Indian contingent starts pouring in the Olympic village

Indian contingent has started pouring in the Games village with the shooters, boxers and swimmers arriving in Beijing.

Indian contingent has started pouring in the Olympic Games village with the first batch of shooters, boxers and swimmers, along with their coaches, arriving in Beijing for earth’s biggest sporting extravaganza.

Deputy Chef de Mission Baljit Singh Sethi said that all nine shooters, five boxers and four swimmers have reached the village while the remaining of the 57-member contingent and its support staff of 42 will reach there in separate batches before the opening ceremony of the August 8-24 multi-disciplinary event.

“Athletics team is yet to reach here but swimmers, boxers and the full shooting team is now here. The sportspersons and their coaches make it around 30 from the contingent who are already here now,” he said over phone from Beijing.

Athens Olympics Silver medalist shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and world champion Manavjit Singh were the first Indians participants to enter the village as they are practising hard to seek the glory.

A large Indian media contingent will also leave for Beijing on Tuesday.

When asked, Sethi, also the General Secretary of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) said that the shooting ranges impressed him.

“I am going to the range every day and they are really very good,” he said adding that all the facilities at the village were “first class”.

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“It’s first class. The food is very good with so much variety, transportation is good and we are entertained well by the hosts. There is no complaint at all,” he said.

Sethi said the weather was hot in Beijing at the moment but it was a plus for the Indians, who are habituated to these kinds of temperature.

“It’s hot here at this time of the year but it is good for us. Last time, when we came here it was freezing cold which had affected our performance,” he added.

Indians are chiefly resting their hopes on shooters, boxers and the star tennis duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi for Olympic glory.