Indian athletes who came so near, but remained so far

TNN
August 29, 2017

Many are already calling PV Sindhu's effort as one of the most enduring in Indian sport. Here is a walk down memory lane where we pick a few of those special times when the contest left the Indian sportsman and the fan physically and emotionally drained.

PT Usha (1984 Los Angeles Olympics)

PT Usha was at the peak of her powers and a real hope in the 400m hurdles. Usha clocked 56.81 sec in the heats and 55.54 sec in the semifinals. In the final, she clocked 55.42 sec, finishing fourth, trailing the eventual bronze-medallist by an agonizing 1/100th of a second.

Milkha Singh (1960 Rome Olympics)

Milkha Singh had been clocking impressive timings in the run up to the Games and had beaten most of the top contenders at various meets. Expectations were sky high, but the Flying Sikh miscalculated his run when it mattered most and finished fourth. That's a memory that still rankles the great sprinter.

Limba Ram (1992 Barcelona Olympics)

The archer came close to Olympic podium at the 1992 Games in Barcelona. Just ahead of Barcelona, Ram had equalled Takayoshi Matsushita's world record in the Beijing Asian Archery Championships in the 30m event with a score of 357360 for gold. Fans were counting on him for a repeat performance in the Olympics. However, he fell short by a single point in the 70m competition, and missed out on the bronze.

Leander Paes/Mahesh Bhupathi v Ivan Ljubicic/Mario Ancic (2004 Athens Olympics)

In 2004, the pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi was rated as the finest doubles players in the world. All of India was certain that the duo would return with a medal from Athens. Things did not go as per plan and they were beaten by the wild card Croatian pair of Mario Ancic and Ivan Ljubicic in the bronze-medal play-off. The Indians had numerous opportunities to shut out the match, but were pipped 6-7 (5), 6-4, 14-16 in three hours and 58 minutes in a nerve-racking contest that began on a Friday night and ended in the early hours the next day.

Abhinav Bindra (2016 Rio Olympics)

India's only individual gold medallist at the Olympics came extremely close to winning another medal before he ended up finishing fourth in the 10m air rifle event in Rio. Tied on 163.8 points after 16 shots with the eventual silver-medallist Serhiy Kulish of Ukraine, Bindra shot a 10.0 to Kulish's 10.5, depriving the Beijing Games gold winner of a fairytale ending in his fifth Olympics.

India v Korea: Men's Hockey Final (2002 Busan Asian Games)

Defending champions India fell to hosts Korea 4-3 in the final despite putting up a courageous display. They were buoyed by a splendid 4-3 win over a strong Pakistan side in the semifinals and young defender Jugraj Singh almost did the star turn for India. But his shoulder-charge of an opponent led to a penalty corner off which the Koreans scored the winner in front of a stadium packed with members of the Indian contingent who had come to see an Indian triumph.

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Agencies
August 5,2020

New Delhi, Aug 5: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Bollywood celebrities have taken it to their social media platforms to express their excitement and shared their thoughts.

Taking to Twitter handle, senior Bollywood actor Anupam Kher extended his best wishes to his legion of followers for the Ram Janmabhoomi Pujan.

While 'Masti' actor Riteish Deshmukh, on the micro-blogging site tweeted multiple hashtag 'Jai Shree Ram' to mark the historic day.

'Queen' actor, Kangana Ranaut's official Twitter handle team wrote: "What could not happen in 500 years happened this year.... this is not picture of the day but the moment of many centuries #JaiShreeRam #RamMandirAyodhya"

Actor Kirron Kher, legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar, filmmaker Ashok Pandit and others also marked the day and expressed their excitement.

Earlier, evergreen star Hema Malini, through an audio recording congratulated the devotees of Lord Ram on the occasion.

The Mathura MP expressed her excitement on the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the much-awaited Ram Temple.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed the special Bhoomi Poojan at Ayodhya ahead of the foundation stone laying ceremony.

He also released a commemorative postage stamp on 'Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir'. Earlier, Prime Minister Modi had offered prayers at the Hanuman Garhi Temple in Ayodhya.

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News Network
May 14,2020

New Delhi, May 14: Mahendra Singh Dhoni is an unconventional and unique leader, whose biggest strength is his incredible gut feeling, says his Chennai Super Kings teammate Faf du Plessis.

The former South Africa skipper has spent considerable time with Dhoni after joining the Indian Premier League (IPL) side in 2011 and has been an integral part of its successful journey.

"He reads the others player really well and he uses that to make instinctive decisions on the field. He's got an incredible gut feeling on the game and I think that's his biggest strength," du Plessis said in a Facebook live session with Bangladesh ODI skipper Tamim Iqbal.

The 35-year-old said Dhoni changed his perception of how a captain should be.

"It was amazing for me to see how different M S was as a captain. I used to think a captain must speak all the time in team meetings etc but M S was completely different.

"He doesn't believe a lot in team meetings. He's a very instinctive captain he's got such a good cricket brain that he relies on it to make the right decisions on the field," du Plessis said of former India skipper.

Dhoni last played for India in World Cup semifinal last year and was expected to be back to playing competitive cricket at now-postponed IPL.

Calling Dhoni the best finisher he has played with, Du Plessis said no one can emulate what the dasher from Ranchi can do with the bat.

"He's extremely calm. I haven't played with someone who is a better finisher than him. It's just remarkable to watch him from the side of the field."

"If someone else tries to do it like him they won't be able to. He's just so unique like he times the ball so late he's got an incredible calmness. He knows his game and he picks a bowler and goes for it."

Du Plessis said that playing for CSK alongside Dhoni and under the guidance head coach Stephen Fleming has taught him a lot about leadership.

"I'm lucky to have started my journey there at CSK because I have really learned a lot from a leadership point of view. I tried to learn as much as possible from Dhoni and Stephen Fleming because both are great captains."

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News Network
February 29,2020

Melbourne, Feb 29: India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur on Saturday said the team management has given Shafali Verma the freedom to play her natural game, which has set the Women's T20 World Cup ablaze.

The 16-year-old announced her emergence on the global stage by becoming the second highest run getter in the ongoing tournament. She has so far scored 161 runs, hitting 18 fours and nine sixes in four matches at an astounding strike rate of 161.

On Saturday, Shafali hit a 34-ball 47 to steer India to a seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka after spinner Radha Yadav produced a career-best 4/23.

"Shafali is someone who loves to play big shots, and we don't want to stop her. She should continue doing the same and she should continue enjoying her game," Harmanpreet said after the match.

India entered the semifinals with an all-win record as they led Group A with eight points from four games and the captain insisted it is important to continue the winning momentum.

"It's really important to keep the momentum when you are winning games. You really work hard, so you can't afford to lose that momentum. You can't bowl same pace and lengths on these wickets, so you need to keep rotating the bowlers."

"Today I tried to be positive and got a few boundaries. In the upcoming games I'll try to give my best," Harmanpreet said.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Atapattu rued the reprieves given by her side to Shafali in the form of two dropped catches.

"I think that score was not enough, we lost couple of chances, specially Shafali, it was hard to stop her," she said.

"Yeah, I got a good start but unfortunately got out in the 10th, would have wanted to stay in there till the 16th or the 17th over. I hope we can beat Bangladesh in our last game," she added.

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