Give me gold, nothing less!

For the investments India made, the returns were meagre

There were a few heroes and heroines, but Indian sports definitely missed the Olympic gold.

After setting the gold standard through shooter Abhinav Bindra in Beijing, it was difficult to be excited about two silver and four bronze medals from the London Games.

For the talent India has and the investments the country made in providing the best of support and expertise for the athletes, the returns were meagre.

Of course, there is no point being upset about winning only six medals, for India had won only six medals overall in the last four editions.

Since we know that many potential champions failed to medal, the number may not look encouraging in terms of a realistic assessment.

The whole country erupted in celebration as wrestler Sushil Kumar clinched his second Olympic medal, a silver to go with the bronze he won in Beijing four years ago. Sushil gave a fitting finish to the Games, though it must be added that he was capable of winning the gold.

In fact, there was some progress in wrestling as Yogeshwar Dutt, a quarterfinalist last time, battled career-threatening injuries to bag a bronze. If a little more attention is paid towards keeping the expert coaches on such important assignments, the development would be a lot better.

Saina, Mary sizzle

Badminton queen Saina Nehwal acquitted herself well while claiming the bronze. It was the only new sport that added to the medal kitty compared to shooting, boxing and wrestling which won medals in Beijing.

It was woman power for India at these Games, as five-time world champion Mary Kom salvaged some pride for the boxing squad with a bronze. She displayed courage and resolve while winning a medal.

Seven men boxers, including Asian Games gold medallists Vijender Singh and Vikas Krishan, failed to add to their world championship bronze. There were controversies in the boxing ring, too, as Vikas, who won his bout 13-11, was declared a 13-15 loser after a protest and review.

The shooters could have done better. Gagan Narang achieved his long-standing dream of winning an Olympic medal.Abhinav Bindra was on track before the last series spoilt his show.

Vijay Kumar was a revelation, as he understood the intricacies of rapid fire pistol and went on to claim a medal. Joydeep Karmakar, a rank outsider, was brilliant while finishing fourth in the rifle prone event.

Ronjan Sodhi, the most accomplished Indian shooter in recent times with the Asian Games gold and the World Cup Finals gold medals in the last two editions, faltered on the last three stations, missing four of the six birds. This stopped him from making the final.

Former world champion Manavjit Singh Sandhu was not at his best in just one round, and that spoilt his chances of making the trap final.

Drawing a blank

Despite all the controversies, one expected a medal from the mixed doubles tennis combination of Sania Mirza and Leander Paes, but they went down fighting in the quarterfinals to the eventual champions, the top-seeded Victoria Azarenka and Max Mirnyi of Belarus.

The Indian pair had beaten Ana Ivanovic and Nenad Zimonjic in the first round in a draw of 16.

Though Paes could not add to his Atlanta bronze in singles, he played his heart out with rookie Vishnu Vardhan against the eventual silver medallists, Michael Llodra and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, in the pre-quarterfinals. Vishnu rose to the occasion to play the match of his life.

Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna lost to the eventual bronze medallists, Richard Gasquet and Julien Benneteau of France, after beating Mirnyi and Alexander Bury in a high quality performance in which the Indian pair did not drop serve at all.

Archery was a great disappointment as the men and women fumbled in both the individual and team sections. Though world No. 1 Deepika Kumari could be forgiven as she’s only 18 and was getting the first taste of the Olympics, the rest were quite capable and experienced.

Indian archery would do well to stick to the Korean experts a lot more rather than get carried away by all the other achievements around the world.

The Indian athletes did a fairly good job with Krishna Poonia (discus) finishing seventh, Vikas Gowda (discus) eighth and walker K.T. Irfan 10th. A better show was expected from 800m runner Tintu Luka, who placed 11th and missed out on a berth in the final.

There was a wrong projection about the capabilities of the weightlifters, Soniya Chanu and K. Ravi Kumar, and reality may have been a bit harsh to digest.

Rock-bottom

The hockey team finished at the bottom in a field of 12, and realised the futility of being carried away by a simple thing as qualifying for the Olympics.

For people who remember that India has won eight gold medals in the sport in the Olympics, it was the toughest pill to swallow during the Games.

Not much was expected from the rowers, the young table tennis players, the lone swimmer and a judoka.

Winning six medals is not a bad achievement, though everyone is inclined to say ‘give me gold!’

-The Hindu

Phelps takes medal tally to new heights

Michael Phelps poses with his gold medal after winning the 4x200m freestyle relay at the London Olympics on Tuesday.

The gold medal that Michael Phelps won in the U.S. 4x200 metre freestyle relay in Tuesday’s final race at the Aquatic Centre made him the most successful Olympic athlete ever.

His overall tally now stands at 19 (15 gold, two silver and two bronze), surpassing the 18 that Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina achieved between 1956 and 1964.

“I think this just shows that hard work pays off. The biggest thing is that I have always said everything is possible. I put my mind to achieving something that has never been done before, I wanted to be the first Michael Phelps,” he said.

“It was emotional, a pretty cool feeling and great way to end the day,” he said.Teammate Ricky Berens said that Phelps had gathered them after the race and said that he felt very emotional to have achieved that with them.Even before the London Games, Phelps was by far the most successful Olympian in terms of gold medals, as the 14 he entered the games with were five more than Latynina, Finland’s Paavo Nurmi, Carl Lewis and Mark Spitz had won. Phelps, who was born in Baltimore, Maryland, was diagnosed with ADHD in his youth and started swimming at the age of 7, partly because of his ailment and partly because his two older sisters also swam.He has always trained under Bob Bowman, whom he first encountered at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club and followed to the University of Michigan in 2004.He first swam at the Olympics in 2000 when he was just 15. He became the youngest American male swimmer in 68 years and placed fifth in the 200m butterfly. Shortly afterwards, he became the youngest male ever to set a world record, when he swam 1:54.92 in the 200m butterfly in March 2001, still three months shy of his 16th birthday. Since then, Phelps has owned the world record — and on each of the seven occasions when it was bettered, it was Phelps who managed to do it.

Ironically, Phelps overtook Latynina at a competition, at which he has shown that he is not unbeatable.

In the very first final on Saturday, Phelps was beaten by compatriot Ryan Lochte in the 400m medley — his first defeat in an Olympic final since August 16, 2004, when he came third in the 200m freestyle in Athens.

Since then, Phelps had won 12 finals and received a gold medal for being a member of the victorious U.S. 4x100m medley relay team in 2004, although he did not swim in the final. In the 400m medley, he failed to win medal as he finished fourth. He did, however, pick up silver in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay with his team on Sunday and then added another silver in the 200m butterfly, where he was beaten by South African Chad le Clos, and gold in the relay on Tuesday to take him past Latynina’s tally.

Unlike Beijing, where he won an unprecedented eight gold medals from eight entered events, Phelps went into London with much less pressure.

He said shortly before the start of the competition that it was up to him to decide what was going to happen. “It is up to me to choose the toppings for my ice cream sundae,” he said. With three events remaining, Phelps has already added one gold and two silver toppings, and it seems likely that there is more to come, thereby setting the new benchmark so high that it will take an extraordinary — or Phelpsian — achievement to surpass it. 

-The Hindu

Citius, Altius, Fortius

"Faster, Higher, Stronger"


9.4s 100m possible, says study

 

Gymnastics legend Nadia Comaneci, who epitomised peerfection her sport, feels that the iconic scoring system, should be reinstated.

Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt's dream of completing the 100m in 9.4 sec is feasible, according to a Dutch mathematical study whose findings were unveiled on Wednesday.

As the Jamaican prepares to defend his Olympic title in London, and also better his world mark of 9.58sec, the authors of a Tilburg University study concluded he could realise his objective of shaving another two tenths of a second off his current record.

“Usain Bolt has said he is targeting 9.4sec for the 100 metres and according to our results this is achievable as the absolute limit for a world record at the moment is 9.36 sec,” said one of the study authors, Sander Smeets.

The study used various mathematical and statistical models collated from the best times posted over 100m by the 1,034 best male athletes going back to 1991, Smeets explained.

The new study draws on an earlier one which Smeets carried out in 2008 which then suggested that the “ultimate world record” would be 9.51sec.

However, “in 2008, Usain Bolt's records were not included in our data, which we published before the (Beijing) Olympics,” Smeets explained, adding the original version drew on data from only 762 athletes.

He added he hoped the new study would “inspire” the likes of Bolt to drive the time down.

Bolt, 25, said in April he believed that if he can retain his Beijing crowns — he also won the 200m and the 4x100m relay title —he would be regarded as a “living legend.”

Judo diplomacy

British Prime Minister David Cameron has said would try to pin down some deals with Russian President Vladimir Putin when the pair watches judo together.

“We will be at the judo, so it may be a bit off-putting. But I know my major priority is to get those trade deals, to get that investment — and not to concentrate on what's happening on the mat,” he joked.

Putin, 59, is himself a judo black belt, and has often been filmed in Russia training with top-class athletes.

Comaneci’s lament

Wearing seven-inch black stilettos, skinny jeans and a black figure-hugging T-shirt declaring “I’m Gold”, Nadia Comaneci was still turning heads in London 36 years after producing the defining image of Olympic gymnastics.

“(It says) I’m gold... but it should have had ‘I’m perfect” on the back,” she said dissolving into laughter as she looked down on the bold gold lettering in the front of her T-shirt.

She was spot on. “People don't remember how many medals I won, all they remember is the history and the 1.00,” she added. That 1.00 signified the first perfect 10 achieved at an Olympics — in Montreal in 1976.

However, a judging scandal at the 2004 Olympics robbed future generations from experiencing the giddy heights of perfection.

Officials ditched the system that was part and parcel of gymnastics and adopted an accumulative points format which no longer has a scoring ceiling.

According to Comaneci, gymnastics was still paying a heavy price for abandoning such an iconic scoring system and should consider bringing it back.

“I think gymnastics was associated with the 10. I thought that belonged to the sport, and somehow we gave it way,” she said.

-The Hindu

Sport India in England 2011 Second Test, day four Magnificent England destroy India's resistance to take second Test

England 221 & 544, India 288 & 158
England won by 319 runs

India's claim to be the foremost Test match side in the world lay in tatters in Nottingham on Monday evening. Defeat, by a huge margin of 319 runs with more than a day to spare – by a country mile the most humiliating they have suffered at the hands of England – followed their 196‑run loss in the first Test at Lord's. In the aftermath of that it was said they were slow starters and would pick up the pace.
A reassessment might be in order now, for this was little short of slaughter. England, who have not lost any of eight Test series and only four of 29 matches in more than two years since Andy Flower has been in full charge of the team, lead by two matches to nil in the four‑match series and have their eyes firmly on the official No1 ranking. Only the most fervent Indian optimist, of which there are many, will believe that their team can recover from this.
England had begun the day in the ascendant, already with a lead of 379, almost certainly secure enough in itself, but added a further 103 in 19 overs in the morning, with Tim Bresnan making 90, thus setting India a notional 478 to win. They did not have a chance, for the new ball has proved dangerous throughout the game and England had the extra pace to exploit it. Inside 26 overs, two of the galácticos were gone for single figures, Rahul Dravid to Stuart Broad and VVS Laxman castled by an irresistible delivery from Jimmy Anderson and India were 55 for six, with Bresnan, the indefatigable Yorkie dreadnought, bustling in on Yorkshire Day, having dismissed the India captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, first ball to stand on the verge of following Broad with the second hat‑trick of the match. It did not happen but Bresnan still managed to take five for 48, his best Test figures, and with his robust batting ensured that a few cats have been set among the selectorial pigeons when it comes to the third Test in Birmingham which begins a week on Wednesday.
Bresnan has now played eight Tests and won them all, a 100% record bettered in the game's history only by the West Indian Eldine Baptiste, who played in 10 winning sides.
Only Sachin Tendulkar, batting flawlessly for two and a quarter hours while things tumbled around him, showed the technique and resolve to cope. But having made 56 he misjudged Anderson and was lbw offering no shot, the seventh time that the bowler has dismissed Tendulkar, just one behind the eight of Muttiah Muralitharan.
Beyond that Harbhajan Singh, in the middle of Broad's hat‑trick and preventing Bresnan's on Monday, threw the bat for 46, made with such vigour at times that it raised eyebrows as to the state of the damaged stomach muscles that prevented him from bowling during the England mayhem.
India, should they need it, can console themselves with the knowledge that they have twice been beaten by a team of astonishing depth and resilience. Twice Dhoni was won an important toss this series and put England under pressure and twice England have responded. On Friday, as the ball swung and seamed under leaden skies, they found themselves 88 for six, before Broad and the lower order rescued them. Then, on the second day, in better conditions, when Dravid's brilliance had helped take India to 267 for four, a lead already of 46, Broad conjured up his hat‑trick in a spell of five wickets at no cost. It shattered India. Thereafter, they were not in the game as England battered an inadequate attack into submission. In four innings now India have a top score of 288.
India now need desperately to regain some equilibrium but it is hard to see whence it will come. Virender Sehwag is expected to arrive in England on Tuesday but he has only one game against Northamptonshire this week in which to prepare.
The recovery of Zaheer Khan, should he get over his hamstring strain, will help but is not a game changer, and Gautam Gambhir, who in any case did not appear unusually discomfited in the nets before the game, ought to have recovered from his bruised elbow.
On the other hand, Harbhajan, taker of more than 400 Test wickets, has had such a miserable series with the ball – two for 287 thus far – that there is a strong case for him making way for the leg‑spinner Amit Mishra. On Monday, Yuvraj Singh suffered a nasty blow on his left index finger, from Bresnan, that may cause further problems. It is not just mentally that they are battered and bruised.
As with Lord's, though, England have not escaped the match entirely unscathed. The shoulder wrenched by Jonathan Trott while in the field on the second day had eased sufficiently for him to bat, and he now has a week of intensive treatment in which to get fit again with any replacement likely to be either Ravi Bopara or the new Lions captain, James Taylor, who has a chance to impress this week.
Monty Panesar would be a top‑class replacement for Graeme Swann should his injured hand not recover. But the pace bowling goes round in circles. Never give a sucker an even break, said WC Fields, but that is what Chris Tremlett's back and hamstring niggle has done with Bresnan. Anderson is the second‑ranked bowler in the world, Broad's comeback speaks for itself, and Bresnan has taken his first Test five-for and contributed 101 runs. Who would want to call that one?

-Guardian

England thump India by 196 runs in Lords' Test

With a daunting target of 458, India's famed batting order failed to bat out the final day as they folded up for 261 in 96.3 overs at Lord's in the four-match Test series in London.

Suresh Raina's fighting 78 went in vain as England delivered the knockout punch at the fag end of an engrossing fifth day to script a resounding 196-run victory over India and take a 1-0 lead.

The left-handed Raina stood bravely amid the ruins with a gritty knock during which he faced 136 balls and hit 10 boundaries, while VVS Laxman (54) and Dravid (36) were the other notable scorers in a rather disappointing batting show by the number one Test team.

Indians needed to play out the fifth day but a combination of poor shot selection and some horrendous strokes allowed the hosts to run away with the match at a packed Lord's, a record as far as turnout is concerned at the hallowed venue.

The English dressing room broke into celebration as Stuart Broad trapped last man Ishant Sharma to signal the victory in the centenary Test between the two sides.

The two teams will now travel to Nottingham for the second Test beginning July 29.

James Anderson was the pick of the English bowlers, finishing with impressive figures of five for 65, while Broad took three for 57 to break the back of a team, which will lose its numero uno status if the hosts win any more Tests.

-DNA

CWG : When we will learn?

The comments Mani Shanker Iyer made are really thought provoking.Any Indian sports fan can't just sit back quite and avoid reacting. The man has logic and sense.By hosting the Common Wealth Games in India what will the Country gain? The most annoying aspect of the organisation of the CWG is the comical budgeting. How can the actual budget of cost and time of completion are way beyond the estimates.This really shows the mismanagement and inability to host such an event in a successful way!

Even if the organisation of CWG is a success what will be the gain for the Indian sports! Where will it stand in the world? Why can't the money spent on CWG of the order of thousands of crores never spent for developing the sports? What it is there that Indian youth will gain from here? The corruption involved with " CVC refers Delhi Games project to CBI "And the questions go on. And there is no one to answer.

The recent reports suggest 28,000 crores of public money being spent on CWG.The question is - is it worth that much!?! because it is in no way going to improve the Indian sports or state of the nation. The state of Indian sports administration  is pathetic and going worse. The Hockey federation is facing another challenge to come out of the bad game of politics. The similar is case facing the women federation facing abuse charges from players. So will the government take any steps to improve state of Indian sports administration or just turn blind and forget all about this CWG scams and bid for Asian Games 2019!

I am not against hosting an event in a professional manner as that is a matter of pride but at least invest 10% of that funds to raise the level of the Indian sports by providing proper infrastructure and training to youngsters to win some medals in these games and shine for India and find a name in the history books.

Indian Politics

Sports in India:Politics

Question :Why is India lagging behind in sports?

Answer:Good question;

The answer in one line:no one is ready to take the responsibility and accountability but everyone wants to share the credits,and take in publicity.

Going into details,when anyone wins anything in Asiad,or rarely in Olympics,The central government,the state government and the all other trivial organisations come into picture felicitate the sportpersons spent few lakhs,some tens of lakhs,and gain media attention.These people don't deserve to be in limelight.These sportpersons had won it all,on their own,and some win some lost but noone appreciates the real sportperson or the sports.They are people only for taking credits for good things and no one to take the blame for what went wrong.Very recently,Suresh kamaldi was blaming Aiyar for loosing the bid on Asiad 2014.But he took all the credit for getting the 2010 Commonwealth hosting. Actually there is no one to ready to stand up and be counted.

Why can't these organisations,ministers come forward and say "Any one winning an Olympic gold in 2012 (2008,it is already over for us!) will be paid Rs.1 crore.50 Lakhs for silver,20 lakhs for Bronze....We will take only medal winners in Asiad 2010,to Olympics,rest can go by their own.We will provide international training /coaching facilities to only these medal winners..in the Asiad 2010.We will take only U-21 National games winners to Asiad 2010....tell state level associations to send in only U-19 probable for the national games....ask each district authorities to send in U-17 probable to State level competitions....get these U-17 from U-15 inter school competitions....train them register them as their respective find...." Now working backwards...One athlete wins Gold in Olympics 2012.So 1 crore has to be given there....but this will be divided between district Authority,the state authority,the national authority and The Athlete.(25L each).so this will be pin -point responsibility and accountability and Incentives for winning and straight out firing for bad performance.If a district authority not able to come out with talents...close down....if the state authority doing bad change the management-promote the experienced and efficient district level authorities to take their place,if the national level doing bad..change the management...by replacing with the best performing state level managers..not Suresh Kalmadi sitting there and eating till he dies.Put a proper,transparent structure in place,where in efficient,hard-working,dedicated performers go up the ladder,and under-performers fall down wards. Let there tenure limited posts for the management at each levels in the federation.Let their be proper hierarchy of the IOA the elections held for every four years.Allow maximum of continuous tenure of 8 years.Then step down and somebody leads the federation.If the new president fails the old personal can be re-elected after 4 years in the new election.Why it can't be done professionally.

But who will take these tough decisions.Who will take the step of Pin-pointed responsibility and accountability.If it happens the games will improves and the talent will rise.

It is not that we don't have talent.It is not that we don't have money.But we don't want to do this.Just see the school level competitions there is plenty of talent.Either it is not spotted and trained upwards or the talented sport persons not ready to take risk of playing for India.They are happy with small jobs in services,SBI,Army...etc.

They don't want to dream big!They are happy living the small things in life in big way.They are happy the way things are going nobody wants to do something to change.

You know what India lacks-India lacks the youth power-we may be large in population but no one as Indian youth takes pride in being an Indian.

And I tell you sports has the ability to bring in back that lost pride.You Just win some 20-30 Olympic medals,the next six months the energy levels of the Indian Youth will be worth seeing!

Do you think it is not possible.I don't say we will it next Olympics(2012)....It is sports,we have to be patient and consistent. It won't happen in next four years but surely can be done in done in next 8-10 years.

But first fire-Suresh kalmadi,KPS Gill,Priyan Das Munshi,what they are doing...simply sitting there and eating.....bring in somebody young capable and with strong will....because we have to go a really long way.....and Slow and steady wins the race....with more emphasis on Steady....you will run first 400m in 44seconds then you will rest ....but strong man will run slow but will complete the marathon.We need that strong man.

We need a complete change in attitude from the top.

Unfortunately:How will it come with CPI fighting with BJP....Congress fighting with BSP...and what not....can will all stand up with a common cause....If you start this. mission I am sure somebody will come calling 20% reservation for SC/ST...27% reservations for OBC....50% reservations for Military....and what not....nobody has vision on the top brass with power.....and anyone with vision will not be allowed to reach the TOP.How can we break this viscous cycle.......biggest question is that?