If not medals, then some upsets and thrilling performances will do in London Olympics from paddlers and weightlifters.

Table Tennis (Men’s and Women’s Singles) – No chance

Expect him to progress few rounds in Men’s singles

Paddlers Soumyajit Ghosh and Ankita Das qualified to London Olympics from the Asian Olympics qualifying tournament held in Hong Kong. Its a quite surprising news that India’s top man Sharath Kamal and national champion Anthony Amalraj didn’t qualify for London Olympics.

Both Ghosh and Ankita Das got bye in men’s and women’s singles preliminary rounds respectively. In men’s singles, Ghosh will meet Tsuboi from Brazil in 1st round. Ghosh is expected to win this match but beyond that is very difficult. If he wins 1st round, then he will face the end in 34th seeded Korean H-B Kim at 2nd round. In women’s singles, Ankita Das face a tough 1st round against much better ranked Spaniard player Ramirez. Her Olympics might end with just 1 match.

Both the 19yr old young players are not among favourties to secure a medal for India but they are talented enough to progress into few rounds. Five time world champion Peter Karlsson said both Ghosh and Ankita are capable pulling some surprises. So, expect some good news.

Weightlifting (Men’s 69kg and Women’s 48kg) – A hopeful chance

After Karnam Malleswari famously won the Olympic bronze medal at Sydney in 2000, Indian weightlifting is hit hard by the doping scandals. They are finding their way back to limelight and what better platform than Olympics is needed for that.

Soniya Chanu is termed as dark horse in India’s medal pursuit in London Olympics. The weightlifter who hails from Manipur,  will be seen in action at 48kg category has the potential to strike big. She won Gold medal at the 2009 and 2010 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship in Malaysia. She also won silver at the 20120 commonwealth games at Delhi and bronze at the 2012 Senior Asian Championships at South Korea. On her day, she can pull off something as per Indian weightlifting coach. She is ranked 10th in the world women’s 48kg category actually. A replica of Karnam Malleswari is possible.

In men’s 69kg category, world no.15 Ravi Kumar will represent India. He won gold medal at commonwealth games in Delhi, Penang and Malaysia. He got a track record to be competitive but Chinese and Turkeys are favourites to win medals. If Ravi can pull anything above 190kg in clean and jerk and 155kg in snatch, then India might have a chance for medal.

There is a chance for medal from weightlifting. But don’t be disappointed if it doesn’t come.

Tags: Ankita Das, India at London Olympics, India's medal chances at Olympics 2012, Indian Olympics preview, London Olympics, London Olympics Preview, Ravi Kumar, Soniya Chanu, Soumyajit Ghosh, Table Tennis at London Olympics, Weightlifting at London Olympics