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Ace shooter finally bags a medal at his third Olympics |
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I will tell Gagan to concentrate on next events: Father
Indian duo march on
Saina in pre-quarters
India go down fighting to Netherlands
Ye hits back at doping claims
China's Ye Shiwen competes in the women's 200m individual medley heats on Monday. — AFP
Devendro gung ho before the big fight
Vardhan goes down fighting on debut
Bombayla bows out
India on look out for series win
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Ace shooter finally bags a medal at his third Olympics
Gagan Narang is grappling with what he’s got into his hands on Monday afternoon – the bronze orb that, in the eyes of the media and public, validates his being, confirms to them that he’s good, that his life’s work hasn’t been in vain. Clearly, he knows better – he thinks that he, a world-record holder and world title winner, didn’t have anything to prove to anyone. But there’s a dichotomy in his feelings – he repeatedly declares that a huge load has been taken off his chest. “Maybe I’m still coming to terms to with what happened today,” Narang told the Tribune. “I still have a couple of events to compete in, and maybe I’ll be able to examine it better after I’m finished.” For now, Narang isn’t sure if the Olympic Games is really that big a deal. But he can’t stop smiling. For hours after he sealed the bronze medal in the men’s 10m air rifle shooting event in the south-eastern extreme of London city, the smile that enveloped his face, the texture of his voice, his whole being, simply refused to go away. He said he has smiled a bit over the last few days but clearly, it’s become a permanent feature now. “I don’t think that it (the Olympics) is the biggest stage – I think all the events like the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, World Cups are all big stages,” Narang said. His view is the World Cup events are tougher, have more depth because there’s no limit on the number of entries a country can send. “I think the notion that the Olympic Games are the pinnacle should be...” He didn’t complete this sentence. He was perhaps wondering that if this medal at the Olympics meant so much to India, the media and fans, maybe it should mean more to him too. “Every athlete who goes to any competition is under pressure – every event,” he said. “You don’t want to lose, you want to win, and there are expectations and pressure.” It was in complete evidence on Monday morning and afternoon, and Narang stood up to the pressure. In the preliminary rounds, he shot straight 100s in the first two series before a jarring 98 in the third. Three 100s in the last three series meant that Narang entered the final with 598 points, one behind joint leaders Alin George Moldoveanu and world No. 1 Niccolo Campriani of Italy. There was a break of over an hour before the top eight shooters came back for the final shootout of 10 shots each. The deciding 10 shots were worth a maximum of 10.9 each – and Narang began strongly, with a 10.7. This took him to the second spot, but only too briefly – a 9.7 took him down to fourth. He scored strongly with the next four – 10.6, 10.7, 10.4 and 10.6. The last shot again put him in the second position. But then came 9.9, followed by 9.5 – Narang was now under pressure from China’s Wang Tao for the bronze. The Indian, though, kept his nerve and signed off with 10.3 and 10.7 – good enough to pip Wang Tao by .7 of a point. Narang had a look-in at the silver as Campriani slipped with his eighth and ninth shots, worth 9.9 and 9.5.
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I will tell Gagan to concentrate on next events: Father
Hyderabad, July 30 As Gagan clinched India's first medal in this edition of the Olympics, you know from where the burly shooter has inherited composure that is so required in a precision event such as shooting. "If he calls me, I will congratulate him and tell him to do well in the next two events. He still has two more events left on August 3 and 6 (50m Rifle 3-Position & 50m Rifle prone). He should concentrate on those two events," senior Narang stated in a composed manner as mediapersons jostled for some sound bytes at their residence here. Narang senior did admit that they had expected Gagan to bring laurels for the country after he had a disappointing result in Beijing four years ago where he failed to qualify for the final. "It's a good achievement. Although we expected gold but this is also very good. It will certainly boost his morale for the remaining two events," he said. Gagan's father admitted that there is always pressure to perform in big ticket events but it is something that comes as a package for professionals. "In any sphere there is pressure and one needs to live with it. Even parents put pressure on their children." The shooter's mom said that they never put any undue pressure on their famous son. "When he left for London, we just wished him 'All the best' and told him to give his best shot. We have never interfered in his training." When a reporter asked as to what she will cook once Gagan is back from London, she answered, "Chole-puri is something he likes." — PTI |
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Bindra: It’s been an incredible journey
London, July 30 Then, having emptied his gun at the target for the last few times, he walked towards his bench, beckoning the coach towards him. Bindra knew that the three 9s had ruined his chances of qualifying for the final, but perhaps wanted his coach by his side as he studied the scores. He slowed down as they walked past the scoreboard, looking up at it. It confirmed Bindra's worst fears - he quickened his steps and walked out of the shooting hall. Top-level sport is merciless, and some sports are more merciless than the others - they have a zero-tolerance policy against errors. Shooting is one such. Amidst the sea of 10s Bindra shot on Monday, the ugly 9s stood out, marring his day and years of hard work. Bindra shot 54 10s, but it were the six 9s that proved decisive. Six 9s from 60 shots is disastrous for a top-level shooter. Bindra, though, took it on his chin and didn't flinch. He may have been broken inside, but he insisted that he was all right. He said that in his long career as a professional shooter, he's gazed at both triumph and disaster; he said he knows how to deal with them. He smiled easily, spoke the words of a steady and wise man. If he's suffering, he didn't show it. "So what?" he said when asked how he would deal with this blow. "It's life. To you as an outsider it might look that the result is the real outcome... But to me as an athlete, it's been an incredible journey." "It was a rollercoaster ride, it was incredible," Bindra added. "I love shooting, and I came here to give it a good shot, and I did. I'm quite proud about that. It might not look that way looking at the result, but I have a lot to take back from this." Bindra is a remarkably passionate man about his shooting; he's remarkably steady too. Years at the top have taught him that there will be lows too. "I've learnt to deal with the ups, I've learnt to deal with the lows," he said. "And that's life." Yes, that's life. Much later in the day, as the mediapersons waited for Gagan Narang to emerge from the doping control centre - he took an unusually long time inside, closer to two hours than one - a slight man passed by, and no one seemed to see him. It was Abhinav Bindra, but the eyes of the media were on the door from which Narang was to shortly emerge. The focus has shifted from the former Olympics champion to the latest Olympics medallist. Bindra, wise beyond his years, would understand. That's life. Noise silenced Bindra’s rifle? |
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Australia's Lleyton Hewitt fought his way into the second round of the Olympics with a hard-fought 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win over Ukraine's Sergiy Stakhovsky at Wimbledon. After spending all of a rain-ravaged Sunday waiting in vain to get on court, Hewitt was keen to make up for lost time and he took the attack to Stakhovsky, ranked 84th, in the first set. Nikolay Davydenko of Russia won their opening matches. Juan Monaco of Argentina, Marin Cilic of Croatia, Richard Gasquet of France and big-serving Raonic of Canada also advanced. — Agencies
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Indian duo march on
London, July 30 The Indian pair, seeded seventh, had to summon every bit of their resources to win the match, which lasted two hours, 26 minutes. The first two sets were decided with the tiebreaker; in the third, the Indians got the decisive break in the 13th game. In the next round they’d be up against the French pair of Julien Benneteau and Richard Gasquet. In the men’s singles event, Vishnu Vardhan, who was lucky to get a berth in the singles draw after Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber pulled out with an injury, was ousted when he lost to 3-6, 2-6 to Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia. On Sunday evening, Somdev Devvarman fell at the first hurdle when he was whipped 6-3, 6-1 by Jarkko Nieminen of Finland. Devvarman came off the seething because the players had been told by the
officials to play on the wet court. Rain had played havoc with Sunday’s schedule, and the organisers wanted to get as many matches out of the way when rain stopped and the sun came out. It was late in the evening, and long shadows fell on one end of the court on which Devvarman and Nieminen were to resume their match – it was wet and slippery. Devvarman protested during the match, informing him that the grass was slippery and dangerous. His Finnish opponent didn’t protest – perhaps he was happy with the lead he’d got. Perhaps Devvarman was more concerned because he is returning from a shoulder injury and wanted to play safe. Having lost the first set, and then down two service breaks at 0-3 in the second, he took to his chair and refused to budge. The chair umpire tried to convince him to play on, but he refused to budge. Finally, a tournament official was summoned. He told Devvarman that play must go on, wet court or no wet court. Speaking about it later, Devvarman said that the official was extremely unhelpful. “He did a terrible job,” Devvarman told the Tribune. “I told him about my concerns – and he agreed with me! He said yes, the court was wet, but added that it was wet yesterday too! But that doesn’t make it safe or right to play on.” — Rohit Mahajan
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London, July 30
The world number five Indian did not need to exert herself and was in complete control of the match as she saw off the Belgium girl 21-4, 21-14 in just 24 minutes at the Wembley arena here. The fourth seed Indian is likely to take on Chinese-born Yao Jie of The Netherlands, ranked 20th in the world, in the knockout stage. The 22-year-old Indian was in her dominating best as she judged the shuttle well and had better idea of the court. She anticipated the moves of her opponent very easily and took just nine minutes to wrap up the first game in her favour. Lianne earned a couple of lucky points when the shuttle just kissed the net to fall in Saina's side but beside that she didn't pose any threat to the Indian in the first game. In the second game, the Belgium girl went all out and tried to create some chances but Saina at no point looked threatened. Lianne earned her points mostly when Saina faltered with her strokes which went to the nets a few times. However, the Indian was always in control as she digged in the reportoire of her strokes to move into the break at 11-8. After the breather, Saina started using her angled drops and tosses to move to the match point at 20-12. Lianne saved a couple of match points when Saina committed a few unforced errors but the Indian didn't take long as she sealed the issue with a disguised angled drop to cement her place at the pre-quarters. — PTI
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India go down fighting to Netherlands
London, July 30
Playing tentatively and lacking any cohesion in their attacks, world ranked 10th India conceded two goals in the first session, but capitalised on two slim chances in the second half to draw 2-2 parity. But India's joy was shortlived as The Netherlands restored their lead minutes later by converting a penalty corner. The Indian players' nerves were on display in their opening match, where all but two of their players were making the maiden appearance in Olympic Games. India mounted the first raid in the fifth minute to force their only penalty corner of the match, which V R Raghunath failed capitalise on in the absence of ace drag-flicker Sandeep Singh. Raghunath had a good chance to put India ahead when his initial shot rebounded back to him off an onrushing defender's stick. He had plenty of space to seize control of the ball and have another shot at the target with the defenders a bit ruffled, but he tried a shot on the moving ball and wasted the opportunity. The Netherlands then held sway for an extended period as the Indian players' nerves were on display. The Indians seemed nervous in their tackling and passing, but the defenders managed to keep the Dutch strikers at bay until the 20th minute. Robert van der Horst opened the scoring for The Netherlands as he created space and dribbled in to shoot from the top of circle that beat Indian goalkeeper Bharat Chetri all ends up. — PTI
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Ye hits back at doping claims
London, July 30 Ye shattered Stephanie Rice's mark in the women's 400m individual medley by more than a second, including an astonishing final lap which was faster than US winner Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps in the men's competition. "Insane," commented Rice. "I mean I didn't see it, I was way over and behind, so I didn't really see her coming home, but that split coming home was out of control." With the swim, Ye took nearly seven seconds off her time at last year's world championships. And in Monday's 200m medley heats, she clocked 2min 8.90sec — the quickest in the world this year. "There is no problem with doping, the Chinese team has a firm policy so there is no problem with that," she said. Ye was put on the spot after leading British media pounced on her performances, pointing to China's record of state-sponsored doping in the 1980s and 1990s. "Ye's amazing time for freestyle leg scarcely credible," read a headline in The Times, which noted that the youngster was a former team-mate of Chinese swimmer Li Zhesi, who was barred from the Olympics over blood-booster EPO. — AFP |
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Devendro gung ho before the big fight
Bayron Molina Figueroa of Honduras is not a big name in his category neither has Devendro squared off against him in the past. So there is an element of surprise to the bout but the Indian boxer is keeping his calm. "I haven't faced him before. Neither have I heard about him earlier. It will be interesting to see how the bout unfolds, Devendro said from Games Village on Monday. As of now, the Indian has not made his opponent-specific strategy and is banking on getting all his bases covered. "This is the best strategy when you are not familiar with your opponent. Stick to your strength and have presence of mind. I am still working on my speed and following the regular training regime. Once I get the video, I will sit with my coaches and chalk out the final strategy. It all boils down to how play in the ring. Let's hope everything goes off well, Devendro said. While Devendro may be cool on the strategy front, he has had his problems on the weight front. "That was a bit of a concern as I tend to put on weight. It is OK now but I have to be on my toes always. For last one week I have been struggling to maintain a balance between my strength and weight. But that is with every boxer. Everyone has his problems and need to deal with it." The first timer has acclimatized to the atmosphere in the Games Village and enjoying his time. "It's about training all the day. I barely get time to talk to my parents. They motivate me a lot. Mother was telling me that the whole family prays for him everyday and are eager to see him do well," he said. Coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu too is optimistic about his chances. "He is brimming with energy. I have pinned a lot of hope on him. Though he is inexperienced, he stands a good chance if he keeps his presence of mind in the ring. Commonwealth Games gold medallist Manoj Kumar (64kg) will be lock horns with Serdar Hudayberdiyev of Turkmenistan. Whether Devendro's inexperience on big stage, like Shiva Thapa, is going to be a big challenge for the dimunitive boxer, Sandhu said, "Every boxer is different in his own way. It is not that Shiva did not perform well. He did a good job, particularly the second round, he was very impressive. Devendro is a gritty boxer he stands a good chance. He has already been on big stage earlier and has a bit of hang of things. Let's see how he does inside the ring."
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Vardhan goes down fighting on debut
London, July 30 Vardhan, ranked 304, lost 3-6, 2-6 to his Slovakian rival in one hour and 12 minutes at the Wimbledon grass courts. It was the third meeting between the two players and the Slovakian extended his lead to 3-0. It was a straight set defeat but Vardhan did push his rival and made him his earn points. With this defeat, Indian challenge has ended in the men's singles as Somdev Devvarman had already bowed out after losing to Jarkko Nieminen
of Finland. Vardhan had entered the men's singles draw when Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber withdrew due to a right hamstring injury. Vardhan is slated to play men's doubles with
Leander Paes later in the day. — PTI |
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Bombayla bows out
London, July 30 This was after Bombayla won her first round encounter against Evangelia Psarra of Greece 6-4. In individual events, which is decided on best of five sets (three arrows each), one who wins a set irrespective of the margin gets two points. The target score in the pre-quarterfinal match against Aida was 107-93 in favour of the Mexican. Bombayla missed the target altogether as she got a zero in the fourth set which turned out to be the decider. It wasn't that the Mexican archer was in great form but more due to Bombayla's inconsistent performance. After hitting five 10s in his first round encounter, Bombayla could only log 10 on two occasion compared to four times by her opponent. Aida set the tone with a 30 in the first set along with 26 and 27 in the two other sets, that she won. — PTI |
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India on look out for series win
Colombo, July 30
The visitors gave a good account of their character in the third match of the series with Suresh Raina and Irfan Pathan stitching a record 92-run sixth-wicket partnership to take the visitors home to a 2-1 lead in the series after succumbing to one of their lowest totals against the Islanders in the second ODI. However, lack of consistency by the top-order will be something to worry about for India against the hosts, who will be without their top batsman Kumar Sangakkara following a fracture in his little finger that has ruled him out of the series. Apart from opener Gautam Gambhir, who scored a much needed century in the last game, and Raina's match-winning knock of 65, the Indian batsmen have thrown away their wickets after getting the starts. Both Virender Sehwag and Virat Kohli have not delivered the goods after decimating the Sri Lankan bowling in the first match. Rohit Sharma's miserable run seems to have no end and with the voices growing loud for his ouster, it remains to be seen whether the Indian think tank gives Manoj Tiwary a fairly deserving chance. Despite an enormous potential, Sharma has not been able to justify his selection in the playing eleven and has flopped in all three ODIs so far and the time seems to be appropriate for making the necessary change. Indian bowlers have also been an inconsistent lot in the tournament so far. Pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, after a not so impressive couple of matches, bowled with lot of purpose in the third ODI and it will be once again up to him to lead the attack in the right direction. Ashok Dinda, who replaced Umesh Yadav in the playing eleven, leaked away too many runs for his skipper's liking and he will require to be more disciplined in his approach. Pathan has swung the ball upfront and also been useful with the bat lower down, but the all rounder definitely needs to work out on his bowling towards the later stage of the match. The spinners have been led well by Ravichandran Ashwin and captain M S Dhoni will wish the off-spinner comes good in tomorrow's match as well. A lot will also depend upon leg-spinner Rahul Sharma, who bowled well in the third game after replacing Pragyan Ojha in the eleven. The 22-yard strip at Colombo produced nearly six hundred odd runs in the previous game and it will remain to be seen how the pitch plays tomorrow. — PTI
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Gagan Narang is grappling with what he’s got into his hands on Monday afternoon – the bronze orb that, in the eyes of the media and public, validates his being, confirms to them that he’s good, that his life’s work hasn’t been in vain. Clearly, he knows better – he thinks that he, a world-record holder and world title winner, didn’t have anything to prove to anyone.
There was an unusual sense of calm in B S Narang's body language even as he was glued to the television set watching his son Gagan take the final aim during the 10m Air Rifle event at London.
As Gagan clinched India's first medal in this edition of the Olympics, you know from where the burly shooter has inherited composure that is so required in a precision event such as shooting.
London, July 30
London, July 30
Chandigarh, July 29
Indian pugilist Sumit Sangwan was a bit unlucky to crash out of the London Olympic Games after a heart-wrenching opening-round loss to Yamaguchi Falcao Florentino of Brazil in the men's light heavyweight category here today. Sangwan clearly found himself on the wrong side of the judges' scoring pattern as the boxer, despite dominating the second and third rounds, did not get enough points for his efforts, eventually losing the bout 14-15 against the Brazilian. After a slow start, the 19-year-old Indian gathered his composure and was clearly the better boxer on display in the second and third rounds. Trailing 4-5 in the opening round, the lanky Sangwan used his reach to good effect in the next, preferring to play a waiting game.
London: Great Britain women's hockey captain Kate Walsh's Olympic Games future was in the balance after she underwent surgery on a broken jaw today. Walsh suffered the injury during the hosts' 4-0 opening win over Japan on Sunday when she was accidentally hit on the left side of her jaw by a stick while making a tackle four minutes from time on Akane Shibata. -
Agencies