Paris diary: No to Bhagwant Mann
Ten men in the hockey team are from Punjab, and that explains the desire of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to be in Paris today to cheer the team. But the Central Government didn’t give him “political clearance” to travel to Paris. Here in Paris, the Indian Embassy has been keeping abreast of requests by politicians wishing to travel to Paris for the Olympics. An official at the Embassy said that at least five chief ministers had expressed the desire to visit Paris during the Olympics. “And among those who wished to travel were CMs from BJP-ruled states, and they too were denied permission by the Indian Government,” said the official.
Sardar in the house
Sardar Singh, the former captain, sauntered at the hockey stadium, seeming to be as fit as he was during his playing days. Working with the juniors at the SAI centre in Bengaluru, Sardar was in Paris in an official capacity, to observe the Indian players. And he’s happy with what he’s seen. “They’re playing like a team, with every player contributing, and that’s very important at the Olympics,” Sardar, hailed as a modern great of Indian hockey, said. “In the Olympics, you can’t win if only one or two players are doing well.” Sardar planned to travel to the Netherlands — at his own initiative and expense, he says — to train at the club he played at, HC Bloemendaal. “The idea is to keep learning — about new developments in the game, new methods in training, so that I could impart them to my trainees.”
Chinese and Axelsen
Viktor Axelsen, the defending champion in men’s badminton, shocks even the contingent of Chinese journalists when he is reeling off sentences in perfect Mandarin. The Dane, who beat Lakshya Sen in the semifinals today, has been learning Mandarin for 10 years. He has mastered Mandarin to such an extent that he speaks as well as the native speakers of the language — some say better than them. “I told myself that if I could speak Chinese, I could learn a lot about how Chinese players train, their perspectives on badminton, and their training methods,” Axelsen said. — Rohit Mahajan
