All eyes on nine from Karnataka in the Olympics arena
Rohan Bopanna
As the Olympic fever grips the world, fans in Karnataka will be looking at a handful of athletes from their State to make the country proud. Of the 117 competitors from India, nine are from Karnataka.
Chief among them is tennis star Rohan Bopanna, who will be partnering Tamil Nadu’s Sriram Balaji in men’s doubles. Bopanna, 44, is World No. 4 in doubles and the reigning Australian Open champion. He will be eager to add an Olympic medal to his collection, something he missed out on at the 2016 Rio Games, finishing fourth in mixed doubles with Sania Mirza.
Aditi Ashok
Bengaluru golfer Aditi Ashok, too, finished agonisingly short at the quadrennial extravaganza, coming fourth at Tokyo 2020. Since then, the 26-year-old — who debuted at Rio 2016 — has won titles on the Ladies European Tour and secured a silver medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023 to become one of India’s most recognisable faces.
Like Aditi, badminton player Ashwini Ponnappa will also be at her third Olympics, having taken part in London 2012 and Rio 2016. The 34-year-old doubles player will partner 21-year-old Tanisha Crasto. The duo started playing together only in January last year and have done well to make it to Paris.
Ashwini Ponnappa
The Indian table tennis outfits have already made history by qualifying for the team championship for the first time since the sport was included in 1988. Among those keen to impress will be 24-year-old Archana Kamath, a high-performing junior who has experience competing in the Youth Olympics.
Also in the French capital will be boxer Nishant Dev, one of two male pugilists in India’s six-member roster. The 23-year-old won a bronze medal (71kg category) at the IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships in Tashkent in May 2023.
In athletics, there is the seasoned M.R. Poovamma, a double Asian Games gold-medallist and, at 34, the senior-most member of the Indian women’s 4x400m relay team. Looking to make an impact among men will be Mijo Chacko Kurian, 29, who was part of the Asian Games gold-winning 4x400m relay squad in 2023.
Srihari Nataraj
India has never been a force in swimming, but Karnataka has been in India. Thus, the only two swimmers at the Olympics will be from the State — Srihari Nataraj (men’s 100m backstroke) and Dhinidhi Desinghu (women’s 200m freestyle). Srihari, 23, had competed in Tokyo as well, having qualified directly. This time, he has been selected under the universality quota along with 14-year-old Dhinidhi, who will be the youngest Indian athlete in Paris.
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