Bharat Rakshak

Argentina leading 1-0 at half time. You can watch it live here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnX9o3TZw4k

One bad umpiring decision cost the match. Also India kept the attack too late. But good learning experience for the young team. Should try to win 3rd/4th play-off.

Supratik wrote:One bad umpiring decision cost the match. Also India kept the attack too late. But good learning experience for the young team. Should try to win 3rd/4th play-off.

which umpiring decision?

The PC decision. Did not seem to be stick check.

I haven't seen the match yet. How did we play ? Like we did against Belgium and Australia ? Or more like the England/Germany games ? Marijne is working on two fronts - getting the team to pass fast, and improving conversion rate, including PC.

As long as we're progressively getting better at the fast passing game, we're making forward progress, rather than simply clawing on . Top 4 finish for #6 ranked team is good.

It was a very sedate game from both sides except in the 4th quarter when India tried to score. I think they gave too much respect to Olympic champions. Kept it too late. Unfortunately Argentina got that PC and they have the best drag flicker. IMO they played European style with Indian characteristics which is like playing chess. Need more time to master it. More perfection is needed. Cannot find fault with their game today. Argentina defended well.

I would call this game a very well played by India. Both teams looked equally matched. We even played with only 10 men for 10 minutes (out of 60) due to yellow card without conceding.

This team (along with junior team) is shaping out very good. When is Shreejas and Sardara returning? or have they retired?

It was PC.

We played good like we did against Belgium and Oz. It just that Argentina got 1 PC and almost unstoppable shoot to get the goal and after that whole argentina team sitting at their defence.

also in I & II Qtr right side of argentina half has lot of water and due to this many Indian move and cross were not smooth.

You can say luck or excellent goal keeping , but argentina goal kepper stopped almost a goal,those kind of day for India.

Having said that I don't like how utthapa and mandep were in this tournament. lacklusture performance by mandep , 1 goal as forward. He got many and lost most of them to convert in goal.

Shreejesh is returning but not sure about Sardara.

I think even without sardara we have done well, its only the forwards and drag flickers where we need to work, we were not able to get that many goals.

Yes, Argentina have the great Gonzalo Peillat to do PC for them. They're an impressive team - from a place with no hockey history, no good neighbors to play with, and a long way from hockey centers.

Suraj wrote:Yes, Argentina have the great Gonzalo Peillat to do PC for them. They're an impressive team - from a place with no hockey history, no good neighbors to play with, and a long way from hockey centers.

Apart from PC specialist, I would say their defence is very solid one.In last Qtr so much action in their D but not a single PC, it was really frustrating
Forwards may not be that effective, relatively.

I am not sure if it was shown in India. It was good to see stadium full of people(sold out 5,000 only) watching game in rain. We need to have more people along with live on Television world wide. It was free on Youtube but I would not mind paying on Dish network (like I do for cricket). Indian hockey needs to become as popular as cricket and generate similar amount of money.

SBajwa wrote:I am not sure if it was show in India. It was good to see stadium full of people(sold out 5,000 only) watching game in rain. We need to have more people along with live on Television world wide. It was free on Youtube but I would not mind paying on Dish network (like I do for cricket). Indian hockey needs to become as popular as cricket and generate similar amount of money.

It was live at Star sports.
2018 Hockey WC will also take place in same kalinga stadium and heard that by that capacity will be more than now. Will be an electrifying atmosphere.

It looks like a very nice stadium . The phoren teams seem to like it . And it’s located in the hockey mad part of India , not merely in a metro .

We play Germany for bronze . Australia beat them 3-0 and will play Argentina for the win.

I hope we can summon the spirit of the last editions 3rd place game where we beat the then top ranked side Netherlands for bronze, in an amazing shootout after ending regulation time with scores tied 5-5 .

India wins bronze in WHL. Beats Germany 2-1. Now they should try winning these tournaments.

I read somewhere It is better that a Lion leads a bunch of sheep rather than a sheep lead a bunch of lions.My thoughts on Kohli less India.

SBajwa wrote:I am not sure if it was shown in India. It was good to see stadium full of people(sold out 5,000 only) watching game in rain. We need to have more people along with live on Television world wide. It was free on Youtube but I would not mind paying on Dish network (like I do for cricket). Indian hockey needs to become as popular as cricket and generate similar amount of money.

I watched in hotstar app. Most matches from badminton, hockey, cricket, Isl, ileague, EPL are displayed live. Some other matches can be seen in Jio TV app.

Congratulations!! SV Sunil and Akashdeep played good! Rupinder pal Singh gets green card while Kothajit Singh gets yellow.

Amit Kumar, Harjeet Singh and Harmanpreet Singh played last year in december to win the Junior World cup.
Harjeet Singh as midfielder, Harmanpreet as full back (replacement for Sardara singh?) and Amit Kumar as forward.
Harjeet Singh was not tested in this tournament in other games except for this Bronze medal game and immediately you can see the difference he is an excellent mid fielder while both Harmanpreet and Amit had on/off moments.
Good to see that youngsters are being tested.

Rajyavardhar Singh Rathore., sports minister of India watching the game live probably had something to do with the spirits of Indian players!

Rs 25,000 for Jr. Player of the match
Rs 50,000 for the Man of the match

This is atrocious amount!! Sports minister should have given them more!

Wonderful performance by the hockey team! The first goal was a beauty - diagonally cut across the German D and trapped, with the deflection by Sunil scoring. The second was a regulation drag flick. Good to see us keep up full tempo with the German team. We lost to them 0-2 in the league phase (our biggest loss all tournament) but we won when it really mattered.

Overall against the top teams:
Australia: 1-1 draw (ultimate champion, world #2)
Argentina: 0-1 loss (runner up, world #1)
Belgium: 4-3 tiebreak win (world #3)
Germany: 0-2 loss and 2-1 win (world #5)
England: 2-3 loss (world #7)

We didn't play Netherlands (#4) and Spain (#8). Only the loss to England was disappointing. That was the match everyone though we could win. We've now won the bronze in the last 2 editions:
FIH Hockey World League Finals - Men

P V Sindhu reaches the final of the Super Series Masters Final event. Unbeaten run to the final, winning all her group games and the semifinal. She plays Akane Yamaguchi, whom she beat in straight games in the league stage.

Having built up her fitness like that of a sprinter, Sindhu plays like a marathoner. She received a yellow card today for delaying and also doubled up after a long rally near the end of the game.
She needs to play a more attacking variant of badminton. Tomorrows match will be interesting. Yamaguchi runs like a duracell.

Sindhu lost to Yamaguchi in another marathon. She is loosing energy near the end of big tournaments especially with the Japanese girls. Gopichand has work to do with her. Either she has to penetrate their defences with more attacking play instead of long rallies or she has to build up her energy levels.

With all due respect to what Gopi has done and been doing for badminton, I dont think he is doing good work with either Srikanth or Sindhu.

Srikanth is a unique talent and should win the big ones - World Championships, All Englands etc. But he ends up playing too tactical at times and loses. His has got a very good attack but he does not play an attacking game. Plays more of a defensive strokeplay game.
In contrast, IMHO Axelsen isn't as good but looks hungrier and mostly it works for him. The Danes have perhaps the best support staff.

PV Sindhu has built good strength and fitness, but after the first few points, she fails to go for the lines. Instead she is happy to win by trying to outrun her opponents. She should play more like Marin, but ends up playing too defensively.

This can’t be good for her mental strength . She’s now finished second at Olympics , World Championship and Masters Finals . Unfortunately she plays into the Japanese game plan by refusing to be more aggressive . She wait too much for opponent to make mistakes . Hard to say if she learned anything from her worlds loss because she did the same thing wrong here .

Agree with the posters above. Sindhu is almost there as no 1. She needs to be more aggresive at times and build little more stamina. She will be no 1 sometime next year, my prediction.

Her world ranking is not important . She needs to be known as the winner of major titles . That is far more important .

Not taking KL Rahul in all formats is insanity. Rahul is in the same class as Kohli and Rohit. MSK Prasad was a lightweight player . I do not understand why when we have kapildev, Sunni and other seniors, why they are are not made chairman of selectors.Axar Patel,s performance was useless but he is in the team, go figure .

Great players do not automatically make great selectors or coaches . The tour hasn’t even begun and the current selectors are being criticized . How about letting the tour play out first ?

Anand wins FIDE world chess rapid championship.
https://www.chess.com/news/view/anand-b ... orld-rapid

Real amazing!! Just saw the wikipedia article on rapid chess - Anand dominated from 1997 to 2008 (12 years), and is a winner again.
He probably is the greatest rapid chess player.

Aanchal Thakur - 21 years old, wins first ever skiing medal for India at an international event - fantastic achievement

and now on to the winter Olympics!

Shiva Keshavan: India’s lion in winter and Olympics.

“This is the last one,” luger Shiva Keshavan informs, without a hint of trepidation in his voice. No traces of bitterness either, even as he adds, “I would like to continue but it is not feasible now.”

In 25 days, Keshavan will be in PyeongChang for his sixth and final Olympics, the most for Winter Games from India, and next only to Leander Paes (7) if Summers are also taken into account. In short, he has been at it long enough to know that being indignant won’t win him any medals, even though he has every right to do so.

His approval for government funding — “a very new feeling for me” — came in December, after Keshavan turned to Twitter. “Apparently my file is still waiting on TOPS approval before it can come before Mission Olympic Cell. 6 probable Winter Olympians waiting on funds, some have had to skip events and I may have to as well. 2 months before Olympics (sic),” Keshavan posted from Winterberg.

“It gets tiring on the road. Making last-second plans, getting a car, booking a hotel, holding my breath because I might miss crucial events,” says Keshavan. “That day, I had no money to book tickets to World Cup events.”

Stranded alone in a cold, sleepy German town, 6,000km from home, with nothing in the pocket but maxed-out credit cards, Keshavan faced the question that has dogged mankind for generations: “Why do I do what I do?”

For two decades, Keshavan has hurtled himself down an icy concrete chute, going 130kmph without brakes and pulling more Gs through the corners than an astronaut during a rocket launch. And that’s the easy part. Making his way back to the starting line each time has been an Olympic challenge.

Shiva Keshavan reached the record speed of 149.9 kmph in 2010, making him the fastest luger in Asia.

The year was 1997, and VHS tapes of Cool Runnings — a heavily-fictionalised account of the Jamaican bobsled team’s journey to Calgary Games — were still doing the rounds, four years after the film’s release. The International Luge Federation took notice, and pushed to include more far-flung, warm-weather countries in the Winter Games. A team, led by Austrian world champion Gunther Lemmerer, set up a scouting camp in Panchkula and discovered a talented young skier from Manali who had little trouble rolling down the roads on a sled with wheels. He was taken to Austria and a year later, Shiva Keshavan, 16, became the youngest Olympian in luge at the Nagano Winter Games.

Army officer Tilak Himalyan, one of the handful selected for the camp in Austria, remembers his time spent with Keshavan.

“It sounds cliched now, but even all those years ago, I saw something different in Shiva. There were others who made it to the camp. But going down the street on wheels is one thing. They were shaking when they saw the intimidating ice track and many didn’t turn up the next day. Luge requires a lot of heart. Shiva was having fun. Mujhe pata tha ye nahi hatne waala,” says Himalyan, a national-level skier who had to put his dreams on ice indefinitely due to his advancing years and the call of duty.

“I was 40 and had no real future in sport. Then Kargil happened and I had to stop competing. If I had got the opportunity when I was 18-19, who knows,” adds Himalyan, who is now posted in Leh with the mountain rescue team. “We practised a lot together and Shiva was always looking to improve himself. Utne saalo se hamari baat nahi ho paayi hai, but when I read that he is still competing and preparing for another Olympics, it doesn’t surprise me.”

Back in 1998, Nagano for his first, Keshavan was a kid in a candy store.

“I had seen Olympics on TV, but I had never anticipated the magnitude of the event,” recalls Keshavan. “Amused athletes from different nations were coming in to check this lone luger from India. But I remember being strangely relaxed, even in front of the packed stadium.”

Let alone the stadium, he almost couldn’t make it into the Games Village.

“The mayor of Nagano told me I couldn’t be allowed in the Village because my country hadn’t sent the paperwork,” Keshavan laughs. He eventually competed with an oversized jacket somebody had given him and a hand-me-down sled. “I guess I was so young that I didn’t get affected by anything. Performance-wise, it remains one of my best races.”

But paucity of funds ensured that he couldn’t build on a credible debut, or own a competitive sled which costs upwards of Rs 8 lakh.

“For many years, I would borrow or rent a sled for the race or training. I would train on my own, because I didn’t have a coach. I would save up on car rentals and flights, asking for lifts from one place to another. Other teams would fly, and send their equipment on a bus. I would hitch a ride on the bus to reach the venue,” says Keshavan. “I’ve had to sleep in parked cars, to not go to a hotel. When you’re in that position, you do what you can.”

Details of the commute to his next Olympics are equally anxiety-inducing. After arriving late in Montreal owing to a flight delay, Keshavan missed the bus to Salt Lake City, the venue for the 2002 Games. He hitchhiked his way to the US border but couldn’t muster up $10 for the border fee, and a policeman had to pitch in.

He arrived in Vancouver for 2010 Games with his solitary sled, and a bone in his back, broken. Adding insult were the mismatched, lousy uniforms sent for the Indian contingent. A local sporting goods manufacturer donated uniforms while five Supreme Court lawyers pooled Rs 4.5 lakh to help him buy a new sled.

Countless such tales from the road meant India’s greatest winter athlete also became the poster boy for crowd-funding in the country. In Sochi, forced to compete under the Olympic flag, Keshavan rode downhill with names of 50,000 donors etched on his suit. “The sponsors and the people who’ve taken me places are always on my mind. It’s very humbling, knowing how I am a small piece of a very big picture.”

Keshavan however acknowledges that a sportsperson can’t put up a challenge in the upper echelons on the back of fundraising alone.

“Hiring a foreign coach is $4-5,000 a month. Ideally, you’d need a technician and a physiotherapist too. There’s the sled. Then you pay for the flights and hotels for everyone. With a proper team travelling around the world, you can spend anywhere between Rs1-2 cr per annum. To a layman it might sound a lot but it’s the standard cost for all sports and government should know it very well.”

Physiotherapists and technicians are luxuries reserved for athletes from Germany, Austria, Italy, USA or any other nation which takes the sport seriously. Keshavan has had to be a human Swiss army knife, taking stock and improving himself during the off-season. Summers are spent zipping down the winding highways in the Himalayan foothills on a wheeled sled, swerving through traffic and cattle with the chutzpah of an SUV driver in Delhi. An extensive bodyweight routine takes care of bulking up (90kg is sufficiently heavy) and maintaining explosive strength. Then there are the sessions spent modifying and calibrating his ride in the garage, instead of a multi-million dollar Formula One wind tunnel.

Putting together a customised sled for an elite luger is, well, rocket science. Teams collaborate with F1 teams, car manufacturers or other tech giants to track their ‘drag coefficient sonification’, optimise material combination and rider position. Such classified, aerodynamic masterpieces can help a rider shave off ‘100thofasec’, the difference between Keshavan and the riders above (and thus, his Twitter handle).

Keshavan admits that he has never been in a wind tunnel, and hasn’t been able to excite the Indian companies and manufacturers for a joint project. Despite all that, he was feeling supremely confident in the run-up to Sochi.

“I was feeling really good about the sled. I did a lot of experimentation and I thought all the changes would get me my fastest time.”

Instead, he crashed and recovered (a stunning moment which made the highlight reels) during a practice session, and finished 37th, his lowest position ever.

“I got my setup completely wrong. That’s where I realised if I had to do well, I need somebody to help me out with the equipment.”

Olympian Duncan Kennedy, who took a cursory glance at Keshavan’s sled and remarked, “this is stuff we were doing 20 years ago”, decided to team up with the Indian.

“After leaving my position as technical director of US Luge, Shiva and I talked a few times and decided to team up,” Kennedy told The Indian Express. “In Sochi, he had some issues with body stability and position, which looked to me like he had developed these habits from compensating for a sled that wasn’t fun to drive. The first order of business was to build him a sled that would restore his confidence.”

Kennedy (like Keshavan’s first coach Yann Fricheteu) had to split during a particularly severe financial crunch, but has rejoined Keshavan for his last hurrah.

“Duncan has been with me for the last two weeks. It’s an interesting arrangement we have,” said Keshavan. “He has stood by me through thick and thin. But taking care of a team is difficult when you don’t get the promised funding and have to make last-minute plans.”

It didn’t take long for Keshavan to realise that cold shoulders are an occupational hazard for a winter athlete in India.

“There have been instances when I had to explain what I do, who I am to the administrators. To them, Winter Olympics weren’t The Olympics. When you see how even Olympic sports have been obscure in India, of course Winter Olympics is in an even worse position.”

Bring up the narrative of India being a tropical country and thus not conducive to winter training and Keshavan shuts it down hard.

“There’s no other country in the world which has the natural resources for winter sports like India. There’s 3,000km of Himalayan mountains. Experts from all over the world dream of coming to India to practise. Why are we not working on infrastructure so that our kids can take on the world? Look how removed Himachal, Kashmir, Uttarakhand and North East are from your Delhis and Bombays. Why can’t we use winter sports, a multi-million dollar industry, as a means of development?”

But while the awareness about his cause still eludes the corridors of power, Keshavan is willing to find refuge in the silver linings.

“When I was stranded penniless in Germany, all it took was a call to the sports minister and he assured we are all behind you,” says Keshavan. “With (Rajyavardhan Singh) Rathore heading the ministry, at least the athletes can go and say what they want. He has seen it all and has had his own struggles. I would like to play a similar role from the outside.”

It’s no secret that Keshavan harbours administrative ambitions, and has quite a resume to boast. Six Olympics, nine Asian Championship medals (four gold), president of the Olympians’ Association of India. More impressive is the practical acumen. Popular among peers for his infectious energy and street-smart skills, the Indian luger-cum-backpacker is sought out by many in need.

“After all these years, there is a lot of respect in the international community,” says Keshavan. “Younger athletes from other countries come to me for advice. Especially those who are struggling, or don’t have resources. I can identify with them.”

Keshavan, who by his own admission is worried about the post-retirement transition — “I am 36, and have never had a professional career. It is going to be tough” — is willing to step in for the athletes back home.

“You need somebody to be between the government and athlete. Somebody who has seen the sport and lived the life,” says Keshavan. “I do not want the next generation of athletes to worry about getting warm food on their plate or figuring out a place to sleep next night. They should have the best equipment and concentrate on the job at hand. That can only happen when they don’t feel alone.”

During his journey, Keshavan has assembled a small team of his own. A team manager in wife Namita and a mascot in two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Omna.

“When I met Namita, I was out of the sport because I had no money. She quit her job and started looking for sponsors for me, organising crowd-funding. It is motivating, that you can feel good about what you’re doing, that your family can come over and be with you and watch the races. They’ve been with me for a week now, but the five months before were tough. I was alone, so far away from home but even for them, especially for the little one.”

“The little one”, with a fascination for luge paraphernalia.

“She sees helmets, visors, other equipment lying around and she picks it up and brings them to me. She recognises what I do. I suspect she has started a little early,” Keshavan guffaws.

For now, the spotlight is solely on Keshavan Sr. Though the 45th ranking in World Cup standings is less than stellar, thanks to a few missed events, Keshavan is feeling hopeful and enjoying the flow.

“It has been a memorable journey. I did it and loved every moment of it. And everything has come full circle, from Nagano to PyeongChang. Not only am I back in Asia, but I am feeling relaxed, like I was for the first run. I can allow myself to be a little carefree.”

Almost like he has nothing to luge.

There's a multiple leg Four Nations Hockey tournament in New Zealand. Participants are India, Belgium, New Zealand and Japan.

First leg standings:
1. Belgium
2. India
3. NZ
4. Japan

1st Leg
Group Matches:
India bt Japan 6-0
India bt NZ 3-0
Belgium bt India 2-0
Final: Belgium bt India 2-1

2nd Leg
Group Matches:
India bt NZ 3-1

It is two leg tournament.

India bt NZ 3-2 in second leg.

Suraj wrote:There's a multiple leg Four Nations Hockey tournament in New Zealand. Participants are India, Belgium, New Zealand and Japan.

First leg standings:
1. Belgium
2. India
3. NZ
4. Japan
.......

Two U-19 players Dilpreet Singh and Vivek Sagar Prasad to check out. Both are playing awesome hockey.

To watch live visit https://www.facebook.com/nzblacksticks/

Video section has previously played matches.

-Ankit

Thanks for the video link. We just beat the Belgians 5-4 thanks to a last minute goal!

Indonesia master badminton tournament is going on.

Nehwal is in semi after defeating Sindu in QF.

Men's double pair of Satwiksairaj RANKIREDDY & Chirag SHETTY is also in semifinal after beating #4 Denis pair in QF and #8 Japanese pair in first round.

They will be playing #1 Indonesian pair in semifinal.

Satwiksairaj RANKIREDDY is one to watch out for. Playing really good.

Mean while India defeated Japan 4-2 in last league game.

-Ankit

Here's the badminton match against the Danes. Good to see Gopichand watching from the sidelines too:


Edit: Saina beat Intanon to make the final.