Saina! An inspiration

Did you manage to witness a legend being born yesterday?

I did. Early morning yesterday, the gold medal match between Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu took place. I think it was one of the best game I have seen in Badminton. Before the game I expected Sindhu to be the clear winner. But once the game started, I realized, Saina is in some different mood today. It felt as if she has decided to play this game as a do or die situation. The strength put into her every smash was terrific. The way she was moving in the court was maddening. It was clear that it is not just a game for medal, but something bigger to prove for Saina.

     Two years back in Olympics, when Saina had to be content with Bronze while Sindhu went ahead to play for Gold, peoples attitude towards Saina suddenly changed. People went to the extent of saying that there is no more need of Saina anymore, they have Sindhu to look up to now. That must have hurt. She had an operation on Knee. In between all this, she started talking about the uncertainity about her career. Just before Olymics I guess, she had to leave Gopichand's guidance and look for another coach.

In between all this Sindhu kept on rising high. There might not be any direct revelry between the two, but somewhere the conditions made them stand infront of each other. In between, during Indian internal competition, Sindhu had easily defeated Saina. So, the words of Saina's career being over became more prominent.

All these emotions must have come together and must have made Saina's game that brutal. I guess, Sindhu was not 100% fit to play the game with full potential. But still, the way Saina played, it was clear, no matter what is the situation, Saina would have prevailed over it.

The above emotion is a reflection of how she had put her whole heart out in the game and wanted to win it finally. She has proved that she really is good and no one should challenge her game. She may loose in a game or a competition, but she is the reference for Women's Badminton in India. She brought his game to a level in India, and that should always be remembered. She is a legend and a person worth following.

I salute her dedication and passion for the game. 

Saina, you are the best

Common wealth games, 2018 @ Gold Coast, Australia

Commonwealth Games are starting today at Gold Coast, Australia today.
This event is getting pretty silent treatment in India at least.  Hardly anybody is aware of it, forget talking about it. If I am not wrong, after Olympics and Asian games, this is the third biggest event with many countries participating in various range of games over a period of roughly 2 weeks.
India has sent a big group of nearly 327 sports-persons, who would participate across different games. But there is hardly any word shared across media about them.
Very recently, we started hearing about these games. But not because of the sports or the players, but because of other issues. Like, how Saina and Sindhu's parents are not allowed to live with them, or probably event objected to travel with them. Most recently, we were caught in an embarrassing situation, when syringe needles were found near our players living place. Initially we denied owning them, then our doctor changed the stance saying it was used for giving Vitamin B to a player. This issue jeopardized our participation in boxing matches. Fortunately, all the players have been cleared of doping charges and the doctor (Indian) received a written intimation about following rules properly.
There is also news that the matches for the boxing and badminton teams are rather easy and we can surely expect some medals in these games. Also, Mery Com who is participating in Common wealth for the first time, has to win only one match to grab a medal.
All in all, there is surety of some good performance from the team. I will be looking forward to some events from athletics. Our women's 400 X 4 relay team apparently may perform good. So, I will be looking forward to it. Similarly, the shooting team has raised some hopes.
Apart from that, I hardly have any information about the preparation of our players, their scheduled performances and all. I guess there is a need to put some focus on such events, so that these other games will also get highlighted apart from Cricket.
Lets hope, our all the players do awesome, and all we hear about them are accolades and no bad news of doping and other ridiculous stuff.
Good Luck India

IPL 2018

PC: http://www.india.com/sports/ipl-2018-full-squads-check-complete-payers-list-of-ipl-11-teams-2867446/

Indian Premier league is back with the latest version 11 in 2018. This version, I believe would be different bringing new refreshing look. This is not because of any rule changes in the game play, but because of a significant change in every teams composition. Though, I was expecting an overall makeover, but these teams find out a way to retain some key players with themselves. Anyway, if not full at least 80% of the team composition is changed and we will get to some new equations being formed.
I have mentioned earlier too, that I prefer IPL like formats over the "between countries" matches. The country wise matches bring with them concepts like pride, honor, country before self etc. Its not that I don't have such feelings. But in present context, where these games are mainly governed by media and companies sponsoring the event, all these feelings are basically used to exploit people and make them watch the game with all the emotions. The concept where sports used to be the means of bring different countries together is far gone and it is all governed by the money making marketing strategies.
On the other side, events like IPL doesn't erupt such emotions. Though, in earlier days, people used to go berserk to support a particular team, but now the viewers have also matured. They watch the games only with the intent of a mere sports. They have a liking for a particular player, but mostly, it is not to the extent of going mad for them.
Besides, it has so many advantages. It has helped India create a  pool of talented players who are ready to play in any high tension situation. It has removed the restrictions of money flow to certain players only and  instead made many a players financially stable, who otherwise probably would not get chance to play for the country.

I am really looking forward for this event to begin. Details of the plan are available at
http://www.india.com/sports/ipl-2018-full-squads-check-complete-payers-list-of-ipl-11-teams-2867446/