Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Aug 2008 21:34

indeed Suraj. RSR was almost dwarfed by the huge shotgun.....takes a real man to ride
that weapon properly.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 12 Aug 2008 21:36

Suraj wrote:RahulM: South Africa don't have a lot of breadth, but they have depth, especially in swimming and distance running. They won the marquee 4x100 freestyle relay men's swim that the US just won, in the last edition. They've multiple world champs in the pool, e.g. Roland Schoeman and Ryk Neethling.

Our performance just shows that we have a strong C'wealth Games performance level, and are also inching up the Asiad list. Ideally we should start by being strongly 4th in Asian level, behind only Chn and Kor/Jpn for a start.

suraj, I do think you are right about this one, RSA excels in a few fields but is world class in those while we are at the moderate level for a much larger number of fields.

sum, that may not be true. their top performers competed and won medals in the CWG 2006, I checked.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 12 Aug 2008 22:18

I have not used NBCOlympics.com's live telecast feature yet. Little worried in installing MS Silverlight. If I want to watch Saina tonite, is that the onlee option left for USA folks?

Karkala Joishy · Post by **Karkala Joishy** » 12 Aug 2008 22:36

Sania now needs to keep her big mouth shut, quit trying to be a fashion trendsetter, and concentrate on her tennis. She reached 30 or so which is outstanding, but it gets harder from here on and she has to stay focussed. Too many diversions after the breakout year of 2005 (3 years ago). Its now or never.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 12 Aug 2008 22:43

SwamyG: You don't have to explicitly install the plugin for it to work. I've run it without, and still works ok.

Karkala Joishy: We're referring to Saina Nehwal, the badminton player, not Sania Mirza, the tennis player. The former's in the women's single quarterfinals, the latter is already out.

BijuShet · Post by **BijuShet** » 13 Aug 2008 00:28

Suraj wrote:SwamyG: You don't have to explicitly install the plugin for it to work. I've run it without, and still works ok.

Swamysaar without the plugin you get a smaller size video for the event but is viewable on both IE and Firefox browsers. I did install the plugin as I believe Ms already has enough trapdoors in the OS & other apps so why worry about the security aspect for this one. With the plugin the viewing pleasure does go up as the video size increases and seems more HiDefish. The HD could be my perception too. BTW does any one know of a way to download the 1 hour and 4 mins NBC video of Abinav's finals performance including the medals ceremony. It is one memory to be preserved for our kids to enjoy for a long time. Any help in downloading and saving the video is very much appreciated.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 13 Aug 2008 01:10

AFC finals on wednesday.

India coach Bob Houghton believes the short break and a change in venue will work in his team's favour when they take on Tajikistan in the final of the AFC Challenge Cup on Wednesday. The showpiece clash was originally scheduled to be played on August 10 at the Gachibowli Stadium in Hyderabad but torrential rain had rendered the pitch unplayable.

The Asian Football Confederation, after a quick inspection of the facilities, decided to move the final to the Ambedkar Stadium in the capital and Houghton underlined the unexpected switch means his squad have been able to recuperate from what has been a gruelling tournament. "The delay has allowed us to get some of the boys who had small injuries to get back on their feet – Steven Dias, Climax Lawrence and NP Pradeep,” he said.

"To some extent the others, especially Baichung (Bhutia), have benefited from this rest. Meanwhile, Tajikistan too have had a player suspended, so its all been going well for us. "But this is all secondary. The whole thing rests on how well we play on Wednesday." Ambedkar Stadium is a venue that evokes pleasant memories for the Indians as last August, Houghton guided his side to Nehru Cup glory thanks to a 1-0 triumph over favourites Syria in the final in front of a packed house.

Victory in Wednesday’s game would be of even greater significance as it would come with a place in the 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar. "This is an extremely important game for us as we would not have a better chance to qualify for the Asian Cup finals," Houghton added. "If we win, it would be the culmination of a very good summer. It's a nice place for us because of the memories of last summer. If we do have as much support as we did in the Nehru Cup, it would be excellent for us."

Tajikistan boss Pulod Kodirov will be without livewire Tukhtasunov Davrondzhon, who was suspended for two matches on account of his involvement in the on-pitch fracas following their semi-final win over DPR Korea. The Central Asian nation won the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2006 but Kodirov knows they face a difficult task to retain their title this time around. "Last time, we played Sri Lanka in the final. They were not the host country but India are so it will be a great advantage for them," he said. Kodirov also insisted the change of venue makes little difference to his side. "It doesn’t matter if we play in Hyderabad or in Delhi. It's raining all over the country, so the conditions are going be the same everywhere," he added.

Wish that DPRK would have come to the finals and we beat em. Cos that would have improved our standing in the fifa rankings. Anyways, its high time to get to the main asian league.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 13 Aug 2008 01:41

In Men's Doubles tennis, two big teams have already bitten the dust:
* 3rd seeds Jonathan Erlich/Andy Ram lost to unseeded Arnaud Clement/Michael Llodra
* 2nd seeds Nenad Zimonjic/Novak Djorkovic lost to unseeded Martin Damm/Pavel Vizner

If Paes & Bhupathi (7th seeds) beat unseeded Andre Se/Marcelo Melo today (Wednesday), they will probably run into Roger Federer/Stan Warwrinka (6th seeds) in the quarterfinals. The Swiss team are great individual players, but not an established doubles pair; the Olympics organizers used a strange seeding mechanism based on singles+doubles ranking. Unforunately, if Paes/Bhupathi make it to semifinals they will likely face the top seeded Bryan brothers.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 13 Aug 2008 02:47

From Deccan Chronicle, 12 Aug, 2008

Not in Games, but set for ringside view

Nizamabad, Aug. 12: The Sangroli Sunrise Sports Project has a big dream. It has picked up children from orphanages and juvenile homes and is trying to make top athletes out of them. Realising that the mind rules the body, the project is motivating the boys and girls it is training to aim to become India’s sprinters in the London Olympics of 2012.

And to give them a taste of the bigger arena, the managers of the project have decided to take their best nine runners to the Beijing Olympics next week so that they can watch top athletes compete. The Maharashtra government and the Centre have relaxed rules to issue passports to these boys and girls.

Sangroli is a tiny village of Biloli taluk in Nanded district in Maharashtra, which is 45 km away from Nizamabad and the project is being run by the Sanskrit Samavardhan Mandal, an umbrella organisation of schools. Experts recruited by the project have handpicked future athletes from boys and girls aged between nine and 18 and are training them rigorously.

Since its inception in September 2004, the project has trained 30 boys and 20 girls from high schools and junior colleges. The project was born when the vision of Babasaheb Deshmukh, the founder of SSM, was combined with the dreams of an active athlete and industrialist,

Mr Deepak Kangaonkar. There was also the support of Mr Sudheer Rao, an expert from Chennai. The coach, Mr Bhagwan Nagargoje, adopts a psychological approach while training the youngsters. He tells them that sports is not just about physical strength but also about mental tenacity. Although training methods for long-distance runners have changed with the advent of sports medicine, Mr.Nagargoje still believes in good food and practice. He can vouch for this, having won the 400-metre hurdles in the 1983 National Championships.

The project focuses mainly on short distance and long distance running, cross country marathon, walking, hurdles, relay, jumps, and throws. The bed of River Manjeera, which borders Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, the hillocks and the roads are the arenas where the athletes test their strength and skills.

"I am proud of my coaches and teachers," says Kamble Savita, a Class XII student. "They have picked up poor children and orphans and given them an identity. I want to be an achiever like sprint queen P.T.Usha." The budding stars have won races at the district, state and national levels in Visakhapatnam, Tirunelveli, Pune, Aurangabad and Nanded and have also bagged medals in the Delhi and Mumbai marathons.

At present, Chitgire Rameshwer Govindrao, Kanna Sunita Ram, Kamble Savita Mohan, Naik Shivaji, Salunke Ramkishan, Dongardive Shivaling, Gaikwad Meenakshi, Kamble Varsha and Kondawar Vaishali have got permission to visit Beijing. They are thrilled at the prospect. "We are sure that our boys and girls will get inspired by seeing the performance of the athletes at Olympics," says Mr Aravind Deshmukh, director of the project and principal of RSCS Sainiki Vidyalaya. "We especially want to see the marathon."

"I am very happy to get a chance to see the Beijing Olympics," says Kanna Sunita Ram, 13, a Class VIII student. "I have done well in the marathons of Delhi, Mumbai and Visakhapatnam." Her sentiment was echoed by Dongardive Shivaling, a Class XII student. "It will add to our determination," he says. "Many children from the poorest of poor families have been able to discover their talents through the sports project."

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 13 Aug 2008 03:05

Bindra, for all his family wealth, did face trouble with equipment while training, and needed Lakshmi Mittal to help out:
India Olympic Hero Gets Boost from Mittal

For a country that pretends not to care about the Olympics, India certainly threw itself a heck of a party the night of Aug. 11, when a 25-year-old with a bad back and steady aim won India's first individual gold medal. TV channels provided wall-to-wall coverage, families danced in the streets, and political leaders tried to outdo each other in handing out hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money.

If only all that support had come before the event. Every four years when the Olympics come around, India hangs its head in shame, with public finger-pointing and consternation that a nation of a billion people cannot find one athlete to bring home a little piece of gold. The country's sports stadiums are crumbling relics from the 1950s and '60s, with training facilities so ancient that athletes beg for opportunities to train overseas. Because of political problems among the country's sports federations, athletes have to cobble together money for training regimens from as many as nine different organizations.

"I think the whole question is how does everything function," says Bindra, speaking with BusinessWeek from Beijing. "In today's day and age, things have to be run professionally, and unfortunately, that's not how things are done."
Finally, Someone to Cheer for

So it's no surprise that when Bindra, who is now the toast of the nation, ran out of bullets for practice he had to turn to an unlikely source for help: Lakshmi Mittal, one of the richest men in the world and another of India's celebrated sons. Mittal, who is chairman of ArcelorMittal (MT), the world's largest steelmaker, left India many decades ago, but maintains a keen interest in the country. At sporting events—like the 2004 Olympics in Athens—he and his family found themselves cheering for teams picked at random because no Indians had even managed to make it past the qualifiers.

But at the 2005 Wimbledon tennis tournament, he met India's Mahesh Bhupathi, a player who has had considerable success in mixed doubles. Bhupathi and a friend convinced Mittal to put up $10 million to help support a few athletes with an eye toward the London Olympics in 2012, when the Games will be held in Mittal's backyard—he lives in Kensington and can sometimes be seen riding a bicycle in Hyde Park. Regarding Bindra's Beijing triumph, "I am absolutely delighted," says Mittal, whose Mittal Champions Trust got Bindra a physical therapist, a mental trainer, and on that day when the bullets ran out, cartridges to practice with. "This is a great day for Indian sports."

Mittal's trust is administered by his son-in-law, Amit Bhatia, and this year it supported 14 Indian athletes at the Olympics. Many, unlike Bindra, are from less affluent backgrounds, reflecting the kind of conditions under which most of India lives. Archer Laishram Bombayla Devi, who picked up a bow and arrow after seeing people hunt in the fields near her home in rural India, said she spent two years without a coach until the trust stepped in. Now she trains with a foreign coach, for which the trust pays, and has a structured and disciplined training process. "The trust is a lifesaver for a lot of athletes who are not getting any help," she says.
Eye on the Commonwealth Games

But the fact that India's corporate houses have to step in where the government has failed rankles some Indians. Bindra, whose family is well-off, has an MBA, runs his own company, and has extensive training facilities in his house at Chandigarh. Yet, according to Manisha Malhotra, an administrator at the Mittal Champions Trust, there was a behind-the-scenes tug-of-war between the trust and the government.

While Mittal is looking forward to 2012, M.S. Gill, India's Youth Affairs & Sports Minister, and the rest of India officialdom have their sights set on 2010, when Delhi will host the Commonwealth Games. "The credit goes entirely to the player," says Gill. "We are only here to provide support." Indian officials hope the Commonwealth Games will lead to even bigger things. They have watched with some envy as Beijing hosts China's multibillion-dollar coming-out party, and with even greater envy as Chinese athletes compete neck and neck with perennial favorites like the U.S. and Russia.

The goal in Delhi is simple: Just as Beijing is having its moment now, in 2010 the world's eyes will turn to India. India will be only the third developing nation to host the Commonwealth Games, after Jamaica in 1966 and Malaysia in 1998. The government has managed to earmark nearly $12 billion in infrastructure improvements for New Delhi, including sports stadiums, new highways, a brand-new metro rail system, and a new airport. If things go well, the Indian Olympic Assn. wants to bid for the 2020 Olympics to be held in Delhi.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 13 Aug 2008 03:15

I thought Bindra won the air rifle medal. So what bullets? Or was he training for other events too?

Anyway does the armed forces/police have sniper competetions? I always wondered how come there are no champions from them in all these years? Or is it only for officers?

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 13 Aug 2008 03:35

The air rifle in question is a high precision instrument with custom pellets. It had to be imported of course, and ISF an/or assorted GoI department had artificial restrictions that prevented them from obtaining the necessary equipment in time. It appears from various articles that the shooting squad was on the verge of being withdrawn from Beijing because few of them had a chance to practice at home (Bindra trained in Germany the last three months on his own) because the Tughlaqabad range in Delhi is falling apart, and the various equipment woes.

All the more reason GoI has no business interfering in sports any more. Just see the results from shooting in this Olympics:
* Mansher Singh shoots four excellent rounds and one bad round, misses final. Had he shot close to what he did in the other rounds, in the bad round, he'd quite likely have medalled.
* Manavjit Singh was consistent, but below his best.
* Gagan Narang missed the final by a whisker, finishing with 595/600, same score as four of those who made it to final, but he was erratic in two rounds and lost out on countback. He was #9; top 8, including Bindra at #4, made it to final
* Ronjan Sodhi didn't make it for double trap despite being latest World Cup champion *and* world record holder, due to quota issues.
* Rathore has an inconsistent day.

All these folks could have medaled, had they had quality practice facilities and months to focus on just building form leading to the Olympics. Their performance is not a symptom of not being good enough - they are all established athletes, every one of whom has either a world cup, world championship, olympic medal or even world record to their name. Instead they are compelled to waste time dealing with crumbling infrastructure and lack of equipment. GoI just cannot provide this.

Athletes at this level must be seen as master surgeons performing an extraordinarily complex operation. They should be left to focus on the operation, with a competent support cast to handle them every piece of equipment and data they ask for, and wipe their brow. Instead, they're - figuratively put - left to go find the equipment themselves, cleanup and do all the little work. Then people complain that the patient is dead. No kidding ? If there's anything we can do, it's support entities that seek to provide this support cast. Enabling this would consistently provide us 3-4 medals - quite likely golds - at the World/Olympic level just in shooting, for a start.

Added later: Some quick browsing indicates that the average top level shooting air rifle costs about $4000, plus cost of ammunition and support accessories (jacket, stand etc).

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 13 Aug 2008 07:23

awww...man Saina squandered the lead, she is 7-8, Game 1

Updates:
1) Go Saina. Go 15-10
2) 20-16 ............gooooooooooo
3) Succcccccks 20-20 each
4) 23-23

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 13 Aug 2008 07:40

all over net now :-

the little girl who sang song in olympic stadium was lip syncing. she did not even
sing the song. a similar little girl but with imperfect teeth was originally chosen
for her voice, but the psyops directorate pushed her out to present a better
face of the nation.

another loss-of-face for the panda. incredible.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 13 Aug 2008 07:43

swamy updates please !!

singha, you are late, that bit of info has been dissected to death in the understanding chinese thread !

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 13 Aug 2008 07:44

Rahul M wrote:swamy updates please !!

singha, you are late, that bit of info has been dissected to death in the understanding chinese thread !

i thought only the krikkiters can give me heart attacks galore.. jeez
25-all

updated: 28-26 to saina

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 13 Aug 2008 07:44

swamyG link please

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 13 Aug 2008 07:45

Supratik wrote:swamyG link please

moi no watch on tv n get a heart attack..
here is the text update
http://www.nbcolympics.com/badminton/re ... index.html

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 13 Aug 2008 07:46

Whoooooooooopie do oooooooooooooo
Game 1 Saina: 28-26

Go Sainnnnnnnnna

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 13 Aug 2008 07:46

http://www.nbcolympics.com/badminton/re ... index.html

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 13 Aug 2008 07:47

no wonder they are ranked 15 and 16.. hard to split them in the first game, even though saina threw a big lead away..

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 13 Aug 2008 07:50

Game 2
Saina 3-2 each

The game is not all that great :-(((

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 13 Aug 2008 07:51

Video link: http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/share. ... id=1125080

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 13 Aug 2008 07:51

Saina 3-8 :-((((((((

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 13 Aug 2008 07:52

oh man.................Saina 3-9......... getting ready for Game 3

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 13 Aug 2008 07:54

Why a point by point commentary when there's already a link to the live scoreboard ?

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 13 Aug 2008 07:55

Quite true........just the initial enthu.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 13 Aug 2008 07:58

Suraj wrote:Why a point by point commentary when there's already a link to the live scoreboard ?

|^| PC ?

hint: not political correctness !

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 13 Aug 2008 08:00

Okay....no more embarrassing SwamyG.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 13 Aug 2008 08:09

I was just kidding. Please post away

Current score is Nehwal leads 28-26, 14-21, 11-3

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 13 Aug 2008 08:13

lead is being reduced.......i think this side of the court does not suit her. she lost game 2 from this same side. lights or something :-((((((

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 13 Aug 2008 08:16

12-14
Come on this has to be related to this side

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 13 Aug 2008 08:17

****..........12-16

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 13 Aug 2008 08:18

I am done................12-18

She gave 15 points and scored just 1

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 13 Aug 2008 08:22

Better luck Saina. Next time, it will be. Great going for a lass only 17 years old.

In the meanwhile, I was expecting this much earlier. Any case, shows the other face of prc-dom.

A British boxer accused Olympic judges of favoring his Chinese opponent on Tuesday, a few hours after the Ukrainian team lost its protest of a decision in its fighter’s loss to another Chinese boxer. British bantamweight Joe Murray left the ring incensed after his 17-7 opening-round loss to China’s Gu Yu. Murray beat Gu at the world championships in Chicago last fall, but fell behind early and never caught up at Workers’ Gymnasium.

“I thought it should have been a lot closer after the first round,” said Murray, who trailed 4-0 after the first two minutes. “I think the score was bad. I think they were giving him a score for anything, and I had to work to get all of my points. I knew going in that the only way I could win this fight is don’t let him hit me.”

British coach Terry Edwards echoed his fighter’s complaints, calling the scores “absolutely stupid.” “The judges took it away from him,” Edwards said of the early rounds, when the score deficit forced Murray to change his style. “I’m not saying he won, but when you’re chasing the bout, you do things you’re not comfortable with.”

AIBA spokesman Richard Baker confirmed the Ukrainian team filed a protest over lightweight Oleksandr Klyuchko’s 10-8 loss to Hu Qing on Monday night. The protest was reviewed and denied, Baker said. “I thought the Chinese opponent was not very good,” said Klyuchko, who beat Hu 26-13 at last year’s world championships. “I’m very sad. I thought I would be the winner. I already beat him once before.”

Judging row is as synonymous with amateur boxing as headgear. The sport’s points-based punch scoring lends itself to wide interpretation, and Olympic history is full of loud protests over boxing results both before and after the sport switched to a computer scoring system in 1992 to make the results more transparent.

But the new complaints at the sport’s biggest event could cast doubt on its progress over the last 18 months, when a slate of remarkable reforms in the international boxing association seemed to begin a cleanup of the sport. Computer scoring was introduced at the Olympics four years after American Roy Jones Jr. lost the championship bout in Seoul to South Korea’s Park Si-hun, a decision still considered one of the great travesties in Olympic history.—AP

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 13 Aug 2008 09:14

I got a positive response from Mittal Champions Trust regarding the online contribution mechanism. They say they are going to work on creating this option. I also invited Sharda Ugra to join BRF, but it is upto her...

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 13 Aug 2008 09:27

NBC "expert" accusing Chinese gymnasts to be under age..........says the government gives the passport, and nobody can prove anything against them.

pradeepe · Post by **pradeepe** » 13 Aug 2008 09:29

Rats. Too bad about Saina. After seeing her play the first two matches, I thought she'd be able to medal here.

Katare · Post by **Katare** » 13 Aug 2008 09:38

Suraj wrote:I got a positive response from Mittal Champions Trust regarding the online contribution mechanism. They say they are going to work on creating this option. I also invited Sharda Ugra to join BRF, but it is upto her...

Good idea but it sounds kinda funny sending $25 to Mittals

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 13 Aug 2008 09:39

Two birds with one stone. We'll also improve his Forbes richest men ranking