Unlike Dipa Karmakar, these Indian athletes have let themselves down

After India have sent their largest Olympic contingent, of 123 athletes, to the Rio Olympics, it was almost given that the athletes will help the nation gather its biggest medal tally. 3 in the 2008 Olympics, 6 in London—India were hoping to touch double digits for the first time in their history. However, 11 days into the Olympics, the nation is yet to celebrate its first medal as a host of big names have faltered in Rio. Badminton and wrestling remain the only hope now, but the indications are that India might be on their way to experiencing their worst ever campaign in a long, long time.

4 years ago, Deepika Kumari faced an embarrassing first round exit at the London Olympics as she struggled to operate under the strong breeze blowing across the Lord's. Rio offered a chance for redemption for the 22-year-old, and Deepika was in scintillating form in the build-up to the event .

However, the Indian team, who are World No.3, finished a disappointing 7th in the ranking round, and they were knocked out by Russia in the quarterfinals. Deepika was far from her best, and she was arguably India's worst performer in the event. She finished 20th in the ranking round and was knocked out by Tan Ya-ting in the round of 16 of the Individual event. Once again, she blamed the wind for the poor showing in Rio, and this time, it did not sound convincing at all.

Saina Nehwal

At 26, Saina Nehwal was expected to be at the peak of her powers. After struggling with injuries at the start of this year, the 2012 Olympic bronze medalist went into Rio on the back of her emphatic triumph in the Australian Super Series. She even defeated World No.2 Wang Yihan in straight sets on her way to the final, and it looked like the Haryana-born shuttler was back to her best.

She was the fifth seed in the women's singles draw, and her Olympic campaign got off to a fantastic start with an easy win over Lohaynny Vicente. However, the former World No.1 suffered a shock defeat in her next group match against World No.61 Marija Ulitina in straight sets and exited the tournament in the group stage itself. Her coach later said that a knee injury was responsible for her below par performance, and it might have ended her last chance of winning a gold in Olympics. She will be 30, when the Tokyo Games comes around, and she is unlikely be among the top players at that point of her career.

Two years ago, very few would have known the name of Jitu Rai, but ever since his silver medal-winning performance at the 2014 ISSF World Cup in Munich, the 25-year-old has been a constant presence among medals for India. In the buildup to the Games, Jitu Rai won a silver medal at the ISSF World Cup in Baku in the 10m Air Pistol event, and a gold medal at the ISSF World Cup in Thailand in the 50m Pistol event.

Gagan Narang

However, that was not the last time he disappointed. Gagan Narang's struggle continued in the 50m rifle prone event and the 50m rifle 3 positions event, and he failed to make it to the finals.

Sania Mirza

Her exit in the women's doubles, partnering someone as inexperienced as Prarthana Thombare, was expected, but she was expected to deliver a medal in the mixed doubles event. The duo made their way to the semi-final, but Sania looked out of sorts throughout the event. The World No.1 in women's doubles was inexplicably poor in the semis, where she and Rohan Bopanna lost to the American pair of Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram, and later the duo even failed to win the bronze-medal match against Radek Stepanek and Lucie Hradecka.

Questions should be asked as to why Sania Mirza chose not to pair up with Rohan Bopanna in the buildup to Rio. Sania teamed up with Croatian Ivan Dodig at the All England Club, where they crashed out in the second round, while Bopanna and his Russian-born Australian partner Anastasia Rodionova and made it to the third round. Their early exits rang the alarm bells about the preparation for the Olympics in mixed doubles, which was India’s best bet for a medal in tennis.

Leander Paes

Bopanna and Paes were never on the same page. In fact, the former wanted to partner 125th ranked Saketh Myneni at the Olympics, but the AITA stepped in and chose Paes. Like Mirza and Bopanna, Paes and Bopanna did not opt to play together before the Games, and they looked disjointed on the court.

Paes, on the other hand, behaved like a prepubescent teenager and arrived just less than 24 hours before the Opening ceremony. The World Team Tennis tournament in the USA kept Leander Paes busy as Bopanna went around the courts in Rio to find a training partner. In fact, the Indian tennis team did not even have a clue about when Paes will arrive. His partner Bopanna and captain Zeeshan Ali had smiled helplessly when they were asked when Paes would arrive.

The saga between the two did not end there. With an early game in the offering on Saturday, Rohan Bopanna opted to skip the opening ceremony, along with Sania Mirza, Prarthana Thombare, and the Indian men’s hockey team. While his partner gave the ceremony a miss, Paes chose to be a part of it even after knowing about the early match.

The selfies and videos from the veteran tennis star during the ceremony were intriguing to watch, but when he and Bopanna took the court next day, what everyone feared unfolded. Paes said he might be back for the next Olympics, but for the sake of his legacy, one hopes he decides against it.

India’s Anirban Lahiri has been in superb form in the last season or two, and he has done things which no Indian has been able to do before on the PGA tour. There were no expectations of him securing a medal in this event, but with a host of top-ranked players like Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Rory McIlroy, and Vijay Singh withdrawing from the Olympics, it gave Anirban Lahiri a window of opportunity to grab a strong finish at Rio. However, the 29-year old finished 45th with a score of one over par. Much more was expected from him.

The 22-year-old was in contention for a medal at the Rio Olympics, much like she did at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. However, she disappointed. Chanu failed to lift 84 kg on her last attempt at the snatch and settled for 82 kg. It was way below her personal best of 90 kg. That left her with a lot to do in the clean & jerk. Chanu went for 104 in the first attempt, but failed to lift it. And then incredibly, she went for 106. She huffed and puffed at it, took her time, put it up but just could not hold it long enough. The gamble did not pay off and Saikhom returned empty-handed.

Heena Sidhu