London Games: All hypes but little hopes

JAIPUR: First-timer Olympian Ronjan Sodhi, who had trained in Italy along with Manavjit Singh Sandhu and Shagun Choudhary, arrived at the London Games with two world titles under his belt.
Then there are also Sanjeev Rajput, Joydeep Karmakar and Rahi Sarnobat — all capable of producing scores good enough to get medals. There was also a buzz around Deepika Kumari — a medal prospect.
So what can we expect in London? A couple of medals? Well, it would be foolish to make predictions after early exits of those heavyweights. But there are exceptions. And the most unassuming was army shooter Vijay Kumar.
Hailing from Hamirpur district in Himachal Pradesh won a silver in the men's 25m rapid fire pistol event to provide a big boost to India's Olympic campaign. This was the country's fourth medal in shooting in Olympic history.
The other medal winners are Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (silver in 2004 Athens), Abhinav Bindra (gold in 2008 Beijing) besides Gagan Narang, who opened India's account in London with a bronze in 10m air rifle.
It is ironical that the Indian players bring nothing but shame to a big country like ours.
Besides, China has already revealed its 2016 Olympic preparation plans. But what is Indian government preparation plan for 2016 Olympics? Till now, nothing.
Surprised? You shouldn't be. Because we are not ashamed of anything. Rather we are used to that.
It's become a habit and the society at large, which indulges in mud-slinging and in finding faults instead of inculcating some basic ethical and moral values. It's better not to aspire and hope for a better show on international sporting arena because of nepotism, power struggle and dishonesty.
Harsh statement? May be not… because the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is yet to formally remove Suresh Kalmadi as it president, despite Kalmadi's arrest on charges of fraud related to the Commonwealth Games.