Tokyo 2020, July 23 as it happened: The Olympic Games are now open

8.25 pm: And that’s it for the day. Saturday is going to be a busy day for India. Shooting, weightlifting, hockey and some archery too.

India’s full schedule for Saturday

8.19 pm: The Olympic cauldron has been lit by Naomi Osaka!

8.13 pm: Remember the Olympic Cauldron lighting for Barcelona?

08.05 pm: Looks like the flame lighting is upon us.

8.00 pm: A very cool performance depicting the 50 pictograms in use for the events.

Focus not on athletes: Reactions to sports minister Thakur’s cameo during Olympics Opening Ceremony

7.46 pm: The Olympic Games have now been declared open.

7.42 pm: “We can only go faster, we can only aim higher, we can only become stronger, if we stand together – in solidarity,” says IOC President Bach.

7.37 pm: “You struggled, you persevered, you never gave up, and today you are making your Olympic dream come true. You are true Olympic athletes,” says IOC President Bach to the athletes.

7.34 pm: “This is the unifying power of sport. This is the message of solidarity, the message of peace and the message of resilience. This gives all of us hope for our further journey together,” says IOC President Bach.

7.33 pm: “Today is a moment of hope. Yes, it is very different from what all of us had imagined. But let us cherish this moment because finally we are all here together,” says IOC President Bach.

7.08 pm: The commentary gaffe that said Dipa Karmakar would compete against Bhutan’s Karma in archery got the best out of the gymnast.

7.05 pm: Japan, as the hosts, are the last contingent to walk out.

5.52 pm: The parade continues. We have reached Costa Rica now. Scenes of joy and pride. The athletes have worked really hard to get here.

5.31 pm: The Indian contingent walked out but we weren’t able to get a good look at them as the broadcaster Sony Sports decided to give half the screen to Sports Minister Anurag Thakur. They showed it properly on DD – focussing on the athletes as they should too.

5.10 pm: The Olympic Rings (in the pic below) were crafted with wood grown from trees that were planted by athletes 57 years ago when the Olympics first came to Tokyo.

5.05 pm: The fireworks go off!

4.54 pm: A moment of silence for all those we have lost during the pandemic.

4.42 pm: Some wonderful visuals!

4.39 pm: The opening ceremony has begun!

4.25 pm: Almost time for the opening ceremony. India will be 21st out of 205 contingents in the Parade of Nations.

4.11 pm: Hundreds of people gathered outside the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on Friday, hoping for a glimpse of an opening ceremony that will take place behind closed doors because of strict anti-coronavirus rules.

Only a few hundred dignitaries and officials will be allowed into the 68,000-capacity venue to watch the opening extravaganza of the Games that were postponed last year because of the pandemic, but crowds of residents from Tokyo and beyond flocked to the venue looking to soak up the atmosphere.

“We’re here for the atmosphere, the light-up and the fireworks,” Mako Fukuhara told AFP outside the stadium. We’re hoping to see the opening ceremony, or at least just get a feel for it. Until now it didn’t feel like the Olympics, but now we are by the stadium, it feels like the Olympics!”

4.10 pm: Here’s a look at every medal India has won at the Summer Games.

Medals, firsts and records

3.59 pm: Meet the Indian men’s hockey squad looking to end the 41-year-old medal drought...

Short profiles of every squad member

3.36 pm: The first Indian to carry the national flag at the opening ceremony of the Games was 400m sprinter Purma Banerjee at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium.

The honour of being India’s flag-bearer after independence at the 1948 Olympics was given to Dr Talimeren Ao, the inspirational first captain of the men’s Indian football team.

The time around, the honour will fall to Mary Kom (Boxing) and Manpreet Singh (Hockey).

Flag bearers for India at the Olympics

1920 – Purma Banerjee (Athletics)

1932 – Lal Shah Bhokari (Hockey)

1936 – Dhyan Chand (Hockey)

1948 – Talimeren Ao (Football)

1952 – Balbir Singh Sr (Hockey)

1956 - Balbir Singh Sr (Hockey)

1964 – Gurbachan Singh Randhawa (Athletics)

1972 – Desmond-Neville Devine Jones (Boxing)

1984 – Zafar Iqbal (Hockey)

1988 – Kartar Singh Dhillon (Wrestling)

1992 – Shiny-Abraham Wilson (Athletics)

1996 – Pargat Singh (Hockey)

2000 – Leander Paes (Tennis)

2004 – Anju Bobby George (Athletics)

2008 – Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (Shooting)

2012 – Sushil Kumar (Wrestling)

2016 – Abhinav Bindra (Shooting)

2020 - Mary Kom (Boxing) and Manpreet Singh (Hockey)

3.20 pm: Karnam Malleswari overcame a whole list of odds to win a bronze medal in women’s 69kg weightlifting at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Will we see Mirabai Chanu become only the second Indian weightlifter to medal at the Olympics tomorrow?

Pause, rewind, play: Karnam Malleswari – the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal

Mirabai Chanu carries the weight of India’s expectations

3.15 pm: From Larisa Latynina to Michael Phelps, a look at the most successful Olympians we have seen in the history of the Summer Olympic Games.

A data check to bring you up to date

3.00 pm: For Rio 2016, Project Sindhu was planned and executed by her coach and mentor Gopichand. This time around, the player is far more independent. Here’s a look at how she has evolved since the last Olympics.

Read: PV Sindhu is now a grizzled veteran with a mind of her own

2.57 pm: The Opening Ceremony will begin in just under two hours.

2.46 pm: With Rio champion Carolina Marin out of Tokyo with a serious knee injury, world number seven PV Sindhu is among the favourites in what looks to be an open field in women’s singles badminton.

“There is definitely a lot of expectation. There are a lot more responsibilities and definitely, there will be pressure,” said the Indian, reflecting on her status as reigning world champion. “I’m sure a lot of people are going to look for me because, even the last time in 2016 (Rio), I was not a known person. But I think now people are looking at me and knowing my game. I think it’s comparatively tough and it’s not going to be easy.”

2.44 pm: India’s two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar will be catching all the action at the Tokyo Games from inside the jail where he is incarcerated on charges of kidnap and murder. A television has been arranged in the common area of Tihar jail in New Delhi after a request by Kumar’s lawyer to prison authorities.

“We have allowed Sushil to watch television in the common area of his ward along with others,” Sandeep Goel, director general of Delhi prisons, told reporters. “He had made a request through his lawyer for a TV to stay updated about wrestling matches and other happenings.”

Kumar, 38, was arrested in May after a week-long manhunt over the murder of promising wrestler Sagar Dhankad at a stadium in the capital.

2.38 pm: Rahi Sarnobat has stayed under the radar and quietly gone about her business ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.

A closer look at one of India’s top medal contenders...

2.17 pm: PTI reports, “Deepika Kumari will partner Pravin Jadhav in the archery mixed pair event of the Olympic Games after the debutant was preferred by the team think-tank ahead of her husband and more experienced Atanu Das based on form shown in Friday’s qualification round.”

“Simply put, we picked Jadhav based on his current form, it’s no rocket science,” Archery Association of India official Virendra Sachdeva, who is accompanying the team in Tokyo, told PTI.

2.06 pm: For Manpreet Singh, the captain of the men’s Indian hockey team, the pressure of the past isn’t a problem. He sees a way to use that to his team’s advantage.

“The fact that we have been so successful in this sport motivates us to do even better every team we step out on the field. So more than the pressure, we feel proud of that heritage,” Manpreet said.

Read the full piece HERE

2.00 pm: Women’s weightlifting is a big medal event for India on Saturday:

“Our competitors are the lifters from China, USA and Indonesia. We have worked on snatch. But the weights will be decided based on what the others are doing. We don’t want to take unnecessary risks,” national coach Vijay Sharma told PTI from Tokyo.

“At the Asian Championship we had the freedom to experiment but the Olympics comes once in four years, the strategy will be different,” he added.

Read more here:

1.40 pm: Here’s something cool for those of you on Twitter to check out.

Full text: All I wish is people pray for athletes – Badminton star Kento Momota’s heartfelt note ahead of Tokyo 2020

Schedule update: A blockbuster Saturday in store for India.

Manu Bhaker is used to such pressure and expectations, says coach Ronak Pandit

Archery, mixed team event: ESPN India reporting that India will stick to Pravin Jadhav as the partner for Deepika Kumari and not swap with Atanu Das.

Another profile for you to read, Indian sports fans.

Tokyo 2020: Rahi Sarnobat has the form, acumen, and experience for another first in Indian shooting

Men’s individual event draw: (For the sections featuring Indians)

In case you are just joining us: Yes, India are officially drawn to face Korea in the Quarterfinals in all three events should the respective archers get that far. That is not how they would have hoped this Friday went.

Archery, Men’s team draw update: “Hey Google, define not-ideal” Indian men’s team also in the same quarter as Korea. (Should they defeat KAZ that is, not easy mind you).

Archery, Mixed team draw update: India drawn to face Chinese Taipei in the round of 16 on Saturday. Should they win, they will likely take on Korea in the quarterfinal.

Men’s archery ranking round: Here’s how the teams stand. (Again disappointing from India’s point of view as a potential QF awaits against Korea)

Men’s archery ranking round: Brilliant from 17-year-old to finish top by SIX POINTS! USA’s world record holder Brady Ellison stages a late fightback to split the Koreans at the top.

Mixed team standings:

Archery, men’s ranking round: Here’s how the three Indians fared. Not ideal, unfortunately.

Archery, men’s ranking round: Pravin Jadhav finished ahead of Atanu Das but overall this has not been great for Indians. Full scores coming up.

31. Pravin Jadhav 54 in round 12

35. Atanu Das 53

37. Tarundeep Rai: 55

Archery, men’s ranking round: Pravin Jadhav stays just ahead of Atanu Das and the lead is now 2 points with six arrows remaining. But India slip to 9th in mixed.

28. Pravin Jadhav 53 in round 11

31. Atanu Das 52

38. Tarundeep Rai: 55

A clarification for mixed team: “Nations with full teams qualified do not have to select the single athlete who will participate in the mixed team event until one hour before the start of the competition on 24 July.”

Archery, men’s ranking round: Pravin Jadhav stays just ahead of Atanu Das after 56 from both. (2 10s for Jadhav, 2 Xs for Das, that could be crucial too.)

26. Pravin Jadhav 56 in round 10

28. Atanu Das 56

38. Tarundeep Rai: 54

Mixed team update: India down to 8th now but it’s all so closely bunched! Expect a few more movers.

Archery, men’s ranking round: And now Pravin Jadhav moves ahead of Atanu Das, who shoots 4 8s in the 9th set after starting with 2 10s! Jadhav has a one-point lead. Not looking good for Atanu.

27. Pravin Jadhav 55 in round 9

30. Atanu Das 52

37. Tarundeep Rai: 56

At this stage, after 8 sets, India’s team ranking has moved up to 8th out of 12.

Just keeping an eye on the mixed team seedings, India have slipped to 6th there.

Archery, Men’s ranking round: Atanu Das moves ahead of Pravin Jadhav by a couple of points.

26. Atanu Das 56 in round 8

30. Pravin Jadhav: 54

41. Tarundeep Rai: 55

Archery, Men’s ranking round: Second half begins...

27. Pravin Jadhav: 55 in round 7

28. Atanu Das: 55 (one fewer X)

45. Tarundeep Rai: 54

Deepika Kumari to World Archery: “The performance was good and bad, a little in between I would say. I want to show my best performance here, and I’ll shoot it 100% in the next round. It’s good [to be here] but, at the same time, I just want to succeed.”

Archery, Men’s ranking round: Second half would start soon. Meanwhile, the archer blowing the field away at the haflway stage with a 5-point lead is a 17-year-old! Korean phenom Kim Je Deok is on fire.

Men’s archery ranking round: At the half-way stage... Indians are 30th, 31st and 45th with Pravin Jadhav shading Atanu Das on the Xs count. Team rank: 10

Archery, men’s ranking round: Meanwhile, a 60 from 17-year-old Kim Je Deok!

Archery, men’s ranking round: Pravin Jadhav moves ahead of Atanu Das on the basis of more 10s! Getting interesting. (round 5 this one, the prev was round 4)

Pravin Jadhav: 56 in round 5
Atanu Das: 55
Tarundeep Rai: 57

Archery, men’s ranking round: Oh dear, that’s a horror round for the Indians. Atanu slips to 29th but Jadhav gains ground to 30th. It’s a good thing it’s close at the moment, can make up ground. But not ideal this.

Atanu Das: 52 in round 4
Pravin Jadhav: 56
Tarundeep Rai: 53

Archery, men’s ranking round: A super close start and Atanu is in the mix.

Archery, men’s ranking round: Not the best of second rounds across the board. All of them outside the top 10 now. Team placed 7th.

Atanu Das: 54 in round 2
Tarundeep Rai: 55
Pravin Jadhav: 55

Archery, men’s ranking round: Atanu Das has started well.

Atanu Das: 58 in round 1
Tarundeep Rai: 55
Pravin Jadhav: 54

09.25 am: Not far away from men’s qualification in archery. More Indian interest here because there are three in action and a team event plus mixed event to get seeded for as well.

Meanwhile, Korea’s combined results of each country’s three archers (2032 points) is also a Olympic record in the women’s event.

09.10 am: Here’s a peek into Korean’s archery methods. (A video from 2018)

08.55 am: Some Friday morning read for you! About one of India’s flagbearers later today...

Battle-hardened Manpreet Singh leads Indian hockey’s new breed into uncharted waters

Stay tuned for updates: Men’s ranking event starts at 9.30 am IST. Will decide seedings for mixed event too, so a crucial couple of hours ahead.

Archery, women’s qualification: New Olympic record holder, 20-year-old An San: “I didn’t really expect to make the record. I’m happy, it’s my first time at the Games, so I’m really glad I made the record today,” she told World Archery.

Draw for Deepika Kumari till the quarterfinal: A 4/5th seed would have seen her potentially avoid Koreans till the semifinal. Has to face the top seed in the last 8 now. (Which, in turn, is not great news potentially for the top seed either)

CORRECTION: Deepika Kumari faces a potential *Quarterfinal match against top seed An San from Korea.

Archery, women’s ranking round: Deepika Kumari will be seeded 9th in the women’s individual event and faces Karma from Bhutan in the round of 64. A potential round 3 match against top seed An San from Korea. (Importance of seedings!)

Archery, women’s ranking round: Deepika Kumari finishes 9th overall in the qualification round with a total score of 663. A 7 in the final shot sees her slide down by a couple of spots. That’s actually a bit disappointing all said and done. Qualification is still only qualification but those 7s hurt her. X-10-9-9-9-7 in the final set.

Archery, women’s ranking round: The first round without a 10 or X for Deepika as she goes 9-9-9-9-9-8 and remains 7th. Sixth spot is still up for grabs if she can finish strongly in the last 6.

Archery, women’s ranking round: Better from Deepika Kumari as she shoots X-X-10-10-9-9 for a superb 58 and moves up to 6th. And we have a Korean top three now as Brown (USA) and Valencia (MEX) slip up.

Archery, women’s ranking round: Fine margins. If the 7s were at least 8s for Deepika she would be joint sixth at the moment. Those are the margins we are working with.

Archery, women’s ranking round: Deepika into 7th. X-X-10-10-9-7 in that end and it is that one stray 7 again! Otherwise a superb round by the Indian.

Archery, women’s ranking round: Apart the Koreans, the Mexicans are doing well too as expected. Aida Roman and Alejandra Valencia, two regulars on the World Cup circuit this season, are also in the top 8.

Archery, women’s ranking round: Ouch. There is that stray 7 that hurt Deepika in the first half as well. She shoots 10-9-9-9-9-7 for 53. Slides down to 8th for now.

Archery, women’s ranking round: Second half is underway and Deepika shoots X-10-9-9-9-8 for a total of 55 and keeps her 4th spot. 56s from the top three.

Archery, women’s ranking round: As things stand, An San is just off the world record pace (she is on track for 690, record is 692) but the Olympic record (673) is going to be obliterated by the field as it was expected to be.

Archery, women’s ranking round: DEEPIKA KUMARI on the charge! X-10-10-9-9-9 for a total of 57 and at the halfway stage she is in the top 5. A brilliant couple of rounds from her after the 51 and she has put herself in the top 5 at the halfway stage of the qualification round.

Archery, women’s ranking round: WELL, THAT’s MORE LIKE IT. X-10-10-10-10-9 for a total of 59 from Deepika. One of the best rounds of the field so far!

Archery, women’s ranking round: Conditions play a big role in archery and it is tough to see how the winds are etc without broadcast but the scoring pattern at the top so far indicates they are not bad. The 8s and now a 7 are hurting Deepika. The top three are yet to shoot a 7.

Archery, women’s ranking round: OH DEAR. That’s a disappointing round for Deepika, X-X-8-8-8-7 for a 51 and she has slipped down out of the to 10. Work to do here for the Indian world No 1.

For the record:

• Olympic record for women individual: 673 – Lina Herasimenko, Ukraine (1996)
• World record for women individual: 692 – Kang Chae Young, Korea (2019) 

Archery, women’s ranking round: Korea’s An San is in World Record mode. Three 58s in her first three ends. All three Koreans are in the top 5 now, surprise surprise.

Archery, women’s ranking round: X-X-9-9-9-9 for a total of 56 in the third round for Deepika. She is steady there but needs a couple of 58s or so to push up. Stays in the top 10.

Ashish Magotra: World record holder KANG Chae Young (KOR) is the favourite to win gold at her first Olympic Games and she hasn’t hit as many 10s as she would have liked in the early going. She is in the 15th position currently.

Archery, women’s ranking round: Another end that starts well but doesn’t finish quite as for Deepika. A 55 from her second set, 10-10-9-9-9-8 for a total of 111.

Archery, women’s ranking round: Deepika Kumari is in action and has started with scores of X-10-10-9-9-8 for a total of 56 in her first set of six arrows. Steady.

A quick intro to the archery qualification rounds:

• All archers will shoot in the preliminaries. 
• Each archer will shoot a total of 72 arrows at the target (located 70m away) in 12 series of six arrows (each called an end) over a period of couple of hours. Women start first, men later in the day.
• The total score out of 720 is used to determine the archers placings. (World records are at stake).
• The performances in the qualification round will determine the seeds for the mixed team event (top male / female archer from each country), regular team event (combined scores of the three archers), as well as the individual events.
• All archers will advance to the team event and individual event knockouts. But only top 16 will make the cut for mixed team, the first medal event. 

05.15 am: The long wait is officially over. For sports fans across the globe, the anticipation draws to a close as the day of the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games is upon us. It doesn’t matter which part of the world you are from, 2020 and 2021 have been tough on us all. For the athletes, it’s been a period of uncertainty like nothing else in their lives. For humanity in general, it’s been the most testing of times in our lives. And at the intersection of those two, the next two weeks in Tokyo are going to be both uncertain and testing. But also, hopefully, filled with moments that inspire us. It is, after all, what the Olympic Games are about.

It is perhaps not possible for us to truly understand what an athlete must be going through during an Olympic cycle before finally making it to the Games. And it is especially so in a year like 2021. This note below by Kento Momota sums that up. Hopefully, they all get through this safe and we have a Games to remember in the years to come for the right reasons.

Nothing can be taken for granted in times of Covid-19, but for now, we can bask in the fact the Olympic Games are finally here.

Screenshots from Tokyo 2020 official website / World Archery