Cant Wait Any Longer....Bring On London 2012

Savour this folks !!! The Women Archers in particular, have consistently battled the champion Koreans over the last two years and even beaten them a couple of times including in a big final very recently; The World beating Indian Shooters haven't let their guard or performance down one bit;The Men's Hockey team have had a spirited year; Saina has won two titles already this year; Sania and Bhupati just won the French Open mixed; Krishna Poonia and Vikas Gowda have reached new horizons and The Boxers are a world force to reckon with for sometime now. That London 2012 is going to be India's best Olympics ever looks certain. The anxiety for us freaks however is related to the magic question, 'By how much?'

Its anybody's guess if everything falls into place, but when it comes to the Olympics that is one thing you cannot do....Hazard a Guess!!! What is most pleasing however as an Indian lover of Olympic Sport is the fact that there is so much to look forward to this time and with so much 'hitting home'. There will always be the Bolts' and the 'Super' Dan's as top priority, but nothing beats the passion of the rendering of the Anthem and the Flag flying high witnessed by a world audience in a sporting arena. The lump in the throat is still inevitable. Hope to see a few such moments as opposed to only one last time. Wishing the squad loads of luck and best wishes. Bring on London 2012

Life's Living Moments

November is the first month synonymous with winters in India; specially in the North; and Delhites start experiencing the evident nip in the air accompanying hazy evenings. It was on one such evening, during one of my regular 'chore' trips to the nearby market, which ended up awaiting a takeaway outside a popular local eatery. A steep flight of descending stairs led to the entrance and I was biding my time, puffing away, languidly resting on the separator railings, when three men approached the eatery. And no, the use of the word men is with complete grasp of how to describe the different stages of human life, despite what anyone might conclude on reading on.
The leading guy, was definitely on the wrong side of middle-aged, however his fitness was above par and he quickly disappeared through the entrance, just about managing to blurt out to one of the two following, something on the lines of being careful while alighting. What followed was a sight, which when I end up ranking on priority, will rank right up there as one of the most pleasing, full of life moments I will have ever experienced. Two men, the one ahead not less than 90 years of age, being physically assisted in his endeavor by another way beyond 80. The one providing assistance needed no less assistance, but together they made it and in quick relatively quick time too. It was an insanely soul-cleansing sight.
Rejuvinated and pondering over the experience, I almost forgot about the food order. While the two were making their way into the eatery, the nonagenarian had mouthed something about the frugality of a 'party' at this age preferring to lie down and watch television instead. The octagogenarian had responded on the lines of 'dont try to fool yourself'. Curiousity as well as purpose led me into the eatery and what I witnessed inside was a sight that made me delay my urgency by about a quarter of an hour and indulge in a bit of self-entertainment. Eleven men, having an average of about 70 years and that too because one of them had managed to pull it down significantly, sat around a table spread, having the most electrifying discussion, all the while diving into their own bowls of soup and accompaniments.
The 'party'. In between, they would enquire, instruct, order around all eatery staff as they awaited 'the main course' perhaps. A deeper and prolonged observation could have definitely revealed a lot about them as individuals, as even in the brief period that I stayed put, distinct character traits had begun emerging, but compulsions of the nuptial world made me desert my post as soon as my takeaway had fulfilled its contractual obligations on the premises.
A truly fulfilling moment capped a rough day at work. Zest was back!!!

MISSION OLYMPICS-INDIYAAAAAA INDIAAA:)

Its that time of the year. For fans of Olympic sports, guesses about India's medal prospects have just begun to be made. SIX!! the smart one would say. COULD BE 10 THIS TIME, will come the gamblers retort. For those in it for a long time, and planning to continue even longer, its just a titilating journey to the closing ceremony.Earlier records are dug up, moments are relived, present dissections are initiated. All for the shared joy of basking in the Olympic glory.

It would have been so wonderful to say that we have come a long way from our previous review in 2009. The worrying part is that some of those discussed in detail have just about been able to maintain their own while some have expectedly have dropped off the radar. The good part is that some more individuals and teams have come into contention. The exciting part is that the Indian Olympic fan looks forward to it with much more assurance and expectation than the horror of the 80s. Despite the system!!
Abhinav,Saina, Sushil,Vijender are still contenders.Leander, Sania might as best surprise. Ronjon,Deepika,Gagan, The Archery, Boxing, Shooting and Wrestling Teams are world class and fans will also follow Gymnastics, Rowing and Swimming with interest for a change. There is no absolute world beater like Usain or Rudisha for the 'minnows' , neither the well oiled systems of the US, China or Australia or the like, but this country is ultimately, a country of faith, and faith well-placed.
Without going into the lows of the CWG or the Quantum of medals in the Asiad, an objective analysis would surely reveal that metal will come, but the road is far from being traversed.
In a way the CWG scam has acted as a saviour for sports and sportspersons in this country. There is more appreciation of achievements of Indian athletes after the way they are treated by the powers that be, was brutally exposed. Things have changed 'on the ground' as well they say. The Government has nurtured athletes since the last big games and has managed to come up with a selection of contenders in various disciplines and are spending money on their training in the best of conditions and facilities. Indian athletes are training all accross Europe, USA, Cuba and Australia, well in advance by Indian standards. Some of them have been doing it for a long time now. News of individuals and teams going to participate in global competitions and at times reporting encouraging results have not missed anyone's attention. You have to say, in the India of 2011and soon to be in the Olympic year of 2012, a little bit of drive, hunger,passion, whatever you call it, has to come from the individuals who are getting the honour as well.
I would be happy with us doubling our account. Urge fans not to be disappointed by even less as other nations also have a right to be proud. Anything beyond 100% would be cause for ecstasy. Who would ever mind exploring whats beyond ecstacsy.

Indian Sports Inc marches on!

I hope the point about true sporting glory has been emphatically made and we can now proceed to enjoy our journey of partnering India towards sporting greatness with an emphasis on Olympic sports . Our endeavour going forward would be to enjoy the presence of global sporting icons in the midst of our day to day lives, just like Mumbaikars do in relation to Bollywood Stars.
Our sporting heroes in the last three month period have not been a surprise.
Here is a sneak peak:

• Saina Nehwal, one of India's greatest active sportsperson already at the young age of 21, won the prestigious Indonesian Super Series ladies singles event. Saina beat 3 top-10 players enroute to the win, including 2 top chinese shuttlers which in any badminton event, let alone a Super Series event is akin to conquering Mount Everest.
  World Rank#7
  Go Saina! Don't rest before Numero Uno
• Susheel Kumar, our olympic bronze medallist, silenced the ministry shenanigans by striking gold at the German Grand Prix Freestyle & Greco Roman wrestling championship
• Gaganjeet Bhullar became the youngest Indian to win an Asian tour title when he won the Indonesia President Invitational, at the age of 21. Its been a great year for Bhullar with 4 top-10s on the tour already(including a second place) to go with the win. Qualifying for the main draw of the British Open has been the icing on the cake though
• Sandeep Sejwal became the first Indian to be in the world rankings for three events after he smashed three national records in the recently concluded FINA world championships.He is ranked 61st, 66th & 69th in the 50m,100m & 200m breastroke in the world. Compatriot Virdhawal Khade finished 59th out of 202 swimmers in the 50m freestyle while J.Agnishwar also broke the existing national record in the 200m individual memory. We take these performances to heart because at least these guys are not going there on government money to have a visit and deliver worst times than at home which used to be the case earlier.
• Joshna Chinappa won the third WISPA title of her career when she defeated home favourite Low Wee Wern in the final of the $ 16,000 NSC series event in Kuala Lumpur.
  World Rank#41
• Leander Paes was denied a 10th Grand Slam title when he and mixed doubles partner Cara Black lost in the Wimbledon Final. Paes is a former two time winner in the same event category. What a journeyman! Tributes to his fitness:)
• Sania Mirza, won a challenger title in the US. If its a stepping stone for greater glory than what she has achieved already, we will all accept this win. Otherwise its just a way to earn some pocket money in the recession. Frankly, I think she is done and dusted though

Do let me know if i've missed anything and to all my sporty friends, I hope the list above gives further indication as to what can be considered as steps towards sporting glory. A 3 nation one-day tournament win with Srilanka & West Indies(of the 90s and beyond) for company, played travelling all across India in March-April, certainly does not.

Watch Out For(WOF)!

1. World Badminton Championships-Hyderabad, August 10-16
2. World Boxing Championships-Milan, Sep 1-12

True Sporting Glory

Greetings to all who believe that having a sporting culture imbibed into the cultural ethos of this country(India) is the only way to true sporting glory.
True sporting glory?? This really needs to be defined first or at least some parameters need to be drawn. What better way than to cite examples with which we can relate to.
The Indian hockey team recently won the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia. It was a five team tournament with New Zealand(World no 7), Pakistan(World no 8), Egypt(World no 20) and the hosts Malaysia(World no 15) competing for the cup besides India(World no 11). Now, that is a sporting achievement. Sporting glory would only come when the Indian hockey team wins either the Olympic Gold, the Hockey World Cup or the Champions Trophy.
It would also be fair to say that in the unofficial national sport of cricket after the World Championship Win in 1985 in Australia where Ravi Shastri returned with the Champion of Champions accolade, there has been nothing to root for till date in the actual sport ,although much has been achieved on the administrative front with the creation of so many multi-millionaire cricketers and world class infrastructure. The test series victory against Steve Waugh's all conquering Australians after being blown off for more than half the series is the only other instance which comes to mind.
In a nut shell, in TEAM sports, true sporting glory can only be achieved by beating quality TEAMs.There are two essential ingredients in this. The opponent has to have quality and the result of the contest has to result in a WIN....very important from the sporting culture point of view as well- WIN (In India there is a tendency to glorify second place finishes, draws etc)

In individual sports it is even simpler. You simply have to WIN in an event which has the best in the world competing for the top spot. Vishwanathan Anand, Abhinav Bindra, Mary Kom, Pankaj Advani, Geeth Sethi, Michael Ferriera, Prakash Padukone, Pullela Gopichand, Dola & Rahul Bannerjee(apologies if any more world champions have been left out) are obviously miles ahead of the pack on that front, while Rajyavardhan Rathore, Sushil Kumar, Jitender Kumar, Karnan Malleswari and Leander Paes should also be given their due( ater all they WON olympic medals).
If we can all agree on the above, a little start I believe would have been made on my mission to bring about a sporting culture in this country...where we all play fair but play desperately to WIN