Tokyo: Day 9 is going to be a crucial day for India as when PV Sindhu will look to confirm her place in successive Olympics finals, archer Atanu will look to advance to the quarter-final. Boxer Amit Panghal, athletes Seema Punia, Kamalpreet Kaur and Sreeshankar will also be in action.
Here are the athletes to watch out for:
Atanu Das - Archery
Atanu Das pulled off a stunning victory in the Men’s Individual Recurve Archery on Thursday when he defeated South Korean great and London Olympic gold medalist Oh Jinhyek to reach the Round of 16 at the Tokyo Olympics.
Atanu Das will take on Japan's Takaharu Furukawa in his Round of 16 match on Saturday. He is the only medal hope for India in archery after his wife Deepika Kumari's exit from the Olympics on Friday.
Kamalpreet Kaur - Discus throw
On Saturday, when discus throwers Kamalpreet Kaur and Seema Punia will launch their campaign in Tokyo, there will be expectations on them. Of the two, Kamalpreet Kaur has been considered as a medal hope for India.
The Punjab girl became the first Indian female discus thrower to cross 65m at the Federation Cup in March. She broke that record at the Indian Grand Prix 4 in June in Patiala where she hurled the disc as far as 66.59 metre.
Amit Panghal - Boxing
The World No. 1 in flyweight category (51kg) Indian boxer Amit Panghal trained in Italy before the Olympics.
He has been consistent during the last Olympic cycle. He won gold at the 2019 Asian Games and silver in 2019 World Championships. Ami Panghal won bronze medal in Governor's cup 2021 at St. Petersburg, Russia in 52kg category.
He has been tipped as one of the strongest medal hopes for India at the Olympics. Panghal will face Yuberjen Herney Martinez Rivas of Colombia in Round of 16 on Saturday.
Pooja Rani - Boxing
Indian boxer Pooja Rani (75kg) defeated Algeria's Ichrak Chaib in her opening bout to enter the quarterfinals of her maiden Olympic Games Wednesday. The 30-year-old Indian won the match 5-0, thoroughly dominating a rival 10 years her junior.
On Saturday, she stands a chance to confirm a medal for India when she will take on Qian Li of China in the quarterfinal.
PV Sindhu - Badminton
PV Sindhu extended her straight games win to four on Friday when she defeated Japanese shuttler Akane Yamaguchi 21-13, 22-20 to enter the semifinals. Sindhu had earlier defeated Mia Blichfeldt of Denmark 21-15, 21-13. Now, the Indian shuttler is all set to take on second seed Tai Tzu-Ying on Saturday evening.
Murali Sreeshankar - Long Jump
In Men's Long Jump Qualification, India's alone long jumper Murali Sreeshankar will take to the pitch on Saturday. Sreeshankar, who could not afford any overseas tour during the pandemic enforced lockdown, went to Tokyo despite a below-par performance in fitness trials. The Kerala jumper had confirmed a place for himself at the Tokyo Olympics after breaking his own national record to set a new mark of 8.26m at the Federation Cup in Patiala.
