SUMMARY
From boxer Mary Kom to shuttler PV Sindhu, here is a look at women on whose shoulders are the hopes of over a billion Indians.
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As the entire world's focus is on Tokyo to see how athletes from around the world perform, India's hopes are on a few athletes when it comes to winning medals. Among these are a few women athletes who shoulder the hopes of over a billion Indians. Let's take a look at them:
2 / 7PV Sindhu: Silver medalist in the last summer Olympics, Sindhu bears the weight of the entire nation as she is all set to represent the country again. While her recent form has not been great, the country hopes she will find her mojo when it really matters. (Image: Reuters)
3 / 7Vinesh Phogat: The winner of gold in both Commonwealth and Asian Games, she was the first Indian wrestler to book her place in the Tokyo Olympics.
4 / 7Mary Kom: Six-time World Champion and bronze medallist in London Olympics, the boxer will be hopeful of winning another medal. (PTI Photo)
5 / 7Manika Batra: While Table Tennis has been traditionally a stronghold of Chinese players, the recent change in laws allowing a country maximum of two qualifying spots in each discipline means that Manika Batra could be a real contender for a medal in both singles and mixed doubles format. (Image: IANS)
6 / 7Rahi Jeevan Sarnobat: The Asian Games gold medalist, won a gold medal in 25-metre pistol event at the ISSF World Cup in Osijek, Croatia. That would have given the shooter from Kolhapur plenty of confidence ahead of the Olympics. (Text: IANS/ Image: AP)
7 / 7Deepika Kumari: The 27-year-old archer, winner of a hat-trick of gold medals in the World Cup Stage 3 in Paris late last month, finished a creditable ninth after the women's individual ranking round. She is expected to do wonders in the elimination round.
