Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Tanaji · Post by **Tanaji** » 07 Oct 2008 20:28

http://in.rediff.com/cricket/2008/oct/07gang.htm

BTW should cricket discussions about the upcoming series be on this thread or on the Nukkad one? Traditionally we have kept this thread for "serious" discussion and leaving issues like these on Nukkad

Ameet · Post by **Ameet** » 07 Oct 2008 21:44

Businessweek provided a list of the most powerful people in sports. US has their own list, in the global top 25, Lalit Modi came in at 19 and Tendulkar at 23. Joseph Blatter (FIFA President) came in at #1.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/co ... ial+report

19 LALIT MODI Chairman and Commissioner, Indian Premier League
He helped create the top cricket league in the world's second-most-populous land.

23 SACHIN TENDULKAR Indian cricketer
Captain of the Mumbai Indians, the Master Blaster ranks among the best batsmen in the history of the game.

bart · Post by **bart** » 07 Oct 2008 22:08

This is funny and made my day:
http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/stanfor ... 72849.html

So the pompous farts at the ECB had Stanford as their final crutch and now that has been taken away. H&D must be hurting onlee... Ind/Aus/SA have already excluded them from the annual champions league and tri-nations tournament.

Vikramaditya · Post by **Vikramaditya** » 09 Oct 2008 04:11

Tanaji wrote:http://in.rediff.com/cricket/2008/oct/07gang.htm

BTW should cricket discussions about the upcoming series be on this thread or on the Nukkad one? Traditionally we have kept this thread for "serious" discussion and leaving issues like these on Nukkad

I propose a New thread for Good Cricket discussion ... what say Adminji's ?

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 09 Oct 2008 04:30

use this thread please.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 09 Oct 2008 05:08

Wikileaks has a new article on some recent documents that support the claim that chinese gymnasts' age was falsified... ensoi maadi.
http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Censored_Chin ... _data_2008

Avinash R · Post by **Avinash R** » 13 Oct 2008 16:54

Chitra wins Australian Open Snooker Championship

Bangalore | Sunday, Oct 12 2008 IST

World Billiards Ladies Champion Chitra Magimairaj added another feather to her crown when she lifted the Australian Open Women's Snooker Championship held at Sydney.

In the finals she defeated Shirley Smith (Queensland) by 4-1.

According to reports reaching Karnataka State Billiards Association (KSBA) here Chitra also made the highest break of the championship with a 64.

Chitra maintained her all-win record in the Group B league of the Championship and blanked both Shirley Smith (Queensland) and Dianne Spring (NSW) 59-34, 53-23 and 67-33, 75-30, respectively to top her group with five wins. Smith finished next best with four wins and a loss.

sum · Post by **sum** » 14 Oct 2008 08:59

Youth CWG Pune roundup

A day to remember for Rahi Sarnobat

V.V. Subrahmanyam

Ankush wins 50m free pistol gold

GLITTERING DISPLAY: Rahi Sarnobat with the 25m pistol gold.

PUNE: Ankush Bharadwaj and Rahi Sarnobat won gold in contrasting styles in the shooting events of the third Commonwealth Youth Games at the Shiv Chatrapathi sports complex here on Monday.

The 18-year-old Ankush picked up the 50m free pistol event gold despite having an off-day with a score of 509/600, well below his best of 538 registered at the Guwahati trials a few months ago.

“This was not the way I wanted to win the gold. I would have loved to give a better performance,” said Ankush.

The only other competitor in the fray — Murray Middleton of Falkland Islands — did not even finish the qualifying round after a disappointing score of 236. The gap in the scores in the qualification round was so much that the technical officials decided not to have the final round and declared the Indian as the winner.

Liberal

Commonwealth Games Federation president, Michael Fennel, said it was very disappointing to have only two entries for the event. “Normally, we would not have conducted a medal event. But, this being the Youth Games, we decided to be liberal,” he said.

It was a rare sight to see only one person on the podium — Ankush — after Murray was not awarded any medal as per the Games’ norms. The 18-year-old Rahi Sarnobat was the clear winner in the 25m pistol event with 748.10, followed by Binti Azhari Alia Sazana of Malaysia (742.90) and Aussie Hayley Chapman (729.30).

Rahi, who was inspired to take up shooting after watching Tejaswini Sawant win a medal in the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, has done well in the two years she has been in the sport.

After the qualifying round, Rahi and Binti were tied at 550. However, once the final rounds began, the Kolhapur shooter surged ahead. In the final four rounds, Rahi came up with impressive scores of 48.90, 50.70, 49.70 and 48.80 to put the issue beyond doubt.

When the final results were declared, Rahi’s joy knew no bounds. “I am delighted with this gold and that too in front of my home crowd. This is a great day in my career,” said the first year BBA student of Vivekananda College (Kolhapur).

“I did not bother to look at the score and was not worried about what my opponents were doing. I just tried to shoot to the best of my ability,” Rahi said. When chief national coach Sunny Thomas walked across to congratulate her, Rahi was overjoyed.

India could have picked up a bronze in the women’s 10m air rifle event but Ayonika Paul became nervous in the final and finished with a score of 491.7.

For the winner, the 17-year-old Aqilah Binte Sudhir of Singapore with an aggregate score of 501.0, it was her maiden gold in an international event. Monica Fyfe of Canada (496.1) and Farhana Binti Abdul Hali Nur Ayuni of Malaysia (492.2) took the silver and bronze respectively.

How much more humiliating does it get for the Falklands guy? Only two contestants and he couldnt even make the qualification to earn a assured medal!!!!

Pune Games face CGF ire
DH News Service, Pune:
Poor organisation has marred the Commonwealth Youth Games so far. Thankfully, it has not escaped the eye of the parent body, the Commonwealth Games Federation...

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Michael Fennell, president of the CGF, said there were problems waiting to be sorted out.

"The facilities are good, but there are some details that need attention," he said during a break in the finals of the shooting competition, standing inside the competition arena. "In fact, we should not be talking like this here, that in itself is wrong," he remarked, even as photographers, officials and many volunteers milled around inside the arena.

"There are some rough edges in the organisation of these Games, in fact, there are many rough edges, especially in things related to the athletes' village. We will be discussing it. The important thing is the organisers are reacting positively to suggestions," he said.

Asked about the growth of the Youth Games, Fennell said the CGF was not keen to have a gigantic event. "The organisers here wanted to have a big games, so we agreed to it. The next Games (in Isle of Man, 2011) will not be as big," added the Jamaican.

and we dream of hosting the olympics....

Pretty decent start by the Indians in the YCWG.....5 medals(IIRC) with 2 gold and 3 bronze or something similar.

Avinash R · Post by **Avinash R** » 18 Oct 2008 09:56

Saina Nehwal clinches badminton gold in CYG
Saturday 18 October, 2008

Saina Nehwal survived some nervous moments to claim the girls singles gold of the third Commonwealth Youth Games at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune on Friday.

Fifteen-year-old Sikki Reddy gave Saina the jitters before the Beijing Olympic Games quarter-finalist wrapped up the tie 23-21, 22-20 to clinch the gold on the fifth and penultimate day.

It needed a string of unforced errors from Sikki to enable Saina pocket the first game after she was down 17-18 at one point of time.

Saina capitalised on her opponent's errors to take the lead at 20-18.

Sikki bounced back to level the scores at 21-21 and it was then that the India number one's experience came to the fore.

She produced a spectacular smash to close the game.

The second game was no different as each time Saina tried to put Sikki on the mat, she would bounce back.

Saina extended her lead to 6-2 before Sikki closed down the gap to 8-5.

Some errors by the Hyderabadi ace saw Sikki back on level terms at 9-9 before the 15-year-old opened up a two-point lead.

With the game oscillating from one to the other, it was Saina's turn to forge ahead.

She was just two points away from victory at 19-13 when her rival won four consecutive points as the crowd egged her own.

However, an overhead smash helped Saina stretch her lead and when Sikki's shot went beyond the line, the match was all over.

Saina lauded her opponent, who also trains at the Gopichand Academy.

"Sikki has been playing very well recently... She is giving a tough fight to all the players. She can go well from here."

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 18 Oct 2008 10:14

anyone keeping track of anand-kramnik championship ?

Anand floors Kramnik, takes lead

BONN: Just when it seemed Vladimir Kramnik had managed to elude Viswanathan Anand’s grasp, the champion produced the knockout punch to floor the challenger in the third round of the World chess championship match here on Friday.

The time management of both players played a major role in the outcome of this complex match. At one stage, Anand had more than an hour of thinking time on his clock than Kramnik. But when the situation demanded, Anand took his time to thwart Kramnik’s bid to escape and later had less time than the Russian but just enough to finish the job.

Kramnik, in a hurry to complete 40 moves in the allotted two hours, missed a safe continuation and walked into serious trouble. Anand, closing in on a possible victory, kept his cool and found an easier way to win in 41 moves.

Sensing a certain defeat, Kramnik sacrificed his queen and tried to complicate matters for one last time by threatening to ‘queen’ one of his queenside pawns. But Anand was equal to the challenge and put the finishing touches in a clinical manner.

Anand, who plays with white pieces on Saturday, now leads 2-1 in the 12-game match.

seems a very interesting match, can't wait to get my hands on it !
btw, anand plays with white today, and he always plays well with white.

sum · Post by **sum** » 18 Oct 2008 10:36

India seems to be on top in the medals tally at the CWG..

IIRC,last time, we had a tally of ~10 medals and this time, the golds themselves are ~20. How did this sudden transformation happen? Is it that the field is very weak or has our junior sports administration improved so much?

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 18 Oct 2008 11:36

Commonwealth Youth Games Pune 2008

Code: Select all

Rank Country      Gold  Silver  Bronze  Total
1	 India          33	26	16	75
2	 Australia      24	19	22	65
3	 England        18	 9	14	41
4	 South Africa    7   13	 9	29
5	 Canada	       6	10	10	26

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 18 Oct 2008 11:52

sum, this is the commonwealth youth games, not the CWG.

sum · Post by **sum** » 18 Oct 2008 14:16

Rahul M wrote:sum, this is the commonwealth youth games, not the CWG.

Sorry for the mis-spelling but i did did mean the CYG,not the CWG...

In the last CYG, Indias tally was:
2004 CYG tally

Rank Country Total Gold Silver Bronze
1 Australia 129 58 41 30
2 England 86 31 29 26
3 South Africa 56 20 18 18
4 Scotland 52 12 17 23
5 New Zealand 47 10 18 19
6 Malaysia 18 6 9 3
7 Singapore 10 3 2 5
8 India 10 2 4 4

So, how come there is such a dramatic improvement in our showing and such a fall in the Aussie and Brit showing?
Has our infrastructure improved so much since last time and more talented youngsters have taken to the various sports that such drastic improvement is shown(from 10 total medals last time to 75 this time with a couple of days to go)?

sum · Post by **sum** » 19 Oct 2008 14:22

Ok, Deccan Herald partly explains my doubt:
Link

Indias tally doesnt reveal the true picture
DH News Service, Pune:

Pune rocked to the Mumbai beat once again as the third Commonwealth Youth Games concluded here on Saturday with a promise to meet at Isle of Man three years from now.

A the Shiv Chhatrapathi Sports Complex, Michael Fennell, President of the Commonwealth Games Federation, declared the Games closed, in culmination of a celebration that brought athletes from 71 countries and territories together.

Song and dance shows by Shaan, Shiamak Davar, Shilpa Shetty, Diya Mirza, Neha Dhupia and Malliaka Arora Khan and stunts by FMX bike riders were the highlights of the closing fete of the competition that was touted as a forerunner of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

Table toppers

While England and Australia had dominated the first two Games, it was India's turn to take the top spot on the medals tally this time. The hosts had a flattering tally of 33 gold, 26 silver and 17 bronze but while those successes definitely brought cheer to the fans here, it didn't really reveal the true picture.

Officials might gloat over the figures that might indicate India have suddenly become a power to reckon with.
But the fact is, many of those medals came from events where the hosts really did not face strong competition while there were also allegations that many of the Indians were overage.

Wrestling was a case in point, with the hosts sweeping all the seven gold medals at stake in the face of miniscule challenge. In swimming and athletics, some of the countries did not send their top juniors – Jamaica, for instance, had just one entry in athletics – diluting the standard of the competition.

Clutch of talent

Despite that, there was no denying the fact that the Games helped to bring a clutch of talented Indians to the forefront. They were largely unknown outside the confines of their chosen discipline but after Pune, life will certainly change for some of them at least as the way forward becomes clearer.

All of India knows about the potential of someone like Virdhawal Khade but when he ducked under 50-seconds in 100M freestyle, he took a big step towards the big league. More than the number of medals he won, the focus was on timings, and he didn't disappoint, setting national records in four events.

In contrast, Saina Nehwal had very little to prove in badminton, for she was notches above the rest of the field. For the Hyderabadi, the event thus served as a preparatory exercise for the world junior meet beginning at the same venue next week.

Sikki the star

The real revelation was Sikki Reddy, who troubled the champion after scything down some fancied rivals in earlier rounds.

"It is a good sign for Indian badminton, especially the way Sikki played in earlier rounds," said P Gopichand, former All-England champion and the coach of both the players.

Signs were good in shooting too. Though the level of competition wasn't high in the U-18 age group, the talent in the Indian ranks was apparent, especially in the shot-gun range where Kynan Chenai in trap and Asher Gusti Noria in double trap really impressed.

From the organisation part, things did improve as the Games progressed but the bitterness of the first few days persisted till the end.

As the baton was passed to Isle of Man, the one positive point was the organisers' willingness to admit their mistakes and readiness to correct it in time for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Certainly, India and the Commonwealth will expect a better show then.

anishns · Post by **anishns** » 21 Oct 2008 04:05

Anand wins again, extends lead against Kramnik

http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.c ... 620682.cms

Rahul M wrote:anyone keeping track of anand-kramnik championship ?

Anand floors Kramnik, takes lead
BONN: Just when it seemed Vladimir Kramnik had managed to elude Viswanathan Anand’s grasp, the champion produced the knockout punch to floor the challenger in the third round of the World chess championship match here on Friday.

The time management of both players played a major role in the outcome of this complex match. At one stage, Anand had more than an hour of thinking time on his clock than Kramnik. But when the situation demanded, Anand took his time to thwart Kramnik’s bid to escape and later had less time than the Russian but just enough to finish the job.

Kramnik, in a hurry to complete 40 moves in the allotted two hours, missed a safe continuation and walked into serious trouble. Anand, closing in on a possible victory, kept his cool and found an easier way to win in 41 moves.

Sensing a certain defeat, Kramnik sacrificed his queen and tried to complicate matters for one last time by threatening to ‘queen’ one of his queenside pawns. But Anand was equal to the challenge and put the finishing touches in a clinical manner.

Anand, who plays with white pieces on Saturday, now leads 2-1 in the 12-game match.
seems a very interesting match, can't wait to get my hands on it !
btw, anand plays with white today, and he always plays well with white.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 22 Oct 2008 00:21

Anand has won game 6 as well, after winning game 5 yesterday. Back to back wins, first with black, and now with white. He now leads Kramnik 4.5-1.5 . The series is currently halfway through, being 12-match world championship. Short report from Chessbase:
WCC R06: Anand wins again, score now 4.5:1.5

"This is a major tragedy in the making," said one of the official commentators, Dr. Helmut Pfleger, to the audience. After yesterday's loss with the white pieces Vladimir Kramnik was confronted again with a new idea by Anand. In spite of imaginative defence he found himself in an endgame where Anand could successfully press for victory. Express report.

At this rate they may not even have to play all 12 games; a 3-pt lead at the halfway stage of the world championship is a big margin. Kramnik needs to win at least 4 of the remaining 6 games and deny any further wins to Anand.

Chessbase also had an interesting link to a 'live rating', an unofficial realtime rating system of the top players based on current performance. Thanks to Anand's superb performance in the championship, his live rating is world #1:
Chess Live Rating

Code: Select all

Rank Name Rating
01 Anand 2792
02 Topalov 2791
03 Carlsen 2782
04 Ivanchuk 2781
05 Morozevich 2778
06 Kramnik 2763
07 Aronian 2756
08 Radjabov 2753
09 Leko 2747
10 Movsesian 2744

anishns · Post by **anishns** » 24 Oct 2008 05:23

Anand draws seventh game, leads 5-2

http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.c ... 634328.cms

Having won three games and drawn four in this 12-game format, the Indian ace now leads 5-2 and needs only three more draws in the remaining five games to annex the world title yet again.

If he does so, Anand will be the first champion in the history of the game who has won the World Championship in all possible formats - a feat that even the now-retired Garry Kasparov cannot boast off as he stayed away from the knockout world championships.

Go Anand Go!

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 25 Oct 2008 04:24

Anand draws game 8. Leads 5.5-2.5 and needs one more point from 4 rounds to win. Kramnik's chances are essentially over. He needs either to win all the remaining 4 games to win, or win 3 and draw 1 to tie. Any other result means Anand retains his unified world title.

WCC R08: Draw in 39, Anand one point from victory

If Anand wins the next game, the 6.5-2.5 winning margin would be unprecedented. The only past 4-pt margin wins were Tal beating Botvinnik 12.5-8.5 in the early 60s, and Fischer beating Spassky by a similar margin in 1972, but in each case the loser had won a few games. The last shutout in a long title match was back in 1921 when Capablanca beat Lasker, winning four games and drawing the rest.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 25 Oct 2008 04:33

Suraj wrote:Anand draws game 8. Leads 5.5-2.5 and needs one more point from 4 rounds to win.

Anand needs 1 point to win the title outright. If heaven forbid, he just manages 1 draw, he will hold onto the title by virtue of being the champ. Unless the contract says something bakwaas. So the next round of this cycle is Anand vs Topalov/Kamsky in 09. Hopefully not in Bulgaria as a venue.... Anand-Kamsky will be Sanghi Nagar part deux.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Oct 2008 08:09

check google images for Tania Sachdev - who says chess cant be hot?

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 25 Oct 2008 16:21

Singha wrote:check google images for Tania Sachdev - who says chess cant be hot?

Have you seen Judit or Kateryna Lahno pics yet?

How about some of the Russkies or FSU or Iranian wimmen?

Tania was supposed to have been the next best thing that happened to women's chess in India when she broke out like 10-12 yrs back (and guess what she is just early 20s afaik). Unfortunately, this has become a repeat pattern in Indian chess. Kids break in early, but to step up to the next level of 2600 to 2700+ elo, there is a need for a consistent base that teaches techniques, variations (either as a jhapad or in the form of a school). We have Sasikiran, Hari and Parimarjan Negi on the men's side and Koneru Humpy on the women's side. The guys have been flat as hell for ages. K Humpy no longer plays in India like Anand. She has broken out to be the next best thing after Judit, but she has also been fairly flat cos she has nt entered exclusive men's events as yet. Thats a pity cos she can give a fair fright and jhapads to some serious folks. After her, the stage for Dronavilli Harika and Tania is a bit there, but they have nt grabbed all the chances that have come their way. I must also admit that even Topalov was flat for a long time before he had a brain transplant of sorts and hooked up with Silvio Danailov. But not everyone can live in the cuckooland of Bulgaria.

Raj · Post by **Raj** » 27 Oct 2008 05:22

Anand needs a draw on Monday to retain the world championship. He is currently leading 6 - 3.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Ches ... nship_2008

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 27 Oct 2008 11:34

Ach Stan san..I searched and out came pix of Judit with a cute baby.
dunno about the other one..."true faith" is needed to hunt down that
valley.

be desi, ogle desi is always the Swadeshi thing to do.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 27 Oct 2008 21:59

Any word on website or other changes at Mittal's Champion Trust? I sent an email to Manisha, one of the contacts expressing my interest to donate. Have not heard anything back. Their website does not indicate anything yet. http://mittalchampionstrust.com/

Any news on this front?

Yayavar · Post by **Yayavar** » 27 Oct 2008 23:34

Raj wrote:Anand needs a draw on Monday to retain the world championship. He is currently leading 6 - 3.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Ches ... nship_2008

Anand lost the 10th game: 6-4 now
http://www.rediff.com/sports/2008/oct/27chess.htm

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 29 Oct 2008 08:43

Aus have been preparing for todays match like their lives (and H&D) depended on it.
the infamous senior waugh was also flown in as also the turncoat jaichand bedi.

if we can 'hold the line' for this match, their units will collapse and start to melt
away leading to a rout in the next one.

Hoplites! deploy the tortoise formation and fwd march! archers at the ready!

vavinash · Post by **vavinash** » 29 Oct 2008 22:46

ANAND RETAINS WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP!!!

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 29 Oct 2008 23:18

/hats off !

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 30 Oct 2008 00:14

The SDRE Chanakians.

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 30 Oct 2008 00:23

Bedi cuts a sad sorry figure - desperate to offer his services to help anyone beat India no matter who is in the team.

not sure whats his frustration.

Congrats Anand

Great job-

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 30 Oct 2008 08:08

Congratulations V.Anand

Unbeatable Record

Anand, winner of all the major titles in the game at least once in his illustrious international career spanning 25 years, now holds what appears to be an unbeatable record of having claimed the World title in three different formats.

Anand won the title in 2000 in the now-discontinued 128-player knockout format. Last year, it was in the eight-player double round-robin format. Now Anand has regained the title in the most accepted and traditional matchplay format. Known for his versatility in all time-formats — classical, rapid and blitz — Anand has now widened his reputation in the chess world like never before.

Throughout the match, Anand showed tremendous intensity and character. The most admirable aspect of Anand’s victory here is his ability to match fire with fire.

Even after winning two games with black and one with white, Anand did not play the waiting game. When the world expected him to become a little defensive, and even a bit passive to add to Kramnik’s frustration, Anand’s approach was pro-active.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 30 Oct 2008 08:11

Congratulations Ms. Padmini for winning World Under-14 Chess Crown

India’s Padmini Rout won the girls under-14 world title with a round to spare when the 10th and penultimate round of the World youth chess championship concluded here {Vietnam} on Wednesday. She has 9.5 points and her only draw was against Diana Baciu of Moldova.

India has some medal prospects in other sections, boys & girls, as well.

sum · Post by **sum** » 30 Oct 2008 21:02

Congrats, Anand Sir....
Please keep our flag flying high at all times. Also, we will never forget the hordes of chess champs unearthed all because of the inspiration you provided to the youth to take up chess.

vavinash · Post by **vavinash** » 30 Oct 2008 21:33

Anyone seen this:
http://wycc2008.vietnamchess.com/index.php

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 30 Oct 2008 22:49

where is stan these days, such great news coming from world of sports and he is AWOL ?

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 30 Oct 2008 23:49

Rahul M wrote:where is stan these days, such great news coming from world of sports and he is AWOL ?

Right here, boss. Just sick and tired of the skepticism and bashing of oldies like AK, VVS, SRT, RD, SG and the other heroes of this country from other sports that I have forgotten to add. At some point, it is good to hide underneath the benches to escape the tirades that emanate from the usual suspects' irrespective of whether someone scores or not, performs or not, acts heroically or not. Of late, everyone seems to have found it fashionable to get rid of the oldies. The toiletpapers of India just reflect the dumbness and the irrationality of the population that is often witnessed on this board. And when some oldie does score, it is fluke. Can some of the folks who dissed VVS, SG, SRT etc now eat their puke troll words? No they would nt do that, that would be so loss of face -- and they find pissing on the chicomers so sweet and welcome. They will go into hiding when someone scores, just to reappear when he does nt the next time. Chicanery of the best kind...

The most vocal of the lot are often the most EB of armchair pundits who have probably never ever wielded a willow except for galli crikkit and got beaten infinitely often. Some of the crude comments make me feel like pulling the plug of the monitor and yanking it to the floor just to escape the naivete of these troll-pundits and skeptics. Needless to say, if India were to follow these skeptics' diktats, it would have gone under infinitely back. And the very fact that it stands ensures that their diktats are just bunkum. Not just sports, every thread has one or two skeptics popping up often nuff and talking as if we are playing a dead dodo. What kind of rakshaks are these monsters being so skeptical anyway? Skeptical if they know inside information or how things operate is understandable, skeptical without reasonable knowledge means they are just noise, not even white Gaussian noise, but shot noise of the worst kind. In any case, a country that cannot respect its heroes will soon find it hard to locate one. Maybe that should be drummed into these skeptics' heads often nuff.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 30 Oct 2008 23:54

Rohit sharma has put a strong claim to Dada's place with a
blazing 119 n.o. in a recent T20 domestic match.

he should be given a chance while RD and SRT are still around
to teach him in-person.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 31 Oct 2008 00:08

I share your anguish though am not able to present it as eloquently !

been fighting a (losing) battle against this kind of thinking for sometime now.
this particular generation has produced India's best cricket ever for a hell of a long time.
it was almost like a fairy tale that is coming to its end. players of the caliber of SRT,SG,RD,VVS,AK all playing at the same time ! unbelievable !

on another note, "Toast to the Reigning Monarch of the 64 squares !"

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 31 Oct 2008 01:56

As the skeptics whine and moan, the nation marches on. Seb Xavier's record has long since gone, taken by a teenager who has been setting the pool on fire, literally.

Virdhawal Khade, the ‘Boy Wonder’ of Indian swimming, exceeded his own expectations at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune with a haul of three gold and two silver medals. The 17-year-old swimmer, a ward of noted coach Nihar Ameen of K. C. Reddy Swim Centre in Bangalore, attributed his remarkable performance to “hard work”.

It has been a hectic but highly satisfying season for the youngster who has set the pool ablaze in every meet that he has participated in. “My aim was to stay fully fit, keep up the tempo and swim as fast as I can in all the events. And the fact that I did it, gives me a lot of satisfaction,” said Khade. He rated the 100m freestyle record — 49.47 seconds — as his best ever performance to date. “Having clocked 50.07 seconds at the Beijing Olympics, I knew I could crack the 50-second barrier and I did it in Pune,” said Khade. Khade’s effort was not only a Commonwealth Youth Games record, but it also bettered the FINA Youth World Record of 50.06s.

http://www.tssonnet.com/stories/20081101504102900.htm

Meanwhile, Saina Nehwal has also set the badminton court on fire. Her rage since the Beijing meltdown has continued. For the record, her nemesis at Beijing, Maria Kristin Yulianti has not done bad either.

India’s top seed and World No 11 Saina Nehwal also progressed to the last eight of the YONEX SUNRISE-BWF WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS 2008 with a resounding 21-13, 21-11 win over Chinese Taipei’s Hung Shih Han. The Indian will take on Indonesia’s Lindaweni Fanetri for a place in the last four.

Anand has gone to no. 2 in the liveratings following his loss to K-man in game 10. In contrast to what people were expecting (a major break from chess for a while), he will be in action very soon. So chances of getting to no 1 are not far off.. In any case, who da eff cares when he is the undisputed world champ?

Anand uvacha

My team (comprising former world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov, Peter Heine Nielsen, Radoslav Wojtaszek and Surya Shekhar Ganguly) was extremely good. Kramnik taunted me a lot and that helped me concentrate better. I knew I had to do a good job here otherwise I had to deal with this…not winning a match and so on. So it led to my being focussed. He was extremely gracious yesterday but I guess it comes in the territory. In election campaigns they insult each other and then they shake hands and show how well they are in the end.

K-man was very uncharitable after Mexico even going to the extent of questioning the validity of calling Anand the world champion cos it was a win in a non-match context. This despite his signing toto to the agreement to let the world title be unified. Apart from the list of seconds, there might have been some dark horse in the bground we will never know for a long while, I guess.....

Anand: I have been studying Kramnik since the end of April, up to ten hours a day, here at home in my cellar, where I have my office. I have a database and construct game plans. I try to neutralise positions in which Kramnik is strong. He is doing the same thing with my game, which I must of course take into consideration. Let me put it this way: I must remember that he is thinking about what I am thinking about him. In any case one is working for months with the computer, trying to find new paths.
SPIEGEL: In recent times the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen has been in the headlines. He is seventeen and at the beginning of the month he was, for five days, the number one in the unofficial world rankings. How good is he?
Anand: He will sooner or later become World Champion. I like him, he is a Monty Python fan, just like me.
SPIEGEL: There are rumours that he is your second for the World Championship against Kramnik.
Anand: That's a rumour I have heard as well. Perhaps there is some truth in it. Perhaps not. Let Kramnik figure it out, let him occupy his mind with this question. That is part of the psychological game before this kind of match. When you know who is part of your opponent's team you can imagine what he is planning. So I will not reveal anything.

The seven-member Indian contingent marched on with only one reversal, the 0-3 loss of Vidya Pillai at the hands of England’s Reanne Evans in the 2008 IBSF World snooker championships here at the BRP-Rotax Hall. Pankaj Advani, Manan Chandra and Sourav Kothari, the three Indian cueists in the men’s section all performed with predictable consistency to post their third successive victories of the round-robin stage.