Indian sports personalities who missed out on Tokyo Olympics 2020
Here is the list of the players who are missing out on Tokyo this time.
29 June 2021- This date marked the end of all Olympics qualifications for the Tokyo
The long-awaited Olympics finally commenced on July 23, 2021. Over 100 athletes have qualified for Tokyo Olympics 2020 across at least 17 categories, but there are a few prominent Indian stars that missed the cut and wouldn’t be seen this year.
Here is the list of the players who are missing out on Tokyo.
Saina Nehwal
The first-ever Indian shuttler to clinch a medal in the Olympics 2012, Saina Nehwal became the name of every household. She reached the top spot in the year 2015 and became the only Indian shuttler to achieve the feat. Saina is the player of many firsts but unfortunately, she got troubled by strings of niggling injuries. A player with over 24 international titles in her cabinet, failed to make it to Tokyo Olympics.
Dipa Karmakar
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This 4 feet 11 inches tall gymnast had placed India on the map of gymnastics. In the year 2016, Dipa Karmakar became the first woman gymnast to represent the nation on the biggest stage at the Rio Olympics. She won hearts with her performances that almost made it to the podium. India’s very own small wonder is reputed to land successfully in Produnova which is also known as the vault of death. But Dipa’s dream for a medal crashed out as she has been battling with knee injuries since 2017. This ended her dreams of appearing in the Tokyo Olympics.
Sakshi malik
The 28-year-old wrestler has sealed a place in Indian sporting folklore. Rio Olympics 2016 carried the ghosts of the past but Sakshi thrashed the nil to bag India’s first medal at Rio Olympics. The medal was bronze but it was worth gold as Malik was after all the first Indian woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal. But this star failed to make her mark at the Tokyo Olympics. She lost to Sonam Malik in the national trials for the Asian Olympic qualifiers. Well, fate may not be in favour of Sakshi this time but no one can forget that bronze moment when the nation was flying with Malik on that mat.
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Sushil Kumar
He is what a fallen legacy looks like. Sushil Kumar stood tall as the only two-time Olympics medallist in the individual events. In the 2008 Beijing games, he brought home bronze after 56 years. In the 2012 London Olympics, he changed the colour to silver. But this year his chances of making it to Tokyo became grim after the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) decided to let Amit Dhankar represent India in the 74kg category. This eliminated Sushil’s chances to what could have been his fourth Olympics games. But the events that followed have ruined his chances of making it to any Olympics ever again.
Leander Paes
Only a few names come close to the legacy of 48-year-old tennis star Leander Paes. In the 1996 Atlanta games, Paes was an unassuming wildcard entry who wends his way to bronze and became the only Indian to bag a medal in Olympics tennis in 44 years. He scripted history for the nation and more pages could have been added in his book if he had accounted for the Tokyo Olympics. This could have been his eight appearances but it rendered to be a far-fetched dream. Covid and his ranking turned out to be a wall for Paes as statistics couldn’t even begin to define the legend and his legacy. Regarding his achievement, Leander Paes will go down in history with or without the Tokyo Olympics.
There are some other sports stars too who were our big hopes but failed to qualify in Olympics this year.
Kidambi Srikanth
Hima Das
Shiva Thapa
Heena Sidhu
