New sports at LA 2028: How do they impact India's Olympic medal chances?

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Cricket, squash, and now compound archery are among the new sports that have made the cut for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, while boxing is officially retained after some uncertainty.

The LA Olympics has released the official list of sports, and these additions are good news for India - while cricket and squash had already been announced, compound archery, where India have done well of late, was a surprise inclusion.

How will this affect Indian sport? How will qualification in these sports work? What are Indian athletes' chances of getting to LA in the first place, and then of winning a medal there? Of course, three years is a long time and plenty could change by then, but here's a very early look at the impact of these additions to India's potential chances at LA 2028.

Archery

The addition of compound archery mixed team event to the Olympic programme brings with it a huge boost to India's hopes of an additional medal in LA. Over the last few years, Indians have consistently been among the top performers in compound archery.

At the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, India swept all the gold medals that were available in compound archery - the men's and women's individual, men's and women's teams, and the mixed team. Jyothi Surekha Vennam partnered Ojas Pravin Deotale to win gold in the mixed team event.

Currently, Jyothi is fourth in the world in the women's compound rankings, while there are three Indians in the top ten of the men's compound rankings.

At the three Archery World Cup events in 2024, India medalled in two in compound mixed team category. Jyothi won gold with Abhishek Verma in Shanghai, and then partnered Priyansh to win silver in Yecheon. At the third event in Antalya, Jyothi and Priyansh topped the field in qualification but lost to Italy in the quarterfinals. Similarly, at the 2023 World Championships, Jyothi and Ojas topped the field in qualification, but lost by a point to the USA in the quarterfinals.

There is clear evidence that Indian teams have consistently performed at the highest level in the compound mixed team event, so there is plenty for Indian fans to be excited about. While South Korea, the traditional powerhouse in recurve archery, aren't yet that strong in compound events, it remains to be seen whether their approach to compound archery changes now that it is in the Olympic programme.

Cricket

Both the men's and women's cricket events will be six-team affairs in LA. As it stands now, the top six in both the men's and women's world T20I team rankings are the same, albeit in different orders: India, Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa and the West Indies. As hosts, USA may also receive automatic qualification for both events, which would mean only five spots remain. The West Indies are sixth in women's T20Is at the moment, while South Africa occupies that spot in the men's standings.

Alex Davidson-ICC/ICC via Getty Images

It is also a point of considering that, at the Olympics, England compete under the Great Britain flag, while the islands that comprise the West Indies all compete as individual countries. At the Commonwealth Games in 2022, Barbados competed in the women's cricket competition, and if a similar precedent is followed, then the domestic champions of the West Indies' T20 competitions will likely compete at the Olympics. In short, Olympics can't follow the ICC rankings as is, which could lead to more confusion in qualification.

India aren't the holders of the T20 Asia Cup in either the men's or women's game, with Sri Lanka holding both titles. There is a men's Asia Cup scheduled for later in 2025, and a women's edition in 2026. However, a continental competition determining qualification for the Olympics may not be a route that the ICC decides to take, given that there is no equivalent in other continents.

Squash

The first specifics of the squash event at LA 2028 were announced on Tuesday, with only men's and women's singles a part of the programme, and each having only 16 players in the field.

Now, qualification for this won't be as straightforward as having the top 16 players from the world rankings take part, as there will definitely be a cap on the number of players allowed per country. Eight of the top 16 in both men's and women's singles are Egyptian, and it is likely that number will be capped at one or two per country. However, details are yet to emerge on the qualification path and division of quotas for the Olympics.

As it stands, India's highest ranked players are Ramit Tandon (at 31 in the men's rankings) and Anahat Singh (at 61 in the women's rankings). If there is only one athlete allowed per country, then both Ramit and Anahat are among the top 16 highest-ranked players. Ramit would be 11th seed out of 16, and Anahat would be 15th, based on the world rankings as they are today. However, if two athletes are allowed per country, then Ramit would be 15th seed, while Anahat wouldn't qualify, based on the current rankings. But given that Anahat is just now emerging on the senior tour, the ranking does not signify much.

Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh at the Asian Games Sun Fanyue/Xinhua via Getty Images

However, there is also a possibility that qualification for the squash events could be based on the medallists at different continental games, with just a small number of spots left for qualification through the world rankings route.

If we go through the continental rankings, then Ramit is the third-highest ranked Asian player in the men's singles field, while Abhay Singh and Velavan Senthilkumar are fourth and fifth. Anahat is the sixth-highest ranked Asian player in the women's singles field, while Akanksha Salunkhe is seventh.

Either way, there is still work to do for all the Indian players to climb up the world rankings, and perform well enough at next year's Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, if they are to realise their Olympic dreams at the first time of asking.

Boxing

After a couple of years of uncertainty over whether it would be a part of the Olympic programme at all, boxing eventually made the cut. There are seven categories for the men's events, the same as in Paris, and seven for the women, one more than in Paris.

However, the maximum weight threshold for some categories have changed now. The men had 51 kg, 57 kg, 63.5 kg, 71 kg, 80 kg, 92 kg, 92+ kg in Paris, while now they will have 55 kg, 60 kg, 65 kg, 70 kg, 80 kg, 90 kg, 90+ kg in LA. The women had 50 kg, 54 kg, 57 kg, 60 kg, 66 kg, 75 kg in Paris, while now they will have 51 kg, 54 kg, 57 kg, 60 kg, 65 kg, 70 kg, 80+ kg in LA.

Nikhat Zareen BFI

Nikhat Zareen, who had a shock early exit in the women's 50kg event in Paris, has seen the maximum weight in her category go up by a kilo. The makeup of India's men's team will also be interesting to keep an eye out on. India's best male boxer in Paris - Nishant Dev - has turned professional, so whether he comes back to the Olympic boxing fold is uncertain yet. At the recently concluded World Boxing Cup, India won six medals - one gold, one silver and four bronze. Hitesh Gulia had won gold in the men's 70 kg category, which incidentally would have been Nishant's event, if he had continued to stay in the fold.

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