Indian top debutants at Paris Olympics 2024 (Credit: X)
New Delhi: India secured seven medals at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. This time total of 84 Indian athletes qualified for the Paris Olympics 2024. Everyone’s attention will be on experienced players to step up and win some medals for India, but this time India had a promising contingent of debutants.
1. Nikhat Zareen
Nikhat is the talk of the town in the boxing fraternity, she became the second Indian woman after the Indian legendary boxer MC Mary Kom to win more than one World title in boxing. She won the Olympic quota as she defeated Jordan’s Hanan Nassar in the women’s 50kg category at Hangzhou Gymnasium on September 29.
(FILES) India’s Nikhat Zareen celebrates her win against Mozambique’s Helena Ismael Bagao in their women’s light fly round of 16 bout on day three of the Commonwealth Games at the NEC Arena in Birmingham, central England, on July 31, 2022. Nikhat Zareen defied taunts to succeed Mary Kom as the face of Indian boxing and now wants to add an Olympic medal to her growing list of achievements. Already a two-time world champion and Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Zareen is among the favourites in the women’s 50 kg category in Paris.
2. Aman Sehrawat
India’s biggest prospect in men’s wrestling is Aman who is just 19 years old. Aman defeated Chongsong Han by 12-2 in the semi-final of the World Wrestling Olympic qualifier in Istanbul, turkey. He will be competing in the men’s 57 kg freestyle category and also solo representing India at men’s wrestling. All the big names like Bajrang Punia, Deepak Punia, and Ravi Dahiya will not be competing in the Paris Olympics so everyone’s hope will be on Sehrawat.
Aman Sherawat won the gold medal as he beat Zou Wanhao (CHN) by 10-0 in the final of 57kg men’s freestyle
3. Sift Kaur Samra
Sift Kaur Samra clinched a silver medal at the Asian Games 2022 in the 50m rifle 3 position event (Credit: X)
Sift is also one of the top promising debutants in the Paris Olympics. She will be representing India in the women’s 50m rifle 3 position event. The 22-year-old won a gold medal at the Asian Games 2022 in China, she also set a new world record in the women’s 3p category. Sift scored 461.3 in women’s 3p trials, just lost by a point in the trials
4. Kishore Jena
Silver medallist Indias Kishore Jena celebrates after the men’s javelin throw final athletics event during the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou in China’s eastern Zhejiang province on October 4, 2023 (Credit: AFP)
Neeraj Chopra will be India’s biggest hope in the Javelin event but didn’t count out Kishore who won the silver medal at the Asian Games 2022. Jena will be an underdog in the Javelin event and will hope to replicate Neeraj’s performance at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.
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