Siddhartha Talukdar

Hi @Fly_like_a_don, @Prashanth, @Prakash, @nitinsanker, @Roamingrover86, @Dolby, @Shravan Kumar, @Sanjib with Team India's next big sporting event being the Asian Games starting on 23 Sep and all the squads have been announced, shall we start a discussion forum for Asian Games with news, predictions, results and opinions
 

India's squad of 634 athletes for Asian Games
https://sportstar.thehindu.com/asian-games/asian-games-2023-hangzhou-2022-634-players-full-list-india-team-athletes-contingent/article67234903.ece

Hi @Fly_like_a_don, @Prashanth, @Prakash, @nitinsanker, @Roamingrover86, @Dolby, @Shravan Kumar, @Sanjib with Team India's next big sporting event being the Asian Games starting on 23 Sep and all the squads have been announced, shall we start a discussion forum for Asian Games with news, predictions, results and opinions
 

Hi @Fly_like_a_don, @Prashanth, @Prakash, @nitinsanker, @Roamingrover86, @Dolby, @Shravan Kumar, @Sanjib with Team India's next big sporting event being the Asian Games starting on 23 Sep and all the squads have been announced, shall we start a discussion forum for Asian Games with news, predictions, results and opinions
 

Hi @Fly_like_a_don, @Prashanth, @Prakash, @nitinsanker, @Roamingrover86, @Dolby, @Shravan Kumar, @Sanjib with Team India's next big sporting event being the Asian Games starting on 23 Sep and all the squads have been announced, shall we start a discussion forum for Asian Games with news, predictions, results and opinions
 

Hi @Fly_like_a_don, @Prashanth, @Prakash, @nitinsanker, @Roamingrover86, @Dolby, @Shravan Kumar, @Sanjib with Team India's next big sporting event being the Asian Games starting on 23 Sep and all the squads have been announced, shall we start a discussion forum for Asian Games with news, predictions, results and opinions
 

Lovely Professional University is among top 50 universities in India and offers courses from Engineering to Humanities. It was established by 'Lovely Group', a conglomerate of various industries like sweets, Hospitality, packaged Foods etc. The name 'Lovely' comes from 'Lovely Sweet Shop', a sweet shop in Jalandhar, Punjab, India in 1961 started by the group's founder Baldev Raj Mittal

Lovely Professional University website: https://www.lpu.in/

I understand your concern of Cricket being long and boring. The purest form of Cricket which is Test Cricket is 5 days long and does seem boring at first. But for cricket purists its an ultimate battle of skills between bat and ball.
However, the version of Cricket which is being considered for the Olympics is T20 which is only 3.5 hours long and is exciting and results are not known till the very last moment. Also the underdog can defeat the Goliath and it has happened even in World Cups. The 2024 T20 World Cup shall have 20 teams and will be hosted by West Indies and United States.
Also T20 cricket for women was part of the 2022 Commonwealth Games and it involved 8 teams and spread over 10 days, with 2 groups of round robin and then knockouts. So even an 8 team tournament can fit in the 2 week window in the Olympics

Two racewalkers from  Vikash SIngh and Paramjeet Bisht qualify in 20km walk
https://olympics.com/en/news/asian-20km-race-walking-championships-2023-nomi-japan-india-results

Two racewalkers Akshdeep Singh and Priyanka Goswami qualify for 2024 Olympics and 2023 World Championships in Budapest
 
https://olympics.com/en/news/paris-2024-olympics-race-walk-qualify-india-priyanka-goswami-akshdeep-singh

Hi @vinipereira Here are my nominees
 
BEST FEMALE ATHLETE
for sportswomen in Olympic sports
 
#1: Akane Yamaguchi (badminton)
#2: Nikhat Zareen (boxing)
#3: Sydney McLaughlin (athletics)
#4: Katie Ledecky (swimming)
#5:
#6:
 
 
BEST MALE ATHLETE
for sportsmen in Olympic sports
 
#1: Viktor Axelsen (badminton)
#2: Kylian Mbappe (football)
#3: Armand Duplantis (athletics)
#4:
#5:
#6:
 
 
BEST PARALYMPIC ATHLETE
for athletes in Paralympic sports
 
#1:
#2:
#3:
#4:
#5:
#6:
 
 
BEST NON-OLYMPIC ATHLETE
for athletes in Non-Olympic sports
 
#1: Sam Curran (cricket)
#2: Ali Farag (squash)
#3: Max Verstappen (F1)
#4: 
#5: 
#6:
 
 
BEST YOUTH ATHLETE
for any athlete up to 18 years old (including Olympic, Paralympic and Non-Olympic sports)
 
#1: Summer McIntosh
#2: 
#3: 
#4: 
#5:
#6:
 
 
BEST MEN'S TEAM
for men's teams or groups (including Olympic, Paralympic and Non-Olympic sports)
 
#1: England cricket team
#2: Argentina football team
#3: 
#4:
#5:
#6:
 
 
BEST WOMEN'S TEAM
for women's teams or groups (including Olympic, Paralympic and Non-Olympic sports)
 
#1: Netherlands field hockey
#2: New Zealand rugby
#3: 
#4:
#5:
#6:
 
 
BEST DOUBLES OR PAIR
for doubles or pairs (including Olympic, Paralympic and Non-Olympic sports)
 
#1: Aaron Chia / Soh Wooi Yik (badminton)
#2: Barbora Krejcikova / Katerina Siniakova (tennis)
#3: 
#4:
#5:
#6:
 
 
BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR
for the most improved athlete or team (including Olympic, Paralympic and Non-Olympic sports)
 
#1: India men's badminton team
#2: Alexis Lebrun (table tennis)
#3: Arshad Naddem (athletics)
#4: 
#5: 
#6:
 
 
SPORT MOMENT OF THE YEAR
for any sport moment from 2022 (including Olympic, Paralympic and Non-Olympic sports)
 
#1: 2022 World Cup final
#2: England winning UEFA Women's Euro
#3: 
#4: 
#5: 
#6:
 
 
OLYMPIC SPIRIT AWARD
for any athlete or team that took part in the 2022 Winter Olympics or Paralympics
 
#1: 
#2: 
#3: 
#4:
#5:
#6:

The ruling party in India Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) released a manifesto for Gujarat state elections promising to build world-class sporting infrastructure and host Olympics in 2036.
https://thebridge.in/olympics/2036-bjp-gujarat-election-manifesto-sports-infra-37494
 
The largest city in Gujarat, Ahmedabad already has the largest stadium in the world with capacity 132,000. The state also hosted the 2022 National Games where almost all the Olympic sports and indigenous sports were played
https://nationalgamesgujarat.in/
 

Yes, next relevant direct qualification events are in 2023, starting with Archery World Championships in July and Shooting World Championships in August

Athletics – Qualification system not out yet but perhaps it will be similar to 2020 with qualifying marks and ranking. Expecting 25-30 athletes to qualify
 
 
Archery – Team qualification changed from 2020. Now team quotas available via World Championships (3), Final Qualification Tournament (3), one each from Europe, Asia and Americas, 2 from Rankings. Pessimistic on team qualification but individual qualification should be a cakewalk
 
Badminton – Same as 2020. My expectations are Lakshya Sen and Kidambi in Men’s Singles, PV Sindhu in Women’s Singles, Satwik-Chirag in Men’s Doubles, Gayatri-Treesa in Women’s Doubles if they can reach top 25. No one expected in Mixed Doubles
 
Boxing – One weight class reduced to 7 among men and increase of one weight class to 6 among women. Reduction to overall quotas by 38. Minimum 10 quotas should qualify
 
Track Cycling – Qualification system not out yet, but hopeful for Esow Alben to qualify if he can maintain top 30 either in Sprint or Keirin
 
Equestrian Eventing – Top 2 individuals from Group G zone (South and South east Asia, Oceania) those who didn’t qualify in team. Fouaad Mirza should qualify, not sure how good riders in Dressage and Jumping
 
Fencing – Same as 2020. Top 2 individuals from Asia to qualify via ranking those not qualified in team, one to qualify via qualifying tournament. Bhavani Devi to qualify if she can be consistent. Dark horse could be young Taniksha Khatri in epee. She is just 18 and finished in 12th in recent Asian Championships
 
Hockey – 5 Continental Champions plus 6 to qualify via Qualifying Tournaments. Both men’s and women’s teams should qualify
 
 
Golf – Same as 2020. Two each from men and women should qualify
 
Judo – One quota reduction in each weight class. One judoka should qualify via Continental quota
 
Rowing - One boat should qualify via Continental quota
 
Sailing – 20 quotas reduction and change in events. The same of sailors who qualified in 2020 should qualify in 2024 again. Even if no sailor qualifies, India can qualify via the ‘Emerging Nations’ quota
 
Shooting – Significant change from 2020 where quotas no longer available in World Cups but in World Championships and Continental Championships. Another change is that only quota can be available per tournament per event. India can earn quotas in World Championships, 2 Asian tournaments, and one Olympic qualification tournament. My estimation is that 14-18 quotas
 
Table Tennis – Qualification system not out yet. Two male paddlers and Manika Batra should qualify. One more female paddler can qualify. Hopefully the federation mess clears out quickly. Hopefully team qualification can also occur
 
Tennis – Similar to 2020, but not sure if any player shall qualify
 
Weightlifting – Reduction in 76 quotas, with only 5 quotas per gender down from 7 each in 2020. There’s no change in Mirabai Chanu’s weight class 49kg. Jeremy Lalrinnunga’s weight class 67kg is no longer available and he either has to move to 61kg or 73kg. 
 
Wrestling – No major change in qualification process. Minimum 7 wrestlers should qualify
 
 

Reversing the decision announced by Hockey India president Gyanandro Ningombam a few months back, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has struck a deal with the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), promising that India’s men’s and women’s hockey teams will participate in next year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Indian audience seems to be targeted by the IOC. The Olympic website was providing India specific news and updates and also had a language option of Hindi. Even in social media like Youtube and Twitter, a lot of India specific and Hindi language content was produced.
Coming to cricket, I think ICC also believes 2032 is more realistic but want to make the groundwork by then. Australia as a host makes more sense with iconic stadiums like MCG, SCG, Adelaide Oval and Gabba

Wrestling:
 
Even if Vinesh failed to win a medal at the Olympics, the coveted metal ware entered Phogat family through the arms of son in law Bajrang Punia. Never knew Bajrang Punia is the husband of Sangeeta Phogat, the youngest of the Phogat sisters.
 
 

Congrats on India's best ever Olympics!

World No 1 Nelly Korda is comfortably ahead after a superb -9 par in Round 2 and should win the gold. Aditi Ashok has 2 shot lead but has players like World No 11 Lydia Ko trailing her. I hope she nerves of steel in Round 4.
I thought with 2 bogeys Round 3 would come back to bite her like in Rio but she held on.  Fingers crossed!!

First semi-final since 1980!!

First semi-final since 1980!!

First semi-final since 1980!!

Eg Carolina Marin was injured but her seeded place didn't go to the next Spanish player Clara Azurmendi though but she qualified based on her own rankings. 
So if Praneeth wouldn't have gone to Tokyo then Kidambi would have taken his place but unseeded 

Koreans are beatable in individual competition. They have never been 1-2-3 in any Olympics as far as I know. Even in Rio, Kim Woo Jin set world record in ranking round but lost in round of 32.
If they were as dominant as Chinese in table tennis, then I don't think maximum 3 archers would be allowed in individual rounds

Well played Misha Zilberman too