Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore with his Olympic silver medal at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on Aug. 21. Rathore won the Arjuna Award for 2003.

New Delhi : If shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore’s “golden” silver at the Olympics gave the country a reason to celebrate, chess exponents Viswanathan Anand’s third Chess Oscar and P. Harikrishna’s world junior title were the icing on the cake in the year 2004.

These achievements stood out in a year in which the junior national teams won the Asia Cup hockey tournaments and Sania Mirza clinched a clutch of international tennis titles to further enhance her reputation as a player to watch. But long-jumper Anju Bobby George, who was touted to be a sure Olympic medalist, disappointed as she finished sixth.

Anju Bobby George competing in the long jump final during the Athens Games Athletics competition on Aug. 27. She was honored with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna 2003.

Overall, the Olympics were a disappointment, but Rathore shot 170/200 in the double trap finals to save India the blushes –– and sports administrators a close scrutiny –– as the 24-year-old’s was the lone medal for the nation’s 75-member contingent.

In the men’s 400 meters, K.M. Binu lost in the semi-finals, finishing seventh with 45.97 seconds, while brave woman heptathlete J.J. Shobha finished 11th with 6,172 points despite straining a ligament in her right knee.

Anju, who had a good enough run-up to the Olympics, only managed a leap of 6.83 meters at Athens. Although it was a new personal as well as national record, the 27-year-old returned empty handed.

India’s Olympic trip was overshadowed by the positive drug tests of women weightlifters Pratima Kumari (63 kilogram) and Sanamacha Chanu (53 kilogram). Following a hue and cry in India, the Indian Olympic Association, based on an in-house inquiry, banned them and their coaches Pal Singh Sandhu and Belarussian Leonid Taranenko for life.

The men’s hockey team also disappointed at the Olympics. Towards the end of the year, India also lost 2-4 the eight-match Test series against Pakistan, and finished fourth in the six-nation Champions Trophy in Lahore.

In golf, Jyoti Randhawa, who had earlier in the year become the first Indian to make the cut at the Britishin London, won the Volvo Masters of Asia title at Kuala Lumpur in December.

In the 9th South Asian Federation Games at Islamabad, India finished on top with 191 medals, including 101 gold medals, in April. In paddling, Indian men beat favorite England 3-1 to win, for the first time, the gold medal at the 16th Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship at Kuala Lumpur in June.

Anju Bobby George: She jumped 6.83 meters on her first jump in the final, breaking her own national record of 6.74 meters.

K.M. Binu: He reached the 400-meter semi-finals in a new national record time of 45.48, breaking the previous record time of 45.56 set by Paramjit Singh. Binu was seventh in the semi-finals heat.
Women’s 4x100 Relay Team: It was for the second time that an Indian relay team (4x100) entered final. They set a new national record of 3:26:89 (previous was 3:27:35) to advance to the final, finishing third in their heats.

Kunjarani Devi: She finished fourth in 48-kilogram category by lifting 190 kilograms to break her own record of 187.5 kilograms.