Narinder Batra hoping for double-digit medals in Tokyo Olympics

Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Narinder Batra on Tuesday said that he is hoping that the country will win double-digit medals in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

"My feeling is 100 plus athletes will qualify before Olympics and I am hoping for double-digit medals in Olympics," Batra told ANI.

Batra said the performances of Indian athletes have improved as they are getting international exposure.

"Performances are definitely improving as they are getting international exposure and in some games, I would say we are leading the boards. In shooting, we are among the best in the world. In badminton, despite witnessing ups and downs, we have few athletes who are world-beaters like PV Sindhu, who has won the World Championship and we have Mary Kom in boxing," he said.

Batra, who is also the International Hockey Federation (FIH) president, said with programs like Khelo India, the country will have a brighter future.

"There is Khelo India Youth Games for U-17, U-21. With these things, there will be a pyramid structure in the coming 3-4 years and their result will be seen in the 2024 (Olympics) and definitely in 2028," Batra said.

Despite admitting performances of Indian athletes have improved, Batra said he is not satisfied with the results from the South Asian Games. India bagged 312 medals, which included 174 gold, 93 silver, and 45 bronze medals.

"Bangladesh increased their tally by about 200 percent and Sri Lanka too. But we only increased 4-5 medals. I am personally disappointed with the performance in the South Asian Games and we should have crossed the 400-figure mark," he said.

"I do not know whether the main team went or second-team went, so, we will discuss this with individual federations and ask them the reason for this performance," Batra added.