London Olympic and India’s Expectation

London Olympic and India’s Expectation Dr.Athiqul H.Laskar India Expected to Shine Brightly In the 2012 London Olympics - The wait is finally over and the countdown has begun for this year’s Summer Olympics to be held from 27th July to 12th August in London. There is a strong buzz surrounding the event and curiosity and interest are ripe on the part of the Indian viewers. The Indian sportspersons participating in the event are naturally all geared up for the occasion and are ready to give it their best shot. Expectations are riding high especially since India has had a good run in the past couple of years in the Olympics. Even a decade back, the scenario was starkly different. Olympic was mostly about ensuring participation for the Indian athletes at the last hour without much hope for winning a medal or two. Getting entry into the event was enough. However, the 2008 Beijing Olympics changed the scene completely. It was the year Abhinav Bindra brought home our 1st individual gold medal along with boxer Vijender and wrestler Sushil Kumar each securing a bronze medal. This marked India’s emergence in the Olympic scene and there has been no looking back since. The 2010 Commonwealth Games and Guangzhou Asian Games have also been witness to some spectacular performances from our athletes so that expectations have suitably built up around them for the forthcoming London Olympics. The Indian government is not far behind too in expressing its enthusiasm over the grand event. It has already planned to allot around 2500 million in preparation for the games with 200 million scheduled only for foreign coaches to train our fellow athletes. Thus the government too is leaving no stone unturned to secure a good position for Indian athletes at the occasion. There is enough reason to feel gung-ho about the fast-approaching London Olympics because India has earned qualification in a wide range of disciplines. Naturally, it is expected that we will break even in a good number of categories. To begin with, a significant number of shooters and pugilists have ensured their place in the event. Again, many field and track athletes are in the race for bagging a handful of medals. The same picture is evident in other categories too. Indian athletes are also a part of other disciplines like archery, swimming, badminton, table tennis, tennis, rowing, weightlifting and so on. In wrestling, there is a female participant this time named Geeta along with the usual male contenders. Again, the Indian men’s hockey team is in the running. Athletes to watch out for in the London Olympics 2012 - Though India is competing in a plethora of categories, there are some players on whom everyone has pinned their hopes on. The top 5 players expected to make India proud in the London Olympics this year include: Saina Nehwal: This 22-year old ace badminton player has innumerable gold medals to her credit which make her one of the top contenders and India’s hope for this year’s Summer Olympics. The fact that she ranks as the 5th best badminton player in the whole world at present speaks a lot about her craft and performance. Nehwal came into the global limelight in 2006 when she won the prestigious Philippines Open, a first for India. The fact that she had gone as the 84th seed into the tournament made her achievement all the more inspiring and remarkable. Much was written about her and she was heralded as the talent to watch out for. She proved that her success was not a flash in the pan by following it up with a bronze win in the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. However, her best was yet to come. It was in the 2008 Beijing Olympics that she shone the brightest. She became the 1st woman from India to secure a position in the singles quarterfinal of the Olympics. Next year i.e. in 2009, she won the Indonesian Open where again she became the 1st Indian to achieve a Super Series tournament win. Naturally, she is touted as one of the strongest bets for the London Olympics. She is expected to create magic this year too and everyone is waiting with bated breath to see what she’ll do this time round. Sushil Kumar: This lad from southwest New Delhi hit it big time when he won a gold medal more than a decade ago in 1998 at the World Cadet Games held in Moscow. It was soon followed by a gold win at the Asian Junior Wrestling Championship in 2000. His magic moment came with his bronze win at the 2008 Beijing Olympics which made him the 2nd Indian wrestler to win a medal in the Olympic. He was bestowed with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the highest sporting honor in our country, for his spectacular performance in the Beijing Olympic. On a lighter note, the 2010 Commonwealth Games participants voted him the most popular athlete. He also appeared earlier this year on the popular television adventure reality show, MTV Roadies where he was seen teaching a thing or two about wrestling to the hapless contestants. Now, it remains to be seen how he fares in the upcoming London Olympics. Vijender Singh: This ace boxer’s first brush with the boxing ring happened when he was all of 11 years. He was noticed by the popular Indian boxer Jagdish Singh when he was practicing his art at a local club in his small village. The former boxer gave him encouragement to pursue his passion and take it up as a full-time profession. What is more, he also agreed to be his mentor and thus began Vijender Singh’s journey. Singh excelled at the 2008 Beijing Olympics by being the 1st Indian boxer to win an Olympic medal. He won a bronze medal which was followed by another win at the 2009 World Amateur Boxing Championship held in Milan. Because of this, the AIBA International Boxing Association gave him the tag of the best middleweight boxer in the world. Naturally, everyone has high hopes from him in the London Olympics 2012. Gagan Narang: This shooter has as many as 13 gold medals to his credit. He first emerged on the scene during his first gold medal win at a tournament held in Hyderabad in the year 2003. The journey has been continuing since and with repeated success. His performance has been particularly exemplary in the last two Commonwealth Games editions where he bagged four gold medals. He is also known for setting a world record at the 2008 International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup held in Bangkok by scoring a staggering 703.5 points at the 10 meter air rifle shoot. Quite obviously, there is a lot to look forward to from this Hyderabad-based shooter in the London Olympics 2012. Krishna Poonia: She will be showing her mettle in the event of discuss throw. Her sports career started in the year 2006 at the Doha Asian Games where she bagged the bronze medal and the next step was obviously the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Her biggest achievement till date remains her gold medal win at the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in New Delhi where she cleared a distance of 61.5m with her discus. Being the 1st Indian woman to secure gold in this sport at any key important sporting event, there is immense buzz about her with regard to the impending London Olympics. (Feedback – athiqul16@yahoo.co.in www.conantinstitute.org.in)