These are the 6 sports India should focus on to win double-digit medals in 2020 Olympics

The debacle of Rio 2016 only proved what the realists had pointed out for long - the fortuity of 2012, where most of the 6 medals we had won were unexpected, and that it was just a false dawn. 2016 has shown us that we have not really arrived – anywhere. Thank the girls we saved some face, but international publications have ripped apart India on how we are the worst nation at the Olympics in terms of medals/people, medals/GDP and any other count that can be devised.

From the depths of 1996, Great Britain have steadily climbed up and ended second in the medals tally at Rio. However, it did not come easy. Each of the medals at Rio was estimated to have cost the nation 45-47 crores. But, there are a few clear lessons to be learnt from Britain's journey.

2. Focus your spending on your strengths – Great Britain slumped to its worst in 1996, but the few medals they won came from their traditional strong suits – 12 of the 15 came from Athletics, sailing, cycling and rowing. When they started winning again, these are the same four where they won their most. Through every single Olympics, they kept increasing the numbers on these before other disciplines started kicking in.

3. Have plans for the short-term and long-term – While they focused on the traditional areas, they had 0 medals in Gymnastics until 2004. 1 in 2008, 4 in 2012, and Gymnastics was the second-biggest contributor for the nation in 2016 with 7 medals.

We asked our readers about the same.

How can India get to 10 medals in the next four years?

In the simplest terms, choose and invest. The Sports Ministry came up with the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) before the current Olympics. The scheme was well-intentioned but ended up achieving zilch as they sprayed their resources on everyone including those who had no chance of ending up anywhere close to the podium.

1. Sports we are traditionally strong at

2. Sports where we can achieve success despite the genetic/ physical disadvantage

Before you jump on point 2, the physical disadvantage has been telling as we struggle in sports that demand raw athletic prowess and stamina. Studies have aimed to show how certain races and nationalities hold an advantage over others in the domains of endurance and strength. It has been hypothesized that Jamaica's success in the athletics arena, including Usain Bolt, can be attributed to the leaps in public health that the nation experienced thanks to the Rockefeller foundation's works in the middle decades of the last century.

But for a country that is among the worst in the world in basic health, India is still decades from ensuring such standards of living for its citizens that may bring us on par with the other nations. The simpler option, for now, would be to forget that some of these Olympic sports exist.

Looking at the sports that contribute at least 1% to the overall medals awarded at the 2016 Olympics, – that leaves out the top-two – Athletics and Aquatics. However, some of these sports hold multiple categories based on weight classes and Indians have done well in the lower weight classes.

Based on the above criteria, here are the six disciplines that India should look at- Boxing, Wrestling, Shooting, Weightlifting, Badminton, and Archery. These six alone contribute 217 of the 971 medals at the Olympics.

1. Boxing

India has won two medals in boxing – one each in 2008 and 2012. Although we did not win any in Rio, Vikas Krishan and Manoj Kumar almost came close in their categories, while Shiva Thapa was the biggest hope until the draws came out. The bantamweight-boxer was unluckily paired against the eventual Gold medalist and lost in his first round robbing India of an almost secure medal.

Men's lower 7 weight categories (49,52,56,60,64,69,75 kgs)

Women's – Lower 2 categories (51, 60 kgs)

No introductions needed. Wrestling is the only sport where India can send a last-minute replacement and still get a bronze medal. If not for Vinesh Phogat's injury at Rio, we would have received another medal from this event. However, the facilities for this sport still need a lot of improvement. While it has stood the test of time because of the wrestling tradition that Haryana has nurtured, India is losing out on more medals than it is winning because of our official apathy.

Focus : Men's – lower 3 categories (57,65,74 kgs)

3. Shooting

Except for women's skeet, trap, 50m rifle three positions, and men’s double trap India had participants in all the other shooting events at Rio. However, a mix of bad luck, low focus with participants trying multiple events, and inadequate training facilities hampered India's Rio campaign.

4. Badminton

While we appear to have surrogated our medal hopes to Gopichand, we still have only one Gopi. The singles field appears to have a steady stream of medal hopefuls, but it is time we developed doubles pairs who actually have a shot at the podium.

While Deepika disappointed again at Rio, she still has age on her side. However, we need to find and nurture the next set of women archers as veterans Bombayla and Laxmirani may have seen their last Olympics at Rio. Same is the case for the men.

Atanu Das as well came quite close to a medal at Rio. Archery needs just that small push to find more grassroots talent.

While this is a long shot given we have not brought back any medals after Karnam Malleswari, the reasons to focus on this sport are three:

1. Weightlifting has one of the highest medals on offer at the Olympics.

3. The infrastructure necessary for the sport are so Spartan that they fit India's bill perfectly. With some scientific and systematic coaching, India can pull off a few shockers here.

Focus : Men's – lower 4 categories – 56, 62, 69, 77 kgs

These six sports would still need intense state-sponsoring. Given the current state of most federations, the first step would be to weed out the politicians who have been little more than an infected appendix in most cases before we embark on any funding and planning. The results may still not come by 2020. The realistic target would be 2024 – which necessitates that we find young talent RIGHT NOW, put them through the rigors so that we have a pool of potential medalists in 8 years.

One may still be tempted to apportion equivalent funds to other disciplines like athletics, aquatics etc. But that has been the curse of India's Olympic campaigns – lack of focus and then after four years, hoping for fate's roll of dice to favor us. Now this might be the time to reassess that and try our hand at brute practicality. While we should still fund outliers and extraordinary players like Junior World Javelin champion Neeraj Chopra and race-walker Manish Singh, who finished 13th despite numerous handicaps, any funding in the other disciplines needs to be based on a sound plan and not based on who-knows-who. Additionally, India will need to devise a medium-term, and long-term plan on sports to focus on (like Britain and gymnastics) and develop the infrastructure from the grass roots. Only time will tell if our Governments can finally wake up and do what nations who gained their independence a few years have already done - get an Olympic Gold!