Shooters, boxers India's best bet for medals at Beijing

THE STAR CAST: Every one of the nine Indian shooters has the potential to be the world's best.

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Keywords: India, Boxing, Shooting, Beijing OIympics

New Delhi The Olympic Games begin on Friday and as always the Indian sporting fraternity is hoping to find new heroes.

There is hope this time around as India is finally fielding a contingent that can bring back some medals.

Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore's silver in Athens in 2004 was a seminal moment, changing the way Indian shooters were looked at. After Rathore's feat the spotlight has remained on the shooters ever since.

At Beijing nine shooters including Trap world champion Manavjit Singh Sandhu make up India's best hope for medals.

"I have very high hopes of myself and I have high hopes of all my colleagues in the Indian shooting team. We have a very strong contingent and to an extent the expectation is justified," says Sandhu.

Every one of the nine Indian shooters has the potential to be the world's best.

Gagan Narang is a former world No. 1 and this year he shot a world record of 600 out of 600 in Prone.

"I don’t think there is anything to be scared of pressure. Pressure keeps me a little bit on the edge and keeps me sharp. So it works well for me and I want to do well," says Narang.

And when Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi pair up to play tennis, India always dreams of a medal.

After a stormy break-up the former world No. 1 doubles pair is back again for Beijing and after a near miss in the last Olympics at Athens, they know this may be their last chance.

"I am really looking forward to it. I am peaking well at the moment I am feeling physically ready for it. Fingers crossed and a lot of hard work and we will be ready to go," says Paes.

And the Indian boxers too won't be in Beijing to just make up the numbers.

Middleweight boxer Vijender Singh beat the reigning Olympic champion this year and the experienced Akhil Kumar is going with the tag of Asia's best boxer, and a gold medal from the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

"I am the best. I have to win a medal and I will try my best to win a medal. It is my dream and the time has come to fulfill it," a confident Kumar says.

Sp will Beijing 2008 be the beginning of a new Olympic dream for India?