Will Paes, Mary and Saina win medals?

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The Indian Olympic Association has described the contingent as "the best-ever" but the question is whether they are good enough to pose any challenge to the world's top performers.

For Leander Paes, it will be a record sixth Olympic and the veteran pro would be hoping to win one more medal in what certainly appears to be his last.

A bitter selection row that rocked Indian tennis just before the Games and the heated verbal exchanges among the players were not the ideal preparations for the squad.

But the good thing is that most of them are experienced and may manage to put the unsavoury controversy behind them to put up a sterling display on the court.

But apart from the tennis row, the build-up to London has been smooth for most of the Indian athletes, who have had little or no major complaints about the facilities or coaches.

As many as 11 shooters - seven men and four women - will be aiming for glory and given the fine form they are in, a few medals are expected.

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

His compatriot and challenger Gagan Narang, is also seen as a bright medal prospect and so is trap shooter Ronjan Sodhi, ranked number one in the world.

The boxing arena promises to provide ample excitement and may be a couple of medals as an unprecedented eight pugilists - seven men and a woman - battle for glory.

Apart from the experienced Vijender Singh (75 kg), the squad has Shiva Thapa (56 kg) - youngest boxer ever to qualify for the Olympics - and five-time world champion in the 29-year-old MC Mary Kom.

Veteran Mary Kom will be fittingly India's sole representative when women's boxing makes its Olympic debut in three weight categories. 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).

In archery, which will be held on the hallowed turf of the Lord's, the focus will be on 18-year-old Deepika Kumari, the unassuming world number one who seldom speaks about her chances. Her teammates can do well in the team championship while the men's team is quite capable of springing a surprise.

Saina Nehwal will spearhead the Indian challenge in the badminton court. Five shuttlers would be there in action but the spotlight will be mainly on Saina who has shown that she is capable of taming her strong Chinese opponents.

With back-to-back Super Series titles under her belt in the build-up to Olympics, confidence would not really be an issue and the 22-year-old would look to make the most of her fine current form heading into London.

In wrestling, all eyes will once again be on Sushil, who made the London cut in the final qualifying tournament.

Yogeshwar Dutt is also hopeful of a medal while, for the first time, a woman grappler - Geeta Phogat - has qualified for the Games.

The Indian hockey team would make an emotional comeback to the Olympics after missing qualification for the Beijing Games. A podium finish is not expected of them but a creditable performance would surely be desired by the country's sports fans.

The team had a rather disappointing build-up to the Games and the blue astro-turf, which has been introduced for the London Games, has not helped matters for a side which has been generally inconsistent.

India's chief coach Michael Nobbs has a daunting task at hand to bring about the results as the Australian has allowed his wards to play freely and not tried to change the natural Indian style.

In track and field, discus thrower Vikas Gowda is the dark horse, who might spring a surprise but not much is really expected from the others. Women discuss throwers Krishna Poonia and Seema Antil will seek to make an impact but winning medals may not be that easy for them.

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

PTI