MUMBAI: Indian medal hopefuls at the London Olympics are upset with their “poor quality” kit and uniforms, a newspaper reported on Friday.

“To be honest, this is the worst kit I have seen,” Indian boxer Jai Bhagwan, who is to compete in the men's lightweight (60-kg) category, was quoted as saying by the Mumbai Mirror newspaper.

“It's of poor quality, lacks durability and some of it does not even fit right. Our kit in national competitions (back home) was of much better quality,” he told the paper from London.

The tabloid also said that Indian hockey ace Sandeep Singh had been spotted playing in ill-fitting shorts which were “bursting at the seams”.

Singh later trained in an old pair of torn shorts “as a mark of protest”, the Mirror reported.

The kits were supplied by a local firm Dida, which bagged the contract from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) ahead of better known sports suppliers.

Dida denied there had been any complaints about quality.

“The kits are fine, they have to be, since it was approved by the IOA,”Deepak Nagia, a Dida official was quoted as saying by the paper.

India, a perennial underachiever at the Olympics given its population, is hopeful of a better showing at the Games having sent its largest ever contingent to London.

Its team won just one gold and two bronze medals at the Beijing Games.