India at the 2008 Summer Olympics

India competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, People's Republic of China. A contingent of 57 athletes in 12 sports represented India, and had a support staff of 42 officials.^[2]

India at the 2008 Summer Olympics
IOC code	IND
NOC	Indian Olympic Association
Website	olympic.ind.in
in Beijing
Competitors	67 in 12 sports
Flag bearers	Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (opening) Vijender Singh[1] (closing)
Medals Ranked 50th	Gold 1 Silver 0 Bronze 2 Total 3
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1900 1904–1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024

For the first time since 1928, the men's national field hockey team failed to qualify for the Summer Olympics. A two-year ban imposed by the International Weightlifting Federation on Indian weightlifters after the 2006 Commonwealth Games doping scandal^[3] originally resulted in only one Olympic weightlifter, Monika Devi, from India being scheduled to compete, but she withdrew from the competition after failing the drug test. On 9 August 2008, IWF declared that she was clean, but the event she was supposed to participate in, had already closed.^[4]

On 11 August 2008, Abhinav Bindra won the gold medal in the men's 10 m air rifle. It was a huge achievement for India at the Olympic games shooting event. In doing so, he won the first ever individual gold medal for India, and the first medal in any event for India at the Beijing Games. The previous highest individual achievements for India were two silver medals won by Norman Pritchard, an Englishman born in India, at the 1900 Paris Olympics and one silver medal won by the 2008 flagbearer Rajyavardhan Rathore at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Sushil Kumar won the second ever wrestling medal for India, the first being the bronze earned by Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Vijender Singh won a bronze medal in the middleweight boxing category, having lost in the semifinals. This was India's first-ever Olympic medal in boxing.

The 2008 Beijing Olympics saw the best ever performance by an Indian contingent, in terms of the number of medals (this record was later surpassed in 2012). They won three medals in all (one gold and two bronze medals), surpassing the two silvers by Norman Pritchard in 1900 Paris Olympics^[5] and the gold and bronze medals won by the Indian field hockey team and Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav respectively, at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.

Medalists

Main article: 2008 Summer Olympics medal count

Medals	Name	Sport	Event	Date
Gold	Abhinav Bindra	Shooting	Men's 10 m air rifle	August 11
Bronze	Sushil Kumar	Wrestling	Men's freestyle 66 kg	August 20
Bronze	Vijender Singh	Boxing	Middleweight 75 kg	August 22

Competitors

Sport	Men	Women	Total	Event
Archery	1	3	4	3
Athletics	3	13	16	9
Badminton	1	1	2	2
Boxing	5	0	5	5
Judo	0	2	2	2
Rowing	3	0	3	2
Sailing	1	0	1	1
Shooting	7	2	9	9
Swimming	4	0	4	7
Table tennis	1	1	2	2
Tennis	2	2	4	3
Wrestling	3	0	3	3
Total	31	25	56	48

Archery

Main article: Archery at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Athlete	Event	Ranking round		Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final / BM
		Score	Seed	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Mangal Champia	Men's individual	678	2	Hojjatolah (IRI) (63) W 112–98	Badenov (RUS) (31) L 108–109	Did not advance
Dola Banerjee	Women's individual	633	31	Beaudet (CAN) (34) L 108 (8)–108 (10)	Did not advance
Bombayala Devi		637	22	Marcinkiewicz (POL) (43) L 101–103	Did not advance
Pranitha Vardhineni		627	37	Waller (AUS) (28) W 106–100	Kwon U.S. (PRK) (5) L 99–106	Did not advance
Dola Banerjee Bombayala Devi Pranitha Vardhineni	Women's team	1897	6	—		Bye	China (CHN) (3) L 206–211	Did not advance

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Key

• Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
• Q = Qualified for the next round
• q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target
• NR = National record
• N/A = Round not applicable for the event
• Bye = Athlete not required to compete in round

Men

Track & road events

Athlete	Event	Final
		Result	Rank
Surendra Singh	10000 m	28:13.97	26

Field events

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Distance	Position	Distance	Position
Vikas Gowda	Discus throw	60.69	22	Did not advance
Renjith Maheswary	Triple jump	15.77	35	Did not advance

Women

Track & road events

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Mandeep Kaur	400 m	52.88	6	Did not advance
Preeja Sreedharan	10000 m	—				32:34.64	25[6]
Sathi Geetha Mandeep Kaur Manjeet Kaur Sini Jose Chitra Soman	4 × 400 m relay	3:28.83	7	—		Did not advance

Field events

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Distance	Position	Distance	Position
Anju Bobby George	Long jump	NM	—	Did not advance
Harwant Kaur	Discus throw	56.42	30	Did not advance
Krishna Poonia		58.23	24	Did not advance

Combined events – Heptathlon

Athlete	Event	100H	HJ	SP	200 m	LJ	JT	800 m	Final	Rank
Pramila Aiyappa	Result	13.97	1.74	11.66	24.92	6.11	41.27	2:23.46	5771	27*
	Points	983	903	639	894	883	692	777
Shobha Javur	Result	13.62	1.65	13.07	24.62	5.86	43.50	2:27.50	5749	29*
	Points	1033	795	732	922	807	735	725
Susmita Singha Roy	Result	14.11	1.71	11.27	24.34	5.98	39.79	2:21.14	5705	32*
	Points	963	867	613	948	843	663	808

* The athlete who finished in second place, Lyudmila Blonska of Ukraine, tested positive for a banned substance.^[7] Both the A and the B tests were positive, therefore Blonska was stripped of her silver medal, and all Indian heptathletes moved up a position.

Badminton

Main article: Badminton at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Athlete	Event	Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Final / BM
		Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Anup Sridhar	Men's singles	Vasconcelos (POR) W 21–16, 21–14	Sato (JPN) L 13–21, 17–21	Did not advance
Saina Nehwal	Women's singles	Diehl (RUS) W 21–9, 21–8	Griga (UKR) W 21–18, 21–10	Wang C (HKG) W 21–19, 11–21, 21–11	Yulianti (INA) L 28–26, 14–21, 15–21	Did not advance

Boxing

Main article: Boxing at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Athlete	Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Jitender Kumar	Flyweight	Memis (TUR) W WO	Doniyorov (UZB) W 13–6	Balakshin (RUS) L 11–15	Did not advance
Akhil Kumar	Bantamweight	Hallab (FRA) W 12–5	Vodopyanov (RUS) W 9+–9	Gojan (MDA) L 3–10	Did not advance
Anthresh Lalit Lakra	Featherweight	Sultonov (UZB) L 5–9	Did not advance
Vijender Singh	Middleweight	Jack (GAM) W 13–2	Chomphuphuang (THA) W 13–3	Góngora (ECU) W 9–4	Correa (CUB) L 5–8	Did not advance
Dinesh Kumar	Light heavyweight	Benchabla (ALG) L 3–23	Did not advance

Judo

Main article: Judo at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Athlete	Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Repechage 1	Repechage 2	Repechage 3	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Khumujam Tombi Devi	Women's −48 kg	Hormigo (POR) L 0000–1011	Did not advance
Divya Tewar	Women's −78 kg	Castillo (CUB) L 0000–1000	Did not advance			Abikeyeva (KAZ) L 0000–1010	Did not advance

Rowing

Main article: Rowing at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Men

Athlete	Event	Heats		Repechage		Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Bajranglal Takhar	Single sculls	7:39.91	3 QF	—		7:19.01	5 SC/D	7:23.00	4 FD	7:09.73	21
Devender Kumar Khandwal Manjeet Singh	Lightweight double sculls	6:37.13	5 R	7:02.06	5 SC/D	—		6:40.34	3 FC	6:44.48	18

Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; QF=Quarterfinals; R=Repechage

Sailing

Main article: Sailing at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Open

Athlete	Event	Race											Net points	Final rank
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	M*
Nachhatar Singh Johal	Finn	4	24	23	24	11	24	18	24	CAN	CAN	EL	128	23

M = Medal race; EL = Eliminated – did not advance into the medal race; CAN = Race cancelled;

Shooting

Main article: Shooting at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Men

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Points	Rank	Points	Rank
Abhinav Bindra	10 m air rifle	596	4	700.5
Samaresh Jung	10 m air pistol	570	42	Did not advance
	50 m pistol	540	42	Did not advance
Gagan Narang	10 m air rifle	595	9	Did not advance
	50 m rifle prone	589	35	Did not advance
	50 m rifle 3 positions	1167	13	Did not advance
Sanjeev Rajput	50 m rifle prone	591	26	Did not advance
	50 m rifle 3 positions	1162	26	Did not advance
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore	Double trap	131	15	Did not advance
Manavjit Singh Sandhu	Trap	116	12	Did not advance
Mansher Singh		117	8	Did not advance

Women

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Points	Rank	Points	Rank
Anjali Bhagwat	10 m air rifle	393	29	Did not advance
	50 m rifle 3 positions	571	32	Did not advance
Avneet Kaur Sidhu	10 m air rifle	389	39	Did not advance
	50 m rifle 3 positions	552	42	Did not advance

Swimming

Main article: Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Men

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Virdhawal Khade	50 m freestyle	22.73	40	Did not advance
	100 m freestyle	50.07	42	Did not advance
	200 m freestyle	1:51.86	48	Did not advance
Rehan Poncha	200 m butterfly	2:01.89	40	Did not advance
Ankur Poseria	100 m butterfly	54.74	57	Did not advance
Sandeep Sejwal	100 m breaststroke	1:02.19	38	Did not advance
	200 m breaststroke	2:15.24	36	Did not advance

Table tennis

Main article: Table tennis at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Athlete	Event	Preliminary round	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Sharath Kamal	Men's singles	Bye	Carneros (ESP) W 4–2	Chen Wx (AUT) L 1–4	Did not advance
Neha Aggarwal	Women's singles	Lay (AUS) L 1–4	Did not advance

Tennis

Main article: Tennis at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Athlete	Event	Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final / BM
		Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Mahesh Bhupathi Leander Paes	Men's doubles	—	Monfils / Simon (FRA) W 6–3, 6–3	Melo / Sá (BRA) W 6–4, 6–2	Federer / Wawrinka (SUI) L 2–6, 4–6	Did not advance
Sania Mirza	Women's singles	Benešová (CZE) L 1–6, 1–2r	Did not advance
Sania Mirza Sunitha Rao	Women's doubles	—	Golovin / Parmentier (FRA) W WO	Kuznetsova / Safina (RUS) L 4–6, 4–6	Did not advance

Wrestling

Main article: Wrestling at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Key:

• VT - Victory by Fall.
• PP - Decision by Points - the loser with technical points.
• PO - Decision by Points - the loser without technical points.

Men's freestyle

Athlete	Event	Qualification	Round of 16	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Repechage 1	Repechage 2	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Yogeshwar Dutt	−60 kg	Bye	Orazgaliyev (KAZ) W 3–1 PP	Yumoto (JPN) L 1–3 PP	Did not advance				9
Sushil Kumar	−66 kg	Bye	Stadnik (UKR) L 1–3 PP	Did not advance		Schwab (USA) W 3–1 PP	Batyrov (BLR) W 3–1 PP	Spiridonov (KAZ) W 3–1 PP
Rajiv Tomar	−120 kg	Mocco (USA) L 0–3 PO	Did not advance						17

See also

• India at the Olympics
• Sports of India