The Indian contingent at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, to date, is Indiaโs largest at the Olympics and features more debutants this time, know about the youngest athletesย
Among those debutants, many are youngsters with good experience at their respective sports international stage.
Top 10 youngest Indian athletes competing at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics
Divyansh Singh Panwar (Shooting)
Date of Birth: 19 October 2002
The lad from Jaipur is not just the youngest among the Indian shooters, at 18 he is the Indian contingentโs youngest athlete participating at Tokyo Olympics. His current World Rank is 2nd. And he will compete in the 10m Air Rifle menโs event at his maiden Olympics.
At the 2019 ISSF World Cup in Beijing, he won a silver medal in the 10 meter air rifle event, with secured himself a quota for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Later, he won a gold medal in the individual 10m air rifle event at the 2019 World Cup Final in Putian. He was awarded the 2019 Golden Target award by the International Shooting Sport Federation [ISSF].
Saurabh Chaudhary (Shooting)
Date of Birth: 12 May 2002
Hailing from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh the 19-year-old is an ace in the shooting circuit. Ever since his debut he has played so well and has shown his dominance on the international stage with consistently good results. He will play in both individual & team events at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. And will compete in the Menโs 10m Air Pistol event, will partner with Manu Bhaker at the mixed event.
Saurabh Chaudhary has won gold medals at possible every international stage and would look to accomplish the same triumph at his maiden Olympics. Some of his achievements are; he is a gold medalist at the 2018 Youth Olympics, Asian Games 2018, at the 2019 World Cup in New Delhi and Munich.
A very good record in the 10m Air Pistol Mixed team events winning overall five gold medals at the ISSF World Cup.
Sonam Malik (Wrestling)
Date of Birth: 15 April 2002
Sonam Malik comes from a family of wrestlers, the 19-year-old hails from Sonipat, Haryana. She will compete in Women’s Freestyle 62kg at the Tokyo Olympics. By doing so she is making her debut at the Olympics Games.
The youngster has won a gold medal at the National School Games in 2016. And she has also won 2 gold medals at the Cadet World Wrestling Championship in 2017 & 2019 respectively.
She shocked everyone as she defeated the 2016 Rio bronze medalist Sakshi Malik at the national trials and earned herself a berth at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in the 62kg. Thus ending the Rio medalist hopes of making it to Tokyo 2020.
Manu Bhaker (Shooting)
Date of Birth: 18 February 2002
The 19-year-old ace born in Jhajjar, Haryana has an excellent shooting career so far, achieving so many medals and laurels in a small time span. At Tokyo Olympics, her first-ever Olympics; she will be competing in two individual events โ Womenโs 10m Air Pistol and Womenโs 25m Pistol and will team up with Saurabh Chaudhary for the Mixed Team event of 10m Air Pistol.
Manu Bhaker has won many gold medal matches at various tournaments in both individual and mixed team events. Her notable individual achievements are โ Gold Medal at 2018 ISSF World Cup in Guadalajara, Mexico, at age 16 making her the youngest Indian to do so, the Gold Medal winner at both the 2018 Youth Olympic Games and 2018 Commonwealth Games, and Gold Medalist at the 2019 ISSF World Cup Final in Putian, China.
Going into Tokyo Olympics, she is a medal prospect for India in both Individual & Team events.
Salima Tete (Hockey)
Date of Birth: 27 December 2001
The 19-year-old hails from Simdega district of Jharkhand and has earned 29 Caps since making her 1st appearance for the national side in 2017 against Belarus.
Being the captain she led India to a silver medal at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, which is her favourite moment. In the womenโs senior squad, Salima Tete is the youngest player. She was part of the 2019 FIH Women’s Series Finals, which led India to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. And this yearโs Olympics mark her debut at the Olympic stage as she was selected in the Indian squad.
Also Read:ย Tokyo Olympics 2021: Indian Players List Of Athletes Marking Their Debut At The Summer Games
Sharmila Devi (Hockey)
Date of Birth: 10 October 2001
Sharmila Devi, the 19-year-old from Hisar, Haryana plays a Forward. She is the second-youngest player in the squad after Salima Tete.
The youngster made her senior international debut at the 2019 Ready Steady Tokyo Olympic Test Event, which Team India won. Devi since has earned 9 Caps and has scored 1 Goal, that too in FIH Olympic Qualifiers against the USA in 2019. As a result, securing a place in Tokyo.
Anshu Malik (Wrestling)
Date of Birth: 5 August 2001
Anshu Malik is a 19-year-old wrestler from Haryana and this will be her maiden Olympics. She will contest in the Women’s Freestyle 57kg category, at Tokyo Olympics.
Anshu Malik played at her first senior-level tournament in January 2020. At the Asian Championships, she won a bronze medal in 2020 and did better the next year as she won the gold medal in 2021, both in the 57kg category.
Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (Shooting)
Date of Birth: 3 February 2001
With his excellent performance at the 2021 ISSF World Cup in New Delhi, the 20-year-old is India’sย hopeful contender to finish at the podium. The Olympic debutant will contest in the menโs 50m Rifle 3 Positions event at Tokyo Olympics.
By winning the bronze medal at the 2019 Asian Championships, he secured a quota for the Tokyo Summer Olympics in the same event as above. And just months before that, at the 2019 ISSF Junior World Cup he set the junior world record, with a score of 459.3 in the menโs 50 meter rifle three positions and won a gold medal.
Then at New Delhi in March 2021, he had a fantastic campaign at the ISSF World Cup where he won medals in three rifle events; a gold medal in the 50 m rifle 3 P, a silver medal in the 10m air rifle men’s team and a bronze medal in the 50m rifle 3 positions mixed team. He clinched the gold medal with a score of 462.5 and finished at the top ahead of world No. 1 Istvรกn Pรฉni.
Srihari Nataraj (Swimming)
Date of Birth: 16 January 2001
Born in Bengaluru, the 20-year-old swimmer will participate in the menโs 100m Backstroke event at Tokyo Olympics. He has experience of competing at various international stages such as the 2019 World Championships in South Korea, the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, and the 2018 Asian Games.
He secured a spot in Tokyo Olympics through direct qualification with an โAโ cut of 53.77 seconds at Rome. By achieving that he became the second and youngest Indian to do so.
He too like his fellow Indian athletes in this list will make his Olympic debut at Tokyo Olympics. And will start his Olympic journey on 25 July as he competes in Heat 3 of 100m Backstroke discipline. He is considered a swimming prodigy here in India and currently holds three national records in the 200m, 100m, and 50m backstrokes.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (Badminton)
Date of Birth: 13 August 2000
20-year-old Satwiksairaj, who hails from Amalapuram a town in Andhra Pradesh, is a doubles specialist, plays both Menโs Doubles and Mixed Doubles. He will compete at the Tokyo Olympics in the Menโs doubles event along with 24-year-old Chirag Shetty. The pair is currently ranked 10th in the world and will make their Olympic debut in Tokyo.
With Chirag, he has won various laurels on the international stage. The notable one would be their performance at the 2018 Commonwealth Games held in Gold Coast where they won a silver medal. Satwiksairaj is known for his powerful smashes and amazing speed. Though the pair have a very tough draw at the Tokyo Olympics, how they perform at the Games will be interesting.
In conclusion, these are the youngest athletes in the Indian contingent playing at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.