Mission Olympics: Top 5 medal prospects for India in 2012 Games

Ronjan SodhiCome this July and top Indian athletes would be vying to keep the country’s flag fluttering high at the biggest Sporting event of the World “The Olympics.” The mega event which is scheduled to happen in London from July from 27th July 2012 till 12th August would see a fierce Indian challenge. India would be fielding a strong contingent of over 60 athletes and the chances of winning medals looks better than ever.

Here are five athletes to watch out for who in all likelihood is expected to bring glory to India:


Ronjan Sodhi (shooting):
He is the first Indian shooter to have defended a World title ever. Two times World Champion Ronjan Sodhi is currently ranked three in the World in double trap. He failed to qualify for the Beijing Olympics 2008 and since then have been performing exceptionally well. He won two World Cups, gold in Asian Games 2010 amongst others. He would be raring to go at London and definitely looks a bright medal prospect for the country.

Abhinav Bindra (shooting): Abhinav Bindra created history in the Beijing Olympics 2008 after he became the first Indian to win an individual gold medal. Bindra, whose expertise is 10 m air rifle, has won many a laurels internationally and the country would be banking on him to repeat his Beijing performance in London.

Saina Nehwal (badminton): Saina Nehwal, fifth ranked badminton player in the World, is one of the athletes of the contingent on whom the country would count on. She would spearhead the Indian badminton challenge in the Olympics. Gold medallist at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, she was going through a bad phase in her career but jumped to form right time after she defended her Swiss Open title in February this year. She is upbeat about her game and most importantly she has been able to break the Chinese code before the Olympics and now she can face Chinese shuttlers, her biggest rivals to glory with much more positive and confident note.

Vijender SinghVijender Singh (boxing): He won the bronze medal in the Beijing Olympics and then backed it with bronze at the 2010 Commonwealth Games bronze and Gold at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou. He did go through a slump in his career but he kept his mind calm and worked endlessly towards his endeavor. His resiliency and experience would come handy in the London.

Sushil Kumar (wrestling): He has won the bronze medal in the 66kgs freestyle wrestling in 2008 Beijing Olympics and is upbeat that he would better his performance this time around. He is the only wrestler to have ever won the World Championship and the tempo would be on his side as he qualified for the Olympics just in time with a gold medal performance at the qualifying event. So he would enter Olympics after winning a gold medal at an international tournament which would be of great help. And moreover his experience and hunger to excel would be of immense help to him in the Olympics.

By Samikshan Dutta Choudhury
Indian Sports News