India's London Olympics 2012 Journey so far...

While we play predictor here, let us catch up on the Indian contingents journey so far in the London Olympics.

There were many hopes building up for a great Indian showing shouldering on Saina Nehwal, Deepika Kumari, Ronjan Sodhi, Abhinav Bindra, MC Mary Kom, Vijender Singh, Sushil Kumar and a few other wrestlers and Boxers.

However, so far (upto 3rd Aug), it has not been a great story with the some of these names failing to live upto the hopes.

Medals so far
India has 1 SILVER and 1 BRONZE so far and is at 32nd position in medals tally.

A surprise SILVER came India's way when Vijay Kumar won in shooting on 3rd Aug. Congrats Vijay !!

The BRONZE was won by Gagan Narang in Shooting as well. Well done Gagan !!

Losing Proposition
Meanwhile, some of the sure-shot winners fell by the wayside and caused a lot of heart-burn for the sports enthusiasts of the country.

World No. 1 Deepika Kumari lost in the first round itself and could not come to terms with the fast changing wind direction of the Lords - mecca of Cricket. In her own words - "before I could understand , it was all over." Oh ..we do not expect that from a World No.1. The changing wind at Lords is a well-known phenomenon and should have been factored in by her coaches. Maybe the pressure of the BIG stage caught her. 

Another World No.1 in Shooting Ronjan Sodhi failed to even qualify for the finals. It was expected that he will surely return a medal-winner.  Did the BIG stage got to him as well...

Drawing from these two experiences, maybe the mental toughness is a very big factor as is the skill. When these athletes go out for a World meet or so, there is no sendoff and the hype is missing completely, while, there is a grand sendoff for the Olympics and the hype is tremendous.

Maybe mental toughness is one key area to work upon so that our World No.1's do not fall like nine pins in the early stages . Its fine if they reach the finals and lose. Atleast, they will prove their rankings and will not be seen as a fluke. Olympics is one big event and it cannot be treated like any other tournament. It needs special preparations and hope we learn our lessons and continue to send formidable contingents to the Olympics.

Meanwhile, Saina Nehwal ran into the Chinese wall and could not penetrate it as yet. She lost to World No 1 in the semis and will fight for the bronze with yet another chinese - the World No.2. Keeping my fingers crossed.. All the best Saina!!

The hockey team continues to dissapoint and lost all the 3 matches so far - to Netherlands, New Zealand and Germany and out of reckoning for semis even if they win rest of the matches.

In Athletics, While Krishna Poonia qualified for the finals of Discus throw, others like Myookha Johny, Seema Antil, On Prakash all lost and could not qualify for the finals.

In Tennis, the much chaos around partners did no favour and all men's doubles teams lost and are out - I thought Leander and Vishnu played better and their last game was a treat to watch. Leander and Sania are still alive in the mixed doubles.

What Next ?

On a brighter note, we still have Vijender Singh, MC Mary Kom and Sushil Kumar to look upto for medals.

Let's see how many medals do we win eventually.
What do you think?

India's Medal Chances at London Olympics 2012

With the 2012 London Olympics starting on July 27th, its time to play the Analyst role and predict the medals India is going to win this summer.

The qualifications gave us a glimpse of the form of the Athletes and thereafter the tournaments/meets in which they participated also shows their current levels.

Out of all the disciplines, I feel the following Athletes stand a chance to win the following medals:

• Saina Nehwal (badminton) - Silver
•  Deepika Kumari (archery) - Silver
• Vijendra Singh (boxing) - Silver
• Ronjan Sodhi (shooting) - Bronze
• Sushil Kumar (wrestling) - Silver
• Leander Paes and Sania Mirza (tennis) - Gold
• MC Mary Kom (boxing) - Gold
• Abhinav Bindra (shooting)- Silver

Hey readers, do share your views on what you think will be the medals haul this time.

Will bring in updates as the Games go by.

London Olympics : Boxing - Key Indian Boxers

Boxing is yet another discipline where India has shown great strides in the last few years. Vijender Singh won the Bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and created history - the first Indian boxer to get an Olympic medal.

This time around, the London bound boxing contingent - 8 boxers in all - seems promising and will look to build up on Vijender Singh's exploits in the last edition.

The following are the boxers who have qualified and will be on the plane to London:

Men's light flyweight(49kg): Devendro Singh
Men's bantamweight (56kg): Shiva Thapa
Men's lightweight (60kg): Jai Bhagwan
Men's light welterweight (64kg): Manoj Kumar
Men's welterweight (69kg): Vikas Krishan Yadav
Men's middleweight (75kg): Vijender Singh
Men's light heavyweight (81kg): Sumit Sangwan
Women's flyweight (51kg): Mary Kom

Medal Prospects


M C Mary Kom is being seen as a medal prospect based on her record in the last few years. Mary Kom, a mother of two, is a five time successive World Boxing champion, a biennial amateur boxing competition organised by the International Boxing Association (AIBA). (This is the first time in Olympics history that the women's event is being held.)

MC Mary Kom

(This video comes from YouTube)

In the men's section, Vijender Singh will lead the charge and will hope to improve his showing this time. A good showing is expected from Devendro and Jai Bhagwan too.

Meanwhile, Shiva Thapa is the youngest Indian boxer to have qualified. In 2012 Asian Olympic Qualifiers held in Astana, Kazakhstan, Shiva defeated Syria's Wessam Salamana 18-11 to clinch the gold medal and qualified for 2012 London Olympics in 56 kgs category.

All-in-all, I believe the medal hopefuls are:

MC Mary Kom
Vijendra Singh

Let's see what is the final medals-tally for Boxing at the London Olympics.

We are waiting to be surprised !!

This is how a marathon was run...

While India continues to count the days to the London Olympics and build up steam , here is an interesting read from the pages of Olympic history. Read the previous posts on http://indiansportsstrength.blogspot.com/2012/06/london-olympics-athletics-key-indian.html.


(Source of below information: Wikipedia)

1904 Summer Olympics were held in the United States. The marathon was the most bizzare event of the games. It was run over dusty roads in extremely hot conditions, with horses and automobiles clearing the way for the runners and in the process creating dust clouds which the athletes had to face in turn.

The first to arrive at the finish line was Frederick Lorz. He had dropped out of the race after nine miles and then took a car ride. Unfortunately the car broke down and he re-entered the race at 19th mile and jogged back to the finish line. The officials thought that he had won the race and awarded him the Gold medal. Lorz played along and treated the situation as a practical joke. He was later banned for one year and his medal forfieted. He returned in 1905 to win the Boston marathon.

Thomas Hick was the first man to cross the finish line legally and won the race. He was a Briton running for the United States.  He received several doses of strychnine sulfate (a common rat poison, which stimulates the nervous system in small doses) mixed with brandy from his trainers. He was supported by his trainers when he crossed the finish, but is still considered the winner. Hicks had to be carried off the track, and possibly would have died in the stadium, had he not been treated by several doctors. A Cuban postman named Felix Carbajal joined the marathon, arriving at the last minute. He had to run in street clothes that he cut around the legs to make them look like shorts. He stopped off in an orchard en route to have a snack on some apples, which turned out to be rotten. The rotten apples caused him to have to lie down and take a nap. Despite falling ill to apples he finished in fourth place !!

The marathon included the first two black Africans to compete in the Olympics; two Tswana tribesmen named Len Tau (real name: Len Taunyane) and Yamasani (real name: Jan Mashiani). But they weren't there to compete in the Olympics, they were actually the sideshow. They had been brought over by the exposition as part of the Boer War exhibit (both were really students from Orange Free State in South Africa, but this fact was not made known to the public). Len Tau finished ninth and Yamasani came in twelfth. This was a disappointment, as many observers were sure Len Tau could have done better if he had not been chased nearly a mile off course by aggressive dogs.

London Olympics : Athletics - Key Indian Athletes

Athletics

Athletics is one glamorus part of the Olympics and gets lot of attention and focus from everyone.

India also has some distinct memories associated with these events - the legendary Milkha Singh  and PT Usha are the names that come to mind.

The Past

The Flying Sikh Milkha Singh and PT Usha provided hopes to millions of Indians and nearly got the medals that have alluded us for a long time.

Milkha Singh

Milkha Singh came a close 4th in the 400 metres at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. He finished second in all of his 400m races prior to the final,improving his time on each occasion. In the final he finished in fourth place- it required a photo-finish to determine the result. His time was 45.6 seconds and his finishing position was not bettered by an Indian track athlete until the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

PT Usha, known as the "Payyoli Express", was the athlete who reached the heights set by Milkha Singh.  In 1984 LA Olympics, Usha was sure to win an Olympic Medal. However, she lost out in the final and much like Milkha Singh, finished 4th - missing out on the 400 m hurdles bronze by 1/100th of a second. It was a case again of so-near-yet-so-far for India.

PT Usha

[Trivia: Purely from a statistics perspective, India has 2 silvers in 1900 Paris Olympics , won by Norman Pritchard. . IOC regards these medals as credited to India; however, International committees credit these medals to Great Britain.]

Present

Some Indian Athletes to watch out for at London Olympics 2012...

Krishna Poonia

Krishna Poonia (Women's Discus Throw): Poonia threw the discus to a distance of 64.76m to qualify for the London Olympics. She holds the National record. She is expecting to throw over 65m at Olympics and win a medal.

Seema Antil (Women's Discus Throw): Seema achieved the "A" qualififcation mark by a throw of 62.2 metres at an Athletic meet in the US earlier in the year.

Vikas Gowda (Men's discus Throw) : Gowda threw the discuss 64.05 met res and achieved the olympic qualification mark of B standard which was 63 metres.

Tintu Luka (Women's 800m): Luka qualified for the Olympics in the 800 metres at the World championships in Korea last year by making a season best of 2:00.95, and passed through the Olympic qualification standard of 2:01.30. Notably, she is a protege of PT Usha.

Myookha Johny (Women's triple Jump):  Mayookha qualified for 2012 Olympics in triple jump, going past the London Games ‘B’ qualifying standard of 14.10m. She jumped 14.10 metres and grabbed the bronze medal at Asian Athletics Championships last year. She became the first Indian women triple jumper to cross 14m mark.

Gurmeet Singh (Men's 20 Km Walk): National champion Gurmeet Singh clocked 1:22:05, finishing 9th in the 20km event held at Phoenix Park, Dublin Sunday. Gurmeet bettered the ‘A’ standard of Olympic qualification 1:22:30.

Hope some of them reach the podium and do the country proud.

Olympics .. here we come !!

The Olympics season is coming up and the Indian Athletes are raring to go... Many athletes are peaking at the right moment and have qualified for the London Olympics.

London Bound..

The Lodon bound berths are filling up fast with last of the qualifying tournaments / matches taking place now and will do so throughout June. The Indians are making good use of these last ditch opportunities and sealing their places on the plane to London.

Some of the recent Indian wins ....

MC Mary Kom qualified for the women's boxing in the Flyweight category (51 Kgs). - By the way, this women's category is featuring for the first time in Olympics - so well done Mary Kom !!

Sushil Kumar also won and qualified.

The women's Archery (Recurve) Team - has also qualified.

Earlier men's Hockey team qualified winning the last qualifying tournament and taking the only spot available... It would have been disastrous but the Nobbs-boys made it thru ...phew !!

Let's enjoy the Qualififcations for the time being..

I know, the critics will be out comparing the standards and statistics of our Athletes.. but I would at this moment enjoy the qualifications across various disciplines.. giving us additional interest in the games :-)..
by the way, till now about 70 Athletes have qualified (including 16 member Men's hockey team). Lets see what the final tally comes out to be.

Do send in your comments on your take on this... lets build it up for the Indian Contingent !!

List of qualifiers till now :

Archery
Laishram Bombayla Devi, Deepika Kumari, Chekrovolu Swuro and Jayanta Talukdar
Athletics
Men's 20 km walk: Gurmeet Singh, Baljinder Singh, Irfan Kolothum Thodi
Women's discus throw: Krishna Poonia, Seema Antil
Men's discus throw: Vikas Gowda
Men's shot put: Om Prakash Karhana
Women's 800m: Tintu Luka
Men's triple jump: Renjith Maheshwary
Women's 3000 m steeplechase: Sudha Singh
Women's triple jump: Mayookha Johny
Men's 50km walk: Basanta Bahadur Rana or Sandeep Kumar
Men's marathon: Ram Singh Yadav
Badminton
Women's singles: Saina Nehwal
Men's singles: Parupalli Kashyap
Mixed doubles: Jwala Gutta, Valiyaveetil Diju
Women's doubles: Jwala Gutta, Ashwini Ponnappa
Boxing
Men's light flyweight(49kg): Devendro Singh
Men's bantamweight (56kg): Shiva Thapa
Men's lightweight (60kg): Jai Bhagwan
Men's light welterweight (64kg): Manoj Kumar
Men's welterweight (69kg): Vikas Krishan Yadav
Men's middleweight (75kg): Vijender Singh
Men's light heavyweight (81kg): Sumit Sangwan
Women's flyweight (51kg): Mary Kom

Men's Hockey: Goalkeepers: Bharat Chetri (captain) and P.R. Sreejesh.
Defenders: V.R.Raghunath, Ignace Tirkey, Sandeep Singh.
Midfielders: Sardar Singh (vice captain), Gurbaj Singh, Birendra Lakra, Manpreet Singh.
Forwards: S.V. Sunil, Gurwinder Singh Chandi, Shivendra Singh, Danish Mujtaba, Tushar Khandker, Dharamvir Singh, S.K. Uthappa.
Stand-bys: Sarvanjit Singh and Kothajit Singh
Swimming Judo
Women's 63kg: Garima Chaudhary
Rowing: India has qualified two boats with up to three athletes in men's single sculls and lightweight double sculls
Shooting 
Men's 50m rifle 3 positions: Sanjeev Rajput
Men's 50m rifle prone: Joydeep Karmakar
Men's 10m air rifle: Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang
Men's 25m rapid fire pistol: Vijay Kumar
Men's double trap: Ronjan Sodhi
Men's trap: Manavjit Singh Sandhu
Women's 25m pistol: Rahi Sarnobat, Heena Sidhu
Women's 10m air pistol: Annuraj Singh
Women's trap: Shagun Chowdhary

Men's 100m freestyle: Virdhawal Khade
Men's 100m breaststroke: Sandeep Sejwal
Men's 200m freestyle: Aaron D'Souza or Virdhawal Khade
Men's 200m breaststroke: Sandeep Sejwal
Men's 1500m freestyle: Saurabh Sangvekar Table tennis
Men's singles: Soumyajit Ghosh Swimming
Men's 100m freestyle: Virdhawal Khade
Men's 100m breaststroke: Sandeep Sejwal
Men's 200m freestyle: Aaron D'Souza or Virdhawal Khade
Men's 200m breaststroke: Sandeep Sejwal
Men's 1500m freestyle: Saurabh Sangvekar
Weightlifting:
Men's 69kg: Katulu Ravi Kumar
Women's 48kg: Ngangbam Soniya Chanu
Wrestling
Men's freestyle 55kg: Amit Kumar
Men's freestyle 60kg: Yogeshwar Dutt
Men's freestyle 66kg: Sushil Kumar
Men's freestyle 74kg: Narsingh Pancham Yadav
Women's freestyle 55kg: Geeta Phogat
Table tennis
Men's singles: Soumyajit Ghosh Women's singles: Ankita Das
Tennis
Mens' doubles: Leander Paes
Weightlifting:
Men's 69kg: Katulu Ravi Kumar Women's 48kg: Ngangbam Soniya Chanu
Wrestling
Men's freestyle 55kg: Amit Kumar
Men's freestyle 60kg: Yogeshwar Dutt
Men's freestyle 66kg: Sushil Kumar
Men's freestyle 74kg: Narsingh Pancham Yadav
Women's freestyle 55kg: Geeta Phogat Women's singles: Ankita Das
Tennis
Men's doubles: Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, (Rohan Bopanna)*, (Somdev Devvarman)*, (Sania Mirza)*
* - to be confirmed based on ATP rankings

Vishy.. the old fox

Vishwanathan Anand won the 8th game of the World Chess Championship match to hold Boris Gelfand 4-4. This win comes after a shock loss in the 7th game for Anand.

Anand, who has been off-color for last few years, seemed to be going down that path when he lost the 7th game and all the critics were all over him. However, the old fox returned the compliments in style by shutting out Gelfand in the very nextgame and that too within 17 moves !! This win should boost Anand's confidence and take his tally of titles further..

Way to go Anand!!