Day 1 Preview: Indian archers set to begin Tokyo Olympics campaign

The COVID-19 curtailed opening ceremony is also set to take place later in the day.

After a wait of five years, the Tokyo Olympics are finally upon us. The mega event will see the participation of thousands of athletes from 206 countries in 33 sports. A record number of Indian athletes have qualified for the Games. As many as 121 Indian athletes will represent the country in numerous sporting events.

It will be the first day first show for the Indian archers at the Tokyo Olympics. The rest of the Indian contingent will be getting ready to participate in the opening ceremony of the Games. Before that, the Indian archers will start their quest for a coveted medal. The ranking rounds of archery will start on Friday itself. Top Indian archers like Deepika Kumari, Atanu Das and others will be in action. The following days will see more and more action from Indian athletes.

Women's Individual Ranking Round - 5:30 am

Deepika Kumari will be the first Indian athlete in action at the Tokyo Olympics. The top-ranked recurve female archer in the world has been in terrific form leading up to the mega event. This will be Kumari's third appearance at the Olympics. She is the lone female Indian archer to have qualified for the Games. The 27-year-old has developed more resilience to her performance and seems to have solved a few technical and mental issues.

Kumari is in the form of her life. She has bagged two individual Archery World Cup medals in 2021. As such, Kumari is one of India's biggest medal hopes at the Tokyo Olympics.

Men's Individual Ranking Round - 9:30 am

Atanu Das will be the centre of attention in the men's event. After years of near-misses, Das has recently claimed two gold medals at the Archery World Cup. The first of those came in the individual event in Guatemala City, followed by a mixed team victory in Paris. It makes him one of the top archers at the Tokyo Olympics. The 29-year-old is all set to make his second Olympics appearance. A good run of form has propelled him into the top 10 of the world rankings.

Two other Indian representatives Pravin Jadhav and Tarundeep Rai will also be in action. Jadhav will make his Olympics debut in Tokyo. On the other hand, Rai has been a mainstay of the Indian archery team for the past 18 years. The 37-year-old had first competed at the quadrennial event in Athens in 2004. As such, he's an experienced head in the archery team. He will be an invaluable asset to the Indian archery contingent at the Tokyo Olympics.

The archery events will take place at the Yumenoshima Ranking Field.

Opening Ceremony - 4:30 pm

The curtainraiser for the Tokyo Olympics- the opening ceremony- will take place at the Japan National Stadium. The arena has a capacity of 68,089. Later, the Japan National Stadium will act as the venue for the athletics events at the Tokyo Olympics. However, the majority of it will be empty owing to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Japanese capital has been placed under a state of emergency.

The ceremony will begin with an exhibition flight by Blue Impulse, the aerobatics squadron of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. The squadron will draw the Olympic Rings over the Tokyo sky. After that, Emperor Naruhito will make the opening declaration. The Olympic cauldron will be lighted to officially begin the Tokyo Olympics. The ceremony will feature music by Seigen Tokuzawa, Marihiko Hara and Masayuki Kagei.

Manpreet Singh and Mary Kom will be the Indian contingent’s flagbearers in the Olympics parade. In addition, comedy duo HIRO-PON will also make an appearance. “United by Emotion” is the official Tokyo 2020 motto. Whereas, the official mascot is named "Miraitowa".

Leaders from 15 countries will attend the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony. French President Emmanuel Macron, Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene and US first lady Jill Biden will be among those present. IOC President Thomas Bach and WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus are also expected to be amongst the guests. From the host nation, Emperor Naruhito and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will attend the event. Only six officials from every country will take part in the opening ceremony. However, there is no cap on athletes.

Where to Watch?

The Tokyo Olympics will be available to watch on the Sony Sports Network channels and DD Sports in India. Alternatively, they can also be streamed live the Sony LIV and Jio TV apps.

All timings are in IST

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