The kind of sporting event which compels you to write as an Indian sports fan happened in Jinhua, China on Monday, April 24, 2017. Manpreet Kaur, a 26-year old from Ambala, Punjab, not only struck Gold in the Women's Shot Put at the Asian Grand Prix meet, but also registered a world leading throw with her effort. Now, a world leading mark registered just four months into the year is no big deal one would say, but for our breed it is. Sports fans in India have grown up reading or hearing about such news every year at least twice or thrice....but one would be hard pressed to recall an Indian ever having achieved this in Track and Field. Maybe during the times of P.T.Usha, but yours truly at least can't recall even her being the protagonist of such news ever. This kind of news generally has significance in World Track and Field as it makes competitors and other stakeholders sit up and take notice. They assess or reassess their goals for the year, particularly in the year of a World Championship, which by the way is just four months away.
For the record, Manpreet achieved a distance of 18.86 m, which to put it in perspective, would have earned her a creditable 6th place at the Rio 2016 summer Olympics. What her performance in Jinhua also did was make her qualify automatically for the World Championships. The only cause of concern would be an improvement of close to a meter in less than six months. Even more heartening to the fan would be the performance of Neeraj Kumar, the junior Javelin World Champion, who won Silver with a fling of 82.11 m. This is below his personal best of 86.48 set last year, but its great to see consistency with distances coupled with international medal winning performances. Here's wishing both Manpreet and Neeraj a great World Championships.
Badminton continues taking one giant stride after another for the Indian Olympic movement when in this month's Singapore Open Super Series Men's Final, for the first time in the history of Indian and world badminton, two Indians competed for a Super Series title. B. Sai Praneeth eventually got the better of Kidambi Srikanth to claim his first Super Series title in three closely fought sets, but Indian badminton had been already declared the winner before the final. Indians have already claimed two Super Series titles this year with P.V. Sindhu's win in the Women's final of the Indian Open against her Olympic Final nemesis Carolina Marin of Spain.
SSP Chawrasia, the diminutive gleamy eyed Kolkata golfer also continued to delight the golfing world with his mastery of the home courses, defending his Indian Open Golf title, this time at the newly laid Gary Player course at the DLF Golf & Country Club in Gurugram, Haryana. This was his second title in five months and an astonishing fourth European Tour title to go with his six Asian Tour wins. Through sheer simplicity and the rare ability to enjoy the big moments, SSP has endeared himself to the Indian golfing audiences in particular and has clearly maximized his ability, talent and passion for the game on the international stage. Such players draw more kids to the game. Anirban Lahiri meanwhile continues to impress in his sophomore year on the PGA tour, the toughest in the game. He is in the top 70 on the money list, which means he has had top finishes. This to follow a great rookie year on the tour, bodes well.
India also had a great Shooting World Cup stage at home at the Dr. Karni Singh Ranges in New Delhi with star shooter Jitu Rai's Gold in the 50m Pistol and an Indian 1-2 in the event with Amanpreet winning Silver, being the showstopper. Ankur Mittal's Silver in Double Trap was also classy, given a top field. Ankur followed that up with a Gold in the second stage held a month later in Acapulco Mexico. Pooja Ghatkar continued her good form from last year to land a World Cup Bronze in the Women's 10m Air Rifle while Sheeraz Sheikh in the Men's Skeet displayed considerable improvement with a final round show, eventually finishing 6th.
Amidst all this though, one sport which has caught a new kind of imagination of the sports buffs in India has been football. Slowly but surely there has been a new kind of fan-pull for Indian football. Some of the fans maybe the same, but the pull is different this time. All this could be due to the 'push from the very top' and great media mileage generated through ISL to begin with and then taken to a different level by recent successes of the Indian team and a fairytale called Aizawl FC. The team from the tiny north-eastern hill state of Mizoram, at one point not supposed to play in the country's top FIFA recognised football league, today needs a point to be crowned champions of the 10th Hero I-League, after a string of heroic performances. It couldn't have come at a better time with probably the biggest single-sport event the country has ever seen, the FIFA U-17 World Cup, scheduled to be held in the country in October this year. All these big media events could only do a world of good to Indian football.
The exciting thing happening in Indian sports though is not restricted to the increasing regularity of world class performances across various Olympic sports on a world-class stage. What is exciting is that there is lots happening outside the realm of Olympic sports as well, which are probably sowing the first seeds to national sporting/outdoor culture. Recently, Northern Motorsports, the guys who pioneered off-track and off-road motorsport through events such as the Raid-de-Himalayas and the Desert Storm, organized the India Baja 2017, which this year became the first Indian Rally to be a part of the Dakar Challenge series. The second edition of the Indian Open Surfing has also been announced and is expected to see more than 100 surfers take part in the pristine and beautiful beaches of Mangalore. Add all the above to the 'holy' (there is always something holy in India) sport of cricket and the signs are good. Do not forget the mission....a top ten finish at the summer Olympics:))
For the record, Manpreet achieved a distance of 18.86 m, which to put it in perspective, would have earned her a creditable 6th place at the Rio 2016 summer Olympics. What her performance in Jinhua also did was make her qualify automatically for the World Championships. The only cause of concern would be an improvement of close to a meter in less than six months. Even more heartening to the fan would be the performance of Neeraj Kumar, the junior Javelin World Champion, who won Silver with a fling of 82.11 m. This is below his personal best of 86.48 set last year, but its great to see consistency with distances coupled with international medal winning performances. Here's wishing both Manpreet and Neeraj a great World Championships.
Badminton continues taking one giant stride after another for the Indian Olympic movement when in this month's Singapore Open Super Series Men's Final, for the first time in the history of Indian and world badminton, two Indians competed for a Super Series title. B. Sai Praneeth eventually got the better of Kidambi Srikanth to claim his first Super Series title in three closely fought sets, but Indian badminton had been already declared the winner before the final. Indians have already claimed two Super Series titles this year with P.V. Sindhu's win in the Women's final of the Indian Open against her Olympic Final nemesis Carolina Marin of Spain.
SSP Chawrasia, the diminutive gleamy eyed Kolkata golfer also continued to delight the golfing world with his mastery of the home courses, defending his Indian Open Golf title, this time at the newly laid Gary Player course at the DLF Golf & Country Club in Gurugram, Haryana. This was his second title in five months and an astonishing fourth European Tour title to go with his six Asian Tour wins. Through sheer simplicity and the rare ability to enjoy the big moments, SSP has endeared himself to the Indian golfing audiences in particular and has clearly maximized his ability, talent and passion for the game on the international stage. Such players draw more kids to the game. Anirban Lahiri meanwhile continues to impress in his sophomore year on the PGA tour, the toughest in the game. He is in the top 70 on the money list, which means he has had top finishes. This to follow a great rookie year on the tour, bodes well.
India also had a great Shooting World Cup stage at home at the Dr. Karni Singh Ranges in New Delhi with star shooter Jitu Rai's Gold in the 50m Pistol and an Indian 1-2 in the event with Amanpreet winning Silver, being the showstopper. Ankur Mittal's Silver in Double Trap was also classy, given a top field. Ankur followed that up with a Gold in the second stage held a month later in Acapulco Mexico. Pooja Ghatkar continued her good form from last year to land a World Cup Bronze in the Women's 10m Air Rifle while Sheeraz Sheikh in the Men's Skeet displayed considerable improvement with a final round show, eventually finishing 6th.
Amidst all this though, one sport which has caught a new kind of imagination of the sports buffs in India has been football. Slowly but surely there has been a new kind of fan-pull for Indian football. Some of the fans maybe the same, but the pull is different this time. All this could be due to the 'push from the very top' and great media mileage generated through ISL to begin with and then taken to a different level by recent successes of the Indian team and a fairytale called Aizawl FC. The team from the tiny north-eastern hill state of Mizoram, at one point not supposed to play in the country's top FIFA recognised football league, today needs a point to be crowned champions of the 10th Hero I-League, after a string of heroic performances. It couldn't have come at a better time with probably the biggest single-sport event the country has ever seen, the FIFA U-17 World Cup, scheduled to be held in the country in October this year. All these big media events could only do a world of good to Indian football.
The exciting thing happening in Indian sports though is not restricted to the increasing regularity of world class performances across various Olympic sports on a world-class stage. What is exciting is that there is lots happening outside the realm of Olympic sports as well, which are probably sowing the first seeds to national sporting/outdoor culture. Recently, Northern Motorsports, the guys who pioneered off-track and off-road motorsport through events such as the Raid-de-Himalayas and the Desert Storm, organized the India Baja 2017, which this year became the first Indian Rally to be a part of the Dakar Challenge series. The second edition of the Indian Open Surfing has also been announced and is expected to see more than 100 surfers take part in the pristine and beautiful beaches of Mangalore. Add all the above to the 'holy' (there is always something holy in India) sport of cricket and the signs are good. Do not forget the mission....a top ten finish at the summer Olympics:))
