Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 11 Aug 2008 11:50

Singha wrote:I miss that redoubtable womens 4x400 relay team of the 80s - usha for anchor, shiny, m.d.valsamma and one more .... we used to swat out asian & cwealth competition like flies in that event.

All from wiki. In 84, M. D. Valsamma, Vandana Rao, Shiny Abraham, P. T. Usha, we finished 7th in the finals. In 88, our team was Mercy Kuttan, Vandana Rao, Vandana Shanbagh, and Shiny Abraham. We lost in the heats.

In 96, Beenamol Mathew, Rosakutty, Jyotirmoyee Sikdar, and Shiny Wilson. 2000, K. M. Beenamol, Paramjit Kaur, Rosa Kutty, Jincy Phillip. Unsung, we finished 7th in 2004 again: Rajwinder Kaur, K. M. Beenamol, Chitra Soman, Manjeet Kaur, S. Geetha.

Our team now is Chitra Soman, Raja M Pooyamma, Mandeep Kaur, Sini Jose and S Geetha. Same team as before with Mandeep being the super replacement. Thats why I say expect some fireworks.

deepika was a badminton player ?

Yea, she was a super player following her papa's footsteps. Alas, it was not to be.

ajay_hk · Post by **ajay_hk** » 11 Aug 2008 11:55

Gold medallist Abhinav Bindra of India (centre) shows his medal as he stands with silver medallist Zhu Qinan of China (left) and bronze medallist Henri Hakkinen of Finland after the men's 10m air rifle shooting competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. (Reuters Photo)

Link

Kudos!! Brilliant performance.

negi · Post by **negi** » 11 Aug 2008 11:56

"Ladies and gentlemen please stand for the national anthem of INDIA"....that gave me goosebumps.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 11 Aug 2008 12:09

hmm and she had to fall for that skinny irritating weakling ranbir kapoor? tsk tsk. better men were there.

Vasu · Post by **Vasu** » 11 Aug 2008 12:11

Allah O Akbar. The first individual gold for India was looong overdue.

All hail Abhinav Bindra.

By the way, Reuters reports that the Chinese who came in second was the Athens Gold winner and a favorite to win this one. He lost out because of the intense pressure on him to perform. I just hope the 'people's' party doesn't harm him for letting the people of China down.

derkonig · Post by **derkonig** » 11 Aug 2008 12:15

Arrah hu Akbal,
First the Gold medal,
then the massive danda to lizards H&D, verily this will go down as yaum-e-loss-e-face...
now, im waiting for the response from pukis...
AoA AoA...

i gotta do some more mijjile malish...

Nayak · Post by **Nayak** » 11 Aug 2008 12:17

Easy beebul, too much reference to the ROP will draw the attention of admin-e-predators ready to strike with banfire mijjiles on the unsuspecting bearded abduls.

durvasa · Post by **durvasa** » 11 Aug 2008 12:18

Chini guy seems crying! on the flip side it also shows the hunger for gold in China! nothing less is acceptable.!

Coming back to Women badminton players!!

THe highest ever ranked Indian woman was Ami Ghia, World #7 n 1983 and winning nationals 7 times, reaching in finals for a record 14 years. Aparna popat best ranked was 16th. Also, Madhumita won nationals 8 times and was ranked in top-30 in world

Saina has already reached #15 and has all the ingredients to be in top-5, in Prakash padukone and GopiChand league. She has been beating top-10 players regularly That's why she is probably the best ever!

pradeepe · Post by **pradeepe** » 11 Aug 2008 12:25

Raja Bose wrote:Singha ji....if he wasnt made of sterner stuff he would not have won....he was not leading when it started. Moreover, during the awards ceremony the kid was cool and collected as if he didnt have a doubt he would win and the gold wasnt a big deal...unlike chini bhai who went boohoo (loss of H&D, probably facing imprisonment in punishment cell no.13 at people's archery training school no. 42212, for only getting silver).

He should actually be glad, a silver came his way. Had not the other guy grassed his last shot, he would have to have been content with a Bronze. That means automatic cell # 786 in kabristan. Jokes apart, kudos to him too

.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 11 Aug 2008 12:28

Raja Bose wrote:Singha ji....if he wasnt made of sterner stuff he would not have won....he was not leading when it started. Moreover, during the awards ceremony the kid was cool and collected as if he didnt have a doubt he would win and the gold wasnt a big deal...unlike chini bhai who went boohoo (loss of H&D, probably facing imprisonment in punishment cell no.13 at people's archery training school no. 42212, for only getting silver).

although that should be shooting, not archery.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 11 Aug 2008 12:38

No no...I meant archery onlee.....to serve as people's target and death by thousand punctures. Seriously though, it just goes to show that the Chinese are not ready for any compromise....Gold is good nothing else is good enough. Granted the we are on the upswing but we have to develop such mentality. Sports is no longer about sportsmanship only....its all about competition, medals and the mentally and physically tough win.....whether we like it or not.

Rahul M wrote:
Raja Bose wrote:Singha ji....if he wasnt made of sterner stuff he would not have won....he was not leading when it started. Moreover, during the awards ceremony the kid was cool and collected as if he didnt have a doubt he would win and the gold wasnt a big deal...unlike chini bhai who went boohoo (loss of H&D, probably facing imprisonment in punishment cell no.13 at people's archery training school no. 42212, for only getting silver).
although that should be shooting, not archery.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 11 Aug 2008 12:41

well, you have to consider that he was the defending champion. such a reaction would be normal for him. to attribute that gold or nothing mentality to all chinese is premature stereotyping IMO.

Shivani · Post by **Shivani** » 11 Aug 2008 12:52

ajay_hk wrote:

Great picture. Need this in highest possible resolution for posterity's sake. Now hopefully he'll prepare to deal with the inevitable 15 minute Indian media attack on him. Congratulations to A. Bindra.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 11 Aug 2008 12:52

Qinan Zhu is not just defending champion, but multiple times world cup champion, and holder of the Olympic record score (while winning at Athens) in this event. He shot 599/600 in qualification at Athens, and then 103.4 in the final, to win. He's a regular winner on the ISSF world circuit. Bindra was not his main challenger when the day started, the Romanian guy who finished 4th was, being the World Cup winner earlier this year.

Bindra has never crossed 700 points in competition (something needed to win at the highest level) until now, while even Gagan Narang has done so multiple times in the past. But this time, after shooting 596 in the quals, he shot 104.5 in the final, doing better than Zhu did in Athens. Bindra essentially shot his alltime best score and topped it off with the highest final round score under immense pressure since he was joint first after 9 of 10 rounds. Scoring 10.8 in the last round in such circumstances takes serious cojones - see how the Finn fell apart.

sum · Post by **sum** » 11 Aug 2008 12:53

Stan saar, hats off to you for reading the tea leaves right…
Just came back from a meeting and see that India got the gold!!!!!!!!
Yipeee….where is the tears of joy icon when you need it!!??

Finally, the Indian anthem plays in Beijing...Glad i got to see this day...
As I had mentioned in an earlier post few days back, there is nothing gossebumpier than hearing the Anthem play in Olympics….

durvasa · Post by **durvasa** » 11 Aug 2008 12:55

Rahul M wrote:well, you have to consider that he was the defending champion. such a reaction would be normal for him. to attribute that gold or nothing mentality to all chinese is premature stereotyping IMO.

I agree. the reaction is a result of his expectations being a world champion and what awaits him at the Han elite sport drill school # 10249.12 for the loss of H&D!!

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 11 Aug 2008 12:56

When writing India's sporting history, we need to mark the arrival of Leander Paes as a singular, cathartic, earth-shattering moment. This will be his name to fame.

From the moment they {With Ramesh Krishnan} narrowly missed bronze at Barcelona to the high point of a singles bronze at Atlanta {taking the might of Andre Agassi for a full 1 1/2 sets before falling away, just like he did repeatedly at Wimbledon and the US open twice in a row} to again narrowly missing bronze again in Athens {With Mahesh Bhupathi} to still generating hopes 16 years from his debut {When other folks have fallen away by the wayside}. For singularly sparking India's rise from the sporting ashes, none of which had ever been seen before {Bronze in 2000, silver in 04, gold in 08 and counting + hopes galore for the future}. In the side, he also lit many a fire in the annals of Davis cup kicking the butts of higher ranked sportsmen, all for love of the game and the country.

Saluting a great hero, hoping he gets the elusive doubles gold this time.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 11 Aug 2008 13:00

Ofcourse he is allowed to grieve on being beaten by SDRE no-contender kid from south and fate awaiting him at target practice. I am not saying the chinis wont be glad to get a medal as opposed to nothing. But their focus is always on the gold...all their plan 117 or whatever is focused on that...I also got this impression from some chini pals of mine who volunteered/currently volunteering for the olympics in Beijing. I have been trying to catch hold of one of them who is currently posted in the water cube but kambhakt is not responding to any of my messages.

Just look at how many golds they have compared to any other team....even though US leads in medal tally the chinese lead both in number of golds and silvers. There is no stereotyping here....to strive to exceed ones ability and reach for the best is very commendable (as long it is done legally).

Rahul M wrote:well, you have to consider that he was the defending champion. such a reaction would be normal for him. to attribute that gold or nothing mentality to all chinese is premature stereotyping IMO.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 11 Aug 2008 13:04

Reuters has an interesting article from the press conference following the final. I don't envy the Chinese. They're obviously facing enormous pressure from all quarters to win. I genuinely respect the ones who do overcome it, and don't wish to knock the ones who don't:
Zhu weeps after missing gold for China

By Lee Chyen Yee

BEIJING, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Shooter Zhu Qinan wept on the podium as he collected his silver medal on Monday and sobbed uncontrollably at a news conference, showing the huge pressure on Chinese athletes to win on home turf at the Beijing Olympics.

The hot favourite to defend his title in the 10m air rifle, Zhu had stumbled late in the qualification when he had to rush his final shots.

He was still within striking range of gold until the end but lost to Abhinav Bindra -- himself facing the prospect of winning India's first ever individual Olympic gold -- who stormed ahead from fourth place.

"After 2004 my only target was to defend my title in Beijing," Zhu said as his voice quivered. He bowed his head down, wiped away his tears and paused for a moment.

"Getting a silver medal is already a very good consolation for me because I really worked hard for it," who admitted he felt enormous pressure to win another gold medal to add to China's medal tally. "But my luck wasn't good enough."

Zhu, 23, got off to a good start with a perfect 10 on his 40 shots in qualification for a 400. But then he had to rush his final 20 shots to make the 90-minute time limit and ended up with only 597 of a possible 600, one behind Finland's Henri Hakkinen.

He tried to strike a confident pose as he strolled past reporters into the Beijing shooting range hall for the finals.

But he clearly looked strained under the home country's enormous expectations -- China hopes to top the medals table after finishing second to the United States in 2004.

"I've been through a lot of hardship and shed a lot of tears in the last four years, there have been successes and failures," he said. "After 2004 my only aim has not changed. I had so very much wanted to be a champion at the Beijing Olympics."

Still crying while the ever-calm Bindra looked on impassively to his right as he sipped an energy drink, Zhu added: "In the last two rounds I made several mistakes because I had used up all my physical and mental energy.

"I was under tremendous pressure and at times I felt really agitated," Zhu said. "But I tried my best."

Athens gold medallist Du Li also crumbled under the home crowd glare and fled weeping after finishing fifth in the women's 10 metre air rifle -- missing out on the chance of winning the Games' first gold medal event for China. (Editing by Alison Williams)

We admire 'Project 119' and their single minded drive, but it has a flip side, as this guy, and the other shooter Li Du, show. What they have is a relentless machine with a singleminded purpose. It has lessons, both positive and negative for us. The Olympics is no stroll in the garden. It takes hard men and women. If we want to win, we have to create many of them.

ashish raval · Post by **ashish raval** » 11 Aug 2008 13:04

This news brought tears in my eyes. I love this guys performance under immense pressure of a nation of billion people and went through it successfully. I request GoI to atleast give him a million $ in winnings and definately 20 commercial adverts as i am tired of watching cricketers now. Man winning gold beating everyone in the world is something he will remember all his life and is worth all the sacrifices he has made in his life to achieve this friends, family, loved ones. I am ecstatic.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 11 Aug 2008 13:05

it seemed leander's rank came up by at least hundred places whenever he represented India. having witnessed his repeated performances against much higher ranked players in the davis cup and olympics, it is evident that playing for his country gives him that extra josh.
and fighter that he is, he makes that count !
hope he does it again !

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 11 Aug 2008 13:11

The greatest doubles combo in the world, ever. Thumping the woodies at their own game. Sinking the Bryans in their own sinister grave. What a pity!

Eminem uvacha

Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted - One moment
Would you capture it or just let it slip? ..................
You can do anything you set your mind to, man

Hariprasad · Post by **Hariprasad** » 11 Aug 2008 13:13

For the Chinese dude to the left of Bindra.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 11 Aug 2008 13:57

Hail Bindra!Oh glorious day!It's brought tears to my eyes!After the great years of our immortal hockey gold medallists,and the intervening decades of drought,we have finally brought home the bacon of an individual gold thanks to Bindra.Let this be the first of many more golds to come in future Olympics and World Champoinships.

As much as the standard of team sports in India has declined,thanks to babu bufoonery and political pettiness,the quality of the individual Indian sportsperson has risen thanks mainly to personal efforts in most cases,added by the availability of modern sports equipment in the country.Viswanathan Anand,Paes-Bhupathi,Jeev Milkha Singh,Rathore all immediately come to mind.Compare this with a look at the Indian Olympic boxing team's farce,where one boxer was made to fight his bout wearing shoes TWO sizes too small and another TWO sizes too large! For this farce,we send dozens of sports officials and political toadies at the taxpayer's expense.Even if there was a slip up,couldn't the officials have spotted this earlier,during traininign at Beijing and made maximum efforts to get the right sizes from either the Chinese authorities (I'm sure that in Beijing boxing equipment is available!) or from some other helpful delegation,like the Cubans for example?

The task now is to salvage our team sports from the mafia who control them,which have sunk below water in their standard-hockey being the prime example.Bindra's gold will hopefully invigorate the administrators of our educational institutions,especially our schools across the country,where over the last few decades,acadaemic success has elbowed out the crucial importance and priority of sports and games in developing team spirit,leadership qualities and the ability to accept victory and defeat with the same demeanour,making our children good citizens of India.

Rupesh · Post by **Rupesh** » 11 Aug 2008 14:21

Never felt better....

..finally we have made it thanks to Abhinav Bindra..Hope the others will follow in his footsteps and win a few more medals... ( Any more events for Bindra ?)

SandeepA · Post by **SandeepA** » 11 Aug 2008 14:31

This is what Wikipedia says abt Bindra

Apart from being a shooter, Abhinav Bindra holds an M.B.A. (Masters in Business Administration). He is the CEO of Abhinav Futuristics, a PC games peripherals distributor based in Chandigarh.[7] He studied at the Doon School, Dehradun till 10th standard and then left for St. Stephens school, Chandigarh to pursue shooting[citation needed].

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abhinav_Bindra

durvasa · Post by **durvasa** » 11 Aug 2008 14:55

After Saina! it's Sania's turn but she is struggling in the first round itself! trailing 1:4 in first set!

Watch her progress live at http://www.nbcolympics.com/tennis/resul ... index.html

vina · Post by **vina** » 11 Aug 2008 14:58

Guys, the anchor leg that Jason Lezak swam to win the 4*100m relay for US was just incredible. The French had two sub 47 second performances (Alain Bernard and Fredrick Bosquet) and Alain Bernard was the world 100m freestyle record holder going into the game. Two world records were smashed in that race. First by the Australian who opened for the team and then the time of 4 seconds which was set by the US "B" team in the qualifier. The world record is now 47.24s by Eamon Sullivan for 100m set by the Australian who opened. Jason Lezak's effort was an incredible 46.06 seconds (thought it wont qualify for the world record).

Question is how did he do it ?. The answer is wake effect. The Frenchman. Alain Bernard hit the water half a second in front of him and was separated by one lane. He was generating a bow wave like a WWII torpedo running just under the water (he was the leader and swimming in clear water). The American was lucky that he was in a lane close to the Frenchman, so he swam close to his lane rope and hence was in the Frenchman's wake. Lezak's resistance was much less than Bernard's because he was swimming in his wake and in effect, the Frenchman by being the leader was making things easy for Lezak, by clearing the water for him. That is why he was able to do the 46 second performance. His personal best is nearly 48 seconds for 100m in a "legal" race.

Something like a flock of geese flying in formation,with the leader expending maximum energy and the rest of the flock cruising in his wake. Similar effect , something that is used in car racing as well , where if you drive in the leaders wake, you can build up sufficient speed and momentum to rocket past him like a slingshot at the right moment.

But boy. What a race. The French team is good and I think they have gold medal hopes in Alain Bernard and Bosquet in their individual events. The race was very very close indeed. Maybe , if the French hadn't trash talked and Alain Bernard hadn't boasted of promising to "smash" the Americans , they wouldn't have been so fired up.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 11 Aug 2008 15:02

netherland has also become very powerful in swimming.

no longer as US-Aus show now.

vipins · Post by **vipins** » 11 Aug 2008 15:05

hurrray

Dileep · Post by **Dileep** » 11 Aug 2008 15:09

Do not forget the relentless unselfish struggle by Mr. Sunny Thomas, the coach and prime mover behind the Indian shooting team. He had trouble even getting proper ammo during the runup to the games. Babudom ordered the inferior rounds it seems.

His son was my junior at engg.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 11 Aug 2008 15:21

it was only at 11th hr the some of the shooters managed to visit a german
factory and select the best batches available...its made by the finnish firm of
Lapua. http://www.lapua.com/index.php?id=890

someday in my lifetime I hope people can just visit the nearest OFB and
pick gold medal std ammo off the rack

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 11 Aug 2008 15:27

gabrielle buhlmann is his coach.

http://static.ibnlive.com/pix/sitepix/0 ... ld248a.jpg

seems she rep'ed switzerland in 2004 athens in 10m and 50m
air rifle events...finishing around 6th in both.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 11 Aug 2008 15:56

more loss of face and the pakis get trounced.

The unseeded Japanese badminton duo of Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna scored the "win of their lives" when they rallied from the brink to eliminate Olympic champions Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen in the women's doubles on Monday.

The top seeded Chinese were two points from winning the match at 19-16 in the second game, but committed a series of errors and lost it 23-21.

The rattled Yang and Zhang crumbled in the second half of game three, giving up 12 of the final 17 points to go down 14-21.

-----

Olympic men's hockey: Britain stun Pakistan

Britain, who gained a place in the Beijing Olympics men's hockey competition at the expense of eight-time Olympic champions India in the qualifying round, beat another former Olympic champion Pakistan 4-2 in their opening pool B game.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 11 Aug 2008 17:38

great show bindra!..

and the 4x400 freestyle relay by Jason in the last leg so terrific.. never felt it was swimming and almost like track event. it was the best swimming i have ever seen.

shaardula · Post by **shaardula** » 11 Aug 2008 18:13

jaya he jaya he jaya jaya jaya he!!!

archan · Post by **archan** » 11 Aug 2008 18:41

This morning I get a call from SHQ with tears in her eyes, screaming "India wins gold!! go watch our anthem in youtube!!". What a great news...its hard to keep one's eyes dry while listening to it. Go Abhinav man! let this just be the beginning. Let this be the resurgence of the golden bird in every field, including sports. Let us make them payback for all the pains they have made us go through. Jai Bharat!

goutham · Post by **goutham** » 11 Aug 2008 19:04

Abhinav's Blog: Road to Bejing

http://abhinavbindra.blogspot.com/

yvijay · Post by **yvijay** » 11 Aug 2008 20:02

Did you hear how, the chinese announcer spelled the Indian name as "Yindoo" or "Hindoo" something? Quite interesting. I think it's same as in hindi we call china as "cheen".

Also, I wanted to ask what's the suit Abhinav was wearing, when he was shooting. What's the function of that suit ?

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 11 Aug 2008 20:06

Whooooooooopie. Congrats Abhinav, and warm wishes to his supporting family. And congrtulations to BRFites and all Indians.

Man, was Jason effective or what. Look at the margin he beat the French. Poor Katie Hoff she just was cruising till she was beaten by the Adlington in the last second.

The swimming competitions have been very engaging. Whatever gymnastics I have watched has had lots of flops and falls.

The Chinese were beating the Poland gals in Volleyball....