For someone who lost a season to a nagging elbow injury that needed surgery, Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra understandably welcomed the postponement of the Tokyo Games last year.
13 May 2021 - 12:54
Gold medalist Neeraj Chopra of India REUTERS/Darren Whiteside/File Photo
Reuters
New Delhi/Mumbai: For someone who lost a season to a nagging elbow injury that needed surgery, Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra understandably welcomed the postponement of the Tokyo Games last year.
The mop-haired former world junior champion, potentially independent India s first track-and-field Olympic medallist, had hoped to use the extra time to get back to full fitness and try to find his best form.
Instead, the 23-year-old was soon sent scurrying back indoors as the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world s second-most populous nation, then surged again in a devastating second wave this year.
By Syndicated Content
By Amlan Chakraborty and Sudipto Ganguly
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI (Reuters) â For someone who lost a season to a nagging elbow injury that needed surgery, Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra understandably welcomed the postponement of the Tokyo Games last year.
The mop-haired former world junior champion, potentially independent Indiaâs first track-and-field Olympic medallist, had hoped to use the extra time to get back to full fitness and try to find his best form.
Instead, the 23-year-old was soon sent scurrying back indoors as the COVID-19 pandemic swept the worldâs second-most populous nation, then surged again in a devastating second wave this year.
Tokyo Olympics: Croatia safer than India to do individual training, says shooter Anjum Moudgil Anjum Moudgil
Olympics-bound rifle shooter Anjum Moudgil is keen on making use of the opportunity to train in Croatia along with the rest of the Tokyo-bound Indian contingent, saying it s safer to train abroad than in India in the lead up to the Games in the wake of the 2nd wave of Covid-19 pandemic.
The 15-member Indian shooting team will depart for Zagreb on May 11 for a training-cum-competition tour in that country and from there it will directly fly to Tokyo for the Olympics, which is scheduled to get underway from June 23. In Croatia, the shooters will take part in the European Championships in Osijek (May 20 to June 6) and the combined ISSF World Cup (June 22 to July 3) in the same city.
Bajrang Punia. (Getty Images)
ROME: Olympic-bound Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia pulled off a two-pointer in the last 30 seconds of the gold medal bout to defend his title at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series event, a result that propelled him back to world number one rank.
Up against Mongolia s Tulga Tumur Ochir, Bajrang was trailing 0-2 till the final moments of the 65kg final but managed to level the scores, 30 seconds from the final whistle.
Since the last scoring point came from the Indian, he was declared the winner on criteria on Sunday night.
Bajrang s leg defence seemed to be a particularly improved aspect of his game in the one-year break, forced by the coronavirus pandemic.