Watching world no. 1 Yihang Wang tame Saina Nehwal easily in the semi-final, 21-13, 21-13 on Friday morning, I remembered my conversation with a chinese journalist in the Main press Centre a few days ago. “In diving, table tennis, badminton, we should make a clean sweep,” he had said. The bronze medal for the women’s badminton is still to be decided and it is not beyond world no. 5 Saina to beat Li Xuerie, her opponent in the play-off and ranked no. 4 in the world. But you get the point. China’s dominating in certain events has not become so pronounced and for so long that it has become a cliché in sports. Only very rarely does a player from another country get to the number 1 spot— or top medals— in these disciplines. The secret of this success, according to the Chinese journalist – is in spotting and developing excellence from a massive base of players. Reuters The secret of this success, according to the Chinese journalist – is in spotting and developing excellence from a massive base of players. The Chinese too have a pyramidical system for sports, but they have spread the dragnet for capturing talent further and wider than in any other country. They use the hub and spoke model through which talent is spotted in the remotest districts, then fed through a pipeline into sports academies in major cities, and from there on to a pool of elite athletes who are trained to excel at major international events. I suppose in some way or the other all countries follow such processes, except that the Chinese have done this with a vigour and diligence. Some argue that this is done dictatorially— that has seen them assume dominant position in sports over the past decade. Beginning with ‘ping-pong’ and badminton in the 1980s when they emerged from self-imposed exile from participating in international sports events, the Chinese have expanded their expertise to include diving, swimming and gymnastics. Though track and field and the swimming pool is still ruled by the Americans, it seems a cinch that by the 2020 Olympics, the Chinese would be nudging them for top honours in these disciplines too.

1. India’s olympics story
chasing glory, falling short

2. a disappointing performance
India falls short of commitment, discipline and ambition 04
Indian Olympic team is an outperformer 06
Madhura incident: Why don’t our officials fret over results instead 08
Is India too old for the Olympics? 10
How Abhinav Bindra wins by losing 12
India's Best:
Vijay Kumar
Silver medal,
25m rapid fire pistol
Vijay Kumar was ready for the Olympics and he knew it 16
Olympics: Vijay bags India’s second medal in London 18
Vijay promised me a medal, says father 19
Gagan Narang
Bronze medal,
10m air rifle
My mom wasn’t happy with bronze, she wanted me to win gold: Narang 21
Gagan Narang’s spoils of victory 24
Olympics: Gagan Narang wins 10m Air Rifle bronze 25
Saina Nehwal
Bronze medal,
Women’s Singles, badminton
Why Saina’s Olympic triumph is just the beginning 27
London 2012: Saina’s moment but it’s time to salute Gopichand 30
Gopichand’s belief: Want a champion, forget democracy 32
How Saina overcame her shortcomings to win an Olympic medal 34
Mary Kom
Bronze medal,
Women’s boxing (51kg)
Educating Indians: There’s something about Mary Kom 37
Olympics: It’s finally Mary Kom’s day to shine 40
Emotional win for me as it is my twins’ birthday: Mary Kom 41
Of Mary Kom, Manipur, Olympics and curiosity 43
India (hearts) Mary Kom. But do we deserve her? 44

3. a disappointing performance

4. India falls short of commitment,
discipline and ambition
Ayaz Memon is in London giving us updates from
the Olympics. Keep checking here for more. In his
latest post, he talks about how China hone their
Olympic champions.
Ayaz Memon, Aug 3, 2012
W
atching world no. 1 Yihang Wang to beat Li Xuerie, her opponent in the play-off
tame Saina Nehwal easily in the and ranked no. 4 in the world. But you get the
semi-final, 21-13, 21-13 on Friday point.
morning, I remembered my conversation with
a chinese journalist in the Main press Centre a China’s dominating in certain events has not be-
few days ago. come so pronounced and for so long that it has
become a cliché in sports. Only very rarely does
“In diving, table tennis, badminton, we should a player from another country get to the number
make a clean sweep,” he had said. The bronze 1 spot— or top medals— in these disciplines.
medal for the women’s badminton is still to be
decided and it is not beyond world no. 5 Saina The secret of this success, according to the

5. Chinese journalist – is in spotting and develop- “The strategy is to produce champions in big
ing excellence from a massive base of players. numbers,” says the Chinese journalist. “At any
Reuters given point in time, there will be three or four
players in TT, badminton, diving etc who must
The secret of this success, according to the be capable of winning a gold medal.”
Chinese journalist – is in spotting and develop-
ing excellence from a massive base of players. The strategy may seem simple. But it is the
The Chinese too have a pyramidical system for implantation that is the crux. It requires com-
sports, but they have spread the dragnet for mitment, discipline and ambition – not just of
capturing talent further and wider than in any athletes, but the entire country. This is some-
other country. thing where India falls terribly short.
They use the hub and spoke model through But that story for another day.
which talent is spotted in the remotest districts,
then fed through a pipeline into sports acad- ****** ****** ******
emies in major cities, and from there on to a India’s hopes of making it to the semif-finals in
pool of elite athletes who are trained to excel at hockey were dashed by Germany in emphatic
major international events. fashion.
I suppose in some way or the other all countries Not that these hopes had much basis in real-
follow such processes, except that the Chinese ity: after losing to Netherlands and even New
have done this with a vigour and diligence. Zealand, chances of finishing in the top six too
Some argue that this is done dictatorially— that seemed remote. But after the rout by Germany,
has seen them assume dominant position in India are now in danger of finishing 10 or be-
sports over the past decade. low.
Beginning with ‘ping-pong’ and badminton in This would be a major blow to coach Michael
the 1980s when they emerged from self-im- Nobbs, who has been talking of reviving Indian
posed exile from participating in international hockey within a reasonable time frame. Nobbs
sports events, the Chinese have expanded their did well in ensuring that India qualified for the
expertise to include diving, swimming and gym- Olympics, but a very low position here would
nastics. mean that it’s virtually back to square one.
Though track and field and the swimming pool The coach himself has looked and talked somb-
is still ruled by the Americans, it seems a cinch er. “I don’t know if I am getting through to the
that by the 2020 Olympics, the Chinese would players about tactics and whatever else,” he
be nudging them for top honours in these disci- mused after the defeat against New Zealand.
plines too.
That sounds foreboding.

6. Indian Olympic team is
an outperformer
Strange, but true. As things stand this morning, India
is one of the most efficient teams at the London 2012
Olympics when the performance is viewed as a ratio
of medals won to the contingent size. Read how.
Anant Rangaswami, Jul 31, 2012
S
trange, but true. As things stand this The BBC exercise is interesting as it could well
morning, India is one of the most effi- be used as a measure of the efficiency of those
cient teams at the London 2012 Olympics involved in the selection of national contingents
when the performance is viewed as a ratio of for the Olympic Games. If the selection process-
medals won to the contingent size. es are fair and professional and unaffected by
politics and personal biases, the ratio of medals:
athletes is likely to reflect that.
So far, North Korea seems, clearly, to have got
their team selection correct. With their team
being only 56 strong, another couple of medals
will see the dictatorship move to an unassailable
medal to participant ratio. For Japan, for ex-
ample, to outdo North Korea, they will have to
almost match their 2008 performance and win
22 medals.
But with another medal North Korea will see
the ratio move to 9 percent. For Japan to beat
that, they will have to outdo 2008 and win at
North Korea, with four medals so far, has a least 27 medals.
contingent size of 56, making it 7 percent, the
super-outperformer of the Games. China is the China, with 396 athletes and USA, with 530
next most efficient, with 24 medals won by their athletes, though, will top this table as well. In
389 strong Olympic team, a medal winning rate 2008, China won 100 medals and the USA 110.
of 6 percent. Japan, with 17 medals won by their If the squads were similar in size in 2008, China
303 participants, is also at 6 percent. would have had an efficiency of more than 25
percent and the USA would have been just over
The Indian 84-member team, with the win 20 percent.
by Gagan Narang, is already at a little over 1
percent. A couple of more medals (we won 3 But India might just make it to the top ten if we
in 2008) will see this ratio fly to 3.7 percent — win four medals — it would take us to 5 percent,
and, incredibly, India could emerge as one of just a tad below Japan’s current ratio.
the best performing contingents at the London
2012 when seen by this prism. Useless stats, maybe, but they make India look
good.
Details of this, and other fascinating trivia, can
be read at BBC.com.

7. Why Indians are unrealistic
in expecting medals at Olympics
What’s needed for us to excel at the Olympics is some serious
equality in interest levels shown not just by the general
public and the media but also the sporting federations.
Shashreek Roy, Aug 2, 2012
T
he London Olympics, much like the the way things function. Interest levels for most
ones in the past, has caught on with sports other than cricket, in India, is almost ob-
much fervour in India and has left the solete, and waning interest will always generate
general public in awe of its neighbouring na- woeful results.
tion. Sadly, it has also left a large portion of the
general public in a state of dismay over the lack In India, there’s this bizarre concept of “cricket
of medals in India’s tally. The real issue here is is hogging all the limelight so it must be ig-
not that of India’s inability to rake in the med- nored for the other sports to be able to thrive.”
als, but the fact that spectators and viewers tune Hang on, the United States of America does not
in just once in four years and expect the Indian ignore the NBA, NFL and its baseball league
contingent to produce a bunch of rather unreal- in order to win all those medals at the Olym-
istic results. What happens in the period before pics. Football is the biggest sport in the United
and after the Olympics, simply disappears into Kingdom, but they do not shun it away to win a
oblivion. gold medal in rowing. Countries do not neglect
one sport in order to succeed in another, they
simply collectively thrive on the success of each
sport. There’s no reason to banish cricket, but
what’s needed is some serious equality in inter-
est levels shown not just by the general public
and the media but also the sporting federations.
Perhaps it is time that other sporting bodies are
subject to the same amount of pressure that the
BCCI undergoes from the general public.
For now, India’s public needs to be patient and
realistic. There needs to be a clear understand-
ing of what India can achieve at its current posi-
tion and there has to be some sense of apprecia-
For starters, there’s always a comparison drawn tion for those achievements. As an example it is
between the Chinese way of administrating important to laud Gagan Narang for that bronze
sports and the Indian method. A lot of muck is medal, rather than whine about him missing
generally hurled at the current Indian system, out on the gold. The answer to Narang bagging
but this is done only when India’s sporting bronze and Abhinav Bindra not making it past
contingent either don’t qualify for the Olympics the qualifications, is encapsulated in the four
or don’t manage to bag medals. Sure enough years prior to the event. That time span unfor-
the current systems in place aren’t the best and tunately probably went completely unnoticed.
it’s about time that they improve, but for that
to happen there needs to be constant interest India still has a decent amount of fire power
in those sports. If people don’t bother about the at the Olympics and it may well bring in some
scenario of sports in India for more than a span more medals through badminton, tennis and
of just 17 days, then the men running the sport boxing. What’s important though, is that people
are never don’t forget that these sports still exist after the
going to be under any sort of pressure to change closing ceremony.

8. Madhura incident: Why don’t our
officials fret over results instead
If there is one thing Indian officials are good at, it is
being officious and expressing outrage over faux
controversies. Why don’t our officials lose sleep
over our poor performance instead?
Tariq Engineer, Aug 1, 2012
I
f a tree falls in a forest and there is no was out of the ordinary.
there to hear it, does it still make a noise?
If an unknown woman walks alongside the Unfortunately, if there is one thing Indian
Indian contingent during the Olympic opening officials are good at, it is being officious and
ceremony and nobody complains, would anyone expressing outrage over faux controversies. Act-
have noticed? ing Chef-de-Mission Brig PK Muralidharan Raja
was quick to make it clear that a terrible dishon-
I watched the opening ceremony and have no our had somehow been perpetrated. “She had
recollection of Madhura Honey aka the mystery no business to walk with the Indian contingent
woman. My attention was drawn first to Sushil and we are taking up the issue with the organ-
Kumar holding the Indian flag and then to the isers,” Raja said on Saturday. “We don’t know
rest of the athletes. She never entered my con- who she is and why she was allowed to walk in.
sciousness. And even if she had, there would It is a shame that she was with the athletes in
still have been no reason to suspect anything the march past.”

9. The real shame is that Raja’s response resulted one Olympic record. In contrast, India’s lone
in attention being drawn away from those same swimmer, Gagan AP Ulalmath, is only part of
athletes and exemplifies all that is wrong with the competition because of FINA’s universality
the attitude of Indian officials: appearances quota: a country that would otherwise be un-
are everything; results are nothing. There have represented at the Olympics can enter one male
been years when the Indian contingent was and one female swimmer, with the condition
made up of more officials than athletes, but that that the swimmers should have taken part in the
never seemed to bother anyone. Neither did last World Championships.
India’s lack of results. When Leander Paes won
a bronze medal in the 1996 Olympics, it was The 20-year-old Ulalmath competed in the
the end of a 44-year individual medal drought. 800m freestyle at the 2011 World Champion-
Where was the outrage then? ships in Shanghai, but will take part in 1500m
freestyle in London. Essentially, and this is not
And where is the outrage now over India’s poor meant to disrespect Gagan, his is a token pres-
start to the Games? The anticipation and expec- cence. Yet our officials feel no shame over this
tation for London have been unprecedented in state of affairs. It is just business as usual. As if
the sub-continent. Much ink has been spilled on that isn’t bad enough, the Indian Olympic Asso-
how 2012 could end with India’s best ever med- ciation is yet to formally remove Suresh Kal-
al haul. While that may still turn out to be true, madi as it president, despite Kalmadi’s arrest on
four days in, India have only Gagan Narang’s charges of fraud related to the Commonwealth
shooting bronze to show for its efforts. Yet more Games. Apparently that does not bring dishon-
time and effort has been spent on unravelling our to Indian sport.
the mystery of Honey than on analysing the
performances of our athletes. Meanwhile China The London Organising Committee of the
already has 23 medals (including 13 gold) tied Olympic and Paralympic Games, or LOCOG as
for first with the United States. its commonly known, apologised to the Indian
contingent yesterday for Honey’s presence. The
Two of those golds have come courtesy of more important question is when are those
China’s 16-year old swimming wunderkind, responsible for running Indian sports going to
Ye Shiwen, who has set one world record and apologise for the way they have mismanaged it?

10. Is India too old for
the Olympics?
For India to win regularly at the Olympics, we
need to go back into time and learn a few lessons
from Abhimanyu. The others are doing it,
so why can’t we?
Ashish Magotra, Jul 31, 2012
A
s children, we’ve all heard the tale of complete his explanation.
Arjun’s son Abhimanyu – from the Ma-
habharata. But still it was an early beginning. And we are
noticing at the London 2012 Olympics that an
The most fascinating part of the story was the early beginning helps. Last night, Lithuanian
part which described how Abhimanyu’s edu- teenager, just 15 years old, Ruta Meilutyte stole
cation began while he was still in Subhadra’s the pool headlines as she won her country’s first
womb. He overhead Arjuna telling Subhadra Olympic swimming gold in the women’s 100
the secrets of how to enter, exit, and destroy metres breaststroke.
various battle formations. Of these, it is of note,
that he only heard how to enter (but not exit or She wasn’t the only teenager making waves in
destroy) the secret of the Chakravyuh formation the pool. Missy Franklin, of the US, is just 17
as Subhadra fell asleep and thus Arjuna didn’t and she won the 100-meter backstroke. China’s

11. Ye Shinwen is just 16 and she is already setting - Leander Paes turned professional in 1991 – at
the pool on fire and has broken a world record the age of 18. Before that he won the Junior US
already. Sun Yang, 19, became the first Chinese Open and the Junior Wimbledon title.
male swimmer to earn gold as he won the 400m - At 15, Abhinav Bindra became the youngest
freestyle with an Olympic record. participant in the 1998 Commonwealth Games.
Some might say, that it is in just the swimming At 15, Meilutyte is winning gold medals while
events. But have a look at the weightlifting most Indians are just thinking about passing
events. China’s Wang Mingjuan extended a 10- 10th standard – including those who are talent-
year unbeaten international record to win gold ed in sports and are competing at the national
in the first women’s weightlifting event of the level. And by the time, we become any good we
London Summer Olympics, giving the Chinese are 25-plus giving us a very short window in
team a perfect start at the Games. which we have to succeed.
Mingjuan is 26 now. Her unbeaten run started But to succeed at the highest level, to match
when she was 16. Incredible isn’t it? China or the US or any other major medal-
winning country – the mindset needs to change.
Tom Daley, one of Britain’s biggest Olympic We complain about the infrastructure and the
stars, was the 2009 FINA World Champion in lack of it but how many parents are prepared to
the individual diving event at the age of 15. back their child’s athletic talent? India’s failure
to win a ton of medals is as much the fault of the
The runners begin early too. Usain Bolt won a parents as it is of the athletes.
200 m gold medal at the 2002 World Junior
Championships, making him the competition’s All those stories of Indians maturing late is
youngest-ever gold medalist at the time. He also nonsense. The list of athletes above have shown
competed in the 2004 Olympics at the age of 18. us that. And if you look at cricket – the likes
of Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli have also
The list really is endless. The whole point of this shown the world what ‘young’ Indians can do.
argument is simple. You just have to start early. So let’s not go down this rule.
And Indians don’t do that often enough.
On paper, India may have the youngest popula-
India’s best bets at the Olympics are Saina tion of the world’s biggest countries but does
Nehwal, Deepika Kumari, Sania Mirza-Leander that reflect in the way we play sport? It does in
Paes, Mary Kom, Vijender Singh, Abhinav cricket and hence, we do decently at it. But with
Bindra – and the one common thread that other sports, most of the time – Indians are
runs through all of them is that they all started trying to find the right balance between success
young. and failure. The question on the minds of most
of the athletes is this: What will I do if I fail?
- By the time, Saina was 13, she was beating
players who were 23-24. So because you want something to fall back on,
- Deepika Kumari won the 11th Youth World you put your dreams on hold. You deviate and
archery Championship held in Ogden, USA in that deviation often means that you never quite
2009, at an age of 15 years. She also won a gold get back onto the right path. A few persist and
medal in the same competition in the women’s they do well but they will always remain the
team recurve event along with Dola Banerjee exception and not the rule.
and Bombayala Devi.
- Sania Mirza made her debut in April 2001 on For India to win regularly at the Olympics, we
the ITF Circuit as a 15-year-old. need to go back into time and learn a few les-
- Mary Kom, by the age of 18, had won a silver sons from Abhimanyu. The others are doing it,
in her first AIBA World Women’s Boxing Cham- so why can’t we?
pionship in Scranton, USA.
- Vijender Singh, 27, has already competed in
three Olympics.

12. How Abhinav Bindra
wins by losing
Abhinav Bindra won’t get another Olympics medal in
London this time. But he deserves a medal from all of us
for showing us how to lose with grace. We need to learn
that more than we need to learn about winning.
Sandip Roy, Jul 31, 2012
S
ometimes you can win by losing. thing from Abhinav Bindra about how not to be
a sore loser.
The nation, led by Pranab Mukherjee, is
congratulating Gagan Narang for picking up the The hullabaloo of over-excited Indian fans was a
first medal for India at the Olympics game and big distraction for the defending champion. But
deservedly so. he didn’t blame anyone. “This was not my day,”
he said simply. “I started slowly and that was a
But let’s take a moment to congratulate Abhinav lot of pressure. It was a highly competitive field,
Bindra. my performances went up and down.”
After winning a gold in Beijing, India’s 10 m Air That doesn’t mean Bindra does not have the fire
Rifle sharpshooter didn’t even qualify for the to win or feel the sting of losing keenly.
finals this time around.
In an earlier interview with The Telegraph he
But in a country hungry for medals, in a nation had said, “Nobody wants to fail, yet it happens.
obsessed with winning, we can all learn some- That’s life.”

13. At that time, London had not happened. So one But one Abhinav Bindra victory pumps us up to
could say it was easy for him to wax philosophi- the other extreme so that even before this Olym-
cal. But in his defeat he showed he truly believes pic team set out for London, confident pundits
that losing is also part of the game. “Time was in India were predicting this would be India’s
running out and I had to take some risks,” he biggest medal haul yet as if one boxer and one
said simply. “You need a little luck for some shooter had discovered the secret key to un-
shots and unfortunately I didn’t get it.” ending victory. One victory just whets the ap-
petite for more and more, making us even more
It’s not a lesson that comes easy to us. Our unforgiving of loss. When the Indian cricket
24×7 media culture is all about the winner takes team floundered against Australia this year,
it all, the loser standing small. Ad deals, red the World Cup win less than a year before was
carpets, flash bulbs, Page 3 gossip — winning is no consolation. Headlines screamed “Humili-
heady business. But it makes losing all the more ation” and “Smashed to Pulp” and angry fans
lonely these days. It’s like going cold turkey presented them with bangles. We were happy
after the high. to shower endorsements on Dhoni and his men
and lionise them after that World Cup victory,
The loser “becomes invisible” said artist Sarnath only to turn around and accuse them of having
Banerjee who did a series of billboards celebrat- gone “soft” because of all that attention.
ing losers for the London Olympics — the pole
vaulter who wonders mid-air if he has chosen We are merciless towards the loser and happy
the wrong sport or the badminton player who to quickly designate yesterday’s winner today’s
finds his real vocation in a cholesterol clinic in loser whether it’s Anna Hazare or Shah Rukh
South Bombay. Khan or Akhilesh Yadav. On the lighter side,
one of Sarnath Banerjee’s cartoons is about how
Banerjee said there is something called a “los- the memory of a missed bronze can bring about
er’s spirit” not to be confused with someone a bad mood even after twenty years. On a bleak-
who is just used to losing all the time and has er note, after every school leaving examination
no spirit at all. “It is perhaps more humane than we read about youngsters who commit suicide
the winner’s spirit and definitely not as vulgar because they failed or even worse they didn’t do
as the ‘killer instinct’. It needs sophistication — as well as they had hoped. Recently there was a
and sophistication is fragile,” Banerjee told The media story about one young man in Calcutta
Times of India. who logged into his best friend’s email account
and rejected various Ph.D offers his friend had
In India, these days, we are a nation in desper- received from foreign universities because he
ate search for the killer instinct. We buy shrink- was jealous of his success. “A combination of
wrapped books to learn it and go to seminars two strong feelings — an intense sense of inse-
headed by pony-tailed management gurus to curity and jealousy — could prompt someone
imbibe it. We once pushed, pushed and then to indulge in such an act,” psychiatrist Randip
pushed our children some more to get into IIT Ghosh Roy told the media.
or med school. Now our horizons are bigger and
our ambitions are bigger as well. We don’t know how to cope with losing because
we are obsessed with winning.
“It’s a good achievement,” said bronze medal-
ist Gagan Narang’s father after his son’s win. “People look at things from the point of view of
“Although we expected a gold.” Narang has two a win and loss… But overall sports is a different
more chances for a gold, and his father said story,” Bindra said.
when his son called from London he would
“congratulate him and tell him to do well in the And Bindra showed us that he is a sportsman
next two events.” first, before he is a winner. And that’s a lesson
we would all do well to learn because you don’t
But in the gold rush we forget that for years we have to play sports to be a sportsman.
didn’t win anything. We’d become a nation used
to being a laughing stock of the sporting world.

14. India's Best:

15. Vijay Kumar
Silver medal,
25m rapid fire pistol

16. Vijay Kumar was ready for
the Olympics and he knew it
As soon as he grabs his pistol, the soft-spoken,
mellow and mysterious aura is gone. Cut to the army
subedar looking ominously at his targets before
smashing them in a consistent fashion.
Pulasta Dhar, Aug 3, 2012
F
or someone who is a double gold medal- he was one who gave the little details impor-
list at the Commonwealth Games 2006, tance. A friendly chat is always a pleasure for
a bronze medallist at the Asian Games any journalist. Not only was he unfazed with
2006, runner-up at the Asian Championships in all the glaring lights and cameras, but with
2007, silver medallist at the 2009 ISSF World that small gesture I was suddenly speaking to a
Cup and an Arjuna Award recipient, Vijay Ku- friend, not a future Olympic medallist. It made
mar comes across as the most chilled out and me forget the lights, my slight inexperience and
down-to-earth person. the constantly barging in by the TV mics.
The moment he had his hand wrapped around But as soon as he grabs his pistol, the soft-spo-
my shoulder while speaking to me at an Olym- ken, mellow and mysterious aura is gone. Cut
pic Gold Quest press conference, I realised that to the army subedar looking ominously at his

17. “Vijay is joint 1st
targets before smashing them in a consistent fashion.
after first series”
“I understand expectation on shooters is always high,” he
said, “but we are mentally well prepared for the Olympics.”
“Vijay Kumar is in joint
And that is what won him a silver medal at the highest stage.
Vijay Kumar kept his nerve when the Chinese shooters and
Germany’s Christian Reitz were knocked out in a close final of
the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol in London.
first with 5 points after
Actually, he had guessed that Russia and Germany will be the the first round. Alexei
toughest opponents, and thankfully, both of them lost out.
He may have been wrong there, but shooting is all about what Klimov, the world record
sort of day you have… and Kumar had an amazing one.
holder, also shot 5. There
One thing which stood out during the interview was the fre-
quency of him talking about ‘mental strength’. are a total of 8 rounds.”
“I am concentrating more on mental strength in respect to the
new format. We don’t just keep shooting all day, but we need “Vijay is joint 2nd
after five series ”
to do a lot of yoga and other concentration exercises to keep
going.”
He also spoke about how surroundings matter for a shooter.
“The correct atmosphere is vital for a shooter to develop. Be-
ing in the army has helped me a lot.”
“Ding missed one. Pupo
missed one as well. Vijay
Kumar, who is 27-years-old, held a gun in his hands for the
first time in 2003 i.e. when he was an 18-year-old. missed one as well. He is
Given that, he has ‘rapidly’ (pun intended) developed into a still in silver medal posi-
fine shooter and has accomplished what every Indian athlete
dreams of: an Olympic medal.
tion. Pupo 22 points. Ding
and Vijay are 20 points.
He probably spoke the least among all athletes present there,
and has — for now, achieved the most. Zhang Jian eliminated –
he had 17 points.”
“Vijay gets the silver”
“Pupo gets the gold – equalled the finals world record. Vijay
Kumar gets the silver… he hit just two in the final round but
he has the silver. That’s India’s second medal of the games.
Pupo ended up with 34 and Vijay shot 28. Super, super stuff.”

18. Olympics: Vijay bags India’s
second medal in London
Army marksman Vijay Kumar gave India the second
medal from the Royal Artillery Barracks winning the
silver in the men’s 25 metre rapid fire pistol.
FP Staff, Aug 3, 2012
A
rmy marksman Vijay Kumar gave India Russia’s Alexei Klimov had set a new world
the second medal from the Royal Artil- record of 592 in qualifying, but struggled in the
lery Barracks winning the silver in the final after two low-scoring rounds early on, and
men’s 25 metre rapid fire pistol event of the eventually finished fourth after failing to make
2012 London Olympics here Friday. it into the final two medal rounds.
Leuris Pupo kept his cool to win Cuba’s first India’s rifle shooter Gagan Narang had won the
gold of the Olympics. Pupo scored 34 to edge bronze medal in the men’s 10 metre air rifle
out India’s Vijay Kumar, who took silver with event here Monday.
30.
Vijay is also the second Indian after double trap
China’s Ding Feng won bronze after being edged shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore to win an
out by Kumar by one point in the final elimina- Olympic silver medal. Rathore won the maiden
tion round at the Royal Artillery Barracks. Olympic silver for India in 2004 Athens.

19. Vijay promised me
a medal, says father
Army marksman Vijay Kumar gave India the second
medal from the Royal Artillery Barracks winning the
silver in the men’s 25 metre rapid fire pistol.
FP Staff, Aug 3, 2012
F
ather of India’s Olympic silver medallist Serving as a Subedar in the Indian army, Vijay
Vijay Kumar said his son had promised took up shooting in 2001 and his father said he
him a medal before he went into the fi- never expected his son to reach such heights.
nals of the 25-metre rapid fire pistol event at the
London Games here Friday. “I never thought he would reach this level. My
happiness has no bounds,” he said.
Himachal Pradesh chief minister Prem Kumar
Dhumal also announced a reward of Rs.1 crore
for the shooter minutes after his podium finish.
Joydeep Karmakar, who himself came tantalis-
ingly close to a podium finish before settling for
fourth place in the men’s 50 metres rifle prone,
said their show in London proved the great po-
tential India had in the sport.
“This is a proud moment for our shooters. He
has proved that India has a great talented bunch
of shooters,” said Joydeep, who is also a good
Cuban Leuris Pupo kept his cool to win his friend of Vijay.
country’s first gold of the Olympics. Pupo shot
34 to edge out India’s Vijay Kumar, who took India’s rifle shooter Gagan Narang won the
silver with 30. bronze medal in the men’s 10 metre air rifle
event here Monday.
“I spoke to him before the finals and he sounded
calm. He told me he will get a medal today. He Vijay is also the second Indian after double trap
was not sure which one but he said he will get shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore to win an
one for sure,” said Vijay’s father. Olympic silver medal. Rathore won the maiden
Olympic silver for India in the 2004 Athens.
“His hard work has finally paid off. I was certain
he would get a medal.”

20. Gagan Narang
Bronze medal,
10m air rifle

21. My mom wasn’t happy with bronze,
she wanted me to win gold: Narang
Reliving his experience during his medal-winning
endeavour, Narang said, “I felt a tad bit nervous. Hence,
I started half an hour late. My coach made me play a
‘secret’ game on his iPad. I stepped back from my mark,
relaxed, and checked everything before shooting again.”
PTI, Aug 8, 2012
P
une: London Olympics bronze medal- Olympian Rahi Sarnobat and her parents were
list Gagan Narang today said that sports also felicitated on the occasion.
should be made a part of school curricu-
lum and asked others states to take a leaf out Praising the two governments for promoting
of Maharashtra and Haryana’s books as far as sports, Narang said that Haryana and Mahar-
promoting sport was concerned. ashtra were an example to the other states and
they should also imitate their efforts and de-
“Sport is an important part of the development velop infrastructure.
of kids and hence, it should be made a part of
their curriculum,” Narang said at a felicitation Heaping praise on the national coaches and rifle
ceremony here after arriving from London. coach Stanislas Lapidus, he said that it would
Narang was felicitated at the ‘Gun for Glory’ not have been possible for him to win the medal
academy by Maharashtra Sports and Youth without their support.
Welfare Minister Padmakar Valvi.
The former world champion said that it was

22. “Narang begins
possible for India to take long strides in shooting provided
the youngsters are given proper guidance and get continuous
with a 10.7”
support from the government.
Narang’s parents were also felicitated on the occasion.
“After one shot,
Narang said that his mother was not happy with his bronze
medal. “She wanted me to win the gold medal. I hope to fulfill
her wish in the future.”
Narang wants Mary Kom to add to India’s haul with the gold Narang is in second
place with 608.7. Only
medal now. “I met her in London and she sounded very confi-
dent. I hope that she brings the yellow medal for all of us.”
Reliving his experience during his medal-winning endeavour,
behind MOLDOVEANU
he said, “I felt a tad bit nervous. Hence, I started half an hour
late. My coach made me play a ‘secret’ game on his iPad. I
Alin George. He shot a
stepped back from my mark, relaxed, and checked everything 10.7.”
before shooting again.
“I was really pleased at having qualified for the finals. A huge
“Narang shoots
weight off my shoulders. In the finals, I was lucky enough to
hold my nerves and shoot 10.7 in the last shot when I needed
10.2 to win the bronze medal.
Thanking the government of India for having spent consid- a 10.6 with
third shot”
erably on the shooters, the champion said, “Shooting is an
expensive game. Not everyone can afford it. With the active
involvement of the government we can produce more medal
winners.
Praising India’s performance in the ongoing Olympics, he
said that there is no reason why the country can’t become a
sporting powerhouse.
“Narang in third
place now. He has 629
“It is a gradual process. Sporting culture is needed where
marks are given to students for sports in schools, jobs are points. MOLDOVEANU
assured for sportsperson and sponsors are willing to support
them through rough times. Alin George is in first
“We have picked momentum and are moving in the right di-
place with 629.9.”
rection. It began with RVS Rathore’s silver in Athens, Bind-
ra’s gold and two bronze in Beijing and four medals here. It is
“Tenth shot,
an encouraging sign.”
He felt that the medals should inspire the athletes and they
should strive to achieve better results in the future.
Commenting on the impact of sports, he said: “One thing that
takes the country forward without war is sports.”
10.7, Bronze
Narang was given a rousing welcome on arrival here.
medal”

23. “Wow. India finally have a medal. It took a bit. Can we some-
how get a gold at London 2012? This is a good start. Our
shooters have set the ball rolling. We are proud of you
Gagan.”
Watch Video

24. Gagan Narang’s spoils of victory
FP Staff, Jul 31, 2012
S
hooter Gagan Narang provided the spark Even though Narang does not belong to Har-
to India’s Olympic campaign by clinching yana, he has been given the reward under the
the bronze medal in the Men’s 10m air category of sportspersons from the state as his
rifle event on Monday. family roots are from the northern state.
By giving the country its first medal in the cur- Ajay Maken offers him top job
rent Olympics, 29-year-old Narang lived upto
expectations to claim the bronze, the third Sports Minister Ajay Maken announced that the
shooting medal in India’s Olympic history. ace marksman will be offered a job as a Group
A employee in the Sports Authority of India,
As soon as the news broke, Narang was reward- which is equivalent to an IAS officer.
ed by state governements and the sports minis-
ter. Surely more rewards will follow. “Had it not been for one shot, Gagan could
have won the gold as well. All these Olympians
Here are the rewards that Narang has won: whether they win a medal or not would be pro-
vided an officer grade job with the SAI.
“A medal winner will straight away be promoted
as Group A employee which is an IAS officer
rank. So Gagan can be an IAS officer,” Maken
told reporters outside the Royal Artillery Bar-
racks where Narang opened India’s account in
the medals tally.
Sahara India to give 2 kg of gold
Corporate major, Sahara India will give Narang
2 kg of gold.
Sahara has announced to reward the Indian
Andhra Pradesh government rewards athletes with gold, who will manage to clinch a
him Rs 50 lakh. medal at the London Olympics. Sahara will be
awarding a 5 kg medal of gold to athletes win-
Andhra Pradesh government today announced ning gold medals, 3 kg to silver medallists and 2
a Rs 50 lakh cash incentive to the Indian shoot- kg to bronze medallists each.
er. The state government had so far given cash
incentives to the tune of Rs 1 crore and 91.5
lakh to Narang for winning medals in various
international sporting events like Asian Games
(2010), Commonwealth Games (2010) etc, a
release from the Chief Minister’s Office said.
Haryana Government gives him Rs 1
crore
The Haryana government Monday announced a
reward of Rs 1 crore for Narang.

25. Olympics: Gagan Narang
wins 10m Air Rifle bronze
FP Staff, Jul 30, 2012
G
agan Narang has provided India its first However, he slipped a bit and had to fight for
medal of the 2012 London Olympics, the bronze medal with China’s Wang Tao who
winning the bronze medal in the 10m finished fourth with 700.4. After returning poor
Air Rifle event. scores of 9.9 and 9.5 in the seventh and eighth
attempts, Narang pulled up his socks to seal the
Narang shot 103.1 in a gripping ten-shot finals bronze with impressive scores of 10.3 and 10.7.
for an aggregate of 701.1 after scoring 598 in the
qualifying round in which also he stood third. Earlier, Bindra, India’s shooting gold medallist
Alin George Moldoveanu of Romania won the in 2008, failed to make it past the qualifying
gold, while Niccolo Campriani of Italy came up event for the title he won in Beijing four years
with a silver. Moldoveanu shot the same score ago. He shot a round of 594 in the qualifiers,
as Narang – 103.1 – but came first by virtue getting three nines in the sixth and final round
of finishing first in the qualifying round at the which ruined his chances of qualifying.
Royal Artillery Barracks.
He has struggled to confirm his supremacy over
After a good start when he shot 10.7, Narang the past couple years, even slipping to 20th in
was off target with his second shot that fetched the world rankings, but there widespread expec-
him 9.7. But he gathered his wits and steadied tations that Bindra would defend the time he
his aim to collect 10.6, 10.7, 10.4 and 10.6 in the won on August 11, 2008.
following four shots to at one stage remain on
course for bagging even a silver.

26. Saina Nehwal
Bronze medal,
Women’s Singles, badminton

27. Why Saina’s Olympic triumph
is just the beginning
Saina is good enough to go for another eight years
especially and has age on her side. Which means two
more Olympics, two more Asian Games, and many
All Englands and world championships.
TS Sudhir, Aug 7, 2012
“T
his medal is yours, Papa.” shuttler for the first time had made a mark.
Also because in a country that worships only
“Thank you beta.” cricket as religion, it is important to acknowl-
edge players who are defining a new faith. At
Those five words from Olympics 2012 bronze Hyderabad airport, students from the Pullela
medallist in badminton women’s singles Saina Gopichand Badminton Academy rubbed shoul-
Nehwal to her father Dr Harvir Singh, marked ders with Harvir’s scientist colleagues from the
the realisation of a dream that Saina’s parents Directorate of Oilseeds Research. And Saina,
had seen 13 years ago. To see their daughter on her coach Pullela Gopichand and fellow shut-
the podium at the Olympic Games. tler P Kashyap were taken into the academy in a
decorated horse carriage.
Saina’s return home was loud, exuberant and
enthusiastic. It deserved to be as well, for in The Hyderabad skyline was dotted with hoard-
a sport dominated by the Chinese, an Indian ings welcoming the champion. One of them

28. “The first point has
from the noodles brand, that Saina endorses, congratulating
her for the masaledaarperformance at the Olympics.
“I was a normal girl, today I am a champion. I always wanted gone to Saina, she
to be an Olympic champion. I am proud of myself, that I did
what I said. When I was standing on the podium, I started will hope to make the
most of a good begin-
weeping thinking of all the years of hard work that Gopi sir
and I put in,” Saina said.
What this medal will do is to inspire a whole lot of youngsters
ning. China chose all
who will seriously look at badminton as a career option. Like
G Ruthvika Shivani, who was admitted to the Gopichand
it’s players because
Academy on the day the team left for London. Ruthvika, they had a good record
from the Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh, is already
the under-15 National champion in singles and doubles and against Saina. This will
be a tough battle for
the doubles under-17 national champion. And the prospect of
rubbing shoulders with Saina excites her to no end.
“I have never met her but now I will get to see how she prac-
her. It’s 2-0 in Saina’s
tises and I hope she will also guide me and give useful tips,”
Ruthvika said.
favour.”
The 15-year-old who started playing badminton at the age of
“Xin injury
break”
seven is clear that she wants to be another Saina Nehwal.
However, Saina insists her life won’t change much even after
the Olympic victory. “I will take a break for 3-4 days and then
“Saina has been giv-
it will be back to business on court,” she says. For “changing
the colour of the medal next time,” is the diktat of her father.
But perhaps the tougher task starts now. One will be to moti-
vate herself for the challenges ahead. The pitfall with almost
ing up easy points. Far
conquering the Mount Everest of tournaments, is that the too many errors, Wa-
player could find the fire in her belly getting extinguished.
Two, in a country starved of role models, the media attention ing Xin has just had
to keep the shuttle in
and publicity could make it very difficult to stay grounded. All
of which could reflect in the performance in the tournaments
to follow.
play and Saina has
The good thing about Saina is that she has a mature head on
her shoulders. She needs to remind herself that she is still a
done the rest. It must
work in progress and there are miles to go before she sleeps. be difficult. But think
Fortunately in her family and Gopi, she has people who will
not let have her head in the clouds. about this… it’s another
Gopi has already revised his expectations from Saina. See- four years before the
ing a player like 33-year-old Tine Baun making it into the
quarters at London, Gopi feels Saina is good enough to go next Olympics. Mean-
for another eight years especially since at 22, she has age on
her side. Which means two more Olympics, two more Asian
while, Xin seems to
Games, and many All Englands and world championships. have injured an ankle.
Gopi’s mother Subbaravamma, who manages the Academy’s It seemed to hurt a lot.”

29. “Saina loses
administration, says her son’s task as coach isn’t over.
“He has to produce many more Sainas. I wish for a day when
first game”
two Indians are playing against each other in the finals of the
Olympics,” she said. And in case you think it is wishful think-
ing, she adds, “This academy is a lucky place. Whatever I have
“It’s 18-21. Saina was
wished for at this place, it has come true.”
Four years ago, Saina’s spirit was broken when she lost in the
quarter-final at the Beijing Olympics and no amount of pep
talk by Gopi could cheer her. Finally Gopi told Saina, on their
down 14-20 and then
return flight to Hyderabad, “Report for practise tomorrow fought back to take
morning at 6.”
4 straight points be-
fore the injury to Xin.
Saina’s reply was unexpected. “Can we start at 7 am instead,
Sir?”
(T S Sudhir is the author of `Saina Nehwal : An Inspiration- But upon resumption,
al Biography’)
Xin hit a superb cross
court smash to clinch
the game.”
“Saina gets bronze, Wang Xin retires”
“Saina gets the bronze. Saina was struggling a bit but Xin re-
tired due to a knee injury. Not the way you’d want to win a medal,
but we’ll take it. India can use all the medals they can win. The
score was 18-21, 0-1 when the Chinese player simply collapsed
on the court. She couldn’t take the pain anymore. A concerned
Saina stood by and watched, before gently walking over to her
opponent and consoling her.”

30. London 2012: Saina’s moment
but it’s time to salute Gopichand
Saina blossomed into a player of international repute
once Gopi took her under his wings and the world-
class infrastructure at his Academy helped. And along
with training her, Gopi also instilled in Saina the
virtue of keeping her feet firmly on the ground.
TS Sudhir, Aug 5, 2012
H
yderabad: One morning at the acad- went up, as his ward Saina Nehwal, bronze me-
emy, in June, after a training session, dalist at the 2012 London Olympics stood with
I asked national coach Pullela Gop- Li Xuerui (gold medallist) and Yihan Wang (sil-
ichand, if he dreams about the Olympics. He ver medallist) on the podium. It also marked the
smiled and said “Yes, I dream. While awake, fulfilling of a promise he had made to himself
consciously. The thought that the Indian flag is at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 when he lost
going high and the medal is coming along.” in the pre-quarters. He had told fellow shuttler
and national champion Aparna Popat then that
Who says dreams do not come true. one day he would coach someone who would
win an Olympic medal.
Gopi’s daydreaming came true at the Wembley
Arena when the Indian and the Chinese flags Who says people do not keep their promise.

31. Saina may not have won the battle against half-smashes, your game is up.
China but the bronze medal is a tribute to the
effort that has gone into creating a hole in the Back home in Hyderabad, Saina’s father found
Great Wall of Chinese badminton. Both Saina company in his tears of joy. An extremely emo-
and Gopi knew they had to get their strategies tional man, he has invested his time, energy,
just right, the fitness perfect and the mind at money and emotions in the younger of his two
peace to have a realistic chance of winning a daughters. If Saina had returned empty-hand-
medal in London. ed, it would have broken the heart of this man
who borrowed money from his Provident Fund
Saina had been plagued with injuries for the to fund Saina’s badminton dream. As it would
better part of 2011. Since the last one year, have mother Usha Rani’s. Both Harvir and Usha
Saina’s diet regimen was strictly regulated. She have been badminton players and Saina herself
ate what Gopi Sir ordered. She was encouraged concedes that but for her mother’s push, en-
to practise yoganidhra to ease off pressure. An- couragement and even slaps, London could not
other person who played a huge role in ensuring have been conquered.
Saina’s fitness is physio Kiran. She lost 5.5 kg in
the first three months of this year, to help her It is also time to compliment the badminton
move faster on court. Her retrievals in London infrastructure in Hyderabad because Saina is
were proof that the strategy had worked. a product of the system. She was first spotted
as a talent at the summer coaching camp in
Perhaps it helped that after the high of 2010 – 1999 and encouraged by successive badminton
the year Saina won five big titles – 2011 saw her coaches. She blossomed into a player of inter-
form and fitness take a dip. Sports experts often national repute once Gopi took her under his
say defeats helps in taking out the arrogance wings and the world-class infrastructure at his
that tends to inadvertently creep into a player Academy helped. And along with training her,
if he or she is winning continuously. And that Gopi also instilled in Saina the virtue of keeping
manifests itself in the player’s temperament, her feet firmly on the ground.
body language and attitude towards others.
Today as India celebrates its first Olympic
Today Saina won hearts by walking up to an medal in badminton, along with Saina, it is also
injured and heartbroken Wang Xin, hugged her time to salute Gopichand, the man who made
and quietly walked out of the court. She knew it possible. His name is never mentioned in
this was not how she wanted to win an Olympic the chorus for the Bharat Ratna. To my mind,
medal. She knew she had a very good chance as someone who both excelled in his sport and
to put it past Wang, who is world number 2 gave back to the game, Gopi is as deserving if
and brilliant on court. But Saina on Saturday not more than Sachin Tendulkar, Dhyan Chand
wasn’t the Saina of Friday against Yihan Wang. and Viswanathan Anand.
Her feet were moving much better and she was
engaging Wang Xin in rallies, the only way to (T S Sudhir is the author of `Saina Nehwal : An
score points against the Chinese. Because the Inspirational Biography’)
moment you let them hit their smashes and

32. Gopichand’s belief: Want
a champion, forget democracy
In order to match the best, Gopichand has adopted
the same philosophy of strict regimentation the
Chinese, Koreans or the Japanese follow.
The results have just started to show.
Abhijeet Kulkarni, Aug 6, 2012
A
few years ago, the trainees of the Pul- sure that the players utilised their rest time only
lela Gopichand academy at Gachibowli to recover from the strenuous training sessions
had the tendency of calling the training and not waste their time and energy indulging
complex a three-star jail since none of the play- themselves in unnecessary activities.
ers were allowed to walk out of the premises for
even a general stroll or shopping without the The Gopichand Academy, which gave India its
permission of the coaches and a gate pass. first Olympic medal when Saina Nehwal won
the bronze in London last week, has now be-
Some of the players even had to surrender their come a cradle for badminton talent in India and
cell phones after the morning training session the man who dreamt of making India a super-
and it was difficult for many to fathom the logic power in world badminton one day, rules it with
of all these rules. Slowly but surely they under- an iron fist.
stood that it was coach Gopichand’s way to en-

33. “If you want to produce champions, there is
no place for democracy,” Gopichand had told Once Saina became a star and the entire nation
the writer way back in 2009. The conversation began following her progress, the most popular
about India’s future in badminton had then wa- ward were given certain liberties but Gopichand
vered towards the 2001 All England champion’s was never willing to compromise on certain
strict control over his wards and Gopichand had issues and that became a bone of contention
responded saying he needs to know everything between the two last year.
that his player does every minute of the day.
But Saina soon understood the importance of
Gopichand has firmly believed the progress of the strict regimentation that Gopichand had
any player depends as much on what he or she prepared for her considering her body’s tenden-
does on the court but also outside the court as cy to quickly gain weight, something that slowed
it can physically and emotionally affects their her down on the court.
overall development.
In the run up to the Olympics, Saina’s public
The Indian Oil employee was very clear in his appearances were restricted and there was a
mind that the Indians were second to none in rationing on even the amount of time she can
skills but lacked the fitness levels to match the spend talking on phone.
best in the world. A fan of the Chinese training
regime which puts tremendous emphasis on The results of the regimentation are for eve-
fitness and agility, Gopichand’s went about the ryone to see. Saina won the country’s maiden
task of building the fitness levels of his players bronze in badminton and her academy mate P
with extensive training and strict diet control. Kashyap became the first Indian male shuttler
to reach the quarterfinals at the Olympics.
“Not one of my trainee will lose a match because
he or she is unfit,” a statement Gopichand today There is a battery of youngsters who have the
makes with pride anytime he is asked about the potential to carry the baton from these two and
players at his academy. have already started showing the spark on the
international stage. P Sindhu is already the
But that was not an easy task. When in Hydera- junior Asian champion, Sameer Verma has been
bad, Gopichand is at the academy at 4.30 in the a finalist in the junior Asian meet and HS Pran-
morning preparing the daily training schedule noy won silver in the inaugural Youth Olympics.
of the 30-odd trainees and explaining his as-
sistant coaches what they are supposed to do In order to match the best, Gopichand has
for the day. The elite shuttlers are put through adopted the same philosophy of strict regimen-
three sessions each day with the physical train- tation the Chinese, Koreans or the Japanese
ing and gym sessions customised to every indi- follow. The results have just started to show.
viduals needs.
“During breakfast time, Gopi sir would stand
behind some of us, even weigh the amount of
food intake we had because we used to hate eat-
ing the protein rich food,” Prajakta Sawant, now
the women’s doubles national champion, had
told me once.
The rules were even stricter for Saina. Even
when she was on a break and attending promo-
tional functions, she would excuse herself and
go to her room once it was time for her to sleep
and I have personally witnessed how Gopichand
would remind her about the time if Saina did
miss the deadline.

34. How Saina overcame her
shortcomings to win
an Olympic medal
Badminton pundits and Saina by her own admission,
feel that a lot of other players have better technique.
And to blunt this advantage that others may have, over
the years Saina worked really hard at fitness to outlast
and outclass her opponents.
Aparna Popat, Aug 6, 2012
T
he crowds were cheering her during the nament yet there was the looming threat from
rallies at the historical Wembley Arena. her opponents from across the border — the
A billion hearts rooting for her. Even the Chinese.
gods I suspect were watching.
I suspect the winning formula lay right within
Our very own Saina Nehwal created history to the problem — ‘Chi’nese.
become the first badminton Olympic medallist.
Chi is the mental energy and physical energy of
She was a medal favourite going into the tour- a person combined. Saina knew that that if one

35. had to beat the Chinese they had to have Chi They say when a student is ready, the coach ap-
completely in control. pears. And Saina was ready to learn and to work
harder than anybody else.
So along with her high levels of physical fitness,
she used the Yoganidra technique — one of the I believe Gopi was the right guru for Saina. With
deepest forms of meditation to control the Chi. meticulous planning and innovation he has
With the weight of expectations, performance brought out the best in her slowly but surely.
pressure and formidability of the Chinese, this
was another arrow in her quiver. I last played her at my penultimate National
Championship in 2006. Though I won the
This is just one of the finer points in the path to match, I could see dramatic improvement in her
that Olympic medal. But let me take you back in speed, variety and accuracy of strokes and con-
time a bit. fidence. Her motivation was as powerful as ever.
Here was a worthy successor to past badminton
I first heard about Saina in the badminton champions — ready to take Indian badminton
circles around 2001. While traveling for one of to the next level.
the nationals, I asked Gopi about this young-
ster who was now training in his hometown, As each year went by, I could see Saina growing
Hyderabad. He excitedly told me that the girl and glowing in glory as she worked to conquer
was very strong physically. Coming from Gopi, her fears and overcome her weaknesses one
that was high praise and it certainly piqued my by one. She was ever ready to put in that extra
interest in this upcoming youngster. effort to reach the very top. And she certainly
loved to win.
I first played Saina at the Senior Nationals in
2004, when she was 14 years old. While I real- Fast forward back to the present, Saina has
ised that what Gopi said about her strength was became our heroine No 1 — first Indian badmin-
true, what really stood out for me was her nev- ton player to win the World Junior Champion-
er-say-die approach that was evident even then. ships, 1st Indian woman to win a Super Series
She really toiled through the match never giving title, 1st Indian woman to achieve a world rank-
up on hope even though I was the top seed and ing as high as No 2, and now 1st Indian to win a
by then national champion six times over. badminton Olympic medal. No wonder she has
become the most sought after non-cricketing
Badminton pundits and Saina by her own ad- sportsperson in India.
mission, feel that a lot of other players have bet-
ter technique. And to blunt this advantage that I have seldom come across someone so commit-
others may have, over the years Saina worked ted in any field of life. So persevering to prove
really hard at fitness to outlast and outclass her themselves, so determined to win. Her unfor-
opponents. tunate loss in the quarterfinals of the Beijing
Games spurred her on to prepare 100 percent
While, I believe fitness is an outcome of dedica- for London 2012.
tion and discipline, at the highest level of com-
petition in badminton, more is demanded of Today I feel immensely happy and proud that
the champions. Finesse and technique had to be Saina has achieved her dream of an Olympic
learnt if she wanted to score points of her oppo- medal because I don’t think I can think of any-
nents. But learning that was tricky. Enter Gopi. one who deserves it more.
This is where her coach and former All-England
champion P Gopi Chand has been exceptionally
helpful.

36. Mary Kom
Bronze medal,
Women’s boxing (51kg)

37. Educating Indians: There’s
something about Mary Kom
It perhaps takes an occasional Olympic hero to
impart a few home truths to us. What Mary Kom,
the pint-sized pugilist, teaches us...
Venky Vembu, Aug 7, 2012
M
ark Twain said, only half in jest, that tify Manipur, the State from which she hails.
Americans learnt geography through
the wars their country waged. Many of those who responded said they didn’t
earlier know where Manipur was, but now they
In India, it appears, it takes an occasional Olym- did. That, he said, was his “humble goal”.
pic hero – like the pint-sized pugilist Mary Kom
– to impart a similar lesson in the geography of The northeastern States are endearingly re-
places that exist outside of our normal range of ferred to as the “seven sisters”, but the familial
vision. collective also masks a failing in many of us “on
the mainland”: an inability to tell all the ‘sisters’
On Twitter on Monday, @tonytongbram used apart on a map – and a deeper incuriosity about
the upsurge in national interest in the sporting the region. Amitabh Bachchan may not be guilty
fortunes of Mary to conduct a pop quiz – and of any of these, but he too erred momentarily,
elevate the cartographic awareness of many In- while saluting Mary Kom, in referring to her
dians. On a map of India’s northeastern region, as being from Assam. And although he quickly
he asked Mary Kom’s many fans to try and iden- rectified his error of geography, he illustrated a

38. “The gameplan”
common-enough mental lapse.
Manipur is, of course, a State that, like much of the north-
“Almost time for Mary
eastern region, has fallen off the map of our collective con-
sciousness – to the point where even the periodic economic
blockades (which compels Mary Kom to cook on woodstoves)
and Irom Sharmila’s hunger strike of 11-plus years don’t Kom vs Maroua Rahali.
make it to media headlines.
The bout begins at 6.30
So, if it takes a Mary Kom to advance the frontiers of our un-
derstanding, it’s a consummation devoutly to be desired. PM. The Indian is short
But Mary Kom isn’t just teaching us to mark places on a map.
but she has the experi-
Typical of someone who punches above her weight, she also ence. Her one-two punch-
subconsciously holds up a mirror to another duplicitous side
of our mental make-up. The effusive readiness with which es worked well in the first
many Indians have embraced Mary Kom contrasts sharply –
and hypocritically – with the racist stupidity and ethnic stere- bout and she will look to
otyping that is inflicted on many of those from the northeast-
ern States in the big cities in “the mainland”. do that again. She gives
Mary herself knows what it is to be mocked in Delhi’s mean
up quite a few inches in
streets. In a recent expansive profile of Mary Kom in Intelli- height but she has the
gent Life, Rahul Bhattacharya writes:
quick hands to make sure
“When (Mary Kom) walks the streets of Delhi with her fel-
low north-eastern athletes, they are sometimes mistaken for her opposition stays on
Nepali domestic help. ‘I tell them we are not Nepali, we are
Manipuri, so don’t speak like that, this is very bad manners.’ the back foot.”
“Mary Kom wins
At other times they are taunted with the gibberish dispensed
to those with oriental features: ‘Something ching ching ching
third round 6-1”
ching they start speaking, I don’t know what. Even they
don’t know what! We are feeling bad. We are Indian.Ya, the
face is different. But heart is Indian.’”
“Wow. This is amazing
On occasion, the latent racism goes too far, as some recent
tragic instances involving students from northeastern States
– Richard Loitam (in Bangalore),Ramchanphy Hongray (in
New Delhi), and Dana Sangma (in Gurgaon) – illustrate. stuff. Mary completed
But even when it is not lethal, expressions of racism, whether
directed at one of our own or of foreign extraction, shame us dominated her opponent.
all.
Dodging and weaving
For instance, during Saina Nehwal’s matches with Chinese
players at the Olympics, The Hindu’s China correspondent and landing the perfect
Ananth Krishnan observed a stream of racist public outpour-
ings from Indians directed at the Chinese (A couple of cringe-
punches. Her lead is an
worthy samples: here and here UPDATE: Both have since impressive 11-4. If she
been deleted; in Ananth Krishnan’s case, he was forced to
doesn’t get knocked out,
she is into the semis.
Surely.”

39. “Mary Kom wins
delete his Retweet after he received a succession of abusive
tweets, including from some people who fell into the error
of assuming they were his words: as I have made clear, they
were not: he was merely calling out the racist rants of some
others.) fourth round 4-2,
Such racist name-calling was again shamefully in evidence
during a recent visit to China by an Indian youth delegation
into semis”
“What an easy win! Mary
made up of youth representatives from various political par-
ties. Media accounts of their indecorous conduct (here and
here) recall that the male members of the youth delegation
“made lewd remarks of the dressing style of some Chinese showed the value of ex-
girls and called them ‘chinkis’.” Subsequently, they picked
on girls from northeastern India who were part of their own perience in this bout. She
started off slowly, gaug-
delegation as well.
As Ananth Krishnan observed, “For people who love to play
victim abroad, we unashamedly tolerate racism to Asians and
ing her opponent and
Africans.” then slowly dominated
Perhaps someone needs to put the fear of Mary Kom into the proceedings. By the
those who would resort to such racist name-calling. As this
blogger observed: “Next time you use insulting slang for end, she was in complete
charge. She won the bout
people of North East, remember… Mary Kom, the Olympian
boxer, is from Manipur. She’ll whack you :) ”
From filling the gaps in our geographic and cultural under-
15-6 and the fourth round
standing of the northeast to ‘fixing’ the moral compass of 4-2.”
some of our deviants… it appears that there’s nothing that a
left-hook from Mary can’t fix.
“Now for a gold!”
“Mary Kom is assured of a bronze now. But surely, she’s look-
ing to get a gold. Her opponent is Nicola Adams - who beat her in
the World Championships in May. Nicola is a three-time World
Championship runner-up. It won’t be easy.”

40. Olympics: It’s finally
Mary Kom’s day to shine
The inclusion of women’s boxing brings to an end
the last all-male sport at the summer games.
Reuters, Aug 5, 2012
A
fter judging controversies marred the “It means a lot to me, we never really got our
first week of fights at the London’s recognition. I think that it’s right, and that
Games, boxing’s governing body will we’re going to be able to showcase the best of
play its trump card on Sunday when they allow women’s boxing,” 17-year-old American middle-
women to compete on an Olympic stage for the weight Claressa Shields told Reuters.
first time.
“We’ve got really good women here. When
they see the best, they’re going to be like ‘yeah,
women can box’.”
The International Boxing Association’s (AIBA)
president said last week that he hopes more
women will box at the Games in four years time
and that he would press the International Ol-
ympic Committee (IOC) to increase its quota of
competitors to allow it to do so.
That is provided they perform well, AIBA presi-
dent Wu Ching-kuo said, something India’s
Mary Kom and Ireland’s Katie Taylor, sporting
heroes in their countries who hold nine world
The inclusion of women’s boxing, rejected in the titles between them, fully intend doing.
past because of a limited global appeal that saw
them only sanctioned to fight in the 2012 host Like Shields, Taylor has received a bye into the
country 15 years ago, brings to an end the last quarter-finals and have to wait until Monday
all-male sport at the summer games. to join the action, leaving it to 24 fly, light and
middleweight fighters to blaze the trail on Sun-
Competing in just three categories and with day.
smaller fields than their male counterparts, the
women have had to wait over a week to make When North Korea’s Hye Song Kim and Elena
their bow, watching on as two officials were sent Savelyeva of Russia take to the ring at 1230
home and another referee suspended. GMT, the world will be watching.
For one day at least, those controversies will be
forgotten.

41. Emotional win for me as it is
my twins’ birthday: Mary Kom
The inclusion of women’s boxing brings to an end
the last all-male sport at the summer games.
PTI, Aug 6, 2012
L
ondon: India’s medal aspirant M C Mary and rated her as “very strong” but said she used
Kom said her first round bout against her experience to prevail over her.
Poland’s Karolina Michalczuk in the Ol-
ympic Games was an “emotional” one as it was “The Polish girl is very strong, but she is a little
the fifth birthday of her twins Rechungvar and bit weak technically. If she was good technically
Khupneivarand. no-one could beat her. I beat her because of my
experience. I can move back and slip a little bit,”
“It is an emotional moment for me as today is she explained.
my sons’ fifth birthday. I am not there to cel-
ebrate because I am fighting in the ring. I am On being at the London 2012 Olympic Games,
looking forward to being with them as this is she said,”The Olympics are very special. Every
important,” she said after her bout against the athlete works to play at the Olympic Games.
Polish opponent which she won 19-14. This is my 12th year of fighting and I came back
out of retirement and changed my weight be-
Mary Kom had great respect for her opponent cause I had to take part in the Olympic Games.

42. Luckily, I qualified and today I won.” wasn’t lucky,” she said.
India’s coach Gurbakhsh Singh Sandhu said On what she would change in the bout, she said
Mary boxed intelligently and with good foot- “I would probably change the referee. I don’t
work. feel beaten. I don’t feel like I lost and it was
unfair.”
“It is a very big day for Indian boxing. She
boxed intelligently with good footwork and was On women’s boxing being at the Olympic
scoring and moving.” Games, she said “It is a good thing and it will
mean a great development in the sport. And the
“I think she demonstrated all the moves. She standard in the future will be higher.”
comes from the north-east of India and I think
this has been a very big lift for her and for Asked whether she planned to take part in the
women’s boxing,” Sandhu said. next Olympics in Rio de janeiro, she said “I will
finish studying. I am 33 now so I will not be able
On whether more women’s weights should be to go to Rio.”
included at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, he
said “Changing weight was the only way Mary Karolina’s coach Leszek Piotrowski resigned
could get a chance (at the Olympics). She is as the coach, saying that there was no boxing
still more like 48kg (light flyweight). I think atmosphere in his country.
they should not cut down the number of men’s
weights but add more for women.” “There is a very poor atmosphere in the Polish
camp and team and I am resigning. There is a
Karolina said it was a great experience to take split in the Polish boxing federation. For me it
part in the Olympics but she was not lucky is a part-time (job). I am not in it for the money.
enough to proceed any further. I am in it for the medals and achievements.
Boxing is not my profession, it is my hobby,” he
“I am very happy and it was a great honour to said.
be one of the first women boxers (in the Olym-
pic Games). I worked very hard to get here but I

43. Of Mary Kom, Manipur,
Olympics and curiosity
What Mary Kom has done, by her heroism, especially
her feat at the Olympics, is to make you care, make
you curious, make you want to know.
Anant Rangaswami, Aug 9, 2012
‘M
ary Kom puts Manipur on the map’, When you hear about Napoleon’s Waterloo, you
scream a hundred headlines. ask, “Where is Waterloo?” It’s in Belgium.
Manipur was always on the map – but you Robin Hood makes one think of Sherwood For-
didn’t know where it was and you didn’t care. est, which is in Nottinghamshire in England.
It needs the achievement by a person or persons
to make us curious about where they hailed
from or where they achieved their greatness.
That’s why the rights to conduct of the FIFA
World Cup, the Olympics and, to a lesser de-
gree, the Commonwealth Games are so fiercely
fought. The city or country which wins the right
immediately sees an increase in curiosity – and
these cities or countries are ‘on the map’.
Mary Kom of Manipur has piqued our interest
– and we want to know where Manipur is on the
map. We want to know more about the land she
What Mary Kom has done, by her heroism, was born in and lives in. We want to know what
especially her feat at the Olympics, is to make is in and around the village she lives in, the food
you care, make you curious, make you want she eats, the flora and fauna around her.
to know. Know more about her and where she
comes from. And then, perhaps, fascinated by all we’ve
learnt, we want to go to Manipur, and we want
That’s what great feats and events do for places. to know if there is an airport near Manipur…
When you hear of the heroics of the Battle of Yes, there is: Imphal.
Plassey, you want to know where Plassey was or
is (it’s in West Bengal; actually Palashi; 150 km Mary Kom has not put Manipur on the map.
north of Kolkata). She’s made us search for it on the map, she’s
made all of us curious about Manipur.
When you hear of the heroism and the logistics
of the Normandy Landings, you wonder where That’s what great achievers like Manipur do –
Normandy is (it’s in France). make the world curious about everything to do
with them.

44. India (hearts) Mary Kom.
But do we deserve her?
There’s something patronising about all this “Never
mind, we still love you, Mary Kom” gush. India,
thou over-compensateth too much as if to say
Hail Mary, full of grace, grant us forgiveness
for all those chinky jokes.
Sandip Roy, Aug 9, 2012
T
here is indeed something about Mary. extreme of over-compensation. Mary Kom is
everywhere as if to prove hum kissise Kom na-
But the “oh never mind, we still love you, hin.
Mary” adulation that is sloshing around the me-
dia after Mary Kom lost her Olympics semi-final In her, India has finally found a story about Ma-
says something more about the rest of us than it nipur in particular, and the north east in gen-
does about Magnificent Mary. eral, that is not about insurgency, HIV, drugs,
floods or AFSPA. Her own state’s Irom Sharmila
It says that as a country we know full well that really came into the national spotlight because
we have treated the seven sisters of the north- Anna Hazare was fasting in Jantar Mantar
east abysmally. But we are hoping our new- though Sharmila has been refusing food for over
found ardour for Mary Kom will grant us abso- a decade. Even now I’d bet most of us have only
lution. the vaguest idea why she fasts.
From hardly knowing who Mary Kom was a few But India has seized on the Mary Kom story
months ago, now we have swung to the other with enormous relief because there is guilt

45. about the fact that most of us don’t know where Manipur’s power situation is normal. Yes at 1
Manipur is relative to Mizoram on the map. In hour of electricity every day it’s getting its nor-
her pluck we find a feel-good story that lets us mal quota.
off the hook.
The rise of Mary Kom and Devendro Singh will
Hail Mary, full of grace, grant us forgiveness lead to colourful stories about what’s it about
for all those chinky jokes. Forgive us, because Manipuris and boxing. 1998 Asian Games hero
though now you are all over the covers of maga- Dingko Singh told The Telegraph “That’s be-
zines, and your sister and sister-in-law are cause, by nature, we’re aggressive… gussa aa
having microphones thrust in their faces, and jata hai.” He was joking but Manipur has plenty
newspaper correspondents are trekking over to of reasons to be pissed about.
your house in Manipur to watch the match with
your family, a few months ago we didn’t really The medal of Mary Kom could have been a way
care anything about you or your against-all- to talk about all of this. But instead it becomes
odds boxing career. the fig-leaf that covers it all up, so we don’t have
to talk about anything else other than patronis-
In the insightful profile Rahul Bhattacharya ingly pat her on the back and say, “Well done,
did about her for Intelligent Life, Kom says Mary, mother of twins. We know how hard it is
simply, “We are Indian. Ya, the face is differ- to be super Mom and super boxer. Aren’t those
ent. But heart is Indian.” But until this shining kids cute! ”
Olympic moment her country didn’t think the
same. They just saw the face and dismissed it as Her medal is being embraced as a triumph for
“other”. India. “I join the nation in congratulating boxer
Mary Kom for winning the Olympic bronze
And sadly, I’d wager that’s how it will be de- medal in the 51kg women’s boxing event. She
spite this medal. Mary Kom’s victory might showed great discipline and determination and
inspire other girls to take up boxing. Her box- has done India proud,” Manmohan Singh Singh
ing school might be flooded with applicants. said in a statement. “But India will have nothing
But the Mizo shopgirl in a mall in Gurgaon will to do with her victory,” writes blogger Priyanka
still suffer her share of “chinky” jokes and girls Nandy.
who look like Mary Kom won’t have an easier
time renting flats. “It is not correct to say that On the contrary, she writes:
students of northeast states are more vulnerable
as compared to students from other regions,” If, however, she had quit the ring after the
P Chidambaram told the Rajya Sabha. But his first year of boxing on a rice-and-vegetable diet,
fellow UPA minister Agatha Sangma retorted, without proper shoes, clothes, equipment or
“South is very different from North, but no coaches, India would have had everything to
south Indian in Delhi would be made to feel he with it. The Indian state compels Mary to live a
does not look Indian.” difficult life in a difficult terrain, without elec-
tricity, much personal security or enough food
Mary Kom’s victory will not mean Manipur or on the table, but with a surfeit of armed person-
its sister states will get better treatment from nel who frequently use the locals as their per-
New Delhi. It will probably not even mean sonal entertainment.”
more electricity for a state where Kom’s family
had to get a generator to make sure they would Mary Kom deserves her medal many times over.
be able to watch her big match. As CNN-IBN
correspondent Arijit Sen tweeted after the big But does India deserve Mary Kom?
electricity blackout: I’ve been asked to check if