Why such a pessimistic article like this on the eve of the greatest event in the world? I agree, our situation is terrible compared to the rest of the world, but surely its not worth deriding our entire olympic contingent on the eve of their departure!
I think its very pessimistic to predict at best 1 bronze medal. Rajyavardhan Rathore got a silver last time-no reason he cant equal or better that! Also our shooting squad is amongst the best in the world in almost all the shooting disciplines and I think its fair to atleast be optimistic about 2-3 medals from shooting alone.
In archery too we are supposed to have one of the strongest teams and our archers came very close to a medal last time around - again at the very least its worth being optimistic about.
In table tennis Sharath Kamal is up there amongst the best in the world and he has every chance of bringing home a medal - on his day atleast.
In boxing too I heard we have a great boxer from Jharkhand - again perhaps an outside chance at a medal.
On the whole I, being an eternal optimist, believe that we have a chance at squeezing out bronzes at a fair number of events. We have had 1 medal each in the last 3 olympics, and I am quite sure we will atleast better that - anywhere between 2-5 would be my guess.
I think the problems are aplenty. In weightlifting we used to be one of the powerhouses but now the sport itself is in tatters. Our national sport of hockey - shame that we did not qualify. The blame for both of
RE:Why so pessimistic?
by sreenath bukkapatnam on Aug 04, 2008 11:44 PM Permalink
I believe Mr.Rajeev srinivasan should read your piece and then have a good look at what he has written.His reference to anju george is almost bordering on insult, she is the only Indian athlete to have won a medal in world championship in track and field, if she cannot better that its not her problem. the issue is that she is probably the 10th or 15th best in the world but always manages to do better than expected, and Mr.Srinivasan should aknowledge that You cannot be number one just because you want to, there is something called talent and physique(especially for an athlete)which are equally important. the atheletes who are doing better than anju are more talented , better built and get heaps of money to develop their game.If you are a british giral and you get a bronze in one championship , you are sponsored for the next 50 by the sports authorities.What did anju get for the bronze? NOTHING. So accusing her of being happy finishing 7th is pathetic.And BTW the field doesn't comprise of 8, the 8 are the FINALISTS and you have to be good enough to qualify for the olympics and then the final 8.Blaming cricket for all of indian sports' troubles is becoming fashionble.They are getting so much attention as they have now won 2 worldcups. The BBCI is game enough to market its game and gain sponsorship. If the IOC cannot do that then it is not Cricket's or BCCI's problem. In australia every kid born goes for swimming classes from an age of 6 months, how many kids in INDIA know how t
