Performance of India in Olympics 2008

Finally Indians have settled with 1 Gold and 2 Bronze. Abhinav Bindra who won First Individual Gold for the country has become( now just after a month I should rather say became) the sparkle of the eye.

Some analysists had predicted that India will win 6 medals in these games. People might say that just three medals to a country of 1.2 Billion plus population is a shame but I think it is a lot better than the previous Games in Athens(2004) where we got 1 Silver(Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore) or in Sydney(2000) where we got 1 Bronze(Karnam Malleshwari).

This time India got a medal each in Shooting, Boxing and Wrestling. I would like to stress the contribution of Mittals Champions Trust set up by Laxmi Mittal who sponsored Abhinav Bindra and some other athletes. But the stage is set for a lot better prformance in 2012 London Games where the actual results of the trust will pour in. Also Bindra's Gold has given a much needed thrust to Indian Sports.

I am writing this post almost a month after the Beijing Olympics 2008 ended. I especially wanted to see as to what response do these Olympic Heroes get from the cricket savvy nation of ours. But ALAS!!!

Vijender Kumar gets Bronze!!!

Vijender Kumar has lost his semifinal bout against Cuba's Emilio Correa Bayeaux 8-5. He has to settle with the Bronze medal now.

The Cuban boxer had a 2-0 lead by the end of Round 1 itself. Vijender lifted his game and tried to storm back in Round 2. The score for Round 2 was 2-3 in the favour of Vijender. The total score after Round 2 was 4-3 with Vijender trailing with 1 point. But in the third round Emilio scored a clear 3-0 and the total score was 7-3 taking the match away from the hands of Vijender Kumar. Vijender tried a comeback but the 4 point lead was too much and the final score was 8-5.

With this bronze, India is at 44th position in medals tally with 1 Gold and 2 Bronze, the best performance of India so far in Olympics.

India Events Today 22nd August

India will be competing in two events today. The first one is highly anticipated Semifinal match of Boxer Vijender Kumar in Men's 75kg Boxing. His match will be happening at 1246(IST). If he wins this match he will reach finals and will win a Gold or Silver. But if he looses this match he will get a Bronze.

India will also be competing in Women's 4x400m relay. The race will take place at 1655(IST).

Finally a Medal in Boxing!!! ...thnx to Vijender Kumar

Image Courtesy: REUTERS
India's Vijender Kumar has defeated Ecuador's Carlos Gongora 9-4. By this victory Vijender has paved his way to semifinal and will atleast win a Bronze because both the loosing semifinalists get a Bronze medal.

Vijender dominated the entire match and had a lead 0f 2-0 from Round 1. In Round 2 scores were 2-1 and by the end of round three total score was 7-2 with Vijender comfortably in the lead.

Vijender Kumar will be having his semifinal bout on 22 at 1246IST.

Jitender Kumar also out of Boxing

India's Jitender Kumar has been defeated by Russia's Georgy Balakshin 11-16 in the Quarterfinal of Men's Fly 51kg Boxing. With this defeat two of the three boxers of India are out of Quarter Finals. Now only Medal Hope in Boxing is Vijender Kumar who is having his bout at 1816IST.

Like Abhinav Bindra and Akhil Kumar, Jitender Kumar is also supported by Mittal Champions Trust created by Lakshmi Mittal of ArcelorMittal.

India's Sushil Kumar wins a Bronze in Wrestling!!!

Image Courtesy: REUTERS
India's Sushil Kumar has won a Bronze Medal in Men's 66kg FreeStyle Wrestling by beating Leonid Spiridonov of Kazakhstan 3-1. Earlier Sushil lost in Main Round. Main Round is for Gold and Silver Medals. And Repechage round is for Bronze Medal.

During his run in the event, Sushil was first defeated by Ukraine's Andriy Stadnik(who has won the Silver Medal in the event) 1-3 in the Main Round. After this defeat in the Repechage Round-1 Sushil defeated USA's Doug Schwab 3-1. After that in Repechage Round-2 he defeated Belarus' Albert Batyrov 3-1. And finally Leonid of Kazakhstan to win the Bronze.

With this win India has got two medals, 1-Gold and 1-Bronze in its kitty. Now India is ranked 41(in order of Golds won) and 46th(in order of total medals won) in medals tally. Today fate of Vijender Kumar and Jitender Kumar will also be decided. If they win today, it will guarantee a medal as bothe loosing semifainalist get a Bronze in Boxing. And if they win today they will be having there Semifinal Match on 22.

Sushil's Run to the Bronze Medal
Men's FR 66 kg 1/8 Final
India KUMAR Sushil - Ukraine STADNIK Andriy 1-3

Men's FR 66 kg Repechage Round 1
United States SCHWAB Doug - India KUMAR Sushil 1-3

Men's FR 66 kg Repechage Round 2
India KUMAR Sushil - Belarus BATYROV Albert 3-1

Men's FR 66 kg Bronze
India KUMAR Sushil - Kazakhstan SPIRIDONOV Leonid 3-1

India's Result Today (19th)

• Table Tennis - In TT Sharath Kamal Achanta (above Middle) won his first round match against Alfredo Carneros 4-2 (6:11 12:10 11:8 9:11 11:6 11:7 ). His next match will be against Weixing Chen of Austria on 20th August at 0830IST (GMT +5:30).

• Wrestling - India's Yogeswar Dutt (above Left) won his second round match earlier today but then lost in Quarter finals to Japan's Kenichi Yumoto 6-3. Another Indian Wrestler Sushil Kumar will be having his bout in 66kg category tomorrow at 0730IST.

• Women's Long Jump - India's Anju Bobby George showed a dismal performance by making a foul in all the three jumps. She didn't get any mark for her jumps and thus was last in her Group.

• Boxing - India's two Boxers will be having there Quarterfinals bout tomorrow. If any of them wins, it will guarantee a medal because both the loosing semifinalists get a Bronze in Boxing. Jitender Kumar's match will be at 1646IST and Vijender's bout will be at 1816IST.