India shows off its colours

Huge cheers welcomed the colourful Indian delegation into the Olympic Park on Friday as it marched past during the opening ceremony of the London Games.

The 81-strong Indian contingent, the biggest ever, was led by wrestler Sushil Kumar, a bronze medallist in the 2008 Beijing Games.

It was one of the most formally and smartly dressed Indian contingents. The men wore yellow safas (turbans), navy blue blazers, cream-coloured trousers, off-white shirts and ties; and the women were dressed in elegant sarees.

Indians will take part in 13 disciplines. Four years ago, India won three medals, gold for shooter Abhinav Bindra and bronze medals for Sushil and boxer Vijender Singh.

This time the country is almost sanguine about considerably bettering this tally – even though the archery contingent, one of the medal hopefuls, almost stumbled at the first hurdle, with both the men's and women's teams finishing last in the opening round. The glimmer of a silver lining was provided by Deepika Kumari, who finished strongly to be placed eighth.