India's sporting rise faces litmus test in London

July 17, 2012

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New Delhi, July 17: India's transformation from a laggard to a nation waking up to its sporting potential would be put to test when the biggest-ever contingent of 81 athletes sets out to prove that the three Olympic medals in Beijing were no fluke in the London edition of the biggest sporting show on earth.


From just making up the numbers and fetching an odd medal every four years, India have come a long way to be in with a genuine chance of winning more than the gold and a couple of bronze that changed the face of sports in the country four years ago.

The three heroes of Beijing have made the cut for London as well and while gold-medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra would aim for an encore with his rifle, Sushil Kumar (wrestling) and Vijender Singh (boxing) would try to get better-coloured medals around their necks.

A nation of more than a billion, India's untapped sporting potential has been discussed threadbare ahead of many Olympics gone by but for the first time, talk is about how many medals the country might get in what is being anticipated as the best-ever show when the 30th Games unfold on July 27.

Expectations are sky-high from shooters, boxers, archers, shuttlers and wrestlers and then there are the dark horses in the tennis team which unfortunately spent the better part of its build-up squabbling over who would partner whom -- a reminder that despite some good changes, politics remains inherent in Indian sports.

But apart from the ugly selection row that struck tennis, the build-up to London has been smooth for most of the Indian athletes, who have had little or no complaints about the facilities or coaches.

They have had international exposure to their heart's content. In fact, most of them have left for London much ahead of the Games' start for acclimatisation with a proactive Sports Ministry doling out the money whenever asked to by the national federations.

As many as 11 shooters -- seven men and four women -- will be aiming for the bull's eye in London and given the fine form they are in, more than one medal is expected from them.

The reclusive Abhinav Bindra, who was slightly off-colour last year, seems to have found his mojo with a gold in the 10 metre Air rifle event at the 12th Asian Shooting Championships in Doha Qatar.

His ever-smiling partner with the rifle, Gagan Narang, is also a bright medal prospect and so is trap shooter Ronjan Sodhi, ranked number one in the world.

Then there are the boxers, led by pin-up boy Vijender (75kg). An unprecedented eight of them -- seven men and a woman -- are in fray and given their consistent rise after Beijing, it won't be a surprise if at least a couple of medals come through them.

The team is an interesting mix, it has the youngest boxer ever to qualify for the Olympics in Shiva Thapa (56kg) and a mother-of-two five-time world champion in the 29-year-old M C Mary Kom.

The veteran Mary Kom will be fittingly India's sole representative when women's boxing makes its Olympic debut in three weight categories. An athlete par excellence, Mary Kom embodies the spirit of Olympics -- faster, higher, stronger.

Apart from Shiva, the boxing team features one more teenager and a couple of 20-year-olds, including the World Championships bronze-medallist Vikas Krishan (69kg).

They are all wide-eyed and excited about living a dream but remain untouched by the burden of expectations because as their coaches put it, "They have got absolutely nothing to lose".

That's not all, medal hopes are also high from the unassuming archers. Deepika Kumari, perhaps the least talked about world number one from India, is a top contender and so are five others -- including three men.

Then there is the shuttlers' brigade led by the gritty Saina Nehwal. Five of them would be there in action in London and Saina would shoulder a huge burden of expectations given the way she has breached the Chinese domination of the sport in the past couple of years.

With back-to-back titles under her belt in the build-up to Olympics, confidence would not really be an issue and the 22-year-old would look to make the most of her fine current form heading into London.

Not to forget, the other racquet sport, which hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons just weeks before the Games.

The tennis players did not give a very good account of themselves with all the bickering off the court but they would try to ensure that it would not be what they are remembered for when the Games draw to a close.

There is a good medal chance in mixed doubles where Sania Mirza has reluctantly agreed to team up with Leander Paes after being denied her regular partner Mahesh Bhupathi.

In men's doubles, Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna, both of who took on the federation to be sent as a team, would need to perform or face a backlash given that they started the furore by refusing to partner Paes.

In wrestling, all eyes will once again be on Sushil, who made the London cut in the final qualifying tournament.

Elsewhere, the Indian hockey team would make an emotional comeback to the Olympics after missing qualification for the Beijing Games.

A podium finish is not expected of them but a creditable performance would surely be desired by the country's sports fans.

In track and field, Vikas Gowda is the dark horse, who might spring a surprise but since India have just about started catching up with international standards, a medal would be too much to ask from the 14 athletes.

There are qualifiers in sports such as judo, rowing and swimming too but they are unlikely to fetch medals given the stiff competition.

But looking at the larger picture, Indian sportspersons hold out immense promise as they head to the 30th Olympics and their comfort level in the chilly conditions would be increased by the warmth they are likely to be offered by the huge expatriate population in the British capital.



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News Network
April 24,2020

New Delhi, Apr 24: India's World Cup-winning former opener Gautam Gambhir performed the last rites of his deceased domestic help after her mortal remains could not be sent to her home in Odisha due to the coronavirus-forced national lockdown.

Gambhir, also a BJP Lok Sabha MP, posted a tribute on his Twitter page for his employee Saraswati Patra, who was working at his residence for the past six years.

"Taking care of my little one can never be domestic help. She was family. Performing her last rites was my duty," he tweeted.

"Always believed in dignity irrespective of caste, creed, religion or social status. Only way to create a better society. That's my idea of India! Om Shanti," said the 38-year-old Gambhir, who played 58 Tests for India between 2004 and 2016.

Media reports in Odisha said the 49-year-old Patra hailed from a village in Jajpur district.

She was admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital a few days ago and was battling diabetes and high blood pressure for a long period. She breathed her last while undergoing treatment on April 21.

Union Minister of Petroleum and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan appreciated Gambhir.

"Taking care of Saraswati throughout the course of her illness, he also ensured her dignity in death by performing her last rites himself since her mortal remains could not be sent to her family back home in Odisha," Pradhan, who also belongs to Odisha, tweeted.

"His act of compassion will enliven the faith in humanity for millions of poor, who are working far from their home for livelihood and will garner respect from all folds of the society."

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News Network
January 9,2020

Kuala Lampur, Jan 9: Saina Nehwal and reigning world champion P V Sindhu produced dominating performances to progress to the women's singles quarterfinals of the Malaysia Masters Super 500 badminton tournament here on Thursday.

Sixth seed Sindhu notched up a commanding 21-10 21-15 victory over Japan's Aya Ohori in a pre-quarterfinal match lasting just 34 minutes. It was Sindhu's ninth successive win over Ohori.

The 24-year-old Indian, who won the World Championships in Basel last year, will take on world number 1 Tai Tzu Ying in the quarterfinals after the Chinese Taipei shuttler got the better of South Korea's Sung Ji Hyun 21-18 16-21 21-10.

Saina, who had won the Indonesia Masters last year before going through a rough patch, dispatched eight seed An Se Young of South Korea 25-23 21-12 after a thrilling 39-minute contest to make the last eight.

This is Saina's first win over the South Korean, who got the better of the Indian in the quarterfinals of the French Open last year.

The two-time Commonwealth Games champion will next take on Olympic champion Carolina Marin.

Saina had defeated Lianne Tan of Belgium 21-15 21-17 in the opening round on Wednesday.

In the men's singles, India's challenge ended after both Sameer Verma and HS Prannoy crashed out in the second round.

While Verma lost to Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia 19-21 20-22, Prannoy was shown the door by top seed Kento Momota of Japan 14-21 16-21.

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Agencies
August 7,2020

Islamabad, Aug 7: Former Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, known for his blistering deliveries on the cricket field, recently baffled many with a deadly off-field bouncer by claiming he is willing to eat grass if it enabled an increase in budget for his country's Army!

"If Allah ever gives me the authority, I will eat grass myself but I will increase the budget of the army," said Akhtar in an interview with ARY News.

The 'Rawalpindi Express', considered the fastest bowler in history said he does not understand why the civilian sector cannot work in collaboration with the Armed forces.

"I will ask my army chief to sit with me and make decisions. If the budget is 20 per cent, I will make it 60 per cent. If we insult each other, the loss is ours only," the once feared fast-bowler said.

Akthar had also claimed to ARY News interview that he was willing to take a bullet for his country and had turned down a county stint just because he wanted to fight the 1999 Kargil War.

Ties between India and Pakistan have been strained in the recent months over several issues, the latest being Pakistan's attempt to broach in the UNSC the issue of Kashmir on the first anniversary of the India's move to scrap the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and to split the erstwhile state into two union territories .

Pakistan also has not been in a good financial position and under prime minister Imran Khan, himself an all rounder cricketer, has added nearly USD 22 billion, that is 35 per cent to the nation's international debt pile in the last two years, according to an Asia Times report in July.

While Pakistan recently received USD 1.39 billion from the IMF to cushion the economic shocks caused due to COVID-19 outbreak, Akthar had a few months ago proposed that a joint cricket match be played between India and Pakistan to raise funds to fight the coronavirus. The suggestion that was put down by cricketers in India.

Meanwhile the 'Pindi boy' whose deadly pace and bounce was once dreaded by batsmen had recently taken to Twitter to deny former India cricketer Virender Sehwag's claim of sledging him.

Sehwag along with other Indian crickerters such as Harbhajan Singh and even Rahul Dravid had been at the receiving end of Akthar's sledging and antics during their playing days.

"Yes, totally self made story by him. Mujhe yeh bol k bach k jana kidhar tha us nay," Akthar tweeted to a report in which Sehwag claimed that he had sledged the 'Rawalpindi Express' by telling him that Sachin Tendulkar was his father.

During an awards ceremony Sehwag had recounted that fed up with Akthar's sledging and retaliated by telling him to say the same things to Tendulkar, who smashed the 'Pindi boy' for a six. Sehwag quipped that he told Akthar then that "Baap baap hota hai".

In the recent ARY interview, asked about the allegation made against him by former India cricketer Virendra Sehwag that he makes pro-India comments for greater following on social media channels, Akhtar said, "I cannot talk on the basis of hate." 

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