Paes likely to carry Indian flag as Bindra to skip opening ceremony at London Olympics

While the tennis row is getting murkier and the final call on the London Olympics doubles team is yet to be taken, Leander Paes may have something to cheer about as he is most likely to be named India's flag-bearer at the opening ceremony on July 27, says a report in Hindustan Times.

“If he is chosen, he will become only the second Indian after hockey legend Balbir Singh (1952 and '56) to be accorded the honour twice. Paes, who won the singles bronze medal at the 1996 Atlanta Games and who is set to take part in his sixth Games, carried the flag in Sydney (2000). The first choice was Abhinav Bindra, who became India's first individual Olympic champion in Beijing. But the champion shooter informed the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) that he would skip the opening ceremony because his 10 metres rifle competition was on the morning of July 30,” adds the HT report.

Meanwhile brimming with confidence after a good performance in Indonesia last week, Olympic-bound shuttler P Kashyap will look to continue his giant-killing run when he starts his campaign at the Singapore Open Super Series on Wednesday, says a report in The DNA.

Kashyap stunned world No 3 Chen Long of China en route to his semifinal finish at the Indonesia Open Super Series in Jakarta last week. He’ll start his campaign against second seed Korean Hyun Il Lee in men’s singles. Olympic-bound women’s doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa also will look to do well in Singapore Open, which is their last tournament before the London Olympics. Jwala will also pair up with V Diju in the mixed doubles.

Meanwhile according to a report in the Times Of India, a rape allegation has brought into focus the gender of 2006 Asian Games relay gold medalist Pinki Pramanik. “The fear is that the insensitive manner in which such a delicate case has been handled by the doctors, police and the media will scar the runner for life,: says the report.

"She's my daughter". This cry from the mother of an athlete accused of misrepresenting her gender brings up the heartbreaking trauma of this family, says the report, adding that Pushparani Pramanik and husband Durga Charan have travelled 300 kilometres from their village in Bengal's Purulia district to Kolkata to defend their daughter, Asiad gold medalist sprinter Pinki Pramanik. But defending Pinki isn't going to be easy.
Not in a male dominated society with bigoted notions of sex and sexuality.  And even determining her gender, as a medical board has been tasked with, won't be simple either.”