India National Thread

[sanjaydas 14]

Yes.

[nitinsanker 208]

*Indian  at the Tokyo Olympics ……..3 days to Olympics ……….post 8 of 10 by nitin sanker*

 

We have looked at 6 out of the 8 medal possible sports of India  and today we look at *Wrestling*

 

Wrestling was a part of Olympic history right from the ancient Olympics , In modern olympics it started with a single Greco roman event in 1896, and has been a part of every Olympics  ( except   1900). Amongst the combat sports wrestling stands out as a combination of strength , stamina and technique that makes it a dazzling sport to watch. The current Olympic program consists of 18 events , 6 in mens Greco roman ( where you do cannot attack the opponents legs or use your legs )  , 6 in mens free style and 6 in womens freestyle.

 

In India wrestling is one of the true grass root sports especially in the rural districts of Haryana , UP , Punjab and Rajasthan. It is a sport deeply etched in Indian ethos, first codified in the 13^th century text the Malla Purana , it was always popular with wrestlers like the Great Gama and Rustom-e-hind Dara Singh commanding a super hero status in yesteryears. While we have scant rewards at the Olympics this has been a big sport for India at the asian games ( 59 medals ) and commonwealth games  ( 102 medals )

 

At the Olympics Wrestling is the one sport after Hockey where India has garnered the maximum medals(5).  KD Jadhav started the wrestling medals for India having won a bronze in   the bantamweight category in 1952.  In recent years we have won a medal at each of the Olympics beginning with 2008.

Now lets look towards Tokyo.

 

In recent times Indian Wrestlers have done very well culminating in a record 4 medals at the previous UWW world championships in 2019 ( we have been averaging one per championship before that ). We have 7 wrestlers in this sport at Tokyo  ( 3 in Mens Free and 4 in Womens free, none in Greco ) of which six  I believe are medal prospects.

 

*57 Kgs Men* : Ravi Kumar Dahiya is one of the world championship medalists with a bronze in 2019. A really strong wrestlers with tremendous stamina , Definitely a *likely*

 

*65 Kgs Men* : Bajrang Punia , trained by Yogeshwar Dutt initially , he is 3 time world championship medallist. Bajji is  known for a relentless attacking style and also has a weaker leg defence but often comes from behind for his victories. Definitely the most storied wrestler in India’s squad , definitely a *likely*

 

*86 Kg Men* : Deepak punia is that very rare commodity in Indian wrestling , a good heavyweight wrestler. Deepak has come up from the ranks , winning a gold in both the cadet and youth championships and successfully graduated to the seniors with a resounding silver at the world championships . But due to his youth I am keeping him as a *possible* only

 

*53 kg women* : Vinesh Phogat is from probably the best women wrestler to come from the iconic Phogat Family ( of Dangal Fame ) she is a niece of Mahavir Phogat of dangal fame , and may be the member who brings to the family of fabulous wrestlers  the coveted Olympic medal. She is favoured to win a medal having won a world championship bronze. Definitely a *likely*

 

* 57 Kg women and 62 kg women* :Anshu Malik and Sonam Malik .  I have clubbed these two together because their stories run parallel , born 30 km apart in Haryana , a few months apart  to famous wrestling families ( yes there are famous wrestling families in Haryana ). They were fierce competitors  in juniors ( even their fathers had a fight because of a controversial result amongst the two ) and then decided to be in parallel weight classes and are now best of friends and roommates when they travel. Both have come through the junior ranks together at the global level. Anshu winning  gold and two bronzes at the cadet level and then a gold and a silver at the junior level , Sonam winning two golds and a bronze at the cadet level. Both then beat very storied wrestlers Pooja Dandha and Sakshi Malik to qualify for the national team and then won the quotas in the same event. Both because of their youth are *Possibles* not likely in Tokyo

 

*Medal Prediction in wrestling* : 2 to 4

[Madhusudhan 12]

58 minutes ago, Sanjib said:

Seems no telecast tomorrow.

yes...even archery qualification on friday morning will not be telecasted

 

telecast may start in India with opening ceremony only

 

In india Sony is having TV rights...am only curious whether live streams available in Sony LIV will be different from what is being shown on TV

 

[tirtha22 238]

9 hours ago, Madhusudhan said:

yes...even archery qualification on friday morning will not be telecasted

 

telecast may start in India with opening ceremony only

 

In india Sony is having TV rights...am only curious whether live streams available in Sony LIV will be different from what is being shown on TV

 

Yes Softball telecast happening in Sony Liv and not on TV.

[sounak 40]

9 hours ago, Madhusudhan said:

yes...even archery qualification on friday morning will not be telecasted

 

telecast may start in India with opening ceremony only

 

In india Sony is having TV rights...am only curious whether live streams available in Sony LIV will be different from what is being shown on TV

 

Sonyliv will have all the sports simultaneously on different streams but on TV they will toggle between sports.

[tirtha22 238]

Weather comparatively a plus point for Indian athletes

https://m.timesofindia.com/sports/tokyo-olympics/indiatokyo/in-hot-humid-tokyo-indian-shooters-may-feel-like-home/amp_articleshow/84588557.cms

[tirtha22 238]

6 minutes ago, sounak said:

Sonyliv will have all the sports simultaneously on different streams but on TV they will toggle between sports.

Every year before olympics , tennis controversy is constant .

So is the poor telecast and programming by the tv channels. Hopefully this year it will be fine.

[Prakash 50]

On 19/07/2021 at 21:48, nitinsanker said:

*Indian  at the Tokyo Olympics ……..4 days to Olympics ……….post 7 of 10 by nitin sanker*

 

We have looked at 5 out of the 8 medal possible sports of India  and Today we look at *Badminton*

Badminton was a game which originated in India in the mid 1800s , originally called “poona” it was later renamed after the duke of beauforts country estate where it began to be played.

 

Despite its early Indian origin , we had no great names till prakash padukone flashed like a comet in the early 1980s winning the all England and won a bronze at the world championship , subsequently we have had good players like Pullela Gopichand ( the current head coach of badminton ) who won the all England in 2001 but nothing really earth shattering till the advent of the dynamic duo PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal in 2010s . Thanks mostly to them we have won a medal at every badminton world championships from 2011.

 

Badminton is a bit of a late entrant to the Olympics having its first appearance in 1992 , it  become very popular especially with the fabled rivalry between Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei . India  has done well in recent times with a bronze by Saina in 2012 and the very famous silver by Sindhu in 2016. So looking forward to Tokyo

Sadly we have a bit of a diminished side with single participation in 3 events – womens and mens singles and mens doubles . Sai Praneeth faces a very difficult draw where if he progresses to the quarters he meets world No 1 the Kento Momota in the quarters where I see no hope of him progressing , the dynamic pair of Chirag and Satwik are in group of death situation in the mens doubles facing the “minions” world number 1 pair from Indonesia and the current world no 3 from Taipei , I  do not see them crossing the group phase.

 

From a medal perspective we have only one likely medallist

 

*Womens Singles* : she is that rare Indian Sportsperson who brings her best game to her biggest events with 5 world championship medals and an Olympic silver,  she is a legitimate claimant to the title of G.O.A.T in womens badminton. She is the reigning world champion. Of course PV Sindhu . Her form has not looked the best in 2021 but without doubt she will play her heart out in Tokyo as she did in Rio. She is currently seeded 7^th but the way women’s badminton looking any of the top 8 will be able to win gold. She has a good to head to head record against most of them except current world number One - Tai Tzu Ying and Carolina Marin. Marin will not be in Tokyo because of an Injury.

 

As per the draw Sindhu’s first real battle will be in the quarter finals against Akane Yamaguchi in the quarters , Sindhu is ahead  11-7 record in the head to head and did beat her recently,  it will not be easy but I see Sindhu reaching semis.  There she most probably comes against her nemesis Tzu , who has a  13-5 record against Sindhu and has beaten her several times in the recent times. Still I will give Sindhu a fifty- fifty chance to get to the finals just because of Sindhus ability to bring her big game to crunch matches . If she reaches the finals  she might meet Chen Yufei. For me Sindhu is a “likely” medalist

 

*Medal Prediction* - 0 to 1 in badminton

 

11 hours ago, nitinsanker said:

*Indian  at the Tokyo Olympics ……..3 days to Olympics ……….post 8 of 10 by nitin sanker*

 

We have looked at 6 out of the 8 medal possible sports of India  and today we look at *Wrestling*

 

Wrestling was a part of Olympic history right from the ancient Olympics , In modern olympics it started with a single Greco roman event in 1896, and has been a part of every Olympics  ( except   1900). Amongst the combat sports wrestling stands out as a combination of strength , stamina and technique that makes it a dazzling sport to watch. The current Olympic program consists of 18 events , 6 in mens Greco roman ( where you do cannot attack the opponents legs or use your legs )  , 6 in mens free style and 6 in womens freestyle.

 

In India wrestling is one of the true grass root sports especially in the rural districts of Haryana , UP , Punjab and Rajasthan. It is a sport deeply etched in Indian ethos, first codified in the 13^th century text the Malla Purana , it was always popular with wrestlers like the Great Gama and Rustom-e-hind Dara Singh commanding a super hero status in yesteryears. While we have scant rewards at the Olympics this has been a big sport for India at the asian games ( 59 medals ) and commonwealth games  ( 102 medals )

 

At the Olympics Wrestling is the one sport after Hockey where India has garnered the maximum medals(5).  KD Jadhav started the wrestling medals for India having won a bronze in   the bantamweight category in 1952.  In recent years we have won a medal at each of the Olympics beginning with 2008.

Now lets look towards Tokyo.

 

In recent times Indian Wrestlers have done very well culminating in a record 4 medals at the previous UWW world championships in 2019 ( we have been averaging one per championship before that ). We have 7 wrestlers in this sport at Tokyo  ( 3 in Mens Free and 4 in Womens free, none in Greco ) of which six  I believe are medal prospects.

 

*57 Kgs Men* : Ravi Kumar Dahiya is one of the world championship medalists with a bronze in 2019. A really strong wrestlers with tremendous stamina , Definitely a *likely*

 

*65 Kgs Men* : Bajrang Punia , trained by Yogeshwar Dutt initially , he is 3 time world championship medallist. Bajji is  known for a relentless attacking style and also has a weaker leg defence but often comes from behind for his victories. Definitely the most storied wrestler in India’s squad , definitely a *likely*

 

*86 Kg Men* : Deepak punia is that very rare commodity in Indian wrestling , a good heavyweight wrestler. Deepak has come up from the ranks , winning a gold in both the cadet and youth championships and successfully graduated to the seniors with a resounding silver at the world championships . But due to his youth I am keeping him as a *possible* only

 

*53 kg women* : Vinesh Phogat is from probably the best women wrestler to come from the iconic Phogat Family ( of Dangal Fame ) she is a niece of Mahavir Phogat of dangal fame , and may be the member who brings to the family of fabulous wrestlers  the coveted Olympic medal. She is favoured to win a medal having won a world championship bronze. Definitely a *likely*

 

* 57 Kg women and 62 kg women* :Anshu Malik and Sonam Malik .  I have clubbed these two together because their stories run parallel , born 30 km apart in Haryana , a few months apart  to famous wrestling families ( yes there are famous wrestling families in Haryana ). They were fierce competitors  in juniors ( even their fathers had a fight because of a controversial result amongst the two ) and then decided to be in parallel weight classes and are now best of friends and roommates when they travel. Both have come through the junior ranks together at the global level. Anshu winning  gold and two bronzes at the cadet level and then a gold and a silver at the junior level , Sonam winning two golds and a bronze at the cadet level. Both then beat very storied wrestlers Pooja Dandha and Sakshi Malik to qualify for the national team and then won the quotas in the same event. Both because of their youth are *Possibles* not likely in Tokyo

 

*Medal Prediction in wrestling* : 2 to 4

[Siddhartha Talukdar 263]

There is no controversy in tennis at all. Rohan Bopanna is just trying to make noise. Has he ever bothered to read the qualification document. Did they never know that Divij Sharan would have to improve his ranking significantly to have any chance of qualification. AITA did the right thing by trying to enter Sumit Nagal as Bopanna's doubles partner as qualification favours singles players

[Siddhartha Talukdar 263]

1 hour ago, tirtha22 said:

Every year before olympics , tennis controversy is constant .

So is the poor telecast and programming by the tv channels. Hopefully this year it will be fine.

Not a fan of Sony Liv at all. Many shows and movies including some Olympic documentaries can't be viewed on TV app but only on desktop or mobile. Also it was hanging too much in yesterday's India-Sri Lanka match