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Know your athletes: India's best bets for podium finish in Rio 2016

From 83 athletes in 2012 London Olympics to 118 this year, India's Olympics contingent has grown by leaps and bounds. Here's a look at the athletes who can make the country proud by finishing on the podium.

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The country has pinned hopes on India's largest ever Olympic contingent to increase the medal tally.
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Being the greatest sporting event in the world, Olympics is often associated with pride and honour. For India, it is an even bigger deal this year as they are sending the largest delegation to Rio de Janeiro, where Olympics 2016 is scheduled to take place from August 5 to 21.

From 83 athletes in London 2012 to 118 this year, hopes are pinned high on India for a better medal count. India fetched home six medals in the last Olympics, its highest so far, but with more confident athletes participating in better sporting conditions, India can hope to increase their medal tally beyond 10.

With 206 nations participating in the 31st edition of Olympics, Indian athletes have their task cut out but the nation has pinned hopes on certain sportspersons. Here is a list of medal probables for India:_  

1. Saina Nehwal 

The ace shuttler hailing from Hyderabad is India's best bet for an Olympic medal. She is not only the best that India has in badminton but the 26-year-old has also made her mark in the world by beating the best of the game.

Former world no. 1 (April 2015), whose seeding came down to 5 recently due to pelvic and Achilles injuries, proved her worth by winning her second Australian title in June, 2016. She also made it to the finals of All England Open and World Championships in Jakarta last year.

Saina is also the first Indian to receive a medal at Olympics (London 2012) in Badminton and is now hoping to change the colour of the bronze medal to yellow. She is also the first Indian woman to win a gold at 2010 Commonwealth Games. Unfortunately, lack of recovery from blisters forced Saina to pull out from the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

In the four years between London Olympics and Rio, Saina's performance graph has moved upwards and a medal in the kitty entirely depends on her fitness level this month. 

2. Jitu Rai

Currently ranked second in 50m and third in 10m pistol shooting, a lot is expected from this Naib-Subedar of 11 Gorkha Rifles in the Indian army, Jitu Rai. 

2014 was the 29-year-old's golden year, quite literally, as he won yellow metals at the Glasgow Commonwealth games as well as the Asian Games in the 50m pistol shooting event.

More recently, the shooter won two medals in ISSF World Cups this year - a silver in Azerbaijan and gold in Bangkok.  

Despite being an Olympic debutant, Rai's eyes are set on Rio. The confident army man, who was the first shooter to qualify for Rio 2016, was a quoted as saying after his Bangkok win, "The goal for the 2016 season is very clear: I want to win the Olympic Gold medal in Rio de Janeiro.”  

3. Deepika Kumari

The Ranchi girl has headed to Rio to seek redemption for her 2012 Olympic disappointment.

Deepika shot to fame in 2012 when she proved to be the best after clinching gold at the World Cup in Turkey. The win was not only inspirational in terms of its success but also the hardships that her humble background posed for her. Daughter of a rickshaw driver, Deepika did not have the support of her parents to pursue archery for the longest time.

However, the 22-year-old  has performed consistently since 2010 when she earned two golds in the Delhi Commonwealth Games in individual and team categories. Despite having slipped to rank 12, India hopes for an Olympic medal from the archer who equalled the record of Bo-bae (686 points) from North Korea during the World Cup in Shanghai in April.

4. Dipa Karmakar

Karmakar is a daring gymnast who loves to risk it out. She is the second Indian and first woman gymnast to win a Commonwealth Games medal and first Indian to appear in apparatus final in World Championships. 

There are many reasons behind the success of this 22-year-old girl from Tripura, but she will always be associated with the deadly Produnova vault. She has won herself and India laurels for not only attempting the vault but also been one of the only five gymnasts in the world to successfully perform it. For the perspective of how dangerous Produnova is, people have filed for a ban of this vault because of the life-threatening injuries it has caused to those who have attempted it.

Karmakar has come a long way after facing many challenges like deformity of flat feet which are not ideal for a gymnast and lack of sporting facilities to the level that she did not even have apparatus to practice on, among other things. 

After winning bronze at Asian Championship in 2015 and a silver in this year's World Championship, Dipa aims at reaching the final of Olympics 2016. 

5. Yogeshwar Dutt 

With every Olympics he has participated in since his Athens debut in 2004, Yogeshwar Dutt has shown more confidence and performed better. Reaching quarterfinals of Beijing 2008 and returning home with a bronze from London 2012, a lot more is expected from the promising Haryanvi pehelwan

Dutt has announced that this is the last Olympics he would be participating in but is confident to reach the podium. The medal haul started for Yogeshwar in 2010 Commonwealth Games. He also won two gold medals in 2014, one at Asian games and the other at Commonwealth but the 33-year-old was not in the best of fitness levels in 2015, having undergone three surgeries. 

Hopes still ride high on the wrestler whose co-athlete Sushil Kumar did not make it to this Olympics and Narsingh Yadav still awaiting complete clearance to participate in Rio after doping charges. 

6. Anirban Lahiri

Representing India in the sport that returned to Olympics after 112 years, Lahiri has high expectations pinned on him to add a Oly medal to his kitty.

Ranked number one in Asia, the World's most popular tournament should prove easy for the 29-year-old, considering the top golfers - Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson and Northern Ireland's McIlroy have withdrawn citing various reasons. 

2015 was good for the Indian lad who not only won two European tournaments in but also became the first Indian to participate in the Presidents Cup. He also has a whooping 18 titles under his name. 

7. Indian men's hockey team

India has always hoped for a medal in hockey due to its rich history in the sport, having won eight medals at Olympics so far, the highest by any country. The count is predicted to reach nine this time as the team has set high standards in the recent past. 

The Indian hockey team, led by goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, is high on confidence after finishing runners up in the Champions Trophy recently. The team had won gold at the 2014 Asian Games and clinched silver at Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in the same year. 

The team is at present brimming with talent as Sreejesh is accompanied with the likes of Sardar Singh, Ramandeep Singh and Rupinder Pal Singh, Manpreet Singh among others. 

Squad: PR Sreejesh (captain), Rupinder Pal Singh, VR Raghunath, Kothajit Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Danish Mujtaba, Chinglensana Singh, Manpreet Singh, Sardar Singh, SK Uthappa, Devinder Walmiki, SV Sunil (vice captain), Akashdeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Nikkin Thimmaiah

8. Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna (Mixed doubles)

Sania currently stands as World number one in women's doubles and Bopanna is known to perform better when playing doubles. The duo makes a solid pair and is expected to reach the Rio podium. 

Even though the two have not been able to bag a medal in their previous stints at the Olympics, the two are India's best bet in the tennis segment. Sania herself had pointed out, "I feel that mixed doubles is where our hopes truly lie in." 

Sania, playing for the country, has been brilliant in mixed doubles, especially in Asia Games where she fetched the yellow metall in 2003 with Mahesh Bhupathi, 2006 with Leander Paes and 2014 with Saketh Myneni. 

Bopanna on the other hand has 14 doubles title with 2015 being his best ranking as World number 3. The chemistry between the two and experience of having played together multiple times makes them a tough nut to crack.

9. Kidambi Srikanth

Ranked no 12th in the world, Srikanth is India's number one badminton player and another medal hope for the country. 

The young lad from Guntur has shown exceptional performance at his age (22 years), the best being defeating five-time China Open champion Lin Dan in 2014. The victory made him the first Indian to win a Super Series Men’s Premier title.

Even in 2015, Srikanth proved to be at the top of his game when he clenched gold at the Swiss Open Grand Prix. The shuttler from Andhra Pradesh, who has won four professional titles so far will aim for an elusive Olympics medal in men's category in badminton.

10. Abhinav Bindra

 The only Olympic gold medallist for India hopes are pinned high on India's flag bearer Abhinav Bindra, who has announced that Rio is going to be his last Olympics. 

The ace shooter, currently ranked 13th in 10m air rifle, has done the nation proud and has his eyes and rifle set on another golden honour. Appearing in his 5th Olympic, the 33-year-old has received the Padma Bhushan, Arjuna Award and Khel Ratna. 

Even though Bindra couldn't repeat his Beijing's feat in London games, where he lost in the qualification round, he managed to qualify  for Rio Olympics and hopes to end his career on a high. Bindra said the honour of being chosen as the flag bearer in his final Olympics is 'special'. He tweeted:- 

 

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