The Closing

So the Olympic games are over. Yes, I know it has been exactly a week since then, but I still remember the spectacular closing ceremony quite vividly. I made sure I caught it on TV this time and what a show it was (again!). Calling it perfect would be an understatement. The memory tower and the perfectly synchronized performers remained in my memory long after the show had ended.

No, there is one more thing that has remained actually - the preview performance of London 2012. Really, was it the best they could come up with? The double decker bus that opened up from all sides to reveal ... well, nothing! Couldn't they take a cue from the Chinese performances preceding them? Then there was Beckham, looking extremely uncomfortable, and all he was made to do was kick a football at the audience (now, what was that? :D). Leona Lewis (whose singing I otherwise like) sounded off key and I, for one, couldn't wait for the whole preview performance to get over quickly. I guess I am being a little judgemental about their performance but the Chinese have raised the bar so high that even otherwise good performances appear mediocre now.

And of course, 2008 Olympics were special because India won three medals - the maximum ever so far. I hope this is just a preview of more medals to come in future. As always, the governments (both central and some states) have recklessly started announcing prize money (in crores of rupees!) for the sportsmen who have brought home medals. I am all for recognizing and rewarding talented people, but wouldn't it be better if Govt had invested this amount in providing better facilities to the sportspersons so they can train better for subsequent Olympics? Probably that might have ensured that three did not remain the maximum number of medals India ever got.

Images courtesy:
http://www.en.beijing2008.cn/
http://www.timesofindia.com/

Beijing Olympics - view from far

I have been following the 2008 Beijing Olympics mostly on the Internet than on TV, unlike the last 2 Olympics. Since most sports URLs are blocked at workplace, I rely on non-sports sites to get the information I need. But then, Internet has its own advantages and I have managed to read some very interesting stuff so far.

I missed the spectacular Opening Ceremony on TV (but managed to catch some of it on youtube) which, as most people claimed, and rightly so, was one of the best shows on earth ever. But I read mixed reactions - on one hand Shekhar Kapur put it as the greatest live event ever presented on this planet and wondered if India could have done something similar. On the other hand, the Western media went all out to belittle the ceremony by over-emphasizing on the lip-syncing of Chinese national anthem by Lin Miaoke and dubbing the footprint fireworks shown to TV audience as "fake". I particularly resented the condescending article by one Mr. James Reynolds who writes in BBC's Olympics blog. I don't advocate beauty over talent and personally feel that Yang Peiyi (the actual singer of the anthem during Opening Ceremony) was no less cute than Lin herself, but we should not let these hiccups steal the thunder from China. They did put up a great show and we should applaud and appreciate all the hard work that was put in to make it such a flawless event. The dust on opening ceremony doesn't seem to settle down though - now there is this hype about soldiers who were operating the centerpiece scrolls wore nappies during the Opening Cermony as they were not allowed to take any breaks.

Let alone the Western media, even their Indian counterparts were not far behind when it came to belittling someone's achievements. After the initial euphoria of Abhinav Bindra winning the first ever individual gold medal died down, a lot was discussed about his keeping a water balloon/bottle on his maid's head (when Abhinav was all of 5 years of age) and shooting. Not to mention about his super-rich dad who spent all the money he could to make Bindra prepare well for the Olympics. Talking about India's performance in Beijing Olympics, I ran into this Wikipedia article that gives very detailed account of performance of Indian sportspersons in all events. It was really disheartening to see so many 'did not advance' entries. But then there were two boxing quarter-finals scheduled for the 20th where Indian boxers Jitender Kumar & Vijender Kumar (in flyweight and middleweight categories, respectively) have still kept India's hopes alive. I, for sure, will be following their matches tomorrow and rooting for them.

Just out of curiosity I had checked India's performance (links available in Wikipedia article's sidebar) in all the Olympics it has participated since 1900 (first as British India and later as independent India), the medal count hasn't gone above 2. There were many years when no medals were won, though. I am just hoping that these two boxers from Haryana break this jinx of two and add 2 more medals for the country..

Images courtesy:

1. http://www.twip.org/

2. http://images.beijing2008.cn/

3. http://www.zeenews.com/

What a match!

With both Federer & Nadal out of the Australian Open in the semis, I wasn't sure that the final clash between Djokovic & Tsonga would be as exciting as the one between Federer-Nadal. I couldn't have been more wrong.

The battle between Djokovic & Tsonga was very well-fought and seemed almost equally poised. Frenchman Tsonga has been a total surprise package in this whole tournament. He has defeated many top-seeded players en route his final clash with Djokovic. It was such a delight watching these two men in action - such agility on the court! And one of the TV commentators rightly said - 'What kind of practice do they do for a game like this - running in the Alps?'

Tsonga's near-perfect serves & Djokovic's play at the net were amazing. In spite of the fact that I am a die-hard Federer fan and absolutely love his game, class, grace & ease with which he plays those impossible looking shots; I did not feel guilty about admiring the Djokovic-Tsonga game. And my loyalties kept shifting from one to the other - that's what you call enjoying a game without any bias.

Picture courtesy:

Djokovic: http://www.seattlepi.com/

Tsonga: http://www.spitsnet.nl/