Meet the Keralites in Tokyo Olympics-bound Indian squad

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which was postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will kick off on Friday. There are nine Keralites in the 120-strong Indian squad. Notably, all the Malayalis in the fray are men, and for the first time in over 40 years, an Indian Olympic contingent will be without a woman sportsperson from the state that has produced some of the best female sprinters and long jumpers in the country. 

Here is a quick glance at the Keralites who will be hoping to put their best foot forward in the Japanese capital.

P R Sreejesh

This is the third Olympics for the experienced Indian hockey team goalkeeper. At 33, this could well be Sreejesh's last shot at Olympic glory. In an international career spanning 15 years, Sreejesh has won almost everything except an Olympic and World Cup medal. Tokyo presents the perfect chance for the Kochiite and his teammates to end India's 41-year-wait for an Olympic medal in hockey.

Sajan Prakash

Sajan made history by becoming the first Indian swimmer to breach the Olympic Quota 'A' mark. The 27-year-old clocked 1:56:38 seconds in the men's 200m butterfly event at the Sette Colli Trophy in Rome. The Games 'A' standard was set at 1:56.48 seconds and Sajan completed the run 0.10 seconds faster at the Olympic qualifier. This will be the second Olympics for the Idukki native who finished 28th in the same event at Rio 2016.

M Sreeshankar

The son of former athletes S Murali and K S Bijimol, long jumper Sreeshankar qualified for the Olympics by bettering his own national record with a leap of 8.26m at the Federation Cup Senior National Athletics Championships in March. The Olympics qualification mark was 8.22m. This is the first Olympics for the 22-year-old from Palakkad who is coached by his father Murali, a former international-level triple jumper.

K T Irfan

Race walker Irfan was the first Indian athlete to qualify for Tokyo 2020 as he finished with a time of 1:20.57 to end up fourth in the 2019 Asian Championships in Nomi, Japan.

This will be the second Olympics for the 31-year-old national record holder who finished a creditable 10th in London 2012. A stress fracture meant the Army man from Malappuram could not compete in Rio 2016 despite qualifying for the Games.

Irfan will be hoping to bounce back after being expelled from the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games for violating the 'no needle policy'.

Muhammed Anas Yahiya

The Asian Games 400m silver medallist is one of the three Kerala athletes in the Indian 4x400m relay quartet. This is the second Olympics for the 26-year-old from Nilamel in Kollam. Anas had competed in 400m and 4x400m relay at Rio 2016.

Alex Antony

From the coastal village of Pulluvila in Thiruvananthapuram to Tokyo, it has been a dream journey for Alex Antony. The 26-year-old Alex is part of the Indian 4x400m mixed relay team which also features Sarthak Bhambri, Revathi Veeramani, Subha Venkatesan and Dhanalakshmi Sekar.

Amoj Jacob

Amoj Jacob will team up with fellow Keralites Muhammed Anas and Nirmal Noah Tom along with Tamil Nadu's Arokia Rajiv in the men's 4x400m relay. The 23-year-old, who grew up in Delhi, was a member of the men’s relay team at the 2019 Doha World Championships. He has been in fine form this year and improved his personal best in 400m to 45.68s while winning the Federation Cup gold in March.

Noah Nirmal  Tom

The 26-year-old is part of the Indian 4x400m relay quartet. A native of Kozhikode, Noah was the anchor as the Indian team clocked 3:01.89s to book the ticket to Tokyo at the  senior Nationals held at Patiala last month.

M P Jabir 

The Indian Navy athlete is the first Indian male to qualify for Olympics 400m hurdles. The 25-year-old from Malappuram qualified through the World ranking quota. Jabir had won bronze medals in the 2017 and 2019 editions of the Asian Championships held at Bhubaneswar and Doha respectively.