Comments
With five more days to go for the opening of the 30th Summer Olympic Games in London, India has already begun to count the number of medals its sportspersons are likely to pocket. This excitement could have been triggered only by Abhinav Bindra’s success and India’s first individual gold medal, in shooting, at the Beijing Games.
Medal drought
Starved of Olympic glory other than in hockey till 1980, India managed to grab its second individual medal – a bronze – through Leander Paes at Atlanta in 1996 after wrestler K.D. Jadhav gave India a bronze at the 1952 Helsinki Games. Weightlifter Karnam Malleswari kept hopes alive with another bronze at Sydney in 2000. In the 2004 Athens Games, double trap shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore gave the country its first silver medal.
At Beijing, for the first time, India won multiple medals – a gold and two bronze – the last two through boxer Vijender and wrestler Sushil Kumar. As many as 81 sportspersons have qualified to represent the country this time, in 13 disciplines, sparking debates on the number of medals they are going to win.
On the sports field, India is not a threat to giants like the US, China, Germany, and Great Britain, among many others. Going by the qualifying marks achieved by our men and women, their performances during the run-up to the Olympics and their career best showing in their respective events have completely ruled them out of medal contention. These sportspersons are from disciplines like athletics, hockey, judo, rowing, swimming, table tennis and weightlifting. The remaining six disciplines – archery, badminton, boxing, shooting, tennis and wrestling – hold out hope for a few medals.
In archery and shooting, Indians have attained the world standard in recent years. Their current form too points to the fact that a medal or two is on the cards, with expectations resting on ace archer Deepika Kumari, besides on the men's and women's teams.
Looking for glory
Gagan Narang, Abhinav Bindra and Ronjan Sodhi are the ones expected to bring home medals in shooting. All three have the right credentials to keep the amber of hope burning.
Five-time world boxing champion M.C. Mary Kom, the lone woman pugilist, has the experience and guts to go the distance. At 29, this will be her final and only chance at an Olympic medal. It is going to be a far more difficult prospect for the seven men boxers, including Vijender, to make the mark. An odd spark is all they are capable of. The Olympic tennis team has attracted the world's best. India's best chance to get a medal is in its mixed doubles pair, Leander Paes and Sania Mirza.
Much is expected from Saina Nehwal, the only world-class badminton star in India. Will she be able to overcome the Chinese challenge? Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa have a chance in the women’s doubles provided the duo’s stamina keeps up with them. Indian freestyle wrestlers have always done well in international events. The three Indians – Yogeshwar Dutt (60 kg), Amit Kumar (55 kg) and Sushil Kumar (66 kg) – have the ability to surprise.
Finally, India is left with one more option – that of returning home empty handed. But one hopes that this time, the 1.3 billion here will have something to cheer about.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.