Although the London Olympics of 2012 saw India double its medal tally from three to six, India still finished a lowly 55th on the medals list. Going into the Rio Olympics, the Indian contingent looks more confident of greater glory and the fans will hope they better the performance of 2012.
While the usual suspects who the nation will pin their hopes on to bring a medal remain the ones who have previously won medals for the country in the last couple of Olympics, there are also a few names in the Indian contingent that will go into the quadrennial event unheralded but are fully capable of springing a surprise and finishing on the podium.
Here we look at those names who, apart from the usual medal hopefuls, can make a mark at the Rio Olympics 2016
#1 Dipa Karmakar- Gymnastics
Hailing from Tripura, Dipa Karmakar has already sprung a surprise by becoming the first Indian gymnast to qualify for the Olympics, and can stun the world if she manages a podium finish in the Olympics. Earlier, Karmakar had become the first Indian female gymnast to win a medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and then followed it up with another bronze at the Asian Championships in Hiroshima.
Karmakar has been ably trained by B.S Nandi for 15 years, who corrected her flat foot problem when she first came to him as a 7-year-old kid. The 22-year-old finished fifth in the World Championships after she had secured a berth for Rio Olympics by landing the extremely difficult and dangerous Produnova vault.
#2 Apurvi Chandela - Shooting
Whlie stalwarts like Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang will be leading India’s challenge in Shooting at the Olympics, the shooting contingent also possesses a few more names who can manage to finish on the podium. One of those names is Apurvi Chandela. Although just 23, Apurvi Chandela can bring India a medal in the 10m air rifle even.
The girl from Rajasthan has been in good touch and emerged as the 'Shooter of the Tournament' in the Swedish Cup Grand Prix in Savsjo, Sweden in January, where she won the Gold. Earlier, Chandela had also won the women’s gold in air rifle in the 59th National shooting championship. The Delhi University alumni had bagged Gold in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where she created a new record for the Commonwealth Games when she scored 206.7 in the final.
#3 P.V Sindhu - Badminton
Daughter of an Arjuna awardee, Sindhu became the first ever Indian women's singles player to win a medal at the World Championships in 2013, and the fact that she did it at the mere age of 20 speaks volumes of the potential she has. Standing just shy of six feet, Sindhu’s height is both a strength and weakness for her.
Coached by Pullela Gopichand, the shuttler started the year on a good note when she won the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold women’s singles title in January after beating Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour in the final. Sindhu is currently ranked number 10, just 2 positions below her compatriot Saina Nehwal. Rio 2016 presents the 20-year-old to emerge out of the shadows of Saina Nehwal and carve a name for herself.
#4 Indian Women’s Archery Team
Deepika Kumari, Bombayla Devi Laishram and Laxmirani Majhi will be carrying India’s hopes in the Rio Olympics in Archery. Deepika Kumari made India proud when she won the archery competition in the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in Delhi at the age of 16. Kumari is in red hot form and scored 686/720 in the women’s recurve event of the Archery World Cup in Shanghai to equal the world-record score set by South Korea's Ki Bo-Bae in 2015.
Laishram meanwhile has been with the Indian squad since 2007 and at 31, her experience will be invaluable. Majhi has also been a regular fixture of the team since 2014 and has blossomed in the past one year. If India can perform as good as they did in Copenhagen to qualify for Rio, a medal isn’t out of the reach for the team.
#5 Kidambi Srikanth
One of the seven shuttlers who will be travelling to Rio with hopes and expectations, Kidambi Srikanth will have his first experience of Olympics in 2016. The 23-year-old has gone from strength to strength since bagging Silver in 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games in the Isle of Man and became only the third Indian man last year to enter the top 5 in world badminton rankings after Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand.
Srikanth became the first Indian male to win gold at the 2015 Swiss Open Grand Prix gold and followed it up with another stupendous performance when he clinched the Syed Modi International Badminton Championships Grand Prix Gold title in January next year. Srikanth is currently ranked 13 and has learned his game under the tutelage of his idol Pullela Gopichand. While, hopes for a gold rest majorly on Saina Nehwal’s shoulders, one would be foolish to rule out Srikanth’s chances.
