India’s journey at the Tokyo Olympics has begun. For year’s China and Southeast Asian countries have dominated the game of badminton. But since a few years, India’s badminton has grown so much that they stand a chance to win medals at the Tokyo Olympics. The first match of the group stage of men’s badminton will be played on 24th July 2021. The match will be played at Musashino Forest Sport Plaza BDM Court 2.

Sai Praneeth vs Zilberman Olympics Result: Zilberman Defeats Praneeth 21-17 21-15 

World number 15 Sai Praneeth opened the match as a favorite against Israel’s world number 47 Mischa Zilberman. The Indian shuttler lost the match 21-17 21-15 in straight sets. Sai Praneeth started the match in full force and was leading Zilberman. But Zilberman came back strong to take 9 consecutive points and seal the first set 21-17.

The rest of the match was all about can Praneeth turn the tables in India’s favor? But Sai Praneeth looked tired. Mischa Zilberman led Praneeth entirely in set 2. Eventually, Israelian won the battle in straight sets by winning the second set 21-15. 

Check the match summary of Sai Praneeth vs Mischa Zilberman

Match / Games Statistics	Match	Game 1	Game 2
Longest rally (seconds)	32	32	30
Longest rally (strokes)	30	30	26
Average rally (seconds)	10	11	10
Average rally (strokes)	7	8	7
Shuttles used	15	9	6

Tokyo Olympics 2021: Sai Praneeth vs Zilberman HD Highlights Video

Here we will be sharing the HD highlights of the Sai Praneeth vs Zilberman badminton match. The video will be soon be updated as soon as the video is available on Youtube by the official Olympics channel.

The first day of the Olympics kicked off in some style. Indian hockey match was scheduled on the very first day of the Olympics against New Zealand. The match was scheduled to start at 7:00 IST at Oi Hockey Stadium South Pitch. Hockey is one of the sports which Indians are keen on as it’s one of the best chances to get an Olympic medal. India is a dominant force in the game of Hockey. 

India defeated New Zealand 3-2 in a close contest. It was a hard-fought battle that Indians won eventually.

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IND vs NZ: Shreejesh heroics help India beat New Zealand 3-2 

It was Indian goalkeeper Shreejesh’s heroic efforts that helped India to cling on to a 3-2 lead in the final minutes. New Zealand was trying hard for the third goal and also got three penalty corners in the last few minutes, but Shreejesh denied New Zealand their third goal.

India began the match as favorites but soon was down 0-1. New Zealand’s lead was not for much longer as Rupinder Pal Singh scored off a penalty stroke to level scores 1-1. Harmanpreet’s efforts gave India a 2-1 lead at the end of halftime. Soon in the third quarter, India leads 3-1 but the lead was cut short by New Zealand. The final quarter was all about scoring for New Zealand and defense for India’s lead. India managed to stay in front and win the match at the end of all four quarters. 

Watch India vs New Zealand Hockey Highlights HD Video

Here we will be sharing the HD highlights of the India vs New Zealand hockey match. The video will be soon be updated as soon as the video is available on Youtube by the official Olympics channel. 

Toyota, one of the prominent sponsors of the Olympics, has decided against airing any Olympic-themed advertisements on Japanese television when the games will be broadcasted. This unconventional decision is underlining the polarization of the games in Japan as covid-19 cases are on the rise. Toyota Chief Communications Officer Jun Nagata stated, “There are many issues with these Games that are proving difficult to be understood”.

In addition to not airing advertisements during the Tokyo Olympic Games on television, there will also be an absence of the company founder’s grandson at the games. The Chief Executive of Toyota, Akio Toyoda will not be attending the opening ceremony of the games even though there are around 200 athletes that are affiliated with Toyota and are participating in Olympic games and Paralympic games. Nagata has assured that the company will be continuing to support the athletes affiliated with them.

Also Read: Coco Gauff Tests Positive for Positive for Covid, To Miss Tokyo Olympics

Generally, events like the Olympics or any other big events are considered great opportunities for brand promotion and are used as platforms to enhance the brand. But after the pandemic, linking the company’s name with games that are being opposed by many people can be a big problem for potential marketing.

Tokyo Olympics was supposed to happen in 2020 but due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was delayed and is now happening in 2021. Many public surveys have reflected that the Japanese people are concerned about the games taking place even though there is a rise in covid-19 cases. Many people have protested the Olympics.

The spokesperson for Toyota says that the company is passionate about the games and will support the players. In Japan, Toyota is one of the most trusted brands. Given the mixed sentiment of Japanese people towards the games happening in the state of emergency, according to the spokesperson for Toyota, not airing advertisements may be a way of conveying the company’s message to the people.

The 17-year-old US star Coco Gauff will no longer lead the US tennis team as she has been tested positive for Covid 19 and will miss the Tokyo Olympics 2021. 

Coco Gauff announced her withdrawal on Sunday due to Covid on social media platforms. While announcing the withdrawal, Gauff also wished good luck to the rest of the US Olympic team. Coco Gauff was one of the promising candidates who was set to debut at the Olympic Games. With her stunning performances across the world including Grand Slams, all eyes were on this teenager. 

The official statement from Coco Gauff read,

I am so disappointed to share the news that I have tested positive for COVID and won’t be able to play in the Olympic Games in Tokyo,” wrote the 17-year-old in a statement posted to Twitter on Sunday. “It has always been a dream of mine to represent the USA at the Olympics, and I hope there will be many more chances for me to make this come true in the future. I want to wish TEAM USA best of luck and a safe game for every Olympian and the entire Olympic family.

🙏🏾❤️🤍💙 pic.twitter.com/lT0LoEV3eO

— Coco Gauff (@CocoGauff) July 18, 2021

Reacting to Coco Gauff’s news, USA Tennis Association said, 

The entire USA Tennis Olympic contingent is heartbroken for Coco. We wish her the best as she deals with this unfortunate situation and hopes to see her back on the court very soon.

The withdrawal news from the tennis world is not stopping. With just a few days to go for kick-off, the withdrawal news is pouring in. It all started a few months ago when Serena and Rafael Nadal were the first big names to withdraw their names from the Tokyo Olympics. These names were followed by Roger Federer, Venus Williams, Wawrinka. 

This is the first Olympics in 25 years without Serena and Venus Williams.

The Tokyo Olympics 2021 will open on 23rd July 2021. These are the first postponed games and will go ahead as scheduled with all covid regulations.

The Tokyo 2021 Summer Olympic Games is all set to kickstart very soon on Friday, 23^rd July 2021. This time, the Olympic games will be more enthusiastic and fanatical with the International Olympic Committee has added more games to the list. Six new sports will make the official debut into the Olympic games along with the existing 28 sports. With the inclusion of new sports, Olympic 2021 will have 18 new medal events, with 9 medals for each male and female athletes. Thus with the introduction of the new sports, Tokyo 2021 Olympic games are going to be an altogether enthralling moment for its avid fans from all across the world.

Also Read: NBC Sports Crosses $1B Sales for Tokyo Olympics

Recent Games in Sports List

In every edition of the Olympics, few sports get added while some make way for the new ones. The number of games added or subtracted is not huge but yes, it happens. Tokyo Olympics 2021 is not any exception. Few new sports events have been added to the list. Check out the list of sports added at Olympics 2021.

1. Skateboarding

Skateboarding is making its debut in the Olympic events through the upcoming 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games. The International Skateboarding Federation made the official announcement of its debut on its official website. The event will comprise of men’s and women’s skateboarding as park and street. The street course event is designed in such a way as it will replicate the street skating with ramps, stairs, and rails. Thus it will be a testing time for riders to utilize their tricks at the most. The competition will allow athletes to skate individually on three-time runs and will be analyzed and scored on the basis of the difficulty of their tricks, height, speed, and ingenuity. The top three highest-scoring runs will be considered in the overall rankings

The park skateboard event will be held on a bowl-shaped course, where riders have to perform the tricks on different inclines. They will be shortlisted on the basis of the originality and the difficulty level.

2. Sport Climbing

Another sport event included in the Olympics 2021 games is Sport Climbing. It will be the men’s and women’s event that will comprise three major disciplines speed climbing, bouldering, and lead climbing. Both the event will test the fitness and endurance of the climber.

In Speed Climbing, two athletes have to race each other by climbing to the top of the 15-meter high wall.

However, in Bouldering, athletes have to climb as high as a 15-meter wall within a restricted time of 6 minutes. In this case, the rope will not have safety ropes and individual athletes have to overcome as many fixed routes on a 4-meter high wall within 4 minutes of time.

3. Surfing

Surfing is another event to mark its debut into the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. The event will be organized on the Shidashita Beach of Japan’s Pacific Coast. Men and Women athletes will participate in the event, where four athletes will compete with each other at a time. Each event will last for 20 to 25 minutes on the basis of the quality of waves. The athlete will be judged and assigned the highest score on the basis of precise execution to overcome the large waves. Only two athletes with a high score will compete against each other and move to the next round.

4. Karate

After wrestling, Karate is another sport of the same discipline to join the Olympic games from the next year. The event will comprise two disciplines Kata (forms) and Kumite (sparring) for both men and women athletes.

In Kata, an athlete has to perform offensive and defensive movements against the virtual opponent. The evaluation will be based on speed, strength, balance, rhythm, and power.

Two equal weight competitors will contend against each other in the Kumite (Sparring) discipline. The match will be held in an 8 by 8-meter area for 3 minutes. Points will be designated to the athlete on the basis of performance like kicks, punched or land strikes on the target area of the opponent’s body. The competitor with a maximum of eight points is announced as the winner.

5. Baseball/ Softball

Baseball was first involved in the 1992 Olympics. Initially, it was played by only men athletes and later on after four years, women athletes also participated in the event in a new game version called Softball. However, both the events were eliminated from the sports list of the Olympic 2012 games. Now once again, they will make a comeback as Men’s Baseball and Women’s Softball event at the Tokyo 2021 Olympic games. Both the games are played in a similar manner, where softball is played with a larger ball on a small field.

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List of Sports at 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games

A total of 339 events in 33 sports will be played at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games and the table below shows the List of Sports at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games.

S.No	Games	Events
1	Aquatics	Diving (8), Swimming (37), Synchronized Swimming (2), Water Polo (2)
2	Archery	5
3	Athletics	48
4	Badminton	5
5	Baseball	1
6	Softball	1
7	Basketball	2, 3×3 Basketball (2)
8	Boxing	13
9	Canoeing	Shalom (4), Sprint (12)
10	Cycling	BMX Freestyle (2), BMX Racing (2), Mountain Biking (2), Road Cycling (4), Track Cycling (12)
11	Equestrian	Dressage (2), Eventing (2), Jumping (2)
12	Fencing	12
13	Field Hockey	2
14	Football	2
15	Golf	2
16	Gymnastics	Artistic (14), Rhythmic (2), Trampoline (2)
17	Handball	2
18	Judo	15
19	Karate	Kata (2), Kumite (6)
20	Modern Pentathlon	2
21	Rowing	14
22	Rugby Sevens	2
23	Sailing	10
24	Shooting	15
25	Skateboarding	4
26	Sports climbing	2
27	Surfing	2
28	Table Tennis	5
29	Taekwondo	8
30	Tennis	5
31	Triathlon	3
32	Volleyball	2, Beach Volleyball (2)
33	Weightlifting	14
34	Wrestling	Freestyle (12), Greco – Roman (6)

A loose shot from Berritenni and Djokovic has been crowned Wimbledon champion. With this, he is tied with Federer and Nadal at 20 Grand Slams. This is a recent event that happened last Sunday (11th June 2021). Since then, the talks of Djokovic participating at the Tokyo Olympics 2021 have begun. Many big names like Nadal, Federer, Serena Williams have already announced their withdrawals and all eyes are on Djokovic. In this article, we will try to find the answer to this question.

Is Djokovic Competing at Tokyo Olympics 2021?

So this is one of the most asked questions among the fans. The official announcement of participation or withdrawal has to be made from the Djokovic camp. But it looks like with time running out, Djokovic has no plans to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics. After the Wimbledon finals, Djokovic said that he was unsure about his participation at the Tokyo Olympics.

Update (16th July 2021): Djokovic confirms his participation at Tokyo Olympics 2021.

There are many reasons for Djokovic to travel to the Tokyo Olympics. We have listed a few below.

Why should Djokovic be at the Tokyo Olympics 2021?

In the absence of Federer and Nadal, Djokovic is the clear favorite. Also, Novak Djokovic has a chance to create history. If Djokovic manages to win the Olympics and the US Open in the upcoming season, he will join Stefie Graf who is the only person to win the calendar golden slam. Even if Djokovic manages to win the Olympics, he will join the elite group of players like Graf, Williams, Aggasi and Nadal who have won the golden career slam. 

Conclusion

No matter what Djokovic decides, the records will always put him in the list of legendary players (with or without Olympic medals). The presence of Djokovic will be something to cheer for the tennis fraternity and fans.