Olympics: Saina, Vijender Within Sniffing Distance Of a Medal

And in the event of a loss, Saina would have the chance to feature in the bronze medal play-off and bring the country its first Olympic medal from the sport.

At Wimbledon, up against former women's single number one Ivanovic and four Grand Slam mixed doubles title holder Zimonjic, Paes and Sania combined well, dominating the proceedings from the outset.

While Leander sent down his trademark incisive volleys and shots at the net, Sania's signature-tune power-packed forehands and down the line winners spelt doom for the Serbians.

In the opening set, the two teams traded breaks in the third and fourth games before the Indians broke their opponents in the fifth and seventh to close the set in only 26 minutes.

Keeping up the momentum, they broke the Serbians in the first game of the second set and then held serve to emerge winners.

In shooting, the 32-year-old Sodhi, considered a strong medal hope, misfired after a sound start to finish way down at the 11th spot of the qualification contest at the Royal Artillery Barracks.

The two-time World Cup champion had an excellent first round where he was the joint top scorer with 48.

However, he started dropping clays in the second and third rounds where he collected 44 and 42 points, respectively, to make an exit.

The disappointment at the ranges spilled over to the boxing arena. Jai Bhagwan was outpunched by his Kazakh opponent Gani Zhailauov 8-16, dashing medal hopes from the event.

Indian track and field competitors begin their challenge on Friday.