The Olympics: India (2016)
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2016 Rio
The 2016 Olympic Games were held in Rio de Janeiro
Size of contingent: 118
Note: 120 Indians qualified. Sprinter Dharambir Singh and shot-putter Inderjeet Singh were told to stay back after being caught in the dope net. Finally,118 Indians made it.
The Times of India, Jun 27 2016
A unique century was scored. It didn't come in a cricket game, but had Team India written all over it. The country's contingent to the Rio Olympics swelled to over 100 -the largest ever for the quadrennial event. The milestone was reached when quarter-miler Mohammad Anas, sprinter Srabani Nanada, long jumper Ankit Sharma and archer Atanu Das clinched Rio berths.
Participating in a qualifying event in Poland, Anas made the grade by clocking 45.40 seconds in the men 400m to equal the qualification mark and win gold in the Poland National Athletics Championships. The 21-year-old also smashed his own national mark of 45.44s. “This has to be the best moment in my career.It hasn't sunk in yet that I'm going to the Olympics,“ the Kerala runner gushed. At the Kosanov Memorial Meet in Almaty , Kazakhstan, Odisha sprinter Srabani Nanda won a qualification in the 200m race. Almaty was the scene of Dutee Chand's history-making women's 100m qualification a day earlier. Completing a rare double for India, Srabani clocked 23.07 secs, a good 0.13 seconds off the Olympic qualifying mark of 23.20, and win bronze at Almaty.Rachita Mistry was the last Indian woman to qualify for the women's 200m, at the Sydney Olympics 16 years ago.
Not to be outdone, Morena boy Ankit Sharma smashed the existing long jump national record with 8.19m to win the gold in Almaty and also ensure his passage to Rio. Ankit had earlier leapt to 8.17m, better than the qualifying standard of 8.15m.
Elsewhere on Sunday, archer Atanu Das was selected for the men's recurve event following trials in Bengaluru.
With the Indian track and field numbers already reaching an impressive 23, the Indian contingent could further increase in the coming weeks with more athletes likely to find them selves in the fray. The boxing team could see three more qualifying at the final Venezuela meet next month. In aquatics, five swimmers have already made the B cut, while the last qualifier in Hong Kong next month to determine how many swimmers go or whether India is awarded a wild card.
Despite the 32 hockey players ¬ both men and women squads ¬ forming the regular feature at the Olympics, the Indian Olympic contingent this time would be the largest-ever. While the London Olympics four years ago saw a 83-strong Indian contingent, in April, the then sports minister Sarbananda Sonowal told the Parliament in April, that the ministry had forecast a team of around 90 athletes, with 10-plus medals being targeted.
Yet, in what can dampen the ministry's forecasts of a bullish medal tally, according to projections by Infostrada, leading sports database providers and forecasters, India would end up at No.46th in the medals tally, with only one gold (mixed doubles tennis) and three bronze (women's archery , team; Shiva Thapa in boxing and Jitu Rai in pistol shooting) to show for its 100-plus presence at Rio.
2016, Rio: The August 2016 form of India’s finest
Rio Olympics: India's realistic medal chances
Adapted from Jamie Alter | TNN | The Times of India Aug 2, 2016
Shooting
Abhinav Bindra 2008 gold medallist: Form in August 2016: indifferent.
Gagan Narang 2012 bronze medallist: Form in August 2016: indifferent.
Jitu Rai, age 29. Form in August 2016: No 2 in the world in the 50m pistol event. In August 2016, ranked 3rd in both 50m pistol and 10m air pistol, the 28-year-old has won two golds, three silvers and one bronze in the World Cups, an Asian and Commonwealth gold and besides an Asian Games gold.
Manavjit Singh Sandhu, age 39. Represented India in the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics. Has won at every major tournament.
Heena Sidhu Holds the Finals World Record in the 10m air pistol.
Archery
Deepika Kumari, age 22. From Ranchi World No 1 in 2012. Form in August 2016: 12th in the world. Equalled world record 686/720 at the World Cup in Shanghai earlier in 2016.
Atanu Das, Form in August 2016: 22nd. In the world.
Badminton
Saina Nehwal: Rio--her third Olympics. Former world No 1. Won her second Australian Open title in June 2016. BUT in 2016, she lost to Tai Tzu-ying of Chinese Taipei, Spain's Carolina Marin and China's Li Xuerui, the Olympics champion, in Super Series events. Saina battled injuries in 2016. She was the London Olympics bronze-medallist: bagged the singles bronze after her Chinese opponent Xin Wang withdrew with injury in London
PV Sindhu won two World Championship bronze medals in 2013 and 2014.
Gymnastics
Dipa Karmakar, age 22. Won bronze at the 2015 Asian Gymnastics Championships and reached the final of the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in 2016, both being firsts for an Indian.At the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games she became one of only five gymnasts across the world to successfully attempt the dangerous Produvona vault. Only two of her Rio adversaries have attempted the Produnova - Yamilet Pena of the Dominican Republic and Egyptian Fadwa Mahmoud - but neither has topped Dipa's highest score in the world, 15.300. She had an edge in the Produnova - a double frontal vault - with a difficulty rating of 7.0.
Wrestling
The eight-member squad - for the first time - wasrepre sented in all three formats - Men's freestyle, Female wrestling and Greco-Roman.
After Geeta Phogat became the first woman wrestler in an Olympics in London, the family saw two representations in cousins Vinesh and (48kg) Babita Kumari (53kg) who joined Sakshi Malik (58kg) to make it three in the ring.
Having defeated the 2014 World Championships silver-medallist Iwona Matkowska en route to sealing an Olympic qualification with a gold medal, Vinesh was in good form.
Boxing
Inside the boxing ring, a squad of three carried India's hopes. For a discipline, that had a record eight entries in 2012, in 2016 it was represented with three men in the ring.
Of the three, the highest hopes were from the duo of Shiva Thapa (56kg) and Vikas Krishan (75kg), both of whom were World Championship bronze-medallists and were ranked sixth in the world.
The senior-most member of the team, Manoj Kumar (64kg), was the 2010 Commonwealth Games champion.
Controversies before the 2016 Olympics
Manuja Veerappa, Shrivathsa Sridhar and Maxin Mathew The Times of India Aug 02 2016
There have been controversies aplenty in the run-up to the Olympics. Sports enthusiasts were kept guessing which tennis combines would eventually go to Rio and then there was the Sushil-Narsingh fiasco. TOI looks at the upheavals, jostles and discrimination...
Narsingh Vs Sushil
A Grappling Affair
Narsingh Pancham Yadav is going to Rio, but what made bigger headlines over the last few months was an embarrassing dope-tainted saga of rivalry and sabotage featuring the country's most decorated Olympic wrestler, Sushil Kumar, and his medal-hungry, determined protégé from Varanasi.
What began as a long-drawn fight albeit outside the ring for the sole 74kg berth for the Rio Olympics transpired into national shame when Narsingh testing positive for an anabolic steroid just weeks before the quadrennial sporting extravaganza.
He cried conspiracy and a young wrestler was arrested for spiking his food at the SAI centre in Sonepat, where Narsingh was being given police protection after it emerged that there were threats to his life. Fingers were pointed at Sushil and his supporters for their alleged involvement, the former's tweet `Respect had to be earned, not demanded' right after Narsingh's failed test adding to the suspicions.
Sushil staked his claim to Rio based on his Beijing bronze and London silver medals while Narsingh rightfully earned his berth with the 2015 World Championships bronze. After his demands for a trial were rejected by Narsingh and the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), Sushil gathered up support on social media and among his well-wishers. He even dragged the issue to the Delhi High Court, but eventually had to resign to his fate. He lost again when the WFI chose the unheard Parveen Rana as Narsingh's replacement, quashing his hopes of a fourth successive Olympics.
But amidst this brouhaha, the biggest defeat has been for wrestling and its eight-member squad for Rio. Having established his innocence, it is likely that this doping scandal could have an adverse effect on Narsingh's hopes for a medal at Rio, given the immense mental pressure and lack of preparation he had to endure over the last few weeks.
The Indian Tennis Saga
Indian tennis proved that some lessons are never learnt, as aftershocks of the selection row that played out ahead of the 2012 London Games threatened to drag the sport to farcical depths ahead of Rio 2016. Four years on, it felt like Indian tennis' longest double-fault waiting to happen.
Sania Mirza, by virtue of her world No. 1 ranking in women's doubles, earned a spot in the mixed doubles draw in Rio. The Hyderabadi rightfully put her foot down, opting to play with Rohan Bopanna another automatic entrant, thanks to his top-10 doubles ranking on the ATP Tour with whom she enjoys a good rapport.
However, men's doubles proved the bone of contention again as Bopanna identified youngster Saketh Myneni as his preferred choice. With veteran Paes' dreams of a seventh Olympics hinging solely on Bopanna, the AITA selection committee overruled the decision to forge a temporary truce between the two players.
Back in 2012, Leander Paes, then a top-10 player, wished to partner Bopanna only for the Kodava lad to refuse and insist on teaming up with his regular teammate on the ATP Tour, Mahesh Bhupathi. The Bengaluru duo got their wish after immense pressure and Paes, forced to play with the inexperienced Vishnu Vardhan, was offered the chance to play with the in-form Sania who was less than pleased with the entire situation. Sania ultimately felt like bait for Paes while Bhupathi with whom she had won the French Open ahead of the Games was denied a genuine shot at the mixed doubles title.
Bopanna and Paes are still a strong combine and India's best bet in men's doubles and the duo will have to work out their differences, at least for now. While not much is expected of Sania and her talented young partner Prarthana Thombare in women's doubles, her understanding with Bopanna could prove to be India's best medal chance.
THE TALE OF TWO CAPTAINS
Ritu Rani
The Indian women's hockey team will make an Olympic appearance after 36 years but one person who can't bear to watch it even on television is former skipper Ritu Rani. The 24-year-old's inspirational leadership led the team into the Games but was unceremoniously dumped from the final squad days before the team was officially announced. She was accused of having attitude issues and lack of fitness in the build up to the event.
Although there were rumours of Ritu's differences with the team management for the past few months, it took a turn for the worse after her engagement to Punjabi singer Harsh Sharma in June. Ritu alleged she was treated unfairly and wasn't given a chance to defend herself.
While no player can take her place in an Olympic squad for granted, the people at the helm could have handled the situation sans the drama.
Sardar Singh
A week before the team was to leave for Rio, Sardar Singh cut a lonely figure amidst the infectiously enthusiastic bunch of Indian players. Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh was named captain in place of Sardar, a move which was expected but clearly did not go down well with the 30-year-old.
But in the run-up to the quadrennial extravaganza Sardar was indented in controversies. In February this year, a former England U-19 player accused Sardar of “rape and then criminal intimidation“. The woman of Indian origin filed a complaint with the Ludhiana police commissioner claiming she was in a relationship with Sardar for four years and they were engaged in 2014 but he refused to marry her. She even accused him of mental, physical and emotional torture.
When the controversy broke out, Sardar refuted the charges. Hockey India chose to stay out of it, saying it was a private affair between two individuals. But the sword hung heavy on Sardar as he was `rested' for the Champions Trophy held in London, where the woman's family hails from. The midfielder was retained in the team but his captaincy was taken away.
Salman Khan
No Goodwill Over Salman Role
The Indian Olympic Association's appointment of Salman Khan, film actor as the goodwill ambassador for the Indian Rio-bound contingent received mixed views and created ripples in the sports fraternity. While some said Salman's presence will popularize the Games, many touted it as the Bollywood superstar's gimmick to promote his movie Sultan.Sprint legend Milkha Singh and Olympic wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt were among the few fiercely against his appointment.“India has produced so many sportspersons who have given their sweat and blood for the country like PT Usha, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Ajit Pal and so many others. One of these could have been made a goodwill ambassador. What was the need to import a person from Bollywood?“ Milkha had asked.
Dutee's Gender Struggle
Dutee Chand's qualification for Rio has been one of Indian sport's most remarkable comebacks. Fighting social stigma and a discriminatory system, the pint-sized sprinter braved great hurdles to realize her Olympic dream. Two years ago, Dutee was dropped from the Indian Commonwealth Games squad for failing a hormone test, with the Athletics Federation of India ruling that hyperandrogenism -a condition which produces higher levels of testosterone in women -made her ineligible to compete as a female athlete.Stung by the accusation, Dutee was ostracized by her own friends and fellow sportspersons, some even refusing to share a room with her. Inspired by South African sprinter Caster Semenya, who had a similar decision against her overturned, Dutee successfully appealed to Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne against the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) and the International Association of Athletics Federations' (IAAF) stand on hyperandrogenism. CAS suspended the regulations for two years, asking IAAF to produce evidence on whether sportspersons with hyperandrogenism have advantageous performance levels, thereby making Dutee eligible to compete again.
Controversies at Rio
Paes- Bopanna: rumour of rift
ALOK SINHA Aug 05 2016 : The Times of India (Delhi) Paes' late arrival in Rio sets tongues wagging DadRubbishes Talk Of Rift With Bopanna
A day before the Olympics inaugural there was much speculation about Paes' absence. Where is he? Why is he not at the Games Village? Has he refused to share an apartment with Rohan Bopanna?
Soon, pictures of Bopanna training with Nenad Zimonjic of Croatia and Max Mirnyi of Belarus did the rounds, adding further grist to the rumour mill.
Some TV channels and websites recalled the strained relations between Bopanna and Paes in the past. Leander's father, Dr Vece Paes, defended his son, saying he couldn't understand “what the fuss was all about.“
Eventually , the buzz about Paes' delay settled after Martina Hingis tweeted a picture of the two at Rio airport. It could not be confirmed by The Times of India whether Paes had indeed made his own living arrangements, but the fact is, it is not obligatory for athletes to stay in the Village. In fact, sev eral prefer to keep away from the Village and its distractions. They travel with their entourage, live with the support cast and join practice sessions whenever scheduled.
As for Leander's travel schedule to Rio, his father Dr Vece Paes said the 1996 Olympic singles bronze-medallist was “on his way“ to Rio from the US and was only “half a day“ behind his scheduled arrival.
While Bopanna travelled to Rio after playing in the Montreal Masters last week, Paes played the first three ties for Washington Kastles in the World Team Tennis before taking the flight to Brazil.
Dr Paes defended his son, saying he couldn't understand “what the fuss was all about.“
He pointed out that the practice of doubles players landing at the venue two days before the event was nothing new. “There have been so many instances when Leander and Mahesh (Bhupathi) reached a Davis Cup venue on Wednesday, attended the draw ceremony and practised on Thursday and Friday before playing their match on Saturday . These are professional players and don't take long to adjust.“
To make things worse, Leander Paes was not assigned room in games village The Times of India Sanjeev Kumar | Aug 5, 2016
Speaking exclusively to Navbharat Times , the seven-time Olympian, who arrived in Rio de Janeiro Thursday evening, said he was extremely disappointed with the treatment dished out to him.
Because he was granted no room, Paes reportedly had to change in the Chef De Mission Rakesh Gupta's room. India's non-playing captain/coach Zeeshan Ali supported Paes and asserted that the tennis player never said that he would not live in the village.
Paes however, on arriving, practiced late in the evening with Zeeshan for an hour for a potential match on Saturday, August 6.
Earlier, Paes, who is to partner Rohan Bopanna in the doubles event, arrived late in Brazil, forcing his doubles partner to train with Sania Mirza and Serbia's Nenad Zimonjic instead. A leading news agency had even reported that Paes had informed the Indian Olympic Association that he doesn't wish to share a flat with Bopanna at the Olympic Village due to friction between the two.
Furthermore, he had agreed to arrive in Rio along with the rest of the players on Monday, August 1, but was instead competing in World Team Tennis tournament being held in Washington, New York.
See also
The Olympics: India (1900-2012)
The Olympics: India (2016)
