Siddhartha Talukdar

Oceania Championships started today and there are no updates in ISSF website

My realistic but slightly pessimistic view PV Sindhu - Silver/Bronze Amit Panghal - Silver Lovlina Borgohain - Bronze Saurabh Chaudhary - Gold/Silver Anjum Moudgil or Apurvi Chandela - Bronze Saurabh Chaudhary + Manu Bhaker - Gold/Silver Mirabai Chanu - Silver/Bronze Bajrang Punia - Gold/Silver Deepak Punia - Bronze

What I understand is the that in singles there are 1-13 seeds which are placed in 16 groups but the rest shall be drawn randomly. In 2016, Viktor Axelsen got a tough group and was paired with Boonsak Poonsana (15th rank) and Lee Dong Keun (14th rank). The other groups were fairly equal. The knockout draw is based on seeding. Similarly in doubles, only 4 pairs get seeded and placed in different groups and the rest are drawn randomly. In 2016, in men's doubles the Indian pair of Manu-Sumeeth were drawn with Japan (rank 6), China (rank 5) and Indonesia (rank 2). After the group stage there was a knockout draw Ideally all the players should be seeded so the groups are relatively equal

Do you think any woman can qualify in Epee and if yes, who who among Kabita Devi, Jyotika Dutta and Ena Arora Also after disastrous performance in World Rowing Championships, in which events can we qualify from Asian qualifiers

Assuming if either pair does qualify what is their realistic targets and can they reach the quarters. I am not aware if either pair has beaten any top 10 pairs consistently so far. Also the qualification is fairly 'easy' as doubles rankings is dominated by few nations - China, Malaysia, South Korea, Indonesia and Denmark and they just need to be within top 14th rank of qualification rankings which is about 22-25th World rankings which they are anyway.

Unlike singles where 16 players are seeded, in doubles in last 2 Olympics only 4 are seeded, and then redraw for knockouts after match-fixing fiasco in 2012. Not aware this time how many pairs will be given seeds and hence I mentioned they need a decent draw

Watched the men's doubles semis highlights and am really impressed with Satwik-Chirag duo. Their telepathic movement in the court, lightening fast reflexes especially of Satwik, ability to return in odd body posture which all the requirements in the doubles game. They look mighty fit and tall which helps in delivering killer smashes If they get a decent draw in the Olympics they could be a real medal contender. Personally I would like Satwik to concentrate on men's doubles only as Pranaav-Sikki duo is decent enough to qualify

Finally Saina wins a game albeit a close one, but more importantly against a decent opponent and who is above her in Olympic qualification rankings. She should defeat the Danish girl too

I would like both Kidambi and Praneeth to qualify, but for Kidambi its tough as there are few young decent players in top 16 like Sherar Rhistavito, Kenta Nishimito. Kidambi needs to reach minimum quarters in top tournaments and perhaps enter in lesser tournaments and win them. Saina is much better than the players who are ranked abouut 12-16 and she needs some consistent good results

Japan is an awesome country to visit but its one of the most expensive place and the travel packages cost about 1.5 lakhs per person for a week https://www.sotc.in/international-tour-packages/japan-tour-packages https://www.asiahighlights.com/japan/why-expensive.htm

Saina can do it if she consistently reaches minimum quarterfinals in top tournaments but many decent players in top 16 Kidambi's task is a bit harder because he is way back at 58th spot and has to perform better than other Indians as well, there are 5 Indians ahead of him. While Satwik-Chirag and Ponnappa-Reddy are within qualification rankings both mixed doubles pairs Satwik-Ponnappa and Pranaav-Reddy are not, they have to play well too To qualify, both players of same NOC have to be within top 16 in singles

Good day so far in Denmark Open. Satwik-Chirag, PV Sindhu, Sai Praneeth (who beat Lin Dan) progress to second round

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/others/need-to-finish-in-the-top-10-by-2028-olympics-or-else-ill-be-a-failure-as-sports-minister-kiren-rijiju/articleshow/71523016.cms Bold words from Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju. I think he is serious in his job and I am optimistic of a good show in Tokyo. Very unlike our last Sports Minister in Rio who had only gone there for photo shoots

Those are not Olympic rankings but normal rankings. Olympic ranking list is given below https://www.igfgolf.org/olympic-games/tokyo-2020/tokyo-2020-qualification-system/tokyo-2020-olympic-golf-rankings/ Till few weeks ago, there were 2 Indians in men's rankings but both have dropped out. Aditi Ashok and Diksha Dagar are safe in top 60

Good way to earn money by a federation in debt. They can deliberately judge poorly and force the victim party to deposit $1000 to lodge a protest

In Men's Singles if everyone wishes to participate, then the last 56th spot would go to 67th ranked Lithuanian. Serbia, Spain, France, Australia, USA have more than 4 players in the top 60. Can Sania Mirza make a comeback, I read she will participate in Australian Open. Obviously to qualify she has to be in top 10 because the best ranked doubles player is Ankita Raina ranked 165

Do you see either Prajnesh or Sumit qualifying for Singles

Atleast in cricket Pakistan can compete. In hockey its even worse. Although the H2H is India 62 wins to Pakistan's 82, India last suffered defeat in South Asian Games final in 2016. Since there has been 11 matches and India won 10 of those

A fellow data analyst!!! I don't follow Athletics as much as I do Football, Badminton,Hockey etc and hence my understanding is limited. But to check progress in whatever sports, just counting medals isn't the right parameter but participations in World events, gradual improvement in National Records, progression to latter stages and so on. I certainly believe we are making huge strides and the results are showing. The fact that we are even discussing medals itself is huge compared to 15-20 years where we would just show up to fill the numbers

Buddy, we must understand that our Athletics structure is not of highest quality and hence we would happy with PB and SB only. Just a cursory glance at our athletes' body structure, height, muscle mass compared to other top nations' athletes theres a huge difference. We may not get medals but we must moniter if we are progressing or not

Sports performance is directly proportional to economic performance. Pakistan's per capita GDP (PPP) was better than India's from independence till early 2000s when India surged ahead. This reflected at the sports performance as well comparatively. Pakistan were world beaters in cricket, squash and hockey. Now the state of Pakistani sports is dismal and abject Nowhere the trend can be clearly seen in India vs Pakistan H2H ODI wins where the table is given below Decade India Pakistan No Result 1978-1980 1 2 0 1981-1990 9 20 2 1991-2000 19 30 2 2001-2010 17 17 2011-2019 9 4 Overall 55 73 4 In fact, in the last 14 ODI matches India has won 10 of those

PU Chitra is participating in Women's 1500 m https://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-championships/iaaf-world-athletics-championships-doha-2019-6033/results/women/1500-metres/heats/startlist#resultheader

Its a real pity that the most populated region in the world can't produce decent athletes of international level. Atleast now our prime minister (who understands sports is a tool of soft power) and sports minister are focused on sports. We have had many movements like Khelo India, FitIndia, Baby leagues for football etc to promote sports and unearth new talent. India has hosted many international events and looking to bid for 2026 Youth Olympic Games. I am optimistic of India hosting the Olympics in my lifetime Pakistan has barely any funds for any sports federations and could hardly send any athletes for World Championships for wrestling, boxing, athletics, etc. Bangladesh is somewhat slowly progressing and in 2016 for first time could qualify an athlete which otherwise they receive Tripartite inviations. Sri Lanka has few participations in athletics and weightlifting, is a force in rugby in Asia. Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives are too small states and have seen little progress

We had sent 1st string teams because it was held in Guwahati and it was imperative that the event gets more audience and become a success. In hockey we had sent a second-string team. I doubt that this time with Olympics near we would send a strong team because there's hardly any competition

Bhavani Devi finishes second in a satellite tournament in Belgium https://fie.org/competitions/2020/485