Delhi dazzlers to Guangzhou greats?

After the euphoria of CWG, Indian athletes face an acid test at the Guangzhou Asian Games. BS Weekend takes a look at the medal hopefuls.

After the Commonwealth Games, there was a lot of talk about India turning a corner in sport. Hundred and one medals in Delhi was an admirable achievement but it’s the Asian Games which start today in Guangzhou, China which will be the litmus test for India. The Chinese will be there and so will the traditional powerhouses Japan and South Korea. In the 2006 Doha Asian Games, India posted a decent performance winning 53 medals, which included 10 gold and 17 silver.

 

At Guangzhou, India will take part in 35 of the 42 disciplines, fielding 609 athletes — the largest ever contingent for Asian Games. We take a look at few of the medal hopefuls:

Shooting
Fresh from his heroics in Delhi, Gagan Narang will be hoping to hit the bull’s eye in Guangzhou. In the Doha Games, he won three bronze medals and will be looking to his first Asiad gold in Guangzhou.

Abhinav Bindra, who missed the 2006 games because of injury, is also a medal favourite. The competition will be stiffer and the Chinese will be the biggest threat. The 40-member shooting contingent also has Samaresh Jung, Tejaswini Sawant and Manavjit Sandhu — all medal hopefuls.

Boxing
The boxers won’t have it as easy as they had at the Delhi Commonwealth Games as they will face boxing powerhouses Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Thailand in Guangzhou.

Vijender Singh, who could only manage a bronze in Delhi, will be eager to show that he remains India’s best boxer. Suranjoy Singh, Akhil Kumar and Nanao Singh are the other medal hopefuls. Women’s boxing is making its debut in the Asian Games, which gives MC Mary Kom the chance to grab a medal. However, she will be competing in the 51kg category for the first time.

Billiards
In Pankaj Advani and Geet Sethi, India have two of the finest players in the world. Both will vie for a gold in billiards; Advani will take part in snooker as well. Advani won the gold in Doha while Sethi won the bronze in the billiards team event, along with Ashok Shandilya. With 10 medals on offer, the Indian cueists will be looking to snare at least half.

Chess
There’s no Viswanathan Anand and there’s no Koneru Humpy — India’s top two chess players — but it’s still a strong chess team India has sent to Guangzhou. K Sasi Karan, SS Ganguly and Tania Sachdev will be pitting their wits against the best of the continent. Humpy, who is defending champion, was controversially left out of the team because she failed to participate in a training camp. Sasi Karan and Ganguly will face stiff competition from China and Japan.

Tennis
Somdev Devvarman will be looking to add an Asian Games medal to his CWG gold. The world number 127 is the favourite to win a medal for India in Guangzhou in the absence of Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes. Both these players have opted out of the Asian Games because of other commitments. Sania Mirza, who won the silver in the singles event in Delhi, will lead the women’s charge. Mirza, who won the mixed doubles gold in Doha with Paes, will pair with Rohan Bopanna at Guangzhou.

Badminton
Saina Nehwal, who dramatically clinched the gold in Delhi to put India at number two in the medals tally, is the biggest hope for India in Guangzhou. Though she will face some of the best shuttlers in the world from China and Japan, the world number three has done well against them in the past. Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa are in contention for the doubles event.