With just a day to go before the start of the 2014 Asian Games in the South Korean city of Incheon, India seek a record medal haul despite a chaotic build-up, including the slashing of their contingent and last-minute pull out of top athletes.
In a cost-saving measure, the Indian government had pruned the contingent for the Asian Games by nearly a third to 679 from 942 that was proposed by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). Thus, now, 516 athletes and 163 coaches and support staff are part of the touring party. India will be participating in a total of 28 disciplines as against 35 last time.
Injury-hit campaign, no cricket
Few of the country's biggest medal hopes won't be in action at Incheon. Star boxer Vijender Singh is out with an injury, while two-time Olympic medal-winning wrestler Sushil Kumar and India's number one tennis player Somdev Devvarman have opted to concentrate on other competitions.
India is also forced to field a second-string tennis contingent in the mega event after veteran doubles player Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna pulled out of the Games to revive their rankings through participation in professional tour events.
India will not even compete in its strongest sport, cricket, because the Indian board stays firm on its stand of not participating in multi-disciplinary events.
But despite all the problems, India are bullish about their prospects at the Asian Games, a 36-sport event which will open on September 19.
No comparison with China
India witnessed their best Asian Games performance four years ago in 2010 Guangzhou Games, winning 65 medals, including 14 golds. But even the rich medal haul left them just sixth on the medals table, far behind China's 199 golds and one place behind Kazakhstan.
This year, India will take part in 28 disciplines after others, including bowling, karate, modern pentathlon, rugby, soft tennis and triathlon, were axed in the Sports Ministry's list.
Boost for boxers
The Indian boxing contingent got a major boost before the Games with the International Boxing Association allowing them to compete under the national flag in Incheon.
The IBA had suspended the Indian Boxing Federation in 2012 due to election malpractice.
However, India may suffer from the loss of cue sports, chess and roller sports - the source of eight of their medals in Guangzhou, which are no longer part of the Asiad schedule.
Medal hopes
In shooting, India's hopes will be led by the country's first and only Olympic individual gold medallist Abhinav Bindra. Jitu Rai, who followed his Glasgow gold with a silver in the 50m pistol event at the World Championships, is also aiming for gold at the Asiad. Ranked as world No. 1 pistol shooter, Rai has every reason to believe he can win the yellow metal.
India's hockey coach Terry Walsh, encouraged by their second-place finish in Glasgow, is hoping to end the country's Asian Games drought in a sport it once ruled. The eight-time Olympic champions have won the Asiad title just twice, both times in Bangkok in 1966 and 1998. In comparison, arch-rivals Pakistan have eight golds to their credit. As an extra incentive, the winner of the 10-nation hockey competition will gain a direct entry to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Indian badminton is banking on PV Sindhu, a semi-finalist at the recent world championships, and world number seven Saina Nehwal to break China's stranglehold in the sport.
One sport where India are yet unbeaten is kabaddi, the home-grown wrestling-style discipline in which they have won every Asiad title so far.
In wrestling, with the untimely pull-out of two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar, all eyes will be on London Games bronze medallist and Commonwealth Games gold medal winner Yogeshwar Dutt as India will be hoping to break a 28-year-long wait for a gold medal in wrestling at the Games. Another young Indian wrestler, who is spoken of very highly in the sport is Amit Kumar. A real medal hope, Kumar won gold in the 57kg Freestyle category at the Glasgow Games.
In track and field events, the country's biggest hope would be discus-thrower Vikas Gowda. The Karnataka-born athlete will be high on confidence after winning the gold in Glasgow. Gowda had won bronze medal at the 2010 Asiad where he had lost to Iran's Ehsan Hadaddi and Mohammad Hamimi. The Iranian duo will give Gowda a tough time at Incheon.
Women discus-thrower Seema Punia could also be in contention after proving her mettle at the Commonwealth Games, where she claimed a silver.
However, it looks tough for shot-putter Om Prakash Karhana, who injured himself just before the retrial and the AFI is now awaiting his medical report.
In the track events, long-distance runners, Preeja Sreedharan and Sudha Singh are strong contenders for gold. Preeja won the gold medal in the 10000m race and silver in the 5,000m in the 2010 Asian Games.
Ashwini Akkunji, the 400m hurdler and the relay queen who had starred in the previous edition of Asiad in Guangzhou, is yet to reach that level since her comeback from the doping ban. And the 4x400m relay team comprising MR Poovamma, Tintu Luka, Debashree Mazumdar and Akkunji doesn't seem to have the speed to stand a chance of a podium finish.
CWG 2014 bronze medallist triple jumper Arpinder Singh would be a force to reckon with but gold may be out of reach for the lad from Amritsar. Other triple jumpers - Mayookha Johny and Renjith Maheshwary - are still waiting for re-trails.
Walkers are also looking in form to put up a strong performance, though gold looks elusive for them.
Olympian Irfan Thodi, who finished 10th at the 2012 London Olympics, Ganapathy K and Khusbir Kaur are India's hopes in the 20-km walk while Olympian Basant Bahadur Rana and national record holder Sandeep Kumar will be taking part in the 50-km category.
(With inputs from agencies)
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