News India is sending its largest ever team of athletes to an Olympic Games this year, with more than 100 men and women set to make the journey from the subcontinent to Rio de Janeiro After winning a record six medals at London 2012, the expectation is to do even better at Rio 2016 Indian sport has been riding high in recent years and in Rio de Janeiro stars of hockey, tennis, badminton, wrestling, archery and other disciplines all have solid chances of bringing home individual and team medals   Nothing symbolises the Olympic renaissance of India more than the return to form of the country's national hockey sides  India has won more hockey gold medals (eight) than any other nation and was the dominant force in the sport from 1928 to 1964 After a long spell of underperformance, the sleeping tiger is now stirring and the men's side have a good chance of breaking a medal drought which dates back to Moscow 1980   Hockey giants set to renew rivalries as match schedule unveiled for Rio 2016 Olympic Games The Indians won gold at the Asian Games in 2014 Even more impressively, in June this year they picked up silver at the Champions Trophy in London; the all-conquering Australians only defeated them in a controversial penalty shoot-out  India defeated great rivals Pakistan to win hockey gold at the 2014 Asian Games (Photo:Getty Images/Suhaimi Abdullah) Rio will also see the return of India's women to an Olympic hockey tournament for the first time since Moscow, where they finished fourth While prospects of a podium finish in Rio look slim, the team have a special place in Indian hearts; their gold-winning exploits at the Commonwealth Games at Manchester 2002 inspired a Bollywood blockbuster, Chak De!   Another rising star of Indian sport is Dipa Karmakar, who this year became the first ever Indian woman to qualify for the Olympic gymnastics competition In 2014, the 22-year-old from Tripura in northeastern India won bronze medals on the vault at the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games Her signature move is the fiendishly difficult and dangerous Produnova vault   India have also emerged as a contender in shooting At Beijing 2008, Abhinav Bindra won the country's first ever individual gold medal, in the 10m air rifle event At Rio 2016, where he will be appearing in his fifth Games, Bindra will be India's flagbearer Joining Bindra on the shooting team is Gagan Narang, who won bronze in the 10m air rifle at London 2012  Narang will also be competing at Rio 2016 in the 50m rifle prone and 50m three-position events, in which he won silver and bronze respectively at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Reflecting India's strength in depth in target sports, four archers from the subcontinent have qualified for Rio Fresh from finishing fourth at the 2016 World Cup in Turkey, 24-year-old Atanu Das will be the only Indian man in the Olympic archery tournament Das has collected multiple team and mixed team medals with India since his senior debut in 2011   A strong team of three women archers will be making the trip to Brazil in the team recurve event, including 21-year-old star Deepika Kumari While still a teenager, Kumari won two golds at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi and has since won four silver medals at World Cups  Joining her on the Indian team are two experienced companions, Bombayla Devi Laishram and Laxmirani Majhi In wrestling, India has called up two established champions Freestyle wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, who will be competing in the 65kg class, has won bronze at London 2012, golds at the Commowealth Games at Delhi 2010 and Glasgow 2014 and gold at the Asian Games in Incheon in 2014 Dutt has said Rio 2016 will be his last Olympic Games  – and he wants to finish on top “I want to win the Olympic gold medal That is my ultimate dream and biggest motivation as I approach the Rio Games,” Dutt told The Hindu  Dutt is preparing for the Games in classic Indian style Another Indian freestyle wrestler, Narsingh Pancham Yadav, is a solid medal prospect in the 74kg class The 26-year-old already has Commonwealth gold and a world championships bronze to his name In tennis, Olympic hero Leander Paes, an unforgettable bronze medallist in the men's singles at Atlanta 1996, will be competing in his seventh Olympic Games at Rio 2016 The 43-year-old will be partnering Rohan Bopanna in the men's doubles event In the women's doubles, veteran Sania Mirza will team up with 22-year-old Prarthana Thombare; the duo won bronze at the 2014 Asian Games The subcontinent is also sending a large badminton contingent to Rio The stand-out performer in the seven-strong side is Saina Nehwal, the first Indian badminton player to win an Olympic medal  Bronze medallist in the women's singles at London 2012 and a former world no 1 , Nehwal is coming to Brazil in top form, after triumphing in the Australian Open in June Up-and-coming star P V Sindhu, who turned 21 this week, will be joining her in Rio for what will be her first but surely not her last Olympic Games