Sindhu main focus of India's campaign

The growing Indian presence at the Olympic Games badminton arena brought into focus two things on Wednesday – the majestic performance of P V Sindhu and the ever-receding chances of a medal success for the country in other events.

Sindhu is the last remaining Indian hope in badminton after the Hyderabadi delivered a stunning upset of World No 2 Wang Yihan of China to enter the semifinal on Tuesday night. Her team-mate Kidambi Srikanth, too, was in line to enter the semis,  but was halted by Chinese giant Lin Dan in the quarterfinal of the men’s singles on Wednesday.

Sindhu has been an exception in the Games where many Indian medal hopefuls have struggled to live up to expectations. It has been a tale of near misses at many venues so far, turning the mood into a gloomy one, going into the final four days of the competitions.

The disappointment is deeper, for India’s performance at the Olympic Games has seen an upswing in the last two editions. At Beijing 2008, Abhinav Bindra with a gold and Sushil Kumar and Vijender Singh with bronze medals brought joy to the country. Four years ago in London, a gold eluded India,  but with two silver and four bronze medals, the country still held its own.

Such a haul is beyond the realm of possibility now. Apart from badminton, wrestling and golf are the sports that have Indian presence left. Wrestling has been mired in controversies, with the Narsingh Yadav ‘doping’ episode yet to be resolved. Among the five medallists from London who were in action here, Yogeshwar Dutt is the only one remaining in the fray. The wrestler, who won a bronze in the 60kg class in London, will compete in the 65kg class on the final day here.

India have been winning at least one medal since the 1996 Games in Atlanta, after enduring three Olympics in the company of zero. A return to those days will be a bitter pill to swallow for the followers of Indian sport.
DH News Service