India today (19th August)

Indians will be competing in three events today.

• Women's Long Jump - Anju Bobby George(above Left) will be representing India in Women's Long Jump. Her personal best is 6.83m. She will have to perform a lot better than that for winning a medal. But her current performance is not so encouraging and her season's best is 6.55m. Long Jump qualification will be happening on 19th August 0710IST (GMT +5:30).

• Table tennis - Sharath Kamal Achanta (above Middle) will be representing India in Table Tennis. He will be having his first round match today at 1030IST.

• Wrestling - Yogeshwar Dutt (above Right) will be representing India in Men's Freestyle 60kg. He is a tough guy and is capable of some outclassing the best. Luckily he is having a easy draw until Semifinals. So one can expect a medal. I think at least a Bronze shoud be there around the corner. You can catch him live at 0830IST (GMT +5:30).

Akhil Kumar looses the Quarter-final

In a major blow to India's medal hopes, Akhil lost his quarter final match to Veaceslav Gojan of Rep. of Moldova in Men's Bantam (54kg). Both Akhil and Gojan were tied at 2-2 until the end of the Round - 2. But after that Gojan scored 4-0 and 4 - 1 in next two rounds and won the match with the final score of 10-3. Akhil seemed to be missing the flare he showed in previous games. Although he punched a larger number of times but Gojan's punches were more accurate and focused.

With Akhil out, now India has two Boxers Vijender and Jitender Kumar in Quarter Finals both of whom are having there bout's on 20th.

India Today (18th): Watch Akhil Kumar

Neha Agarwal is out of Table Tennis. Boxer Akhil Kumar who defeated World Champion in the earlier round has a quarterfinal match today at 1700 IST(GMT +5:30). His Opponent today will be Veaceslav Gojan from Republic of Moldova. A win today will guarantee a medal as both loosing semifinalists get a Bronze medal.

vs

Indian Action yet to come...

First week of the Olympics is over and we have seen a lot of ups n downs not only for Indians but for all the countries. Michael Phelps has created a history by winning record 8 Olympic Gold Medals. Tyson Gay, the former World Record holder in Men's 100m failed to qualify for the finals. But this is Olympics where new stars are born every time.

Returning back to India, now only 4 events are left in which India will compete.

• Boxing - In Boxing India's three athletes are there in quarterfinals. A medal should not be a far away dream but lets see if any (or more) of Akhil, Vijender or Jitender can add to India's Medals Tally.

• Wrestling - India's three athletes will be competing in the wrestling events. Indians used to be good wrestlers at until some years back when strength and stamina were more important than speed. But this time the wrestlers have worked hard on their technique so a good show can be expected here too.

• Table Tennis - Sharat and Neha may be India's best but wining against Chinese in T.T. is like "Mungeri Lal Ke Haseen Sapne".

• Athletics - India has "good" athletes in Athletics but only the "Best" win the medals at Olympics. Indians has performed good in Commonwealth and Asian Games but a Olympic medal is not in sight.

Day 8/16th - August Review

(L-R Jitender Kumar, Vijender and Akhil Kumar)

India's is not just one step but two steps closer to a Boxing medal with three Boxers in Quarterfinals. After the sensational win of Akhil Kumar over World Champion, Jitender Kumar and Vijender also defeated their opponents to move into quarter finals.

Athletics events started from 15th but India's performance in any of the events is not encouraging. All the three athletes in Women's Heptathlon JJ Shobha, Sushmita Roy and Pramila Gudanda were not in top 25.

India's Gagan Narang and Sanjeev Rajput will be contending in Men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions which is last event of Shooting. Besides that India will also be competiting in the Athletic events

Day 7/15th August - Review

India's hopes of another medal have hit a strong setback with the defeat of Bhupati and Paes. As far as I feel the only hope now is in Shooting, Boxing and a slight hope in Wrestling.

Although Athletic events have just started and everyone has expectations from Anju Bobby George in long jump but personally I think it is like asking too much from her. Her personal best till now has ben 6.83m which I don't feel is enough for an Olympic Medal. In Helptathlon, expectations are there from J.J. Shobha after her performance in Athens Olympics 2004. She finished 11th overall even though she was injured. Rest all athletes are more or less there for experience.

I specially wanted to mention about Mittal Champions Trust set-up by Lakshmi Narayan Mittal (majority stake holder in ArcelorMittal) after India's Dismal performance in last Olympics in Athens. Abhinav Bindra the Golden Boy is also supported by the Trust along with many other athletes. But more actual results of the trust's work will come in London Olympics in 2012. I hope more private funds come up after this Olympics. Role of the government in nurturing the talent in India is minimal. It appears only after an athelete wins a medal. So expecting anything from the government is like living in fool's paradise.

15th - Mid-Day Report

India is out of medals race in Tennis and Sailing. Bhupati and Paes lost to Roger Federer and Stanislas 6-2, 6-4.... More updates l8r