Tzu Ying.

“There are no easy points at the Olympics, and we need to play hard for every point we score against an opponent. Anything can happen at the Olympics; one small mistake can change everything.” Sindhu also shared her perspective on working with Indian badminton legend Prakash Padukone, terming it her good fortune to be associated with the 1980 All England champion.

“This time, we have a whole new team with Prakash (Padukone) sir as my mentor and Agus (Dwi Santoso) as the new coach. Our practice is focused at getting everything perfect and to the point.

“It is my fortune that Prakash sir is my mentor and a part of my journey, and I hope his support can help me win that medal.” Currently ranked 13th in the world, Sindhu’s illustrious career boasts of numerous accolades.

She has won five BWF World Championship medals, including a gold, and an Olympic silver and bronze, making her the only Indian to achieve this feat.

Her Commonwealth Games achievements include gold in 2022, silver in 2018, and bronze in 2014 in the women’s singles event, along with gold in 2018 and silver in 2022 in mixed teams.

Additionally, she claimed silver in women’s singles at the 2018 Asian Games and bronze in women’s teams at the 2014 Asian Games.

Indian rifle shooter Sift Kaur Samra isn’t feeling the pressure on her debut Olympics, instead she is approaching the quadrennial showpiece as just another international competition, and said “just the name of the tournament that changes, not the people or the technique”. Sift, who is currently in her training base in Luxembourg, will compete in women’s 50m rifle 3 positions in Paris Games, starting from July 23 in the French Capital. The Asian Games gold medallist with a World Record of 469.6, said since the Olympics came after four years which is why it is much bigger than the other normal world cups but for her, it’s just another competition, and she will follow the same things she did in previous tournaments and training sessions.

“It’s the same; it’s just a normal World Cup for us, and we always give our best in the World Cup. This is another tournament where we will give our best. Yes, because it (Olympics) comes every four years, it is much bigger than the other World Cups. But I feel like it’s the same people we had in the last World Cup, so it’s going to be the same,” Sift told IANS.

“I just have to do the same things I did in my previous tournaments and training sessions. It’s just the name that changes, not the people or the technique,” she added.

When asked about how she feels about her first Olympic appearance and how she trains herself for the mega event, the rifle shooter said. “I think it’s great reaching here so it was fun and next also it will be fun.”

“It’s the same it’s like when we had a camp and the schedule given to us so we just followed that,” said Sift on her training in the lead up to the Paris Olympics.

In the Paris Games, a 21-member team of shooters will be representing India. The team comprises eight members in Rifle, seven in Pistol, and six in the Shotgun discipline. Of the eight rifle shooters only two — Aishwary Pratap Tomar and Anjum Mudgil — have prior experience of competing in an Olympic shooting range.

When asked if she got some tips and advice form the fellow shooter who have been a part Tokyo Olympics, Sift said , “We haven’t talked about this” instead she got advice from veterans from other sports — Saina Nehal (Badminton), Maru Kom (Boxing) and Sania Mirza (Tennis) during a television show.

“But from the different sports I got it, if you have seen there was some show where Sania Mirza and (Saina) Nehwal and Mary Kom gave me a little advice so that was really good.”

“One of them was reaching here is not an easy job but I have done that so ‘you have to be confident you have to believe in yourself and you will be doing the best’. Another one is, ‘you should have that fire to do your best and get something from Paris’.

Speaking about her target in terms of her individual performance, Sift concluded, “I just want that it should not be the same as in the last tournament which I have shot, it should be like one more. I will try to shoot one more point. If it was like 593 so then I will shoot 594 if it’s my day. So, let’s see, let’s check out yeah but this one gonna be my target.”

File image of Neeraj Chopra.© AFP

Constructive measures: Paris Mayor Hidalgo is keen to see swimming in the Seine at the Paris Games.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo took the plunge on July 17 when she jumped into the river Seine in Paris to show the water was clean enough to host Olympic swimming events starting later this month.

Hidalgo is the latest VIP to cleave through the river’s murky waters, after Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera on Saturday.

Despite a major clean-up, many Parisians still recoil at the idea of swimming in a river that regularly tests for high levels of bacteria caused by faecal matter.

But up until 1923, when it was banned due to pollution and the danger from passing river barges, it was a popular pastime.

Here is a brief history of Seine swimming. In the 17th century, before the revolution that toppled France’s monarchy, bathing in the Seine was a fashionable pastime. By the end of the century Seine swimming remained popular, with floating pools installed along the banks.

Some diehards continued to slip on their speedos until the practice was officially banned in 1923.

Current Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo revived the dream when bidding for the French capital to get the 2024 Games, promising swimming events in the Seine.

Massive investment

Some €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion) has been invested to make the Seine and its main tributary, the Marne, swimmable, notably by improving waste water collection management.

A key feature of the project involved building a massive underground rainwater storage tank near Austerlitz train station to hold excess waste water to ensure it does not flow into the Seine.

The swimming leg of the Olympics triathlon is set to take place in its waters on July 30-31 and August 5, followed by the open-water swimming on August 8 and 9.

When Jyothi Yarraji leaps past each hurdle in her bid to reach the finish line, it feels like she is trying to put behind all the struggles that her mother Kumari underwent while working in double shifts as a domestic help and a cleaner at a local hospital in Visakhapatnam. It is her gutsy mother’s positive mindset while struggling for sustenance that Yarraji would like to carry when she gets on the starting blocks of her 100m hurdles heats during the Paris Olympics.

Yarraji will become the first Indian to compete in the Olympics 100m hurdle as she made it to the Paris Games through the world ranking quota.

“In the past, I did too much thinking, too much worried because of my family, my personal life and my background but I learnt a lot,” Yarraji said in a virtual media interaction facilitated by Reliance Foundation.

“My situation is really bad sometimes. My mom always told me to just keep going forward because we can’t stop the present, past and the future.

“She told me ‘You work for yourself, whatever the result it will come… we will take it’. My mom will never tell me before a competition to win a medal, to win a gold. She will tell me to go and be healthy and be satisfied with whatever I am doing. That is why I always go forward with a positive mindset.”

She also said that having people with positive mindest had also helped her as she tries to “improve my present, without thinking too much of the past and future”.

“In the past, there was no great team around me. Now I have lots of positive people, a great team. That is helping me a lot. I always take the positivity with me. I try to change the negative thoughts into positive ones,” she said, referring to her support system led by her coach James Hillier, who is also the Athletics Director at Reliance Foundation.

“I got a lot of injuries, lots of hurdle hits, lots of falling down. I got minus but I try to turn it to plus. I strongly believe that if I miss (fail to do well) in this Olympics, after next four years I don’t know what I will be up to. I just want to use the present opportunity and to be the best version of myself. That’s it.”

Yarraji, who holds the national record of 12.78 second, admitted that there will be pressure during her debut Olympics but she is trying to remain calm and focussed by doing meditation.

“I don’t have experience of (competing in the) Olympics but I am confident that it will go well. I have experience of Asian Championships, Asian Games and World Championships and I hope to take my plus points from there (Asian Games, Asian and World Championships) to the Olympics.

“It will be a tough and intense competition in Paris. There will be pressure but I will try to concentrate on my race so that I can reproduce what I had done in training. I am now focussing more on recovery and meditation so that I remain calm and focussed,” said the Reliance Foundation athlete.

Asked if she has any target regarding her timing in Paris, she said, “I want to improve step by step. It is not about my timing. If we focus fully on timing, we can be locked at one place and we can’t move forward. It is all about the process; how we are doing and how we are improving everyday.

“If I do anything wrong, I will cry and remove my pain and start again. That is it.”

Got scared after getting injured in Finland

Yarraji admitted that she got a bit scared when she suffered a hip flexor injury while competing in Finland in May.

“It was not good for an injury to happen with Olympics approaching. I worked on my meditation, breathing and worked on my concentration. It was step by step (to come out of the injury).

“But I made a good comeback in the National Inter-State Championships in June. The injury, in fact, was a good experience for me in my life; whatever the hurdles I have to cross.”

Talking further about the injury, she said, “I was doing competition continuously. When we are in India, we have proper food on time, we have our masseur and staff, we have everything. But once we are out of country, we suffer a lot, we have to manage everything, food, travelling, etc.

“All these things affect us but still we have to manage and perform. Nobody knows what we are facing and people only want to see the results. We have to consistently perform and for that we always pushed our limits. In the process, I suffered the injury.”

Yarraji in best shape ever: Hillier

“She is in the best shape I have ever seen, physically and mentally. She can run significantly faster than her best timing. She has done that during training. She wants to run below 12.70 seconds,” said Hillier, adding that the injury she suffered in May was “weirdly a good thing”.

“We are fundamentally working on three main things — speed, working on breaking her rhythm and building her rhythm back as fast as possible, and make her run so fast that she feels out of control of her body, the body being open to just being out of control.”

Paris Olympics 2024 is all set to kick off on July 26. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Wednesday announced that 117 athletes, including seven reserves, will be part of India’s contingent at the Games. While stars like Neeraj Chopra, PV Sindhu, Nikhat Zareen, Mirabai Chanu and Vinesh Phogat will be seen competing at the mega event, big names like Ravi Kumar Dahiya and Bajrang Punia — who bagged silver and bronze medals respectively at Tokyo Olympics — failed to qualify for the tournament.

Here is the complete list of Indian athletes who qualified for Paris Olympics 2024 –

Athletics (27 +2)

Men:

Sarvesh Kushare – Men’s High Jump

Suraj Panwar – Marathon race walk mixed relay

Akshdeep Singh, Vikas Singh, Paramjeet Bisht – Men’s 20km Racewalk

Kishore Jena, Neeraj Chopra – Men’s Javelin Throw

Muhammed Anas, Muhammed Ajmal, Amoj Jacob, Santhosh Tamilarasan, Rajesh Ramesh – Men’s 4x400m Relay

Avinash Sable – Men’s 3000m Steeplechase

Tajinderpal Singh Toor – Men’s Shot Put

Abdulla Aboobacker, Praveel Chithravel – Men’s Triple Jump

Jeswin Aldrin – Men’s Long Jump

Women:

Annu Rani- Women’s Javelin Throw

Parul Chaudhary- Women’s 3000m Steeplechase, Women’s 5000m

Kiran Pahal – Women’s 400m, Women’s 4x400m relay

Jyothi Yarraji – Women’s 100m Hurdles

Ankita Dhyani – Women’s 5000m

Priyanka Goswami – Women’s 20km Racewalk, Marathon race walk mixed relay

Jyothika Sri Dandi, Subha Venkatesan, Vithya Ramraj, Poovamma MR- Women’s 4x400m relay

Athletics reserves –

Prachi, Mijo Chacko Kurian

Archery (6)

Men’s Recurve

Dhiraj Bommadevara

Tarundeep Rai

Pravin Jadhav

Women’s Recurve

Bhajan Kaur

Deepika Kumari

Ankita Bhakat

Badminton (7)

Men:

HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen – Singles

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty – Doubles

Women:

PV Sindhu – Singles

Ashwini Ponnappa, Tanisha Crasto – Doubles

Boxing (6)

Men:

Nishant Dev – 71kg

Amit Panghal – 51kg

Women:

Nikhat Zareen – 50kg

Preeti Pawar – 54kg

Jaismine Lamboria – 57kg

Lovlina Borgohain – 75kg

Equestrian (1)

Anush Agarwalla – Dressage

Golf (4)

Men:

Gaganjeet Bhullar

Shubhankar Sharma

Women:

Aditi Ashok

Diksha Dagar

Hockey (16 +3)

Men

Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran, Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Harmanpreet Singh, Sumit, Sanjay, Rajkumar Pal, Shamsher Singh, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh

Men’s hockey team reserves

Nilakanta Sharma, Jugraj Singh, Krishan Bahadur Pathak

Judo (1)

Tulika Maan – Women’s +78kg

Rowing (1)

Balraj Panwar – Men’s single scull

Sailing (2)

Men:

Vishnu Saravanan – Men’s dinghy

Women:

Nethra Kumanan – Women’s dinghy

Shooting (21)

Men:

Sandeep Singh, Arjun Babuta (10m Air Rifle M)

Aishwary Tomar, Swapnil Kusale (50m Rifle 3 Positions M)

Sarabjot Singh, Arjun Cheema (10m Air Pistol M)

Anish Bhanwal, Vijayveer Sidhu (25m RFP M)

Prithviraj Tondaiman – Men’s Trap

Anantjeet Singh Naruka – Men’s Skeet, Skeet Mixed Team

Women:

Elavenil Valarivan, Ramita (10m Air Rifle W)

Sift Kaur Samra, Anjum Moudgil (50m Rifle 3 Positions W)

Rhythm Sangwan (10m Air Pistol W)

Manu Bhaker – (10m Air Pistol W, 25m Pistol W)

Esha Singh (25m Pistol W)

Rajeshwari Kumari, Shreyasi Singh – Women’s Trap

Maheshwari Chauhan – Women’s Skeet, Skeet Mixed Team

Raiza Dhillon – Women’s Skeet

Swimming (2)

Men:

Srihari Nataraj – Men’s 100m Backstroke

Women:

Dhinidhi Desinghu – Women’s 200m Freestyle

Table Tennis (6+2)

Men:

Sharath Kamal

Harmeet Desai

Manav Thakkar

Women:

Manika Batra

Sreeja Akula

Archana Kamath

Table tennis reserves

Sathiyan G, Ayhika Mukherjee

Tennis (3)

Rohan Bopanna, N Sriram Balaji – Men’s Doubles

Sumit Nagal – Men’s Singles

Weightlifting (1)

Mirabai Chanu – Women’s 49kg

Wrestling (6)

Men:

Aman Sehrawat – Men’s 57kg

Women:

Vinesh Phogat – Women’s 50kg

Antim Panghal – Women’s 53kg

Anshu Malik – Women’s 57kg

Nisha Dahiya – Women’s 68kg

Reetika Hooda- – Women’s 76kg

Indian wrestlers have delivered a medal every single time at the Olympics since the 2008 Beijing edition. Success in four consecutive editions has enhanced the status of wrestling as a prime Olympic sport in the country. There was success at junior level too. The sport also produced U23 world champions. It raised hopes of big success in Paris. It was Sushil Kumar who changed the way wrestling was perceived in the country by winning a bronze in 2008. He bettered his medal four years later in the London Games, where he fetched a silver. While Yogeshwar Dutt also won a bronze in the British capital.

Sakshi Malik carried forward the trend by bagging a bronze in Rio in 2016 and Ravi Dahiya and Bajrang Punia made it a double delight in the delayed Tokyo Games (2021).

However, the sport which was soaring high and was expected to reach even greater heights, was brought down to earth by the prolonged protests against then Wrestling Federation of India chief by the country’s elite wrestlers.

National camps and domestic competitions came to a halt. Confusion prevailed. No one knew how or when normalcy would return. There were allegations and counter-arguments. WFI elections were held and the national body got suspended but finally when UWW lifted its suspension, things began moving.

Only one male and five female wrestlers qualified for the upcoming edition. There is hope, but doubts too.

PTI takes a look at the strength and weakness of all the six contenders.

AMAN SEHRAWAT (Men’s freestyle 50kg)

With his steady progress, Aman did what was unthinkable: replacing Olympic silver medallist Ravi Dahiya, the most formidable Indian wrestler, in the men’s 57kg weight division.  Aman’s biggest strength is his stamina and endurance. If the bout lasts six minutes, it will be difficult to beat him.

However, what is lacking in his game is limited strategy and technique. It was evident when he was pitted against Rei Higuchi in the Ranking Series event in Hungary. He did not seem to have a plan B. At this stage, planing against each rival is key.

His biggest threats are Higuchi and Uzbekistan’s Gulomjon Abdullaev.

VINESH PHOGAT (Women’s 50kg)

Without doubt, Vinesh Phogat is one the best woman wrestlers that India has produced. A solid defence and equally impressive attack are her strengths.

However, what could trouble her is lack of quality mat time against top wrestlers in the last year or so.

Lowering the weight class to 50kg means more stress on her body. Cutting the weight cut ahead of the bout is a painful process, it sucks the energy out of the body and hers is an aging body. She is almost 30. Her natural body weight is about 55-56kg. Much would depend on how Vinesh copes with it.

In the recent Grand Prix of Spain, the weight relaxation was 2kg but that won’t be the case in Paris.

ANTIM PANGHAL (Women’s 53kg)

The firebrand wrestler from Hisar was first to lock a Paris Olympics quota. She also challenged Vinesh for a trial with her when the protest controversy was at its peak.

Her biggest strength is flexibility that allows her to wriggle out of her rivals’ grip pretty easily. It’s difficult to trap her. She has the spark and fire.

However, she has not competed since the Asian Games. A back injury forced her to miss the Asian Championship this year. The lack of mat time and competitive action could prove to be her bane.

ANSHU MALIK (Women’s 57kg)

Anshu’s career graph has not really taken off the way it was expected after her exploits on the junior circuit and the smooth transition to senior events. Injuries have troubled her and et she is one of the best bets in Paris for India.

Quick movement on the mat to go with an aggressive game style is Anshu’s biggest strength. She also has the experience of competing at the Olympics. She was not ready for the big stage in Tokyo as a teenager but now has a fair idea what is required in such a highly competitive field.

Her fitness, though, is a worrying aspect as she enters the Olympics with a suspected shoulder injury. She claims it’s just a neck spasm but she has not been tested.

NISHA DAHIYA (Women’s 68kg)

Away from the limelight, Nisha Dahiya has quietly made her way into Paris Games. She had shown promise early but injuries has halted her ascent. Reported dead wrongly in 2021, Nisha has managed to surprise quality rivals with her aggressive game style.

She is seasoned and her fearless approach is her biggest strength. Not having the exposure of competing at big events consistently is her weakness apart from losing steam in the fifth-sixth minute of the bout.

She tends to pour out everything in the first four minutes of her bouts and if an up-and-down bout lasts the distance, she gives away points easily. Handling nerves on debut will also be key.

REETIKA HOODA (Women’s 76kg)

Reetika has the capability to surprise her rivals. She is not exactly unknown in the circuit but can prove to be a tough nut to crack even for experienced wrestlers due to her explosive strength.

She has power and technique but has the habit to concede points in the last 30 seconds of the bout. Even if she builds a lead, she can end up losing those points. Probably losing focus in the fag end of bouts is her weakness.