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Indians looking up to jumper Anju with hope
Paris World Championship bronze medallist Anju Bobby George starts her quest for Olympic glory on Wednesday evening.
The dismal Indian show at the Olympic Games in Athens has left the contingent yearning for a second medal to add to the lone silverware won by trap shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.
Such has been the plight of Indian competitors in Athens and the gloom that has enveloped the camp that almost everyone is praying for long jumper Anju Bobby George to drive away the blues.
Paris World Championship bronze medallist Anju starts her quest for Olympic glory on Wednesday evening.
The 27-year-old's task is well cut out. She has to qualify first for the final from a strong field in Group A, which has at least seven who have done better than her this season including Russian Irina Simagna and American sprinter Marion Jones who have cleared over 7.10 metres.
The lithe Indian jumper's best effort had been a leap of 6.71 metres which, if repeated, may not be good enough even to earn a berth in the final to be held on Friday.
Even while Anju would be warming up for her tryst with destiny, the struggling men's hockey team would be taking on arch-rivals Pakistan in a classification tie to decide who would earn the right to fight another round for the 5th position.
India have a little more to play for than Pakistan in what is undoubtedly going to be a high-voltage clash with the supporters of both the teams expected to pack the stands.
A top six finish would earn the Indian team, which has turned in totally uninspiring display thus far, its ticket to this December's Champions Trophy in Pakistan for which the latter have already qualified by virtue of being the hosts.
