jackofall.blogspot

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

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

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

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

Labels: abhinav, akhil, bindra, india, kumar, olympics, saina nehwal, sports, vijender