Saina shows guts in adversity

London: Saina Nehwal’s superb victory over the lanky Jan Yao of Denmark sparked off celebrations among Indian fans in the stands itself in he badminton stadium at Wenbley Park. One man started distributing pedas as soon as Saina clinched the winning point, having fought back from three match points in the second set. “I had come prepared because I knew she was going to win,” he said. Saina’s win came after another dismal day for the Indians at the Games. In the morning, Ronjan Sodhi muffed up badly in his last series of shots to finish 11th in the double trap. [caption id=“attachment_402674” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Baun gave Saina a hard time, but the Indian came up trumps. Reuters[/caption] For two-thirds of the qualifying rounds, Sodhi looked good to finish in the top 6 and clinch a place in the final. But in the final round, the reclusive shooter, a protégé of Rajvendra Singh Rathore, suddenly looked a bundle of nerves nad crashed out. Elsewhere, doughty Jai Bhagwan lost out in the 60kg bout to his Kazakhastani rival, and with the grass at Wimbledon— where Leander Paes and Sania Mirza were to play the mixed doubles— having afforded little cheer as yet, India’s prospects of recovery in these Games looked looked bleak. Till Saina took the court, of course. It wasn’t easy though for the Hyderabad girl. Though ranked higher than Yao at number, this is the Olympics and the Dane was not going to surrender the quarter-final without slugging it out after losing the first set tamely. Yao got back into the game with some deft and shrew placements, making Saina chase the shuttle all over the court, and ran up what seemed a crucial three match points. But the unfazed Saina held her nerve and fought back superbly, letting out a yelp of relief only after the final point had been won, triggering off wild celebrations among Indian fans in the stadium. Coach Gopichand paid his ward compliments for showing guts in adversity and said that he and Saina would not to be too hassled about what comes up next, however difficult it may seem. Saina plays 24-year-old Yihan Wang, the world no.1 in the semis next. Even if she loses, she stands a chance to win a bronze in the play-off for third place. But she and Gopi are not looking that far ahead right now. For the moment, it is rest well-earned after a smashingly good win, and then focus on the next game. A favourable result in either of these contest would still keep India on track to better the Beijings medals tally. ***** ** ***** I have no major lament about the Indian hockey team. Of course, losing to New Zealand was a big setback in the quest for a place in the semis, but let’s face it, getting into the last four was always far-fetched. The shortcomings of the team came through soon after Sandeep Singh had put his team ahead in the second minute. But before the first half was through, New Zealand had scored three in return. India stepped up the tempo in the second half, but New Zealand didn’t flag and that was that. Skipper Bharat Chettri expressed hope in the press conference that his side would fight back, but that was clearly more for public consumption than self-belief. Chettri himself was replaced in the second half by Sreejesh, which tells its own story. Coach Michael Nobbes looked grim when saying that his team played well in the second half again, and he was waiting for them to play well in the first too. Read that as you will. Personally I think if India finishes in the top eight, they will have done well. This won’t guarantee them a place in major tournaments, but it will be a good platform from which to rebuild the team. **** **** **** I have mentioned earlier that India’s best performers in this Olympics yet – despite Gagan Narang’s bronze medal – have been the badminton players. On a day when athletes in every other discipline flopped – the archers most disappointingly and the tennis pair of Leander-Vardhan almost inevitably — the shuttlers rose to eminence. Parupalli Kashyap put in a stunning display early morning to storm into the quarter-finals and the sterling Saina Nehwal capped the day with an emphatic win to reach the last eight stage too. [caption id=“attachment_401158” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  India’s goal keeper Sreejesh Parattu saves a goal during their group stage hockey match with New Zealand at Olympic Games 2012 .PTI[/caption] With a little luck, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa could have made the quarters too had the appeal against the Japanese pair for tanking a match been upheld. But the jury, even while banning 8 other girls for deliberate poor play, turned this one down. Tanking by players and teams from China, Korea, Japan, Indonesia and Malaysia is hardly a new phenomenon in badminton. You can throw in table tennis too. Bitter competition between these Asian giants has led them to manipulate matches and group standings in several major tournaments. What’s surprising, therefore, is not that match-fixing happened at the Olympics; rather that the Olympic organisers should have – for the first time – opted for a round-robin format instead of the knock-out one. This was too much for the opportunistic Chinese, Indonesia and South Korean (two pairs) to resist. To fans over the past two days, it was clear that some hanky-panky was going on. It took a while for the organisers and the BFA to wake up to take stern action, but better late than never. Coming back to Kashyap and Saina, there is no certainty of either winning a medal. But both have lived up to their potential; indeed Kashyap’s case, he has perhaps exceeded it by many yards. The success of these players can be attributed to investment made in youth, and immense contribution of former champions like Prakash Paduokne, Vimal Kumar and Pulella Gopichand over the past decade without seeking too much glory or monetary rewards for themselves. It seems like a good model for other sports to emulate. Of course, finding people with vision, patience and selflessness is the issue. ******* ****** ****** Almost every venue at the Olympics saw packed crowds today. After the controversy of vacant seats and unused tickets broke, Operation ‘Bums On Seats’ had begun in right earnest, and appears to have met with good success. The Olympic Family, which comprises members of the IOC Congress and of the national Olympic association of various countries, their numbers running into tens of thousands according to Lord Seb Coe, had all been given VIP passes which were apparently being squandered. They have now been asked to use these passes or surrender them. Meanwhile, school kids are being given free entry into stadia, and suddenly the Olympics is beginning to look like the greatest show on earth should.