Saturday, August 23, 2008
Chetan Anand
Video of 2007 Indian Open Semi Finals and Finals(Includes some very funny commentary :))..
chetan anand and jwala gutta Interview from badmintonsite.com
Video of SemiFinals match between Chetan Anand and Andrew smith
Part 1/3
part 2/3
part 3/3
Video of Final between Chetan Anand and Boonsak Ponsana
part 1/5
part 2/5
Part 3/5
Part 4/5
Part 5/5
Links
http://www.badmintonindia.org/home.html
chetan anand and jwala gutta Interview from badmintonsite.com
Video of SemiFinals match between Chetan Anand and Andrew smith
Part 1/3
part 2/3
part 3/3
Video of Final between Chetan Anand and Boonsak Ponsana
part 1/5
part 2/5
Part 3/5
Part 4/5
Part 5/5
Links
http://www.badmintonindia.org/home.html
Labels: anand, badminton, chetan, india, sports, video
Anup Sridhar Vs Shoji SATO(Japan) olympics round 32 match
Round 32 match between Anup Sridhar Vs Shoji SATO(Japan)
part 1
part 2
part 3
part 4
part 1
part 2
part 3
part 4
Labels: anup, badminton, india, olympics, sports, sridar, video
Thursday, August 21, 2008
How is Vijender already a bronze medal winner??
I was confused.. how come everybody is saying that he has already secured a bronze medal in olympics.he has just won a quater final match.That means there are 4 people in the fray for the medals. so if two guys advance to the finals there will still be 2 losers from the semi final match and just for a second assuming that Vijender loses in the semi's and then he again loses for the bronze medal match between two losers of the semi finals..he will end up as the fourth guy and he wont win the medal.So how come everybody is saying he has already secured a medal for india.
Actually i just found out this.. :).In Olympic boxing,there wont be a match between the two losers of the semi finals for the bronze, but instead two bronze medals are awarded :).so there are four medal winners for every weight class.Hence for the 75kg weight class, all the people who won the quarter finals including Vijender already have a bronze medal... :)
Labels: boxing, india, olympics, sports, vijender
Sushil Kumar
Wow.What an Olympics this has been for india... another inspiring story...Sushil Kumar the bronze medal winner in wrestling.The second wrestler in India's Olympic history to win a bronze medal in the men's 66 kg freestyle category.
On Thursday, at the Beijing Agriculture University Complex, Sushil fought four continuous bouts but refused to go back to the Athletes Village to take rest after two bouts. It was typical of Sushil, who does not believe in deserting the ring midway through. Born in a middle class family, Sushil resisted many provocations to say good bye to the sport and decided to pursue his dream of an Olympic medal.
Sushil’s father, Diwan Singh, a former wrestler himself, is employed as a driver with the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited in Delhi. He could not generate enough cash but provided priceless encouragement.More here
Sushil then talked about how his father would get milk for him every morning so that he could be strong enough to train. "He did that for years, without fail. He was sure I could do something big," he said, getting emotional.
Did he know that the medal was coming when he went into the last round? "No one knows that. You just fight. I was tense this morning but Kartarji kept massaging my body the whole day. He is a double Asian Games gold medalist, secretary of the wrestling federation. I felt bad, awkward but he insisted that it was necessary."
It surely was, and Kartar, standing next to him smiled. "We don't have masseurs and doctors here with our team. I was his coach, his masseur, his trainer, his motivator. It was my responsibility to do it. But I would now request the government to give better facilities to the wrestlers.More here
The disbelief grows as one enters the dingy room. It looks dark despite the light outside, and with barely any space to walk between the beds, the room gives the impression of being much smaller than it is. The shelf at the back has a number of trunks thrown together, taking up precious space, but it’s all they have to spare for their belongings.
Sumit, one of the wrestlers who bunks in the same room as Sushil, proudly points out his now famous colleague’s mattress among nine others in the small room. “See, this is where he sleeps. In the summer he sleeps this side, but in winter he moves to the other mattress. We have to manage with just these two coolers, so he moves to be more comfortable,” he says.More here
Video of Sushil thanking everyone
Video of the last one minute of the bronze medal match
Video of celebrations at sushil's home
http://broadband.indiatimes.com/Sports_/We_were_sure_of_Sushils_win/videoshow/3388036.cms
Links
Village boys give India their best show
Insatiable hunger for perfection
Labels: india, kumar, olympics, sports, sushil, wrestling
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Anoop Sridhar 2008 Olympic match
Anoop Sridhar Vs Marco Vasconcelos
part1
part2
part3
part4
part5
part1
part2
part3
part4
part5
Labels: anup, badminton, india, olympics, sports, sridar, video
Gopichand who?
Sport Minister M S Gill on Tuesday failed to recognise former All England Champion and National Badminton Coach Pullela Gopichand when along with Olympian Saina Nehwal he went to meet him in his office.While Gill greeted Saina heartily, he could not recognise Gopichand who was standing next to Saina and asked him who he was."Who are you?" Gill asked Gopichand, leaving him with no other option but to spell out his name. Gopichand is only the second Indian after Prakash Padukone to win the All England Open Champion in 2001 and we hope Gill was only joking when he asked him his name.More here
Here is the video of his semi finals against Peter Gade at the 2001 All England Championship
Part 1
more here
His Finals against chen Hong at the 2001 All England Championship
part 1
more here
Links
Interview in rediff
http://in.rediff.com/sports/2001/mar/14gopi1.htm
Labels: badminton, chand, gopi, india, Nehwal, olympics, Saina, sports
Monday, August 18, 2008
Vijender Kumar
Well, Akhil Went down fighting.Let's look at the others still in the fray.The best medal hope in boxing for india is Vijender Kumar.Check out this video, it gives a good picture of the Bhiwani boxing club.
Although he is a boxing champion, Vijender Kumar is an oddity in India, a virtual one-sport country where cricket is religion.The son of a bus driver who worked overtime to pay for his coaching, Vijender is India's unsung champion boxer.
"My blood boils when everybody goes gaga over cricket," says the 22-year-old, one of five boxers in India's modest Olympics contingent to Beijing this summer.More hereVijender Kumar interview Video on BBC about BBC(problem with firefox?.watch in IE)
Vijender is one of the new generation sports icon of india.He belongs to the new wave of sportmen in india, who are not content with winning an odd match here and there.He belongs to the generation which dreams big and works for it.This boxer with looks of a model's dream does not even stop with olympics.He dreams bigger than that.He wants to box in Madison Square Garden and he dreams of a day when Don king will be his promoter.He is on the way to achieving it.
Want to know how he has already won a bronze medal.check it out here.
Receiving the Arjun award from the president.
The District Administration had forwarded recently a plan to the State Government for setting up a boxing centre in Bhiwani, but Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had announced setting up a of Boxing Academy to mark the historic victory of Vijender Singh in the Beijing Olympics.More here
2008 Beijing olympics quaterfinals Aug 20
Vijender Kumar Vs Carlos Gongora Round 1
Vijender Kumar Vs Carlos Gongora Round 2
Vijender Kumar Vs Carlos Gongora Round 3
Olympics Round of 16 match on Aug 16th
Vijender Kumar Vs Angkhan Chomphuphuang Round 2
Vijender Kumar Vs Angkhan Chomphuphuang Round 3
Vijender Kumar Vs Angkhan Chomphuphuang Round 4
Videos from 1119sup
Links
Labels: boxing, india, olympics, sports, vijender
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Saina Nehwal
A Rising star in international badminton, she is india's best.One of india's many next generation sportsman/sportswomen who are not shy to mention their intentions and are not afraid of loosing.Focused,determined and fearless, she destroys here opponents with raw power and lightning speed.Even though she is not a naturally talented badminton player, her rise is due to her perseverance and single minded dedication for one sport,Badminton.Her story like many other indian Olympic athletes is one of inspiration.
The tough journey had started. Saina had to be taken to the stadium every day early in the morning and the distance from the house was 20 km.It was a challenge for both of us because I had to wake up early so that we could reach the stadium by 6 am. The training session used to last for about two hours.After attending the training session, Saina had to attend school. This way I had to drive my scooter around 50 km daily as Saina, apart from attending rigorous practice sessions, had to concentrate on studies,” her father explained.The impact of this tough routine began to show in the first week as Saina would often fall asleep on the back seat.Sensing the danger, Saina’s mother started accompanying them on the two-wheeler. This continued for three months.Ultimately, the family had to arrange a house near the stadium in 1999. This time the distance was about 7 km from the stadium.More here
Watch IBN video "Move Over Sania, Saina is here"
Anyway… going into the Nationals, it looks like Saina is the only serious obstacle to Aparna Popat's quest for an unprecedented eight consecutive National singles titles. She's the hottest prospect on the horizon; at 14, she is one of the top players in the country. She's had a string of impressive results abroad, so not many will be surprised if she manages to upset Aparna this time.More here
I just uploaded some of her olympic matches on youtube Here is the match between saina and Maria Yulanti,unfortunately this one has only the 2nd and last set.The awesome first set is not there.If anybody has that please upload. will upload and update the remaining parts ASAP
Beijing 2008 badminton Quaterfinals match Between India's Saian Nehwal and Indonesia's Maria Kristin Yulanti Wed Aug 13.Saina lost the match.
I moved the match videos to a separate post here
All Saina Nehwal posts in my blog
Links
if the video does not play in firefox try IE...
saina Nehwal Philippines open videos
Saina Nehwal Vs Maria Kristin Olympic match video
Saina Nehwal Vs Ella karachkova match video
Video of saina nehwal losing a the junior world chamionship
Video,Asian Games will be tough: Saina
Video:Saina joins Mittal champions trust, Manisha Malhotra talks about saina
Labels: badminton, india, Nehwal, olympics, Saina, sports
Akhil Kumar
Whether he wins the bout on monday or not.He is a champion.How many times will you see a indian down 2-6 against the reigning champion come out of the ring as a winner and the champion in tears.Here is more about him
Akhil Interview Part 1
Akhil Interview Part 2
Akhil Interview Part 3
Akhil Kumar Vs Sergery Vodopyanov, Final round
Videos from 1119sup
This one from Mani 5577. People are already uploading lot of videos.
IBN interview video
interview with his parents video
Links
The indian mohammed Ali ?
Back From the Ropes
Akhil at the olympics
His Bio at Mittaltrust
Labels: akhil, boxing, india, kumar, olympics, sports
BBC - Bhiwani Boxing Club
A tin of covers the boxing arena. A majority of the kids here don’t have their own gloves. And to drink water after practice, the lone hand-pump has to be operated very slowly, otherwise sand particles will start coming out along with the water.You look around and have to wonder, what results will you possibly get with conditions like these? Under normal circumstances, you wouldn’t get anything. But the one thing that cannot be factored in is the passion for boxing that seems inherent in the Bhiwani local.And because of this, despite the very basic facilities, Bhiwani has become the boxing hub of India. More Here
A few days back, Bhiwani was just another nondescript north Indian town. Its unique feat of sending five boxers to the Olympics was known to only the die-hard sports fan.Eight days into the Games the scenario changed, and how. The entire nation --- and probably some boxing pockets in the world --- have been enthralled by the exploits of the Bhiwani pugilists --- Akhil Kumar, Jitender Kumar and Vijender Kumar. The three are on the cusp of rewriting Indian boxing history, and this city now hopes for at least one medal from its quarter-finalist trio.More Here
There’s a reason they call ramshackle Bhiwani town in Haryana India’s Little Cuba.As dusk falls, a strange, new fear grips residents of this sleepy North Indian town — the fear of power cuts, which they never really worried about.Over the past week, outages are the only thing that have come between the residents and their heroes: the four boxers in the Olympics coached by Jagdish Singh, all from the Bhiwani Boxing Club (BBC).More Here
The boxing boom in Haryana has been set off due to systematic planning and execution to promote the sport in the State with a combination of helpful factors like irresistible financial incentives, with the sound support of sponsors and the mush-rooming of boxing clubs all over State, aiding the cause of the sport greatly.More Here
As we talk, adolescent enthusiasm gets the better of a couple of boys. So, you’re not being interviewed? one taunts the other. Oh, just wait till 2012, he responds.By now you know Bhiwani has changed in these past two weeks, so dismiss this as a fanciful dream at your own peril.
THE GURU Behind the success of the Indian boxers at Beijing is the coach who groomed them SAY no to four-letter words, it says on the wall. That, presumably, includes ‘loss’. As India hung on to its boxers’ positive talk in Beijing, smiling at home in Bhiwani was their coach Jagdish Singh. Because along with the hooks and jabs that Singh trains his wards in, thrown in for good measure are these little nuggets on the right attitude.More here
A boxing academy on the patter of Australian Institute of Sports would be soon established in Bhiwani.More here
Video of bhiwani and its boxing club with Vijender Kumar interview
Video Of BBC
Video of the Bhiwani Trio's Feat here.
Links
Born out of nowhere
Bhiwani Boxers
Manisha of Mittal Trust blogs on haryan's boxing achievement
My post on Akhil Kumar
My post on Vijendra Kumar
Struggling to win
bhiwani
Punching through barriers
Labels: akhil, bhiwani, boxing, haryana, india, kumar, olympics, sports, vijender
India at the olympics
Wow.Is this really happening.Apart from bindra,So many good performances by india.what struck me the most was, how these people over came the obstacles thrown at them to be what they are right now.Everybody's story is an inspiration.But our lack of interest on sports other than cricket(Iam as guilty as anybody else on this) shows on the internet too.Except for the newspapers, there aren't much information available about these sportsman/women.They don't have a proper wiki page or there is not much video in youtube or there is no blogs on there performances.I thought i will blog and provide links to some of the good articles and media available about these great athletes.I have some videos also which i will upload later.
One of the best blogs that i came across was that of Manisha Malhotra a former tennis player, now the administrator for the Mittal Champions Trust.She has put down her journey from 2007 in her blog at http://manishasthoughts.blogspot.com/.I would recommend you read the whole blog from jan 2007(actually there aren't a lot of posts) including the comments....
But here are some of her posts on Abhinav bindra.It will give you an insight into the champion.
http://manishasthoughts.blogspot.com/2007/05/sawadeeka.html
http://manishasthoughts.blogspot.com/2007/05/day-ii.html
http://manishasthoughts.blogspot.com/2007/05/pattiala-part-ii.html
http://manishasthoughts.blogspot.com/2008/08/oh-my-god.html
http://manishasthoughts.blogspot.com/2007/08/back-in-action.html
http://manishasthoughts.blogspot.com/2007/08/whirlwind-tour-of-world.html
http://manishasthoughts.blogspot.com/2007/05/shooting-in-bangkok.html
One of the best blogs that i came across was that of Manisha Malhotra a former tennis player, now the administrator for the Mittal Champions Trust.She has put down her journey from 2007 in her blog at http://manishasthoughts.blogspot.com/.I would recommend you read the whole blog from jan 2007(actually there aren't a lot of posts) including the comments....
But here are some of her posts on Abhinav bindra.It will give you an insight into the champion.
http://manishasthoughts.blogspot.com/2007/05/sawadeeka.html
http://manishasthoughts.blogspot.com/2007/05/day-ii.html
http://manishasthoughts.blogspot.com/2007/05/pattiala-part-ii.html
http://manishasthoughts.blogspot.com/2008/08/oh-my-god.html
http://manishasthoughts.blogspot.com/2007/08/back-in-action.html
http://manishasthoughts.blogspot.com/2007/08/whirlwind-tour-of-world.html
http://manishasthoughts.blogspot.com/2007/05/shooting-in-bangkok.html
Labels: abhinav, akhil, bindra, india, kumar, olympics, saina nehwal, sports, vijender
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Mind of Menica - The Convenience Store
Naveed Mahbub
Friday, August 08, 2008
M.I.A - mathangi(Maya) Arulpragasam
Check out one of the familiar tamil beat that is rocking so many around the world.
Know more about MIA here
http://obtusity.blogspot.com/2007/02/notes-from-underground-mia-bird-flu.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.I.A._(artist)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4635471
Know more about MIA here
http://obtusity.blogspot.com/2007/02/notes-from-underground-mia-bird-flu.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.I.A._(artist)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4635471
Labels: MIA, singer, srilankan, tamil, UK, video