2010: Sporting Memories

Ashish Kumar

With Sachin’s 50th ton, whole of India bid goodbye to what had been a tremendous year for Indian sports. The year began with a below par performance from the Men’s Hockey team in the World Cup in front of the home crowd and ended with some stupendous performances by Indian contingent in Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. The year would also be remembered for numerous off-the-field controversies with most prominent being the scandalous organization of Commonwealth games. However, Indian athlete and likewise the fan, had probably accepted this shoddy administration as a part and parcel of the game and has become immune to it. It becomes even more commendable for an athlete to consistently deliver brilliant performance despite all the nuisance. But still the fact remains, that the year saw a first in many of the lesser known sports in the country and gives us all a hope of a glorious year ahead.

India recorded its best haul at the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games this year, primarily due to strong showing in Shooting, Wrestling and Weightlifting. Indian boxing contingent also reaped rich rewards by giving some outstanding performances in the games. Golden girl of Indian badminton kept her standards of performance high and had an almost flawless year. Barring the Asian Games, whatever she touched turned to gold, literally. India also found Rohan Bopanna and Somdev Devvarman emerging big on the Tennis scene and the duo seems to be ready to take the baton from the flying duo of Leander and Mahesh. However, most heartening was to see sports like Squash, Gymnastics, Rowing, Wushu and

Bajrang Thakar

Roller sports bringing unexpected glory and medals to the country and showing promise for the future.  Here’s a recount of few heart-warming moments from the previous year which makes us believe even more in the capabilities of our athletes and reinforces the fact that there is no dearth of talent within the country.

Among the performances, one that stood out the most was Ashish Kumar’s gymnastics silver and bronze in Commonwealth Games and bronze in Asian Games. To add to this was the drama, the  national coach Vladmir Chertkov was forced to return to India after the opening ceremony in Guangzhou leaving players high and dry. Still, Ashish was able to ward off competition from The Chinese and the Koreans to give India its first gymnastic medal in Asiad. Ashish is now aiming higher and eyeing a qualification at 2012 Olympics and a top three finish at the World Championships in Japan this year will give him the ticket to London.

Avani Panchal & Anup Kumar

Another first was the Gold Medal in Rowing. Bajrang Lal Thakar who had won a silver in the previous edition defied all odds to emerge victorious in Men’s Rowing Single Sculls event. But the manner in which this subedar from the Rajputana Rifles overcame the hurdles while preparing for the event made the victory special. In the run-up to the big event, Thakar and the other rowers trained in a filthy Hyderabad lake since there is not a single regatta course in the country. Then, the boats for the squad arrived in India when the team had landed in Guangzhou. Thus, Thakar and the team competed with their old boats. What apathy !!!

Roller sports, introduced for the first time in the Asian Games, earned India two medals. The team was written off at the outset even by the sports ministry, which refused to lend financial support. The skaters bore the expenses to make the trip to China, only to return with a fitting reply.  India, courtesy Anup Kumar and Avani Panchal, won two bronze medals in free and pair skating.

Super Saina Ends Year with a Bang: Wins Hong Kong Super Series

Super Saina

Golden girl of Indian Badminton Saina Nehwal, lived up to her reputation and rounded off the year in style by winning her 3rd Super Series title of the year, 4 th over all, in Hong Kong. Saina registered a scintillating three-game victory over World No. 5 Shixian Wang of China with a scoreline of 15-21 21-16 21-17.

Hard fought match saw numerous twists and turns with no player conceding an inch to the other. In the first set, Shixian prevailed with some brilliant badminton and in the process taking the set 21-15. However, the Indian hit back with some quick paced rallies and defining smashes. Saina took the 2nd set 21-16. The 3rd set was again a tight affair with both the players exchanging the lead and finally being tied at 16-16. From here Saina picked up her game a notch furthe to take a 3 point cushion and in the end wrapped up the match in style with a 21-17  win.

This way Saina wraps up a stupendous 2010. Apart from the disappointment of the Asian Games, the girl from Hyderabad won back-to-back titles — Indian Open Grand Prix,Singapore Open Super Series and defended the Indonesian Super Series — before clinching the gold medal in the Commonwealth Games in front of the home crowd. It was apt that her Gold Medal took India above England in the final medal tally. This win would help Saina to inch even closer to the number one spot, a feat no other Indian women has achieved in the past. 

Alongwith Saina, this year has also seen the emergence of Ashwini Ponappa and Jwala Gutta on the badminton scene. With more international exposure and hard work, we are definitely in for some more exciting news from the badminton courts in the coming 2011.

Its Quite a Racket out There !!!

Somdev and Sanam - Golden Boys

Racket Sports are witnessing a sort of revolution in the country with lots of youngsters

Joshna Chinappa & Dipika Pallikal

 taking up the sports at quite an early age. This is primarily being fuelled by the recent strings of amazing performances by Indian sportspersons from Tennis, Badminton and lately Squash courts. Previously, Indian performances dazzled the courts intermittently in the form of Prakash Padukone (Badminton), Ramesh Krishnan and Vijay Amritraj (Both Tennis) and the public interest faded once these pioneers were past their prime. However, now we have boast of an amazing talent emerging from the ranks to take the baton from the stalwarts.

Whereas Leander and Mahesh can be credited for igniting the interest in Lawn Tennis, the likes of Rohan Bopanna, Somdev Devvarman, Sanam Singh are maturing and ready to lead India in the next decade. Emergence of Saina Nehwal on the Badminton scene has given the much needed impetus to the sport in the country. Squash is not something to be counted out either. With 2 Indians (Dipika Pallikal, Joshna Chinappa) in Top 35 of the World in Women’s tour and Sourav Ghosal in top 30 in Men’s section, Indians are making rapid strides in the sport.

However, a lot still need to be done to realize the true potential in sporting arena. Sufficient media exposure and corporate sponsorship is needed to provide a good infrastructure at the grass roots level. This would also encourage the youngsters to take up these sports and would give them assurance that a career can indeed be made in sports other than cricket. No doubt these are some exciting times for Indian Sports and we are in middle of a Tipping Point where we are witnessing an enhanced performance levels and increased awareness about sports in the country.

Asian Games 2010: Indian Story So Far

 

The Rubber Boy of Indian Sports

After a sluggish start Indian sportpersons are finally warming up to the Asian Games and joining the party. What’s heartyto see is that the results are coming from the sports where not many medals were expected. Who would have thought (apart from the players of course) that after day 10 we’ll be boasting of medals from Wushu, Sailing, Rowing, Swimming, Gymnastics etc. However, there must surely be some disappointment for the fans from Wrestling and Weightlifting Arena and the shooting range.

Somdev Devvarman has emerged as the double Gold Medallist and with 9 boxers yet in the medal rounds, there is still some hope left for an improved performance. However, the star of the show would definitely be Bajrang Lal Takhar (Gold Medal in Rowing), Ashish Kumar (Bronze Medal in Gynastics), Virdhawal Khade (Bronze in Swimming) and Sandhya Rani & Bimoljit Singh (Both Bronze in Wushu) who all  made India proud in the lesser known events. Surely, this would come as a boost for these sports in the country due to the recognition and accolades brought about these people.

Swimming Sensation

     

Wushu Girl

XVI Asian Games: Another Golden Chance for Indian Athletes to Shine on World Stage

A tremendous performance in front of home crowd in XIX Commonwealth games must have given the Indian athletes a lot of confidence about their peroformance. A confidence they’ll need to continue the string of good performances in the second biggest sporting event, XVI Asian Games. The games are being scheduled in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, from 12th November to 27th November, serve as a perfect backdrop for the “Dragon” to show its might in its own backyard.

Compared to the 28 events in the Olympic Games, the 2010 Asian Games will feature 42 events throughout the 16 days of the competition. Football is being held before the opening ceremonyand T20 Cricket is among the debutant sports, with dancesport, dragon boat and weiqi added as unique to the Games. Interestingly, India is not fielding a team in the Cricket event citing prior international commitments as a reason.

India has sent its largest ever contingent of 609 athletes for the games and would be hoping to improve on its position from the last time. The Indian contingent including 249 women, will represent the country in 35 different disciplines. In the last edition in Doha, India sent 432 athletes to compete in 31 disciplines and finished with a total of 53 medals — 10 gold, 17 silver and 26 bronze. In the last edition of the games, India finished 7th in the medeal tally and would surely be hoping to improve on that prformacne. Extending its support to the Indian Olympic contingent further, Samsung India Electronics would be the main sponsor.

Indian challenge would rest mainly on the shoulder of the Shooting, Weightlifting, Boxing and the Wrestling contingents. In badminton, Sania Nehwal will run into several top ranked chinese players and would have her task cut out. India started the games in the Soccer event and went down to Kuwait 2-0 and then to defending champions Qatar 2-1. However, Indian lads came back strongly to demolish Singapore 4-1 and have given themselves a glimmer of hope to qualify for the knock-out stages for the first time since 1982. This assumes even greater significance as this is U-23 team with 1st team preparing for the Asian Championships to be held later.

XIX Commonwealth Games: Day 2, Update 2. Double Joy for Team India

Indian shooters continue their domination of the Shooting range with Rahi Sarnobat and Anisa Sayyed winning the 2nd Gold Medal in front of the capacity crowd. The duo shot a combined score of 1156 to clinch the Gold and in the process created another Games Record for the Pairs 25m Pistol event. Team from Australia took the Silver while the English bagged the Bronze in the event.

In Pairs 50m Pistol event for Men, Deepak Sharma and Omkar Singh clinched the Silver for India.

XIX Commonwealth Games: Day 2, Update 1. Shooting Stars and Wrestling Gods

India bagged its 1st Gold Medal of the XIX Commonwealth Games in Pairs 10m Rifle event. India represented by Olympic Gold Medallist Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang shot a new games record of 1193 between themselves to take the yellow medal. Individually, Bindra shot 595 whereas Gagan shot an impressive 598. England came 2nd with a score of 1174 and team from Bangladesh took Bronze with a score of 1173. It was a mad dash at Dr. Karni Singh shooting range with media vying for the pics of the Olympic Gold Medallist. This even upset quite a few of coaches from the competing nations.

In Wrestling events, India has been assured of atleast 3 more medals. Ravinder Singh, Sanjay and Anil Kumar all advanced to the Finals of their respective weight categories in the Greco-Roman event. The Finals would be held in the evening and the crowd present would surely be in for some treat.

XIX Commonwwealth Games: Day 2, Prologue

After an amazing performance by Indian lifters on the opening day, the Indian contingent will be hoping for an even better day today. 3 of the major sports in which Indians are expected to pick a handful of medals start today. Competition kicks off for Boxing, Shooting and Wrestling events. Apart from this, Men’s hockey team will also take field against Malaysia. Indian Women will also kick start their campaign in the Netball event against the favourites, Australia.

In Boxing, Amandeep Singh will square off against Peter Warui of Kenya in Light Fly Weight Division and Manoj Kumar will take on Daniel Lassayo of Sierra Leone in 64 kg weight category.

In shooting events, Indian hopes will ride on Deepak Sharma and Omkar Singh in Men’s Pairs 50m Pistol event. Then Olympic Gold Medallist Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang will compete for Gold in 10m Air Rifle event. In final event of the day, Tejaswini Sawant and Lajjakumari Gauswami will shoot in 50m Rifle (3 positions) category.

In Wrestling events, Indian challenge will be represented by Ravinder Singh 60 kg category, Sanjay in 74 kg category and Anil Kumar in 96 kg category for Greco-Roman events.

In Weightlifting, Rustam Sarang and Omkar Shekhar would compete in 62 kg event and Swati Singh will take field in the 53 kg category. With amazing performance from the weightlifting contingent on the opening day, these athletes will surely have crowd rooting for them.

In the Cycling events, Vijaya Kumari, Rameshwori Devi and Mahitha Mohan will compete in 500m Time Trial. Whereas Rakesh Kumar and Bikram Singh will compte in 1Km Time Trial. This edition of games offer an unique opportunity for these cyclists to compete against few of the best in the world in front of their home crowd.

Elsewhere, Somdev Devvarman and the pair of Leander Paes/Mahesh Bhupathi will kick start their respective campaigns in Tennis Events. Indian women will take on Ghana and Men will take on Guyana in the TT team events.

XIX Commonwealth Games: Day 1, Update 2. India assured of 2 medals in Weightlifting

It is a splendid beginning for the Indian contingent in the XIX Commonwealth games. After the dazzling opening ceremony, sportsmen continued the fireworks with some stupendous results.

History was created when the Indian Swimming Relay team for Men qualified for the Finals of the their event. It was first time that any Indian team has managed such a feat. Jayanta Talukdar, Rahul Bannerjee, Dola Bannerjee and Deepika Kumari blew the field apart in the Recurve Archery events. As expected, Saina Nehwal and Chetan Anand had a cakewalk for their respective Badminton matches. 2nd seeded Indian women team in TT, made light weight of Sri Lankan Challenge, winning 3-0. The only prominent loss was possibly of Rohan Bopanna and Nirupama Sanjeeve bowing out in the 1st round of Mixed Doubles in the Tennis Events. Indian eves will take on scotland in the hockey event in some time.

At the time of writing this article, Sandhya Rani became the first athlete to win a medal at this edition of Commonwealth Games. She is ensured of a Bronze in 48 Kg Weightlifting event. She lifted a combined weight of 165 Kgs and still has a one more lift pending. More good news is in store with compatriot Soniya Chanu battling for Gold against Nigerian, Augustina Nwaokolo. Chanu has lifted a combined weight of 167 Kg as compared to 171 Kg (A new CGF record) and both the athletes have 2 lifts pending.

XIX Commonwealth Games: Day 1, Update 1

After a dazzling opening ceremony, the focus shifts to the sporting events in the XIXth Commonwealth Games. The action begins with the Swimming events and would be followed up other events. Of the total of 272 Gold medals, 8 will be handed out today. Of these 5 will be in swimming, 2 in weightlifting and and 1 in artistic gymnastics.

The first medal ceremony will be for the Weightlifting event in 48 kg category for Women. Soniya Chanu and Sandhya Rani are the Indians participating in the event and are favourites to win the country its first gold in front of the home crowd. Weightlifting alongwith Shooting and Wrestling is one of the sports in which India has traditionally performed well.