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?
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?
