Though it was a dismal performance by the Indian contingent at the 2016 Rio Olympics, there were some athletes who gave a few moments to cheer to over a billion people back home. Shuttler PV Sindhu became the first Indian woman to win a silver medal at the mega event, while Sakshi Malik became the first Indian woman wrestler to win a medal (bronze) at Olympics. There were some near misses, including the fourth postion finish by shooter Abhinav Bindra and gymnast Dipa Karmakar, while Kidami Srikanth won a million hearts by his outstanding performance in badminton. ISN brings before you the top Indian performances at Rio Olympics.

PV Sindhu

Going into the final, she carried the expectations of an over a billion Indians to win the gold at the mega event in Rio. But then she was against the best in the world. She was pitted against World No. 1 Carolina Marin of Spain, who, unlike PV Sindhu, was playing in her second Olympics. Sindhu, like a true fighter, matched the world champion shot by shot and point by point. The debutant Olympian came back from behind to take five points on trot to win the first set at 21-19. However, Carolina upped the ante in the second game to win it 21-12 and levelled the match 1-1. In the battle of supremacy, Carolina prevailed over Sindhu in the last game and won it 21-15. She won the match 2-1 and the gold in the women's singles badminton competition at the Rio Olympics. Meanwhile, Sindhu became the fourth Indian to win a silver at the Olympics after shooters Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (2004, Athens) and Vijay Kumar (2012, London) and wrestler Sushil Kumar (2012, London). “I ended up with silver medal but I am really happy. I really fought very hard and gave my heart out. When I came to final, I told myself just one match to go and you could win a gold medal. Give it your best, and I tried very hard. I feel it was her (Carolina Marin) day,” Sindhu added.

Sakshi Malik

Sakshi Malik ended India’s agonising wait for a medal at Rio Olympics as she won a bronze defeating Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan after trailing 0-5 in the first period. She came from behind to win the bout 8-5 and in the process became the first woman wrestler to bag a medal in Olympics. She also became only the fourth woman in India’s Olympic history -- Karnam Maleshwari had won a bronze in 2000 Sydney Olympics, while Saina Nehwal and Mary Kom had won bronze medals in 2012 London – to win a medal at Olympics. “I never thought that I would become the first woman wrestler from India to bag an Olympic medal in wrestling. I never gave up till the last. I knew I would win if I lasted till six minutes. In the last round I had to give my maximum,” said Sakshi after the win.

Abhinav Bindra

India’s ace shooter Abhinav Bindra found luck betraying him as the Beijing Olympics gold medallist missed a place in the medal round by a whisker. Bindra lost a tension-filled shoot-off against Ukrainian marksman S Kulish in the men's 10m air rifle event after the two were tied third at 163.8 in the race to reach the final. In the shoot-off, the Indian scored 10 points to 10.5 scored by the Ukrainian. “I am done. I have announced my retirement, so there is no reconsideration. I am not going to shoot again. This is it,” said Bindra after his loss.

Kidami Srikanth

Adversity brings the best out of you, provided you are prepared to fight and Kidambi Srikanth showed ample of that quality in his quarterfinal match against two-time defending champion Lin Dan in the men's singles badminton match at the Rio Olympics. Though he lost the match 6-21, 21-11, 18-21 to the World No. 3 Chinese in a nerve-wrecking encounter that lasted for an hour and four minutes, he won a million hearts with his fighting spirit that showed that “Super Dan is no Superman”. “I am happy with my performance in Rio 2016. I gave my best,” said kidami after the thrilling quarterfinal match.

Dipa Karmakar

Gymnast Dipa Karmakar was one of the bright spots in otherwise dismal performances by Indians at Rio Olympics on its initial days, as most of the big stars in fray crashed out of the mega event without much fight. Dipa, who had earlier become the first Indian athlete to reach a vault final, came up with an exemplary performance in the final and finished fourth, enthusing a new hope among the Indians craving recognition in sports. Considering that this was her first Olympics and the lack of resources and facilities under which she trained back home, this surely is a laudable achievement. “I never expected a medal from this Olympics but to have come fourth is very creditable. In boxing, wrestling you get a bronze even when you finish fourth but not for me. It was very close to medal. After four years, my target would be gold,” Dipa said.

Other notable performances

Atanu Das

Though Indian archers once again drew a blank at the Olympic Games, Atanu Das bowed out with his head held high as he lost 4-6 to world No 8 Lee Seung-Yun in a nail-biting encounter in the men’s individual recurve pre-quarterfinal. It was a fantastic performance from the Indian, who, however, seemed to lose his nerve on a couple of occasions. The Korean started off brilliantly shooting a hat-trick of perfect 10s in the opening set to clinch it 30-28. But, Atanu responded well with three successive 10s to unnerve Lee and draw level in the match by taking the second set 30-28. The third set ended up in a tie before Lee grabbed the fourth set. In the decisive fifth set, Atanu and Lee were tied 19-19 after the first two shots. Lee managed a 9 off his final arrow and Atanu needed to go one better to take the match into a shoot-off. However, he could only strike a 9, which was enough to tie the fifth set 28-28 but not enough to save the match.

Lalita Babar

In track and field, Lalita Babar brought some cheers to the Indian camp as she became the Indian first woman after PT Usha to enter the final of a track event when she shattered the national mark to reach the 3000M steeplechase final. Lalita qualified for the women's 3000m steeplechase final after finishing fourth in the qualifying heat 2 with a new national record time of 9 minutes, 19.76 seconds. However, Lalita failed to repeat her creditable display in the qualification as she clocked 9:22.74 in the finals to finish 10th, which was still the best performance by an Indian in a track event after Usha’s fourth-place finish in the 400m hurdles in 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. “I’m satisfied with the finish but not with the timing. Overall, I’m happy with a top-10 finish but could have bettered my timing. The target was to go below nine minutes 15 seconds,” Lalita said after her event.

Dattu Baban Bhokanal

Dattu Baban Bhokanal could not win a medal at the Rio Games, but considering the state of rowing in the country, the Armyman did a commendable job to finish 13th overall in the men's sculls event at Lagoa Lake. This was the best ever performance by an Indian rower at the Olympics - the previous best being a 16th place finish by Swarn Singh Virk at the 2012 London Olympics.