Indian paddlers were overawed by the enormity of the Olympics, says national coach Bhawani Mukherji, who feels that both Ankita Das and Soumyajit Ghosh should have focussed on their matches rather than wasting crucial time participating in the opening ceremony.

"Olympics is a big stage. All top level Indian athletes are there, some of whom you may not have even met before," Mukherji said.

"Ankita was not looking focussed. She was marching happily alongside flag bearer Sushil Kumar while she had her first match next day. Ideally, she should have skipped the opening ceremony and concentrated on her match. They were certainly overawed by the occasion," he said.

However, the national coach said Soumyajit was the better of the two participants and he just lost to a better opponent in the second round. "Ankita had a chance, she should have come up with a better result. She should have atleast made it to the main draw.