No points for guessing the first one
1. Neeraj Chopra – Athletics – M Javelin
Neeraj Chopra goes to Paris as the defending Olympic champion and reigning World Champion.
He has followed up his brilliant performance in Tokyo with incredible consistency, maintaining an ongoing streak of 23 podium finishes in a row, most being wins. More than his strength as a
thrower, he has showcased his strength of character with his continuing humility and dedication to improve.
He is likely to be rewarded for this in Paris, where he goes in as one of the favourites, if
not the outright one. With only 3 throwers having beaten him since the Olympics, he will be on the
podium as long as he is fit. The fight for Gold should be a close one between him and Jakub
Vadlejch.
ISH Predicts Gold
2. Nikhat Zareen – Boxing – W50kg
India takes a promising boxing contingent to Paris, and Nikhat Zareen leads the charge in the ring. World Champion in both 2022 and 2023, her medal record puts her in elite company alongside
Mary Kom as one of the few Indians to win multiple world championships in the sport.
The 2022 gold is particularly impressive as that was the last unified world championship in women’s boxing, and Nikhat was the only Indian to win gold there.
She has backed those performances up with
CWG gold and Asian Games bronze, the latter securing her quota for Paris. She has only lost 2 of her 24 fights since Tokyo, and is one of the best fighters in the event.
She will not be seeded for the draw, however, so she might face a tricky path to a medal, but she has the calibre to take on
the best.
ISH Predicts Silver/Bronze
3. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty – Badminton – M Doubles
Satwik/Chirag or SatChi, as we affectionately call them, are Badminton’s rising stars. They have
become one of the best pairs in the world over the last two seasons, with a pivotal role in India’s
2022 Thomas Cup victory and a bronze at the world championships, followed by Asian Games
and Asian Championships gold in 2023.
Entering the year as world no. 1’s, they are seeded 3rd in Paris and have drawn a favourable group C, where they are the best pair.
While there may be some tricky knockout games, a medal is certainly on the cards for them as they have a winning record against most in the competition.
ISH predicts Silver
4. Antim Panghal – Wrestling – W53kg
Her World Junior Championship golds in 2022 and 2023 tell you not only how good Antim
Panghal is, but also how young. Which only makes her meteoric rise through the senior ranks in the last two years that much more impressive.
In the space of a few months in 2023, she won
Asian Champs silver, Asian Games bronze, and World Champs bronze – India’s only medal at last
year’s edition.
Despite her age, she has gone toe-to-toe with the best. She is seeded 4th in the weight class for Paris, which is excellent because it has kept her away from the invincible Akari Fujinami (JPN), significantly boosting Antim’s medal hopes.
ISH Predicts Silver
5. Mirabai Chanu – Weightlifting – W49kg
Mirabai Chanu is one of India’s best athletes, across sports. A former world champion and former world-record holder, she is one of the best lifters in the world. That pedigree took her to success in Tokyo where she won the silver that kicked off India’s most successful medal campaign at theGames.
She followed that up with gold at the CWG and silver at the 2022 World Championships.
Unfortunately, she suffered an injury in the Asian Games last year that interrupted her strong run
of form and preparation for the Olympics, but she recovered well from it to return to competition at the 2024 World Cup, where she lifted 184kg.
That was well short of her best of 205kg but the important point was that she was fit to compete again. If she has returned to close to her best in
the intervening period and can lift ~201kg, she will be right up there in medal contention once
again
ISH Predicts Bronze
6. Sift Kaur Samra – Shooting – W50m Rifle 3 Positions
Several of India’s shooters in Paris have the potential to threaten the Olympic podium, so the
team is full of medal hopefuls. Sift Kaur Samra is worth highlighting, in particular, because she is
the only one who goes into her event at the Games as the world-record holder.
It is the Briton who held it before her, Seonaid McIntosh, who will be the favourite in the event, but Sift is in great form to mount a challenge for the podium. She won gold at the Asian Games where she set the world record, won bronze at the most recent world cup in Munich, and showed remarkable consistency at India’s Olympic trials.
ISH Predicts Silver/Bronze
7. Men’s Team – Archery
India’s men’s archery team have high hopes for the Olympics, coming off a strong 2023 where
they won Silver at the Asian Games. The team had a brilliant start to the year, winning the first leg of the World Cup and more impressively, beating South Korea in the final.
They have not enjoyed the best results thereafter, losing to lower-ranked teams in both subsequent world cups and the olympic qualifier.
They still go to Paris as the 2nd ranked team in the world, however, a feat which secured their qualification and bodes well for the Games.
The star performer in the team is Dhiraj
Bommadevara, who has emerged as a brilliant talent over the last 12 months. He has been an
integral part of the team in the 2023 & 2024 world cups.
Individually, he won bronze at the most recent world cup and will look to cause some upsets in Paris. He could also present a medal threat as part of a mixed team (potentially alongside stalwart Deepika Kumari), where he has won multiple world cup medals this year. Archery is certainly not an easy sport to medal in at the Olympics, but this might be the most promising squad to contest for the country’s first.
ISH Predicts Silver
8. Men’s Hockey Team
Hockey is by far India’s most successful sport at the Olympics, with the men’s team having won 8
golds and 12 medals in our history, the latest a bronze in Tokyo. The Tokyo medal was a huge
milestone as it was our first since 1980! The team will be looking to follow that up with another
strong showing in Paris in what promises to be an immensely competitive hockey tournament.
India won silver at the CWG and gold at the Asian Games, and enjoyed a good couple of Pro
League seasons.
However, a disappointing showing at the World Cup in 2023 and a 7th place finish in this year’s Pro League have left some questions about consistency. However, it is a strong Indian team going to the Olympics, with Harmanpreet Singh in great form, having been the most prolific scorer in the world since Tokyo. India should reach the QFs from Group B comfortably.
From then on, anything is possible, with the team capable of challenging anyone on
their day.
ISH Predicts Bronze
9. PV Sindhu – Badminton – W Singles
While a few others are looking to repeat their medal performances from Tokyo, Sindhu is in the
unique position of going for her third Olympic medal on the trot. A stalwart performer for Indian badminton for so long, she will be hoping to complete her set with gold in Paris.
Unfortunately, she has had injuries disrupt recent seasons, which have dropped her down the rankings, but Paris 2024 could be a chance to bounce back. She has been drawn an easy group, while the knockout opponents thereafter look likely to be He Bing Jiao (CHN) in the Ro16 and defending Olympic champion Chen Yufei (CHN). Sindhu beat the former for bronze in Tokyo, but was knocked out by her in the QFs of last year’s Asian Games.
Against the latter, Sindhu has fought some close
battles, but Chen has had the upper hand off late. Interestingly, however, Sindhu has never lost to
a Chinese player at a major competition (World Champs/Olympics) – a statistic she will look to
preserve in Paris. If she can dash Chinese hopes, at least a bronze will certainly be on the cards
for Sindhu, but it will not be easy.
A third medal is within sight for Sindhu, and returning from injury, it would be the most impressive accomplishment of her illustrious career.
ISH Predicts Bronze
10. Pistol & Rifle Mixed Teams – Shooting
India’s depth of talent in rifle & pistol shooting means we are serious contenders in the mixed
team events at the Olympics, where we field two teams in each. The pistol mixed team event has
been one of our most successful in the last two seasons, producing 4 world cup medals, Asian
Games silver, and the 2023 world championship gold! Rhythm Sangwan & Arjun Singh Cheema
make up one team, while Sarabjot Singh & Manu Bhaker make up the other.
Rhythm has won 3 medals in the event, while Sarabjot has been a standout performer in the individual air pistol. The format of the competition is cut-throat, with outstanding qualifying performance paramount to
making the medal matches. That could bode well for our rifle teams, however, particularly the
combo of Ramita Jindal & Arjun Babuta, who have put up strong qualifying numbers in the past.
Arjun has already won a world cup silver in the event this year. The other team consists of Elavenil Valarivan & Sandeep Singh, who will be looking to replicate their good form at the olympic trials for the team.
ISH Predicts Silver
Written by Aaryan (X:@thesportsniche)
