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.

India today (19th August)

Indians will be competing in three events today.

• Women's Long Jump - Anju Bobby George(above Left) will be representing India in Women's Long Jump. Her personal best is 6.83m. She will have to perform a lot better than that for winning a medal. But her current performance is not so encouraging and her season's best is 6.55m. Long Jump qualification will be happening on 19th August 0710IST (GMT +5:30).

• Table tennis - Sharath Kamal Achanta (above Middle) will be representing India in Table Tennis. He will be having his first round match today at 1030IST.

• Wrestling - Yogeshwar Dutt (above Right) will be representing India in Men's Freestyle 60kg. He is a tough guy and is capable of some outclassing the best. Luckily he is having a easy draw until Semifinals. So one can expect a medal. I think at least a Bronze shoud be there around the corner. You can catch him live at 0830IST (GMT +5:30).

Akhil Kumar looses the Quarter-final

In a major blow to India's medal hopes, Akhil lost his quarter final match to Veaceslav Gojan of Rep. of Moldova in Men's Bantam (54kg). Both Akhil and Gojan were tied at 2-2 until the end of the Round - 2. But after that Gojan scored 4-0 and 4 - 1 in next two rounds and won the match with the final score of 10-3. Akhil seemed to be missing the flare he showed in previous games. Although he punched a larger number of times but Gojan's punches were more accurate and focused.

With Akhil out, now India has two Boxers Vijender and Jitender Kumar in Quarter Finals both of whom are having there bout's on 20th.

India Today (18th): Watch Akhil Kumar

Neha Agarwal is out of Table Tennis. Boxer Akhil Kumar who defeated World Champion in the earlier round has a quarterfinal match today at 1700 IST(GMT +5:30). His Opponent today will be Veaceslav Gojan from Republic of Moldova. A win today will guarantee a medal as both loosing semifinalists get a Bronze medal.

vs

Indian Action yet to come...

First week of the Olympics is over and we have seen a lot of ups n downs not only for Indians but for all the countries. Michael Phelps has created a history by winning record 8 Olympic Gold Medals. Tyson Gay, the former World Record holder in Men's 100m failed to qualify for the finals. But this is Olympics where new stars are born every time.

Returning back to India, now only 4 events are left in which India will compete.

• Boxing - In Boxing India's three athletes are there in quarterfinals. A medal should not be a far away dream but lets see if any (or more) of Akhil, Vijender or Jitender can add to India's Medals Tally.

• Wrestling - India's three athletes will be competing in the wrestling events. Indians used to be good wrestlers at until some years back when strength and stamina were more important than speed. But this time the wrestlers have worked hard on their technique so a good show can be expected here too.

• Table Tennis - Sharat and Neha may be India's best but wining against Chinese in T.T. is like "Mungeri Lal Ke Haseen Sapne".

• Athletics - India has "good" athletes in Athletics but only the "Best" win the medals at Olympics. Indians has performed good in Commonwealth and Asian Games but a Olympic medal is not in sight.

Day 8/16th - August Review

(L-R Jitender Kumar, Vijender and Akhil Kumar)

India's is not just one step but two steps closer to a Boxing medal with three Boxers in Quarterfinals. After the sensational win of Akhil Kumar over World Champion, Jitender Kumar and Vijender also defeated their opponents to move into quarter finals.

Athletics events started from 15th but India's performance in any of the events is not encouraging. All the three athletes in Women's Heptathlon JJ Shobha, Sushmita Roy and Pramila Gudanda were not in top 25.

India's Gagan Narang and Sanjeev Rajput will be contending in Men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions which is last event of Shooting. Besides that India will also be competiting in the Athletic events

Day 7/15th August - Review

India's hopes of another medal have hit a strong setback with the defeat of Bhupati and Paes. As far as I feel the only hope now is in Shooting, Boxing and a slight hope in Wrestling.

Although Athletic events have just started and everyone has expectations from Anju Bobby George in long jump but personally I think it is like asking too much from her. Her personal best till now has ben 6.83m which I don't feel is enough for an Olympic Medal. In Helptathlon, expectations are there from J.J. Shobha after her performance in Athens Olympics 2004. She finished 11th overall even though she was injured. Rest all athletes are more or less there for experience.

I specially wanted to mention about Mittal Champions Trust set-up by Lakshmi Narayan Mittal (majority stake holder in ArcelorMittal) after India's Dismal performance in last Olympics in Athens. Abhinav Bindra the Golden Boy is also supported by the Trust along with many other athletes. But more actual results of the trust's work will come in London Olympics in 2012. I hope more private funds come up after this Olympics. Role of the government in nurturing the talent in India is minimal. It appears only after an athelete wins a medal. So expecting anything from the government is like living in fool's paradise.

15th - Mid-Day Report

India is out of medals race in Tennis and Sailing. Bhupati and Paes lost to Roger Federer and Stanislas 6-2, 6-4.... More updates l8r

Day 5/6: Review

After a good show till quaterfinals Saina Nehwal is out of Women's Single's Badminton. She had a good start in the game but was not able to maintain her rhythm. She was leading with 14-3 at one point in the first set but then she was noticeably nervous. But still she was able to win the first set 28-26. But after tht she lost two consecutive games 21-14, 21-15 to Maria Kristin. In addition to the loss there was one thing in the match which was really interesting. There was a crowd of young chinese people who were supporting Saina. There were huge cheers for every point she scored.

In archery Mangal Singh Champia lost in his second round individual game with whom India's medal quest in Archery event has ended short of hopes.

After earlier low-downs in Women's shooting, Indian women again gave a dismal performance in Women's 50m Rifle 3 Position with Anjali Bhagwat ending at 32nd position and Avneet Kaur at 42nd(second last).

On the tennis front Mahesh Bhupati and Leander Paes won their doubles match against the Brazil's Andre SA and Marcelo Melo. But now the going will be tough for them as their next match is against World no. 1 Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka(seed 4 in doubles). In the Women's doubles Sania Mirza and Sunitha Rao lost to top seed Dinara Safina/Svetlana Kuznetsova.

BTW showering of cash and gifts on Abhinav Bindra has not ended with total already crossing 3 crore rupees(750,000$). In addition to that his father is gifting him a 5-star hotel worth 200 crores(50million $). But in another development Abhinav Bindra claimed that his Rifle was tempered with just before the finals. But Abhinav was able to re-align it again.

P.S.- M sorry... was not able to update the blog as my lappy was locked in the cupboard n i lost the keys...

Scene so far....

So 1 Billion+ population and 1 Gold medal. We have already performed better than Athens 2004. But still yeh dil maaange more!!!

The above pic shows the scene so far. Indian Women are out of Archery events. India is also out of Rowing. But tomorrow i.e. 13th Mangal Singh Champia will be the one to look for as he will be competing in Men's Individual Archery event. He was 2nd in qualifying after leading the tables for considerable amount of time. So a podium finish is clearly in his reach.

In Badminton Sania Nehwal will be having her quarter final match on 13th. She and her opponent are the only two in the last 8 left who are not among th top 10 seeds of the game. But as we saw that Sania defeated 4th(or 6th) Chen Wang earlier so a win can be expected in tomorrow's game also.

On Tennis front Mahesh Bhupati and Leander Paes have reached the second round of Men's Doubles. Also Sania Mirza and Sunitha Rao will also be playing there second round match tomorrow.

Bindra strikes GOLD!!!

Finally India has appeared on the medals board, all credits to the ace shooter Abhinav Bindra who won Gold in Men's 10m Air Rifle. Earlier after qualifying at the 4th position, Bindra was all set for the Gold in the finals with his stunning performance. Another contender from India Gagan Narang was 9th and coudn't qualify for the finals.


In Badminton Saina Nehwal reached the quarter finals with her hard earned win over her Competitor from Hong Kong. She defeated Chen Wang in 3 sets 21-19, 11-21, 21-11. Now in last 8th her next rival will be Maria Kristin Yulianti from Indonesia. Both of them are almost same ranked.

In other events Bajranglal Takhar is out in Men's Single Sculls (Rowing). With him India is out of Rowning event. Anthresh Lalit Lakra is also out of Men's Feather Weight 57 Kg (Boxing) event.

Day 3: India's Schedule/Day 2: Final Report

A lot of events (particularly Tennis) got washed away today due to heavy rains. Most of the matches were delayed or postponed include Men's Doubles of India's Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati.

Now GOOD news from the day is Sania Mirza and Sunitha Rao got a Walk Over in their first round match. But the BAD news is most probably their next match will be against top seed from Russia Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina.

Badminton
On this front both the athletes Saina Nehwal and Anup Sridhar won their respective matches. Saina's next round match is against 4th seed Chen Wang from Hong Kong. No need to say this is going to be really tough opponent to beat. Next opponent of Anup is going to be Shoji Sato of Japan. This shoould no be much difficult for Anup as he is higher ranked than Shoji.

Rowing
In Rowing the India's team comprising of Devender Kumar Khandwal and Manjeet Singh were last in their heat and failed to qualify. Lets see if Bajranglal Takhar can make country proud tomorrow(or rather today) in Men's Single Sculls.

Swimming
Virdhawal Khade failed to qualify for the semis in the Men's 200mFreestyle. Fate of Rehan Jehangir Poncha will be decided tomorrow in Men's 200m Butterfly.

Boxing
Anthresh Lalit Lakra will be competitng in the Men's feather weight category (57Kg).

Shuttle's on a high for INDIANS...:)

On day 1, India's best bet in badminton NEHWAL Saina clinched an easy victory against her Russian opponent KARACHKOVA Ella in straight sets (21-9, 21-8) in Women's Singles category.

On day 2, with the same momentum NEHWAL Saina thrashed her next round opponent GRYGA Larysa from Ukraine again in straight sets (21-18, 21-10) in just 28 mins to book her spot in pre-quarter finals.

Another good news is, SRIDHAR Anup advanced into Round 2 in Men's Singles category after defeating VASCONCELOS Marco of Potugal (21-16, 21-14).

Guyz keep track wid dis blog for more updates on badminton direct from the court... :)

Day 2: Mid-Day Report

Badminton
Saina Nehwal reached the next round by defeating her Ukrainian opponent Larysa Gryga 21-18, 21-10 in 30mins. Till now the road was easy for her but now will be the real test as most probably her next opponent will be seed 4 Chan Weng from Hong Kong.

Archery
India trio comprising of BANERJEE Dola, DEVI Laishram Bombayla and VARDINENI Pranitha was defeated by China's team 206-211.

Rowing
India's team of Devender Kumar KHANDWAL and Manjeet SINGH also failed to qualiy in the Lightweight Men's Double Sculls. They were last in their heat.

Shooting
India's both the athletes in Men's Trap, Manavjit Singh Sandhu and Mansher Singh failed to qualify for the finals. Mansher stood 8th and Manavjit was 12 with a score of 117 and 116 respectively. In Men's Trap top six qualify for the finals and the score at sixth place was 119. Although after a lacklustre performance yesterday Mansher Singh outshined his Indian competitor Manavjit Singh today.

Day 2: India's schedule today

Archery

• Women's Team 1/4 Eliminations : India vs China - BANERJEE Dola, DEVI Laishram Bombayla, VARDINENI Pranitha

It is a tough draw for Women's team. China has got some good archers. But if the team puts in their best performance they can surely upbeat China.

Badminton

• Badminton Women's Singles Round of 32: NEHWAL Saina
• Badminton Men's Singles Round of 64: SRIDHAR Anup

After an easy victory yesterday and looking at her current form Saina should be able to move to the next round. Anup should also be able to move to the next round. Both the players are better ranked than their opponents.

Rowing

• Lightweight Men's Double Sculls: KHANDWAL Devender Kumar, SINGH Manjeet
  

Even I dont know much about them :(

Shooting

• Men's 10m Air Rifle P-Event Training: BINDRA Abhinav, NARANG Gagan
• Men's Trap: SANDHU Manavjit Singh, SINGH Mansher

Shooting has always been India's medal hope in Olympics. Lets see for a change if it doesn't remain hope and become a reality.

Swimming

• Men's 200m Freestyle: KHADE Virdhawal

He is the current Indian sensation in Swimming. He was the junior World Record holder in 50 m, 100 m and 200 m Freestyle in 2006 (I am not sure if he still is...). But it is to be seen whether this 16 years old lad is up for the International Challenge. Personally he is my best bet for 2012 Olympics.

Tennis

• Men's Doubles First Round: BHUPATHI Mahesh, PAES Leander
• Women's Doubles First Round: MIRZA Sania, RAO Sunitha

Bhupathi and Paes have time and again shown their magic together. Lets see if they can leave their personal differences aside and make country proud (just one more time...!!). Sania and Sunitha will also be competing in the Women's Doubles.


BTW PwC (or some other agency... Who cares??) has predicted that India will win 6 medals this time. They took various factors like GDP, population, previous medals into account. I hope at least India performs better than Athens' 2004. A lot will matter on today's results. All in all it is going to be a happening day for Indian fans. Pray for something to cheer us...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz(2:51am)

Day 1: Final Report

Saina Nehwal has moved to the next round of Badminton in Women's Singles category. She easily defeated her Russian opponent KARACHKOVA Ella 2-0 (21-9, 21-8) in 28 mins.

Boxing had mixed results where in Vijender moved to the next round in 75 Kg category while Dinesh Kumar was defeated in 81 Kg category.

Sandeep Sejwal improved his time of 1:02.19 in Men's 100m Breaststroke and was second in his heat. But still it was not enough to qualify for the semifinals, in fact he was ranked 38.

Finally the performers of the day:

• Mangal Singh Champia (Archery)
• Saina Nehwal (Badminton)
  
• Bajranglal Takhar (Rowing)
• Manavjit Singh Sandhu (Men's Trap Shooting)
  
• Vijender (Boxing)
  

Day 1: Mid-Day Report

India had a poor start on the first day with both the medal hopes in shooting Anjali Bhagwat and Avneet Sidhu, failed to qualify (29 n 39 respectively) for the finals in Women's 10m Air Rifle. Shortly after that Samaresh Jung - 42 also disappointed in Men's 10m Air Pistol.

On the Archery front things were not good either with Dola Banerjee, Pranitha Vardineni and Bombayla Devi getting poor rankings ( 31, 37,22 respectively) in Women's Individual event. They will have to give a miraculous performance tomorrow to finish on podium.

But in the mid-day Indian camp had something to cheer-up. Mangal Singh Champia's - 2 Rank finish in Men's Individual Archery event created stirr. "Singh" was really the "King" of the day. Lets pray he continues his form and finishes in medals on 13th.

Others who qualified include Bajranglal Takhar in Men's Single Sculls, Manavjit Singh Samdhu and Mansher Singh ranked 12 and 21 respectively in Men's Trap Shooting event.

India at Olympics

This morning I searched for the Indian contingent on Google and to my surprise I was not able to find a single page with the names of all the athletes. Thus went my more than 4 hours of hard work in finding and compiling the names of all the members of the Indian Contingent which resulted in this Blog!!


P.S. - I have tried my best to list all the members but if still any one is left out ... tell me !!! n yes the picture above shows all the latest schedule...