Out of all the members in the Indian Olympic contingent three main ones who did not congratulate Bindra are Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Leander Paes and Sania Mirza.

The former two are individual medal winners for India and have been praising him on TV and to the press but have been unable to walk across to his room and applaud his effort.

Sania Mirza and Sunitha Rao crashed out of the Olympic tennis competition, losing to top-seeded Russians Svetlana Kuznentsova and Dinara Safina 4-6, 4-6 in the second round match at Olympic Green Stadium here Wednesday.

New Delhi: Carrying the hopes of a billion people is a ‘privilege’ for Sania Mirza and the Hyderabadi tennis ace vows to give everything it needs to bring home an individual Olympic medal, a feat only four Indians have managed since independence.

The Indian Olympic contingent, hoping for a medal from tennis, had a rude shock as it was handed a tough draw for the competition which gets underway Monday.

Both Sania Mirza in women’s singles and men’s doubles pair Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, despite being seeded, would come up against tough opponents early in the competition.

Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are trying to be fourth-time lucky in the Olympic Games.

“We had a very good work-out. The preparation has been great. Both of us reached the semifinals of Cincinnatti. We would have trained in Los Angeles only if we had not done well in the last tournament.