20 Indian athletes for opening ceremony

Tokyo, July 22

A total of 20 Indian athletes from seven sports and six officials will participate in the Olympics opening ceremony tomorrow as Covid-19 concerns and competitions lined up the next day led to a majority of the contingent deciding to stay away from the event.

Athletes from sports such as shooting, badminton, archery and hockey will skip the ceremony as the Indian delegation is not willing to expose them to the risk of contracting the virus with their events lined up on Saturday.

From hockey, only men’s team captain Manpreet Singh will participate in the ceremony as one of the two Indian flagbearers.

Four paddlers, including Manika Batra, four sailing team members, fencer CA Bhavani Devi, gymnast Pranati Naik and swimmer Sajan Prakash will be present at the ceremony. Eight boxers, including flagbearer MC Mary Kom and Amit Panghal, will also participate in the ceremony.

India is being represented by more than 125 athletes in the Games. “Archery, judo, badminton, weightlifting, tennis, hockey, shooting, the above are not participating due to matches on 24th, practice sessions on 24th and staying safe,” Indian Olympic Association president Narinder Batra said. — PTI

Gold winners to get Rs75 lakh from IOA

New Delhi: The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) today announced that it would give the Tokyo Olympics gold medallists a cash award of Rs 75 lakh apart from giving each of the participating National Sports Federations (NSFs) a bonus amount of Rs 25 lakh. The IOA Advisory Committee has recommended that silver medallists will be presented Rs 40 lakh, while the bronze winners will get richer by Rs 25 lakh.

Shushila to face Oly medallist in RD 1

Tokyo: Indian judoka Shushila Devi Likmabam has been handed a tough draw at the Tokyo Games as she will open her maiden Olympics campaign against 2012 London edition bronze medallist Eva Csernoviczki of Hungary in the Round of 32 here on Saturday. The 26-year-old is India’s lone representative in judo and will face home favourite Funa Tonaki, a 2017 world champion, if she manages to cross the opening hurdle. Shushila, who competes in the 48kg category, had qualified for her maiden Games via continental quota.

Opening ceremony director fired

Tokyo: The Tokyo Olympics organising committee fired the director of the opening ceremony today because of a Holocaust joke he made during a comedy show in 1998. Opening ceremony director Kentaro Kobayashi was accused of using a joke about the Holocaust in his comedy act, including the phrase “Let’s play Holocaust,” in one of his shows. Earlier this week, a composer whose music is expected to be used at the opening ceremony was forced to resign because of past bullying of his classmates. Agencies