kapil857

I think the only way IND and ROU get it is if UKR and BLR somehow get a clean chit...a bit unfortunate from an Indian point of view considering how our wrestler Hitender bossed both Iliev (pinned in under a minute) and Gagloev (defeated 5-0) in the repechage rounds... Also, worth noting that UWW have not yet come out with their article summarizing the results and quotas of the day for the freestyle competition. Might be because of these doping issues...

Its actually a pretty complicated situation. UKR and BLR actually qualified at the European qualifier but then tested positive. However, their b-samples are yet to be tested and the hearing process is pending...As a result, UKR and BLR both competed in the 2nd world qualifier in Turkey as well (with different wrestlers) and both qualified once again... So, 2 quotas have to most definitely be re-allocated in 125 kg because UKR and BLR ain't gonna be sending 2 wrestlers in the same category. As to who will get those quotas, there are a lot of complications. The best case scenario for Hitender is actually if the UKR and BLR athletes who competed in the Eur champs come out clean, as that would mean their quotas earned at Eur champs would be valid, thus UKR and BLR would become ineligible to win quotas in Turkey and thus those quotas would get awarded to the Bronze medalists at Turkey - IND and ROU..

Bopanna's semi-final is available on live streaming RIGHT NOW if anyone is interested... http://www.batmanstream.com/tennis-live-streaming-video-2016-7.html

I think eventually we will have to have trials in all categories. There is no way Sushil is not getting a chance, unless he backs out himself. Further, even Amit deserves a chance considering he has been our best 57kg wrestler for a while and was injured at the selection trials. As a reuslt, good chance there will be final trials in all categories. Though Geeta probably will not be allowed to enter due to the stupid ban which is the most ridiculous thing I have heard in Indian sport for a while. And it should be noted that there has been absolutely no official statement from the world body UWW about the ban. It seems like the useless WFI pres could not handle a few words from UWW president Lalovic and took it out on Babita and Geeta thus possibly costing us one spot. And by the way, even before the ban, Sakshi had been selected for this tournament (and also for the Asian qualifier) ahead of Geeta. So Geeta being banned did not really affect the qualification but Babita's ban cost us...I guess for our mental peace we'll have to just assume that Babita wouldn't have made it in any case due to an extremely tough draw (Babita's name was even part of the draw yesterday before being replaced by Lalita - so have to assume Babita would have got the same draw)

I think you gotta add Narsingh/Sushil as a realistic medal contender in addition to Yogi. Afterall, Narsingh won bronze at the world championships, which also doubled as the first Oly qualifier, and was very close to winning his SF as well. So he just has to repeat that performance. And if Sushil beats Narsingh and goes, then he too can do what Narsingh did. I feel like we may not have as many qualifiers in wrestling as we wanted but we have got our medal contenders through. Last time also, we had 5 qualifiers and 2 medals - won't be surprised if it repeats. And I haven't given up on Amit yet. He lost a bit controversially to Russia at the world champs and then injured himself just before the selection trials, thus not participating in the Oly qualifiers. But am sure Rahul vs Amit vs Sandeep will be on the undercard of Sushil vs Narsingh. And yes, boxing has been very disappointing but Shiva did win bronze at the world champs and is a definite medal contender. And, personally, I haven't given up on Mary yet but yeah, its going to be very very tough for her to qualify.

" where countries who have no swimmers with an “A” time or a selected “B” time may enter up to 1 man and 1 woman for Rio" - this doesn't make sense if the selection of B swimmers is after the universality selection - havent gone through the rules doc myself but seems like there will be just 1 "B" swimmer per country - either selected through universality or invited by FINA. So a Supriyo may get invited, despite not participating in the 2015 world champs, but then India wont get an additional universality place as well...

Our GR guys didn't do much today but some food for thought - the American who qualified in 59 kg in Turkey had lost to Gaurav Sharma in the first round in Mongolia (we decided to send Ravinder instead of Gaurav to Turkey).

Yeah Avtar definitely has a chance but right now, there are 2 judokas - from Jordan and Kazakhstan - ahead of Avtar in the race for continental quota. And there is also the limit of max 2 continental places per continent per category. So unless Avtar overtakes them in the rankings or the countries choose to use their continental quotas in some other category, Avtar doesnt make it. In addition, CHN and UZB are also ranked 21 and 22 in his category, so if either of them drop slightly in rankings, they'll drop out of direct world ranking qualification and end up taking the continental quotas.. So Avtar has a shot for sure but its not certain by any means...and under no circumstances are we qualifying 2 judokas like the federation claimed and the press reported...

You're right - seems like the Judo Federation here is just blowing smoke up journalists' asses, who clearly can't be bothered to check any of the information themselves. Even after adding points from the Asian Champs, and accounting for the fact that only 1 judoka per category per country can qualify, Avtar is ranked 47 (where only 22 qualify) and Kalpana is ranked 53 (where only 14 qualify). Avtar may have a shot at the continental quota but that too is pretty tough...

I am guessing the heavier women aren't really elite weightlifters but were sent primarily to prevent manipulation of the stupid weightlifting qualification rules like UAE managed in London 2012. Weightlifting has the stupidest qualification procedure ever - it is a completely individual sport but qualification is based almost entirely on team performance - that too with a weird and made-up point system. In effect, 6 men and 4 women need to combine to earn just a single quota. In London, UAE had gamed this system and sent 2 girls in 75kg and 2 girls in +75kg. All these girls lifted lower or near the weights lifted by the 48kg women. But, since Asia in general is weak in heavier categories, and all countries are restricted to a max of 7 weightlifters across categories, there were pretty much no other weightlifters, still fighting for qualification, participating in these categories. As a result, despite lifting ridiculously low weights, the UAE girls finished like 3rd and 4th among qualifiers (which was second-last and last) and thus managed to earn a quota....once again, despite finishing second last and last by a huge margin...

Completely agreed. This is one of the most ridiculous situations ever. But it needs to be noted that so far atleast there has been no official statement from UWW. As far as they are concerned, there is no offical ban. Its only WFI claiming that its useless president was verbally threatened. Seems like another case of a useless Indian federation with babus ruining athletes' dreams. At worst, they should have just given a warning to Geeta and Babita and moved on...rather than this stupid mess...

Does anyone know when the Rio hockey schedules will be declared ????

Does anyone know how the 3rd qualifier will be determined in Mongolia ??? Will there be an additional bout between the two bronze medalists ??

Does anyone know how the 3rd qualifier will be determined in Mongolia?? Will there be an additional bout between the the two bronze medalists or will there be some other method ???

HISTORIC DAY FOR INDIAN SPORT !!! Our first ever Gymnastics Olympic qualifier, and she's one with actually a decent shot at a medal, rather than just "going there for the experience" !!!

Does anyone when the Rio hockey schedule will be released ??? I am travelling to Rio and need to purchase tickets...

Vikas has also gone down to his Chinese opponent. No surprise that both our losses today were against CHN. In the absence of live streaming, AIBA can be even more blatant in their cheating. Don't know how many quotas we'll get but a good number of losses are going to come against just 3 nations - KAZ (dominate AIBA), UZB (are actually the best nation in Asia), and CHN (hosts)

"If any of the NOCs qualified for Test Event pull out, Rakesh or Dipa can participate in Test Event & try to qualify. Latest news is that North Korea pulled out of the Test Event (2 slots in Women's Event) which means Dipa can participate provided Indian NOC registers her before 16th March" GVaisaikh - Can u please provide the information source for the 16th march deadline....

Does anybody have any further news on Dipa Karmarkar?? I have gone through the rules and it is clear that if north korea pulled out, then both Colombia and India (who is 2nd reserve) will be invited. However, here's why I have a bad feeling. The registration list has no women athletes from North Korea and also has one women athlete from Colombia. But it does not have India !!! I also double-checked and every other country who is eligible has registered. However, 40 individual non-qualified athletes should be competing at the event and the registration has been listed for only 39. Also, registration is as of Feb 25. So, either India has registered after Feb 25, or the more scary alternative is that the INDIAN GYMNASTICS FEDERATION SCREWED UP LIKE NOBODY'S BUSINESS (and unfortunately things like that happen in India) !!!

Here's the link which says north korea (which was allowed to field 2 athletes) pulled out and did not register. As a result, Colombia, which was first reserve was invited. http://gimnasialatina.com/colombia-obtiene-un-cupo-para-llevar-a-una-gimnasta-al-test-event-de-rio/ I have gone through the rules and it is clear that if north korea pulled out, then both Colombia and India (who is 2nd reserve) will be invited. However, here's why I have a bad feeling. The below link has a list of all countries that have registered. http://www.fig-gymnastics.com/site/competition/view?FigCountry=240&dateBegin=01%2F01%2F2016&dateEnd=31%2F12%2F2016&id=11977 The registration list has no women athletes from North Korea and also has one women athlete from Colombia. But it does not have India !!! I also double-checked and every other country who is eligible has registered. However, 40 individual non-qualified athletes should be competing at the event and the registration has been listed for only 39. Also, registration is as of Feb 25. So, either India has registered after Feb 25, or the more scary alternative is that the INDIAN GYMNASTICS FEDERATION SCREWED UP LIKE NOBODY'S BUSINESS !!!

The big shock is Amit Kumar and also Geeta...apparently Amit was injured....does anybody have any other news ???