Savita, who was part of the Rio squad, believes the team is much improved now, evident from its recent performances against top sides.
Rani Rampal led the team to historic victories in the Women's Asia Cup in 2017, silver at the 2018 Asian Games and played a critical role in the FIH Olympic Qualifiers in 2019 by scoring the deciding goal that helped India qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
Tokyo 2020 organisers received the Olympic flame in a scaled-down handover ceremony in the Greek capital on Thursday, amid the coronavirus spread that has cast doubt on the global, multi-billion dollar event. In a brief ceremony closed to spectators in Athens' Panathenaic stadium, site of the first modern Games in 1896, the torch was received by Tokyo Games representative Naoko Imoto.
Hellenic Olympic Committee President Spyros Capralos told reporters a meeting had been held with a Greek health risk management company to be ready 'in case anything happens'.
Japanese actress Satomi Ishihara performed the first 'torch kiss' handover of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics torch relay on Saturday during a rehearsal on the outskirts of the capital. The rehearsal comes amid worries the coronavirus outbreak could throw cold water on the Games. Japan, among the worst affected outside China where the virus is believed to have originated, reported its first death from the virus on Friday.
The Indian men's hockey team's biggest gain this year was the emergence of some talented fresh faces.
The study also said that the war would plunge the world into a "nuclear winter" that could lead to global climate catastrophe.
World number two Karolina Pliskova beat Croatia's Petra Martic 6-3, 6-2 in the final of the inaugural Zhengzhou Open on Sunday to win the 15th WTA singles title of her career and her first in China.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Olympic organisers say they will not reveal the final torchbearer's identity until the torch arrives in the stadium on live television, watched by billions of spectators.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Frida
'We have stopped eating sweets, chocolates, spicy and oily food. We are are taking low carbs and balanced diet and feeling better'
India won the women's FIH Series Finals hockey tournament, beating hosts Japan 3-1 in the summit clash in Hiroshima on Sunday.
India secured its place in the final round of Tokyo Olympic qualifiers by beating Chile 4-2 in the semi-finals of the women's FIH Series Finals hockey tournament.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
The world endured bushfires, drought, tsunamis and earthquakes in 2018.
Rikako Ikee became the first female athlete to be named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) at an Asian Games
Zeeshan Ali, the captain and coach of the men's team, has no clue about Paes's arrival three days before the start of the competition on Sunday.
The world had almost completely forgotten about Partition, and many never learned about it, says Guneeta Singh Bhalla, the woman who founded the 1947 Partition Archive.
All that happened in India in the past week, in photos.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
All of the top news of the week gone by, in photos.
While Mumbai struggles with heavy rains for the past four days, torrential rain in Japan, unleashed floods and landslides resulting in the deaths of over 150 people. Rescuers in Japan are racing to find survivors after the country witnessed the country's worst weather disaster for 36 years.
As per the Indian Olympic Association's regulations, only those national teams which are ranked between 1-8 at the continental level, are cleared for the Games.
This will be the first time since the 1994 Hiroshima edition that an Indian team will not take part in the football competition of the Asian Games.
There's never a bad time to visit Japan.
'While economic ties are making incremental progress, it is in the security and strategic domains that the India-Japan synergy is more compelling,' says Dr Rajaram Panda.
'Only when India's adversaries are convinced that India has both the necessary political and military will and the hardware to respond to a nuclear strike with punitive retaliation that will inflict unacceptable loss of human life and unprecedented material damage, will they be deterred,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
North Korea is unlikely to strike first, but its response in retaliation, if attacked, could be massive even at the expense of its own destruction, says Rajaram Panda.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday.
The Japanese prime minister's visit to the memorial in Hawaii, the spot that was bombed 75 years ago, shows that it is possible for two powerful former enemies to transcend recriminatory impulses, observes Rajaram Panda.
The two leaders, dressed in dark suits and ties, presented wreaths and bowed their heads in silent respect during a brief tour of the USS Arizona Memorial that commemorates the US sailors and Marines who perished on the battleship on December 7, 1941.
Escalating the attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over demonetisation, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused him of dividing the country between the rich and the poor and dubbed the move as "firebombing" on cash economy and farmers and labourers.
He said his party wants to eradicate corruption and if "Modiji takes any step against the menace, the Congress party will lend its hundred per cent support".
India's breakthrough in countering a 'dirty bomb'.
Castro condemned as "equally criminal" the bombing of Nagasaki three days later on August 9, 1945.
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