The entire year 2008 was perhaps one of the landmarks in the history of Indian sports. The distant desire to achieve claiming more than one medal in Olympics finally turned into a reality as three Indian athletes won medals to earn the country live through some real instances of celebration. The Olympics 2008 in Beijing surely made India dream bigger and better than confining themselves within the paradigm of cricket or soccer.
Following are the games and players on whom India counts for the medal:
Wrestling- Sushil Kumar
Sushil Kumar, who is the flag bearer for this Olympics, had won the bronze in the Men's 66kg Freestyle wrestling event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Being the second Indian after Kashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav to win a medal in the wrestling event, Sushil Kumar is one of the most powerful hope for the country to get a Gold Medal in this season. His previous performances of winning Gold medal at commonwealth games, 2010 has solidified the hopes of the country on him.
Shooting
Abhinav Bindra became the first Indian to win a gold in the 10m air rifle event of the 2008 Olympic Games. Starved of significant Olympic success, Bindra feat at the Beijing Olympics has raised expectations of the world's second most populous nation. The country is eyeing on him for the second Olympic Medal and taking it as granted.
After two unsuccessful attempts in Athens and Beijing, Rifle ace Gagan Narang is hoping to get third time lucky and feel the heroic aire of winning the planet's biggest sporting activity in the upcoming London Olympics. Since getting left behind on the final by a point in the Beijing Games fours summers ago, Narang has gone onto win numerous medals in the ISSF World Cups, World Championship, Commonwealth Games and of course the Asiad, besides setting up a new world record in 2008. Going by his form during the last couple of years, Narang stands an attainable chance of firming up podium finish in London.
Badminton
Jwala Gutta & Ponnappa has raised the Indian expectations of hoping for yet another medal in the game of Badminton. Their previous victories over some of the formidable Chinese pairs earlier, has tight fasten their chances to win gold this year. The badminton doubles specialist hopes to bring her country a step closer to that goal by earning a medal at the London Olympics. The Commonwealth Games gold and bronze in World Championship gives Gutta and Ponnappa, a fair chance of winning a medal in the women's doubles and mixed doubles events at London.
Saina Nehwal has struck stunning form at just the right time in the front of the 2012 London Games where she hopes to deliver India the first Olympic badminton medal. The world number five, Nehwal, accompanied victory in the Thailand Open with the third Indonesian Open triumph. In 2010, on home territory and once more with the aspirations of the country swirling around her, Nehwal won Commonwealth Games gold, surviving a match point against Malaysia's Wong Mew Choo. At 18, Nehwal reached the quarter-finals and just missed out in three sets to Indonesian Maria Kristin Yulianti. Despite her stellar June, a hard challenge lies ahead for Nehwal..
Archery:
Deepika, won two gold medals at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi and is touted to be a huge prospect for the country in the upcoming London Olympics 2012. Deepika, who has been training with the Tata Archery Academy for the past four years or so, has also won the gold medal at the Youth World Championship in Turkey in 2008. She represented the Indian team that won the silver medal in the 1st Asian Archery Grand Prix held at Bangkok in 2009. She won the Silver Medal in World Cup Stage III held at Ogden in August 2010. With these performances in the past, expectations on her is tremendous for winning gold in this season.
Tennis
After lots of controversies and statements, finally Bhupathi & Bopanna pair up to contest for gold in Tennis tournament, this season. With only a single win in fourteen tournaments and failing in the major matches, the hope are bleak. However, Bhupathi's solid baseline game and Bopanna's cannonball serve, especially on a surface as capriciously inconsistent as grass, makes the hope live for the nation.
Yet another controversy ended with the announcement of the mixed doubles team. With, Saniya pairing with Paes, the doubles team looks a bit uncomfortable and unpracticed. Their previous games revealed their weakness of co-ordination. Though the nation's top tennis player with huge experience is expected to show his mettle on the court and add one more star to the nation's hope.
Boxing
Vijender Singh became the first Indian boxer to win a medal at the Olympics. After defeating Ecuadorian Carlos Góngora in the quarterfinals to win a bronze for India, Vijendar engulfed the country with turmoil of joy and happiness. Vijender became the first Indian boxer to qualify for the Olympic Games for a third successive time. After the Beijing Olympics and the Milan World Championships Vijender was the top ranked boxer in the 75kg weight category, however injuries and a spate of poor performances has seen him drop out of the top 45.
A Muhammad Ali fan, Mary Kom is easily India's best bet to win a gold medal at the London Olympics. Mary Kom recently beat Chinese opponent Ren Cancan to win a gold medal at the sixth Asian Women's Boxing Championship. A mother of two, the 29-year-old says that the Olympics will be tough as she has powerful opponents to box against in her new weight category.
Teenage boxer Shiva Thapa qualified for the 2012 Olympics by entering the final of the 56 kg category at the Asian Olympic qualifying event, becoming the youngest Indian to do so. Shiva, a silver medallist at the 2010 Youth Olympics, was down 6-7 in the opening round. He changed gears in the second, taking a comfortable 15-6 lead. The Indian did not look back from there on and completed a comprehensive win. Shiva created quite a flutter by defeating a world champion in the finals in his debut senior international tournament, in Belgrade, where he went on to clinch a gold medal.
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