Picture Credit: AFP/WorldArchery/Twitter
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to extend an invitation to the entire Indian Olympic contingent to be the chief guests of the country's independence day celebrations at Red Fort in New Delhi. The news is coming through government sources and an announcement of the same is likely to be made anytime soon. PM Modi had also interacted with the athletes virtually before they left for the Games and even promised to have ice cream with ace shuttler PV Sindhu before she left for Tokyo.
Now with Sindhu returning from the Japanese capital with a bronze medal and becoming the first Indian woman to win two medals at the prestigious world event, it is likely that PM uses the opportunity on August 15 to keep his promise. The Tokyo Olympic Games are currently underway and India have bagged two medals till now- both of them being clinched by women athletes. Other than Sindhu's bronze, Mirabai Chanu bagged the silver medal in the opening day of Tokyo 2020 in women's weightlifting.
Men's and women's hockey teams stand a chance to win medals
Moreover, the only other medal which has been assured in the sport of boxing is also from a women athlete Lovlina Borgohain. Meanwhile, the men's hockey team will play their bronze medal match on August 5 after losing a chance to reach the finals earlier on Tuesday, facing a 5-2 defeat against Belgium. For Belgium, Alexander Hendrickx (19th, 49th, 53rd minutes), the tournament’s highest goal-getter, scored a hat-trick while Loick Luypaert and John-John Dohmen also chipped in with a goal to allow the 2016 silver-medallists their second successive entry into the final of the Olympics. The women's hockey team also stands a chance to reach the finals after securing their first-ever semifinal berth by beating Australia 1-0 in the quarterfinal.
Tajinder Pal Toor to be in action soon
Later in action on Tuesday will be Tajinder Pal Toor who is a champion in both the 2019 Doha Asian championship and the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games. The 26-yr-old from Punjab's Moga did set a new national mark of 21.49 metres at Indian Grand Prix in Patiala while he booked a berth for Tokyo.