India's athletics contingent is now off to Tokyo.
#TeamIndia Athletics departs for @Tokyo2020
— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) July 23, 2021
All the best Team, make the country proud!#Cheer4India pic.twitter.com/jfETt09L5t
Stay tuned as we bring you all the latest updates, scores and results from Day 0 of the Tokyo Olympics 2020 on our LIVE blog!
Manpreet Singh and Mary Kom will be India's flag bearers at the opening ceremony. Image courtesy: Twitter/@marykom
Tokyo 2020 curtain raiser
While we wait for the men's archery ranking round to get underway, why not get the mood of things in Tokyo? Our correspondent Amit Kamath has gone through numerous coronavirus tests and is in Tokyo. He has his ear to the ground (not literally, obviously) and brings us the feel of things in the Japanese capital. [Read]
India's athletics contingent is now off to Tokyo.
#TeamIndia Athletics departs for @Tokyo2020
— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) July 23, 2021
All the best Team, make the country proud!#Cheer4India pic.twitter.com/jfETt09L5t
Did you know?
𝗗𝗜𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗞𝗡𝗢𝗪? 🤔
— Boxing Federation (@BFI_official) July 23, 2021
Purma Banerjee in 1920 (Sprint 400m)
Shiny Wilson in 1992 (Sprint 800m)
Anju George in 2004 (Long jump)
are the three women who have been flag bearer of 🇮🇳 at @Olympics in the past 🔥#RingKeBaazigar#boxing#Tokyo2020#Cheer4India pic.twitter.com/G1z1zYFLAF
The #Tokyo2020 hashtag in real life right here.
The iconic Tokyo tower en route to the #Olympics opening ceremony. It is also the symbol that appears when you hashtag #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/JZFZfdrsIA
— Matthew Mohan (@MatthewMohanCNA) July 23, 2021
Boxer Mary Kom looking very sharp in that blue India blazer.
Here I stand before the opening ceremony of #Tokyo2020 as a flag bear of my nation, India. #Cheer4India pic.twitter.com/hNkixkoxBt
— M C Mary Kom OLY (@MangteC) July 23, 2021
Less than an hour and a half to the opening ceremony. Indian athletes are decked up and ready to go.
All set and suited up for the big day😍🔥
— Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (@sathiyantt) July 23, 2021
It’s finally time for the Opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games 😃
Catch live action in Sony tonight at 16.30 hrs IST !!#sathiyantt #tabletennis #sports #tokyo2020 #olympics #openingceremony #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/vSWidhxYCC
Algerian judoka pulls out from facing an Israeli opponent
Algerian judoka Fethi Nourine has withdrawn from the Tokyo Olympics before competing after the draw set him on course for a possible match-up against an Israeli opponent.
Nourine was set to face Sudanese judoka Mohamed Abdalrasool on Monday for his first bout, and would have taken on Israeli Tohar Butbul in the next round.
Speaking to an Algerian television station late Thursday, Nourine said his political support for the Palestinian cause made it impossible for him to compete against an Israeli.
"We worked a lot to reach the Olympics... but the Palestinian cause is bigger than all of this," he said, adding that his decision was "final". [Read more]
Disappointing day for male archers
Debutant Pravin Jadhav finished ahead of the experienced Atanu Das and Tarundeep Rai as India managed ninth-place finishes in both the men's team and mixed team rankings of the Games archery competition at the Yumenoshima Park. [Report]
Protests in Tokyo continue
About 50 protesters have gathered in Tokyo to demand the cancellation of the Olympics.
The protesters gathered outside the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building chanting “no to the Olympics” and “save people’s lives." They held up signs reading “cancel the Olympics."
The Games, largely without spectators and opposed by much of the host nation, are going ahead a year later than planned.
A day earlier, Tokyo hit another six-month high in new COVID-19 cases as worries grew of worsening infections during the Games. Still, the number of cases and deaths as a share of the population in Japan are much lower than in many other countries.
The opening ceremony, scheduled for 4.30 PM IST or 1100 GMT, will be held mostly without spectators to prevent the spread of coronavirus infections, although some officials, guests and media will attend.
#Archery
— Firstpost Sports (@FirstpostSports) July 23, 2021
Men's team: 🇮🇳 INDIA vs KAZAKHSTAN in 1/8, South Korea in 1/4 with a win (🗓 26 July)
Mixed team: 🇮🇳 INDIA vs CHINESE TAIPEI in 1/8, potentially South Korea in 1/4 with a win (🗓 24 July)#Tokyo2020 LIVE: https://t.co/TdsKN3JqFB
Day 0 Preview: The Tokyo Olympics 2020 will begin in earnest on 24 July, after the lavish opening ceremony on 23 July, but there is already sporting action to look forward to.
India's archery squad will be in action on Friday morning in the ranking round, where the likes of Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das will be hoping to get off to a good start and set themselves up for a potential medal finish.
Rowing will be another of the sports that has an early start in the tournament, with many of the initial heats across all disciplines taking place on Friday.
Of course, the main event of the day will be the opening ceremony, which is expected to begin at around 4.30 pm IST later on in the day.
Chasing an elusive Olympic medal in archery, India braces for some tough challenges ahead as both men's team and mixed pair are likely to face Korea in the quarterfinals.
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) secretary general Rajeev Mehta, who is in the city, said not many will be there keeping in mind the risk of infection.
Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra have decided against attending the Olympics opening ceremony on Friday as they open their mixed doubles campaign the following day.