Olympics sure did reveal the characters of our heroes - Abhinav Bindra, the boxing trio of Vijender Singh, Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar, and not to forget - Sushil Kumar. A look at what has happened after the Olympics is surely encouraging, as the small but progressive steps which India is taking as a sporting nation, (Link to the previous article) has revived the spirit of sportsmanship in the country.
 |
Let’s start with the most loved sport of the nation. Cricket , which I hope truly as a sports lover, doesn’t stay for long as the number one sport after some of our good showings at the Olympics. After the mauling or rather humiliation that our test team suffered at the hands of the rookie spin wizard Ajanhta Mendis, the ODI team without any prejudices about the spinner, was able to come up triumphs in the ODI series. But one thing is for sure. If our Fab Four couldn’t pick him, then the English, the West Indians and the South Africans better watch out, as another nemesis of your test teams is on the prowl. I am not amongst the many to point out again and again that it was our first ODI series win in many years, in fact I would rather credit it to some very good luck of MS Dhoni with the toss and some inspired performance again by the skipper himself and the bowlers. We were shown in the last match of the series how difficult it was to bat under lights when we were drubbed in the inconsequential tie. All in all, a good morale boosting series victory.
Moving from Cricket to another of my favourite sports - Football or Soccer as they call it in the US of A. I was pleasantly surprised with our win in the AFC Challenge Cup. Jab se hosh sambhala hai (read since I came in my senses) I don’t remember watching any football match involving India and Indian clubs, even though I follow them through newspapers and websites.
 |
The first one I watched live was the final of AFC Challenge Cup and guess what! I turned out rather lucky for our Indian National team. We drubbed Tajikistan 4-1 in the Final and I, for once, was feeling proud as an Indian Football follower that day. As the Cup was presented to a beaming Baichung Bhutia, it meant an automatic qualification of our team to the Asia Cup, the equivalent to glamorous Euro Cup in Europe. India had found a successor to the evergreen Baichung Bhutia in Sunil Chhetri, as he notched up a stupendous hat trick in the finals. But as usual, the media chose to project cricketing affairs more than the footballers. In fact I was amazed that there wasn’t even a front page news snippet forget a snap, of the victorious team. Well I hope it changes some day and we move on to devote equal attention to other sports as well. But I truly cherished our victory and have promised myself to watch few more international games involving India.
After Sania Mirza, if there has been another sportswoman to impress many sports lovers in the recent times, it has been the Olympic Quarter finalist Saina Nehwal.
I had followed all her matches in the Olympics and was rather impressed and also disappointed when the nerves got the better of her as she lost in the QFs. I have no doubt that Saina will scale greater heights in the years to come. After her victory in the 2006 Philippines Open she hadn’t won anything much in the next few years until the recent victory in the Yonex Chinese Taipei Grand Prix Gold badminton championship. This skilled shuttler has climbed to a carrier high ranking of 11 and she also reached the Semi-finals China Masters Super Series. It will not take long before India can look up to a woman shuttler in the Top 10 of the world.
 |
Leander Paes! Well he has been another of our evergreen stars, one who carries Indian pride around in the Tennis world. He showed how age doesn’t matter as long as you are fit as he clinched the US open mixed doubles crown along with Cara Black of Zimbabwe. At the age of 35 one doesn’t expect him to run around and cover the court like a hare, but he sure makes it up with his never ending passion. I sometimes feel he has two hearts coupled with the vast experience which he has gained on the circuit. He will remain one of my sporting heroes as I still remember jumping up and down when he defeated a certain Pete Sampras in an ATP final and not to forget that Olympic Bronze in Atlanta 1996. Lukas Dlouhy and our man clinched the Thailand Open men’s doubles recently. Hail Leander, may you go on and on for many years to come.
Saurav Ghoshal. Does the name ring a bell? Well not to many I guess.
With all media attention going to the cricketers, I doubt if many would have read his recent achievements. The 22 year old Squash Player is the National Champion for 4 years now and ranked 39 in the world currently. He, along with Ritwik Bhattacharya, the world no 57, are the two Indians with Top 100. Saurav Ghoshal won the Ornano International event at Bourdeaux in France recently. Many sports journalists compare him with the young Leander Paes for the energy, passion and dedication to the game. He is well, a truly a rising star in the world of Squash.
These are the highlights in the Indian sporting world to have taken place post Olympics. I started my article with a note that Sports reveals the character of a person. Well let’s just hope we find many Sporting characters to look up to in the coming days.
Here’s wishing India all the luck in all the forthcoming Sporting events and be rest assured folks that yours truly will be back with some analysis and comments.
