LONDON: Armed with a new-found self-belief, India’s top athletes will seek to script a fresh chapter in the country’s Olympic history as they go into the 30th edition of the sporting extravaganza from on Friday with a realistic chance of winning medals.
Never before has an Indian contingent raised so much expectations and London could just be the launching pad for a new sporting era.
In the coming days, a record number of 81 Indian athletes, the highest in any Olympics so far, will take part in 13 disciplines with serious medal prospects in archery, boxing, shooting, badminton, tennis and wrestling.
Barring the archers who begin their campaign on Friday, most of the other Indians will join the action after the Opening ceremony on Friday in which Beijing bronze medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar will be the contingent’s flag-bearer.
For long, the Indian athletes have struggled to break the shackles of mediocrity and boost the country’s measly individual medal collection in the Olympics until the Beijing Games brought about a remarkable turnaround four years ago.
The platform for this transformation was first laid by shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore who clinched a historic silver medal in the Athens Games in 2004.
Shooter Abhinav Bindra’s gold medal and the bronze medals by boxer Vijender Singh and Sushil in Beijing were refreshing changes from the agonising history of failures in the world’s biggest sporting extravaganza.
The three who brought laurels for the country in Beijing will again be the spearheads of India’s medal quest while shooters Ronjan Sodhi and Gagan Narang, shuttler Saina Nehwal, woman pugilist Mary Kom, archer Deepika Kumari and her teammates, are also being touted as medal contenders.
It remains to be seen whether the hype and expectations surrounding the contingent was indeed justified and whether the athletes can improve upon their Beijing medal tally.
As many as 11 shooters — seven men and four women — will be aiming for glory and given the fine form they are in, a few medals are expected.
Abhinav Bindra seems to have found his form with a gold in the 10 metre Air rifle event at the 12th Asian Shooting Championships in Doha, Qatar.
His compatriot and challenger Gagan Narang, is also seen as a bright medal prospect and so is trap shooter Ronjan Sodhi, ranked number one in the world.
The boxing arena promises to provide ample excitement and may be a couple of medals as an unprecedented eight pugilists — seven men and a woman — battle for glory.
Apart from the experienced Vijender Singh (75 kg), the squad has Shiva Thapa (56 kg) — youngest boxer ever to qualify for the Olympics — and five-time world champion in the 29-year-old M C Mary Kom.
Veteran Mary Kom will be fittingly India’s sole representative when women’s boxing makes its Olympic debut in three weight categories. Apart from Shiva, the boxing team features one more teenager and a couple of 20-year-olds, including the World Championships bronze-medallist Vikas Krishan (69kg).
In archery, which will be held on the hallowed turf of the Lord’s, the focus will be on 18-year-old Deepika Kumari, the unassuming world number one who seldom speaks about her chances. Her teammates can do well in the team championship while the men’s team is quite capable of springing a surprise.
Saina Nehwal will spearhead the Indian challenge in the badminton court.
In wrestling, all eyes will once again be on Sushil, who made the London cut in the final qualifying tournament.
The Indian hockey team would make an emotional comeback to the Olympics after missing qualification for the Beijing Games. A podium finish is not expected of them but a creditable performance would surely be desired by the country’s sports fans. (PTI)