Litmus test for Indian athletes in London

Expectations are sky-high from shooters, boxers, archers, shuttlers and wrestlers and then there are the dark horses in the tennis team which unfortunately spent the better part of its build-up squabbling over who would partner whom -- a reminder that despite some good changes, politics remains inherent in Indian sports.

But apart from the ugly selection row that struck tennis, the build-up to London has been smooth for most of the Indian athletes, who have had little or no complaints about the facilities or coaches. They have had international exposure to their heart's content.

In fact, most of them have left for London much ahead of the Games' start for acclimatisation with a proactive Sports Ministry doling out the money whenever asked to by the national federations.

As many as 11 shooters -- seven men and four women -- will be aiming for the bull's eye in London and given the fine form they are in, more than one medal is expected from them.

The reclusive Abhinav Bindra, who was slightly off-colour last year, seems to have found his mojo with a gold in the 10 metre Air rifle event at the 12th Asian Shooting Championships in Doha Qatar.

His ever-smiling partner with the rifle, Gagan Narang, is also a bright medal prospect and so is trap shooter Ronjan Sodhi, ranked number one in the world.

Then there are the boxers, led by pin-up boy Vijender (75kg). An unprecedented eight of them -- seven men and a woman -- are in fray and given their consistent rise after Beijing, it won't be a surprise if at least a couple of medals come through them.

The team is an interesting mix, it has the youngest boxer ever to qualify for the Olympics in Shiva Thapa (56kg) and a mother-of-two five-time world champion in the 29-year-old M C Mary Kom.

The veteran Mary Kom will be fittingly India's sole representative when women's boxing makes its Olympic debut in three weight categories. An athlete par excellence, Mary Kom embodies the spirit of Olympics -- faster, higher, stronger.

Apart from Shiva, the boxing team features one more teenager and a couple of 20-year-olds, including the World Championships bronze-medallist Vikas Krishan (69kg).

They are all wide-eyed and excited about living a dream but remain untouched by the burden of expectations because as their coaches put it, "They have got absolutely nothing to lose".

That's not all, medal hopes are also high from the unassuming archers. Deepika Kumari, perhaps the least talked about world number one from India, is a top contender and so are five others -- including three men.

In track and field, Vikas Gowda is the dark horse, who might spring a surprise but since India have just about started catching up with international standards, a medal would be too much to ask from the 14 athletes.

There are qualifiers in sports such as judo, rowing and swimming too but they are unlikely to fetch medals given the stiff competition.

But looking at the larger picture, Indian sportspersons hold out immense promise as they head to the 30th Olympics and their comfort level in the chilly conditions would be increased by the warmth they are likely to be offered by the huge expatriate population in the British capital.