OLD India National Thread

Shrikant

aditya mehta lost 2-4 against mark williams.... good fight

gvaisakh

A small article made by me on our Olympic contingent can be seen in next post. Hope you all will like it

http://www.totallympics.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=830&page=313&extra=#pid119354

gvaisakh

INDIA AT 2012 LONDON OLYMPICS

PREVIEW & SCHEDULE

Four years have passed since Beijing 2008. Now it's time for London 2012. India never had a great time in Olympics, always participated with an aim to win 1 or 2 medals. But Beijing 2008 has changed everything. India had their best ever Olympics at Beijing, winning 1 gold and 2 bronze. This started a revolution in Indian sports. Indian people started to believe in sports other than cricket.

Athletes proved that Beijing 2008 was not a flash in the pan by excelling in 2010 Commonwealth Games and 2010 Asian Games. They were not affected by all the scandals & corruption ahead of 2010 CWG. It was clear from the results as they finished 2nd behind Australia and winning more than 100 medals for the first time in CWG history. The momentum was carried through to 2010 Asian games where India had their highest ever medal haul, winning 64 medals. A big thanks to our sports minister Ajay Maken for supporting the athletes by thinking from their side rather than from a politician's side and also to all the organizations such as Olympic Gold Quest, Lakshmi Mittal Trust, Tata Academy for Sports, etc for sponsoring these athletes.

A total of 81 athletes have qualified for London Olympics, India's largest ever contingent. This is the first time that we are going to an Olympics with high expectation. I do believe London 2012 to be a good outing for us. I expect India to win that elusive double figure of 11 medals (3 gold, 4 silver, 4 bronze).


Note: All the timings listed in schedule below are IST.
*: indicates the participation of Indian athletes/team only if they qualify for this round.


ARCHERY
A total of 6 archers - 3 in men, 3 in women. One of the sports where India is expected to win 2 medals(might get 1 gold). Have to avoid the Koreans(both), Americans(men) & Ukraine(women) in early rounds. So a good performance is essential in ranking round. For team events, combined scores of all 3 archers is taken into consideration for seeding.
Men's Individual Recurve: Jayanta Talukdar, Rahul Banerjee and Tarundeep Rai will be in action. All have the potential to win a medal but depends on the how they can handle the pressure. Not much expectation to win a medal.
Men's Team Recurve: India is currently ranked 3rd in world. A top 4 finish in ranking round will ensure a direct entry to QF. One of the good news is that the current Indian team has 2-0 record against Koreans. Might win a medal.
Women's Individual Recurve: World number 1 Deepika Kumari must win a medal considering her form. She won gold in the last WC that she participated. Bombayala Devi and Chekrovolu Swuro has outside chance.
Women's Team Recurve: India is ranked number 2 behind Korea. Had a good outing in this year's WC. Considering their form in this year, they should reach the final. Again a top 4 finish in ranking round is essential.
Ranking Round(Men): 27 Jul - 13:30hrs
Ranking Round(Women): 27 Jul - 17:30hrs
Men's Team: 28 Jul - 13:30hrs(R16), 19:30hrs(QF*), 21:10hrs(SF*), 22:03hrs(Bronze medal*), 22:31hrs(Gold medal*)
Women's Team: 29 Jul - 13:30hrs(R16), 19:30hrs(QF*), 21:10hrs(SF*), 22:03hrs(Bronze medal*), 22:31hrs(Gold medal*)
Men's Individual: 30,31 Jul & 1 Aug - 13:30hrs/19:30hrs(R64); 30,31 Jul & 1 Aug - 14:22hrs/20:22hrs(R32*);
                          3 Aug - 13:30hrs(R16*), 18:30hrs(QF*), 19:22hrs(SF*), 19:51hrs(Bronze medal*), 20:07hrs(Gold medal*)
Women's Individual: 30,31 Jul & 1 Aug - 13:56hrs/19:56hrs(R64); 30,31 Jul & 1 Aug - 14:35hrs/20:35hrs(R32*);
                               2 Aug - 13:30hrs(R16*), 18:30hrs(QF*), 19:22hrs(SF*), 19:51hrs(Bronze medal*), 20:07hrs(Gold medal*)


ATHLETICS
8 men & 6 women have qualified. The biggest disappointment is Women's 4*400m relay failing to qualify. Out of the 14 athletes, only 2 have an outside chance of a medal - Vikas Gowda(Men's Discus) & Krishna Poonia(Women's Discus). Vikas won a bronze in one of the IAAF Diamond League meet and was leading this season's best throw for 2 weeks earlier this year. Krishna Poonia is confident of crossing 65m mark(her PB is 64.76m) but that might not be enough to fetch a medal. Would be happy if any others reaches the SF/Final. I would be jumping in joy if we get a medal from athletics. Real expectation - no medal.
Men's Shotput - Om Prakash Karhana: : 3 Aug - 14:30hrs(Qualification); 4 Aug - 01:00hrs(Final*)
Men's Discus - Vikas Gowda: : 6 Aug - 14:30hrs(Qualification); 8 Aug - 00:15hrs(Final*)
Men's Triple Jump - Renjith Maheshwary: : 7 Aug - 15:15hrs(Qualification); 9 Aug - 23:50hrs(Final*)
Men's 20km Race Walk - Baljinder Singh, Irfan KT, Gurmeet Singh: : 4 Aug - 21:30hrs(Final)
Men's 50km Race Walk - Basanta Bahadur Rana: : 11 Aug - 13:30hrs(Final)
Men's Marathon - Ram Singh Yadav: : 12 Aug - 15:30hrs(Final)
Women's 800m - Tintu Luka: : 8 Aug - 16:05hrs(Heats); 10 Aug - 00:00hrs(SF*); 12 Aug - 00:30hrs(Final*)
Women's 3000m SC - Sudha Singh: : 4 Aug - 16:05hrs(Heats); 7 Aug - 01:35hrs(Final*)
Women's Discus - Krishna Poonia, Seema Antil: : 3 Aug - 23:40hrs(Qualification); 5 Aug - 00:00hrs(Final*)
Women's Triple Jump - Mayookha Johny: : 3 Aug - 14:55hrs(Qualification); 6 Aug - 00:05hrs(Final*)
Women's High Jump - Sahana Kumari: : 9 Aug - 14:00hrs(Qualification); 11 Aug - 23:30hrs(Final*)


BADMINTON
World number 5 Saina Nehwal is in her best form right now, winning back to back titles at Thailand Open & Indonesian Super Series. She is the only one who can stop the Chinese dominance in Women's Singles and has good experience behind her - won 17 international titles & reached QF of Beijing 2008 from nowhere. Some bad news is that the Chinese have decided to send Xuerui Li(Saina's nemesis) instead of Shixian Wang(struggled against Saina). Let's hope Saina can overpower Chinese wall(Yihan Wang, Xin Wang & Xuerui Li).
Outside chances: V.Diju/Jwala Gutta in Mixed Doubles and Jwala Gutta/Ashwini Ponnappa in Women's Doubles. Gutta/Ponnappa had won bronze in 2011 World championship at London but they struggled in 2012.
Parupalli Kashyap is the other Indian, participating in Men's Singles. Would be surprised if he qualifies from group stage.
In general, we can expect 1 medal of any color.
MS, WS, WD, XD Group Matches: 28 to 31 Jul - 13:00hrs
Men's Singles(MS): 1 Aug - 13:30hrs(R16*), 2 Aug - 21:30hrs(QF*), 3 Aug - 18:00hrs(SF*), 5 Aug - 13:30hrs(Bronze medal*), 17:30hrs(Gold medal*)
Women's Singles(WS): 1 Aug - 13:30hrs(R16*), 2 Aug - 17:00hrs(QF*), 3 Aug - 13:30hrs(SF*), 4 Aug - 18:00hrs(Bronze medal* & Gold medal*)
Women's Doubles(WD): 1 Aug - 21:30hrs(QF*), 2 Aug - 21:30hrs(SF*), 4 Aug - 13:30hrs(Bronze medal*), 18:00hrs(Gold medal*)
Mixed Doubles(XD): 1 Aug - 13:30hrs(QF*), 2 Aug - 17:00hrs(SF*), 3 Aug - 13:30hrs(Bronze medal*), 18:00hrs(Gold medal*)


BOXING
Women's boxing is introduced for the 1st time which our supermom and 5 time world champion MC Mary Kom was eagerly waiting for. Even though she struggled to qualify, she is sure a gold medal contender. She accepted about the tension involved, but assured us that she will try her level best to win gold(for nation & also as b'day gift to her twin sons whose b'day is on 5 Aug).
If one wins a medal in previous Olympics, everyone expects him/her to repeat the feat in next Olympics. And that's what Vijender Singh is hoping to do. Once a World number 1, he qualified for London 2012 in last attempt similar to Beijing 2008. Rankings don't play a big factor here coz no one would get a favourable draw in boxing. Other serious medal hopes are youngsters Vikas Krishnan & Shiva Thapa. All others have outside chances. The entire nation would be disappointed if India don't win 3 medals including a gold.
Men's Light Flyweight(49kg) - Devendro Singh: R32(31 Jul - 18:00hrs/1 Aug - 01:00hrs), R16*(4 Aug - 18:00hrs/5 Aug - 01:00hrs), QF*(9 Aug - 01:00hrs), SF*(10 Aug - 18:00hrs), Final*(12 Aug - 01:00hrs)
Men's Bantamweight(56kg) - Shiva Thapa: R32(28 Jul - 18:00hrs/29 Jul - 01:00hrs), R16*(1 Aug - 18:00hrs/2 Aug - 01:00hrs), QF*(6 Aug - 01:00hrs), SF*(10 Aug - 18:30hrs), Final*(12 Aug - 01:15hrs)
Men's Lightweight(60kg) - Jai Bhagwan: R32(29 Jul - 18:00hrs/30 Jul - 01:00hrs), R16*(2 Aug - 18:00hrs/3 Aug - 01:00hrs), QF*(7 Aug - 01:00hrs), SF*(11 Aug - 01:30hrs), Final*(12 Aug - 18:15hrs)
Men's Light Welterweight(64kg) - Manoj Kumar: R32(31 Jul - 19:15hrs/1 Aug - 02:15hrs), R16*(4 Aug - 19:00hrs/5 Aug - 02:00hrs), QF*(9 Aug - 02:00hrs), SF*(10 Aug - 19:00hrs), Final*(12 Aug - 01:45hrs)
Men's Welterweight(69kg) - Vikas Krishnan: R32(29 Jul - 19:30hrs/30 Jul - 02:30hrs), R16*(3 Aug - 19:00hrs/4 Aug - 02:00hrs), QF*(8 Aug - 02:00hrs), SF*(11 Aug - 02:00hrs), Final*(12 Aug - 18:45hrs)
Men's Middleweight(75kg) - Vijender Singh: R32(28 Jul - 19:30hrs/29 Jul - 02:30hrs), R16*(2 Aug - 19:00hrs/3 Aug - 02:00hrs), QF*(7 Aug - 02:00hrs), SF*(10 Aug - 19:30hrs), Final*(12 Aug - 02:15hrs)
Men's Light Heavyweight(81kg) - Sumit Sangwan: R32(30 Jul - 19:15hrs/31 Jul - 02:15hrs), R16*(4 Aug - 20:00hrs/5 Aug - 03:00hrs), QF*(9 Aug - 03:00hrs), SF*(11 Aug - 02:30hrs), Final*(12 Aug - 19:15hrs)
Women's Flyweight(51kg) - MC Mary Kom: R16(5 Aug - 18:00hrs), QF*(6 Aug - 18:00hrs), SF*(8 Aug - 18:00hrs), Final*(9 Aug - 21:00hrs)


FIELD HOCKEY
Indian hockey faced its biggest shame when we failed to qualify in 2008. The tussle between HI & IHF made it worse. Jose Brasa was made the coach and we reached the final of 2010 CWG, losing 8-0 to Aussies in final. Everyone had high expectations for 2010 Asian Games where a gold medal would ensure Olympic qualification. But we lost to Malaysia in SF, leading to sacking of Brasa. Again the team is back to square one. People lost the expectations of an Olympic return. In June 2011, Michael Nobbs was made the coach and he made lot of promises. He gave importance to fitness and brought the old Indian style of hockey. The results were showing and finally India qualified by beating France 8-1 in final of qualification tournament.
Penalty Corner specialist Sandeep Singh(scored 16 of India's 44 goals in the qualifier) & vice-captain Sardara Singh holds India's trump card. Coach Nobbs and captain/goalie Bharat Chettri are optimistic of a top 6 finish. India is clubbed in group B with giants Germany & Netherlands and will face stiff competition from South Korea, New Zealand & Belgium. Unless we pull off a surprising result against Netherlands in the opening match, its very unlikely that we will qualify for SF. But 5th/6th place finish is realistic.
Group Matches(vs): Netherlands(30 Jul - 20:30hrs); New Zealand(1 Aug - 20:30hrs); Germany(3 Aug - 18:15hrs); South Korea(5 Aug - 17:45hrs); Belgium(7 Aug - 20:30hrs)
Semifinal*: 9 Aug - 20:00hrs/10 Aug - 00:30hrs
Placement Matches: 11th Place*(11 Aug - 13:00hrs); 9th Place*(9 Aug - 13:00hrs); 7th Place*(9 Aug - 16:00hrs); 5th Place*(11 Aug - 16:00hrs); Bronze medal*(11 Aug - 20:00hrs); Gold medal*(12 Aug - 00:30 hrs)


JUDO
Garima Chaudhary is the only qualified judoka. She is ranked 94th in the world in women's 63kg category. In her recent interview, she is confident of performing well. No chance at all for her to win medal, will struggle to win her 1st round match.
Women's 63kg: 31 Aug - 14:00hrs(R32, R16*, QF*), 18:30hrs(SF*,Repechage*,Bronze medal*), 20:30hrs(Gold medal*)


ROWING
Sawarn Singh Virk will be participating in Men's Single Sculls & Sandeep Kumar, Manjeet Singh in Men's Lightweight Double Sculls. Sawarn Singh surprised everyone by beating Asian Games gold medalist Bajrang Lal Thakkar to participate in qualifiers and he didn't disappoint the selection committee. Coming to Olympics, Indians don't chance a stand at all compared to European rowers. The coach has openly said that he would be happy if they can qualify for QF(Single Sculls) & SF(Double Sculls).
Men's Single Sculls: 28 Jul - 17:00hrs(Heats); 29 Jul - 14:20hrs(Repechages); 31 Jul - 15:10hrs(QF*); 1 Aug - 14:00hrs(SF*); 3 Aug - 14:00hrs(Final*)
Men's Lightweight Double Sculls: 29 Jul - 15:40hrs(Heats); 31 Jul - 15:00hrs(Repechages); 1 Aug - 14:20hrs(SF*); 4 Aug - 14:10hrs(Final*)


SHOOTING
Indian shooting has been on a rise after Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won silver in Athens 2004. In Beijing 2008, a silent guy named Abhinav Bindra participating in his 3rd Olympics surprised everyone by winning India's 1st ever individual gold in Olympics. 11 shooters are going to London, the largest ever. Indian shooters struggled in various stages of this year's world cup with all the Olympic bound shooters failing to reach the final. But lately, the shooters are peaking. Coach Sunny Thomas has said that Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang are shooting consistently at 595 in 10m Air Rifle, which should be enough to qualify for final. Ronjan Sodhi, former World number 1 in Double Trap, has set a score in his mind which he feels is enough to qualify for final. Seasoned campaigners Manavjit Singh Sandhu & Vijay Kumar is also capable of performing well. Coming to women's shooters, its difficult to tell how they perform coz of their inconsistency. On their given day, they can cause some upsets. Can expect 2 medals of any color.
Men's 10m Air Rifle - Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang: 30 Jul - 13:30hrs(Qualification), 16:45hrs(Final*)
Men's 50m Rifle Prone - Gagan Narang, Joydeep Karmakar: 3 Aug - 13:30hrs(Qualification), 16:30hrs(Final*)
Men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions - Gagan Narang, Sanjeev Rajput: 6 Aug - 13:30hrs(Qualification), 18:15hrs(Final*)
Men's 10m Air Pistol - Vijay Kumar: 28 July - 16:30hrs(Qualification), 20:00hrs(Final*)
Men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol - Vijay Kumar: 2 Aug & 3 Aug - 15:00hrs(Qualification), 3 Aug - 19:00hrs(Final*)
Men's Trap - Manavjit Singh Sandhu: 5 Aug & 6 Aug - 13:30hrs(Qualification), 6 Aug - 20:30hrs(Final*)
Men's Double Trap - Ronjan Sodhi: 2 Aug - 13:30hrs(Qualification), 19:30hrs(Final*)
Women's 10m Air Pistol - Annuraj Singh, Heena Sidhu: 29 Jul - 13:30hrs(Qualification), 16:15hrs(Final*)
Women's 25m Pistol - Annuraj Singh, Rahi Sarnobat: 1 Aug - 13:30hrs(Qualification), 20:00hrs(Final*)
Women's Trap - Shagun Chowdhary: 4 Aug - 13:30hrs(Qualification), 19:30hrs(Final*)


SWIMMING
Ullalmath Gagan qualified in Men's 1500m Freestyle via Universality quota. Would be happy if he finishes in a respectable position in heats. Don't expect him to qualify from heats.
Men's 1500m Freestyle: 28 Jul - 21:30hrs(Qualification swim-off); 3 Aug - 14:53hrs(Heats*); 5 Aug - 00:06hrs(Final*)


TABLE TENNIS
The first name which comes to our mind is Achanta Sharath Kamal. Sadly he failed to qualify. But India will be represented by two vibrant 19 year old from Siliguri- Soumyajith Ghosh in men's & Ankita Das in women's section. Their main aim would be to gain as much experience as possible from this Olympics rather than a medal.
Men's Singles: 28 Jul - 14:15hrs(Prelims), 20:30hrs(R128*); 29 Jul - 15:30hrs(R64*); 30 Jul - 14:30hrs(R32*), 23:30hrs(R16*); 1 Aug - 00:30hrs/14:30hrs(QF*); 2 Aug - 14:30(SF*), 19:00hrs(Bronze medal*), 20:00hrs(Gold medal*)
Women's Singles: 28 Jul - 13:30hrs(Prelims), 15:45hrs(R128*); 29 Jul - 01:00hrs/13:30hrs(R64*), 22:30hrs(R32*); 30 Jul - 20:00hrs(R16*); 31 Jul - 14:30hrs(QF*), 20:30hrs(SF*); 1 Aug - 19:00hrs(Bronze medal*), 20:00hrs(Gold medal*)


TENNIS
There has been back-stabbing & lot of controversies when it came to the selection of tennis team. Let's not discuss about it. Rather, let's speak about their chances. Expect atleast 1 medal.
Even though they are not in goood form, the team of Mahesh Bhupathi & Rohan Bopanna has a good chance to win a medal in Men's Doubles. It's coz most of the doubles team will be made up of singles players rather than doubles specialist. Also they must be really motivated to prove their point about their selection to the entire nation. The American duo of Bryan brothers are the favourites to win. The other Indian pair is made up of the veteran Leander Paes and rising star Vishnu Vardhan. Vishnu hasn't played much in grass. So Leander's experience will hold a big factor.
Mixed Doubles is the area where Indians(Paes/Mirza) are almost assured of a medal. One disadvantage is both Paes & Mirza are deuce court players. But they are expected to sort this out and come out high.
In Men's Singles, Somdev Devvarman got a wildcard thanks to his protected ranking of 87. He got injured in early January ahead of the Chennai Open and still hasn't completely recovered. Olympics will be his 1st tournament after returning from injury. With top stars also in the fray, it will be a big mountain for him to climb.
In Women's Doubles, Sania Mirza will be partnering Rushmi Chakravarthi and they don't have any chance to win a medal.
Men's Singles: 28 Jul & 29 Jul - 16:00hrs(R64); 30 Jul & 31 Jul - 16:00hrs(R32*); 1 Aug - 16:00hrs(R16*); 2 Aug - 16:00hrs(QF*); 3 Aug - 16:30hrs(SF*); 5 Aug - 16:30hrs(Bronze medal*), 18:30hrs(Gold medal*)
Men's Doubles: 28 Jul & 29 Jul - 16:00hrs(R32); 30 Jul - 16:00hrs(R16*); 31 Jul & 1 Aug - 16:00hrs(QF*); 2 Aug - 16:00hrs(SF*); 4 Aug - 16:30hrs(Bronze medal*), 18:30hrs(Gold medal*)
Women's Doubles: 28 Jul & 29 Jul - 16:00hrs(R32); 30 Jul - 16:00hrs(R16*); 31 Jul & 1 Aug - 16:00hrs(QF*); 2 Aug - 16:00hrs(SF*); 5 Aug - 16:30hrs(Bronze medal*), 18:30hrs(Gold medal*)
Mixed Doubles: 1 Aug - 16:00hrs(R16); 2 Aug - 16:00hrs(QF*); 3 Aug - 16:00hrs(SF*); 4 Aug - 16:30hrs(Bronze medal*); 5 Aug - 16:30hrs(Gold medal*)


WEIGHTLIFTING
2 weightlifters have qualified for Olympics - Ravi Kumar in Men's 69kg & Soniya Chanu in Women's 48kg. Both of them are high in confidence but Chinese are expected to dominate.
There had been lot of doping scandals in past in Indian weightlifting. Even IWF had imposed a 2 year ban on Indian weightlifters in 2006. Monika Devi had withdrawn from 2008 Olympics for failing a dope test. I would be happy if our lifters return without failing in dope test.
Men's 69kg: 31 Jul - 14:30hrs(Group B), 23:30hrs(Group A)
Women's 48kg: 28 Jul - 20:00hrs(Group A)


WRESTLING
Sushil Kumar was the 3rd athlete who won a medal(bronze) in Beijing 2008 making it India's most successful campaign. He didn't stop there as he went on to win the World Championships in 2010. This time also, he is the one to watch out for in Men's 66kg Freestyle(FS) along with Yogeshwar Dutt who lost in QF in Men's 60kg FS in Beijing. Amit Kumar surprised everyone by winning gold in this year's Asian Championship in Men's 55kg FS, thereby qualifying for Olympics. Other Indian in Men's section is Narsingh Yadav in 74kg FS.
Geeta Phogat became the first woman wrestler to qualify for Olympics. She will be in competing in 55kg FS category.
Expect 2 medals(Sushil & Yogeshwar)
Men's 55kg FS - Amit Kumar: 10 Aug - 17:30hrs(Qualification), 18:00hrs(R16*), 19:00hrs(QF*), 19:30hrs(SF*), 22:15hrs(Repechage* & Bronze medal*), 22:55hrs(Gold medal*)
Men's 60kg FS - Yogeshwar Dutt: 11 Aug - 17:30hrs(Qualification), 18:00hrs(R16*), 19:00hrs(QF*), 19:30hrs(SF*), 22:15hrs(Repechage* & Bronze medal*), 22:55hrs(Gold medal*)
Men's 66kg FS - Sushil Kumar: 12 Aug - 13:00hrs(Qualification), 13:30hrs(R16*), 14:30hrs(QF*), 15:00hrs(SF*), 17:15hrs(Repechage* & Bronze medal*), 17:55hrs(Gold medal*)
Men's 74kg FS - Narsingh Yadav: 10 Aug - 17:30hrs(Qualification), 18:00hrs(R16*), 19:00hrs(QF*), 19:30hrs(SF*), 22:15hrs(Repechage* & Bronze medal*), 22:55hrs(Gold medal*)
Women's 55kg FS - Geeta Phogat: 9 Aug - 17:30hrs(Qualification), 17:55hrs(R16*), 18:55hrs(QF*), 19:30hrs(SF*), 22:15hrs(Repechage* & Bronze medal*), 22:45hrs(Gold medal*)

ALL THE BEST!!!!! MAKE PROUD

Venkat

gvaisakh replied at 2012-7-21 02:12 PM
INDIA AT 2012 LONDON OLYMPICS

PREVIEW & SCHEDULE

THANKS A MILLION.

dolby

Venkat replied at 2012-7-21 04:57 PM
Good Article on the possibilities of including Cricket in Olympics. We can sure be medal contendars  ...

I don't think Cricket would be and should be included in the Olympics. Following are my reasons:

1) Lack of global nature: I don't think a team sport with only a handful of serious participants is any fun. Apart from Commonwealth countries, only Netherlands is any good at it. Also, there will be problem regarding West Indies. With all the players representing their own teams, no team might be competitive enough. And one more competitive team (Scotland) would get reduced as it would have to merge with England in the competition. And even if we discount the less number of teams, how many fans would come and watch a Cricket game in Rio?

2) Lack of infrastructure: Cricket stadiums are huge and are not present in majority of the bidding cities. Also, what would happen to them after the games are over? And not only that, preparing the cricket pitch is a difficult task. Many countries won't have good curators and technology to prepare sporting pitches, so they would be resorting to drop in pitches which would also be troublesome.

3) Apathy on part of ICC and Other Boards: Till now ICC has not been able to develop the sport in any new country. Not only that it has also not been able to prevent the sport from declining in some countries. Also, the two ocassions that Cricket was part of a multi-game events, Boards didn't show much interest in participation. India and Pakistan didn't send their full strength teams for 1998 Commonwealth Games as they had to play in a bilateral tournament in Toronto at roughly the same time. India didn't even participate in 2010 Asian Games. So, what is their to suggest that Boards themselves are keen on Cricket's inclusion in Olympics.

4) Time: We all know that there is no chance of Test matches or ODIs being part of Olympics. But there is a general feeling that T20s can be accomodated. But, it is not entirely feasible. A single game would take 5 hrs along with pre - match preparations, post match ceremenoies. Now, that means we can only have a maximum of 2 matches each day per stadium. Since, in a city like Rio (where Cricket is not played much) even 1 Olympic standard Cricket stadium would be too many, why would they build more stadiums? So, we are left with only 1 stadium. So, if you have 12 teams and divide them into 2 groups of 6 (as is the norm for Team events in Olympics), that would give us a total of 30 group stage games and 4 knockout games. So, with one stadium, it amounts to 17 days. And 2 matches to be played everyday, which is not feasible.

5) Number of participants: With IOC restricting the total number of participants we simply cannot add Cricket. It has to replace some other team game. Which sport do you replace? Each one of the current team sports and some other non-OIympic team sports (Softball, Netball) score over Cricket in all the above mentioned criteria.

dolby

gvaisakh replied at 2012-7-21 06:12 PM
INDIA AT 2012 LONDON OLYMPICS

PREVIEW & SCHEDULE

Excellent Analysis. Hoping that all the athletes come up with their best performances, after that whether they win a medal or not is not that important.

Shrikant

Hole in one eagle by anirban lahiri.... fantastic

Shrikant

In archery woman's team even bombayla devi is a strong contender... good analysis....

gvaisakh

Shrikant replied at 2012-7-21 06:46 PM
In archery woman's team even bombayla devi is a strong contender... good analysis....

Bombayala Devi was the only one among the 6 archers who participatrd in Beijing 2008. So she got experience on her side and is a good archer. But in this year, she was not at all impressive in individual event and is ranked 48th in the world. That's why I didn't consider her as a serious contender. Let's hope she proves me wrong

stevespeaks

gvaisakh replied at 2012-7-21 06:12 PM
INDIA AT 2012 LONDON OLYMPICS

PREVIEW & SCHEDULE

Dude,this is really good...im jumping with joy at the sheer extensive nature of your cover...This is the essence of a hard-report.....The time and effort youv put in is really commendable.....Wonderful.....

:

parthasg

gvaisakh replied at 2012-7-21 06:12 PM
INDIA AT 2012 LONDON OLYMPICS

PREVIEW & SCHEDULE

very good analysis. a lot of effort has been put into compiling this report.

i want to add a few points.

1.Archery  - i think except male individual recurve -in all three other events we should expect a medal. that is not to say they will get 3 medals for sure- but in both the team events we have a good chance apart from deepika kumari in women's individual recurve.

2.tennis - i dont think we can positively expect a medal in tennis. with the kind of upheaval that has took place -plus the form of our players -a medal will be a surprise for me.


3.wrestling -i will stick my neck out and say we should expect 2 medal here not one. though how much dent sushil's one week less practice in belarus will put on his medal chances only time will tell.

4.shooting - this is a sport i have practiced seriously, while its prudent to count only 2 medals -i know the calibre of the shooting contingent is such that many others can churn out a medal on their day. yes they have not performed well in the world cup events this yr but in a olympic yr with the qualification already done with world cup wins dont count for much.

apart from the medal contenders ,

1.weightlifting - soniya chanu said yesterday that she is very confident on finishing among the medals. i do hope her confidence is not the result of doping.

2.hockey - we have been mostly losing by narrow margins in the preparatory tournaments,except the big loss to newzealand in azlan shah. but if we avoid the schoolboy errors of that match -that should not recur. and remember we dont have to play australia -the one team we have zero chance of beating. i believe with a bit of luck and determination -we can beat germany. if we can score wins over korea and belgium, and draw either the nz or the holland match - we will have 10 points. which might give us a chance depending on how the others teams stack up. i am cautiously hopeful. but only thing is our three toughest matches are up front -so no time to ease ourselves into the tournament,

gvaisakh

parthasg replied at 2012-7-21 08:06 PM
very good analysis. a lot of effort has been put into compiling this report.

i want to add a few  ...

Thanks for ur comments

1) The experience at Olympics and also the pressure plays a big factor. The archery will played at Lords. So it's not a normal archery field. Hence, we have to see how our archers adjust to much more stronger wind and also the current bizzare climate. That's why I went for only 2 medals in archery.

2) Coming to tennis - this will be the last Olympics for Paes & Bhupathi. So, I have a gut feeling that either Bhupathi/Bopanna or Paes/Mirza might defy all odds and win a medal despite all the controversies.

3) I agree with you on wrestling. Can expect 2 medals there. Have modfied it in my earlier post. So 11 medals in total.

4) I don't have much hope on our shooters. Hope they  prove me wrong & win more medals. Similar views on weightlifting & hockey

parthasg

gvaisakh replied at 2012-7-21 08:23 PM
Thanks for ur comments

1) The experience at Olympics and also the pressure plays a big fa ...

11 is a bit high i think. may be 8 .the olympic gold quest and the mittal champino's trust people are saying 5. whether thats to keep the pressure off the athletes' shoulders or they are assessing it better than we are -remains to be seen. but anything less than 8 will be an under performance according to me. we cant keep comparing to 2008 or earlier. we have to expect according to the quality we have this time -and 8 -10 is something they should achieve

gvaisakh

parthasg replied at 2012-7-21 08:28 PM
11 is a bit high i think. may be 8 .the olympic gold quest and the mittal champino's trust people  ...

Hmm.. 6 more days to go.. Can't wait

parthasg

mary com is walking on sunshine . cant wait for the games to begin. good to know she will have her mother to support her from the stands,

mary kom cant wait for the games to begin