Thursday, July 24, 2008

Will Sania and Saina make it happen this time for India?

Indian contingent has 57 players and 42-member support staff ( a total of 99 members). Hopes are pinned upon Tennis sensation Sania, Badminton queen Saina Nehwal and the Indian Boxers. Last Olympic achiever R S Rathore is also a strong candidate.

Here is the list:

Archery (4-members): Dola Banerjee, Pranitha Vardhineni, L Bombayala Devi, Mangal Singh Champia.

Athletics (17-members): Anju Bobby George (Long Jump), Krishna Poonia (Discus), Harwant Kaur (Discus), Preeja Sreedharan (10000m), Manjit Kaur (400m), ChitraSoman (4x400m relay), Sini Jose (4x400m relay), MR Poovamma (4x400m relay), Mandeep Kaur (4x400m relay), S Geeta (4x400m relay), K Mridula (4x400m relay), J J Shobha (Heptathlon), Sushmita Singh Roy (Heptathlon), G G Pramila (Heptathlon), Vikas Gowda (Discus), Renjith Maheswary (Triple Jump), Surender Singh (10000m).

Badminton (2-members): Anup Sridhar and Saina Nehwal.

Boxing (5-members): Jitender (51 kg), Akhil Kumar (54 kg), A L Lakhra (57 kg), Vijender (75 kg), Dinesh Kumar (81 kg).

Judo (2-members): Khumujam Tombi Devi, Divya.

Rowing (3-members): Bajrang Lal Takhar (Single M1X), Devender Khandwal and Manjeet Singh (Light Weight Double Scull)

Shooting (9-members): Manavjit Singh Sandhu (Clay Pigeon Trap), Mansher Singh (Clay Pigeon Trap), Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (Clay Pigeon Double Trap), Gagan Narang (10m Air Rifle), Abhinav Bindra (10m Air Rifle), Samresh Jung (10m Air Pistol), Sanjeev Rajput (50m Rifle 3 position), Anjali Bhagwat (50m Rifle 3 position), Avneet Kaur Sidhu (10m Air Rifle).

Swimming (4-members): Virdawal Khade (50m, 100m, 200m freestyle), Ankur Poseria (100m Butterfly), Sandeep Sejwal (100m, 200m Breaststrokes), Rehan Poncha (200m Butterfly).

Table Tennis (2-members): Achanta Sharath Kamal, Neha Aggarwal.

Tennis (4-members): Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi (doubles), Sania Mirza (Singles and doubles), Sunitha Rao (doubles).

Weightlifting (1-member): L Monika Devi (69 kg).

Wrestling (3-members): Sushil Kumar (66 kg Freestyle), Yogeshwar Dutt (60 kg Freestyle), Rajiv tomar (120 kg Freestyle).

Yachting (1-member): Maj N S Johal (Heavyweight Dinghy).

source: http://www.rediff.com/sports/2008/jul/24olyteam.htm

Medals Tally

Games
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Total
Athlete/ Team
1900 Paris
0
2
0
2
Norman Pritchard (Athletics)
1904 St. Louis
-
-
-
-
did not participate
1908 London
-
-
-
-
did not participate
1912 Stockholm
-
-
-
-
did not participate
1920 Antwerp
0
0
0
0
-
1924 Paris
0
0
0
0
-
1928 Amsterdam
1
0
0
1
Hockey Team
1932 Los Angeles
1
0
0
1
Hockey Team
1936 Berlin
1
0
0
1
Hockey Team
1948 London
1
0
0
1
Hockey Team
1952 Helsinki
1
0
1
2
Hockey Team, Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav (Wrestling)
1956 Melbourne
1
0
0
1
Hockey Team
1960 Rome
0
1
0
1
Hockey Team
1964 Tokyo
1
0
0
1
Hockey Team
1968 Mexico City
0
0
1
1
Hockey Team
1972 Munich
0
0
1
1
Hockey Team
1976 Montreal
0
0
0
0
-
1980 Moscow
1
0
0
1
Hockey Team
1984 Los Angeles
0
0
0
0
-
1988 Seoul
0
0
0
0
-
1992 Barcelona
0
0
0
0
-
1996 Atlanta
0
0
1
1
Leander Paes (Tennis)
2000 Sydney
0
0
1
1
Karnam Malleswari (Weight Lifting)
2004 Athens
0
1
0
1
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (Shooting)
Total
8
4
5
17

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Indian Olympic history

Indian history in Olympics dates back to 1900 Paris games. Norman Pritchard was the only person to represent India at that time and returned with two silver medals in athletics. After a gap of 20 years India was again represented by two athletes in 1920 Antwerp games.

But a more organized representation began in 1928. This was the first official representation after the formation of Indian Olympic Association in 1927. And thus began the golden era of Indian Hockey. This was their first visit to the Olympics and their first Gold medal as well. The captain was Jaipal Singh. Next 28 years and 6 Olympics were the witnesses of Indian dominance in the World Hockey. India won 6 consecutive gold medals. Dhyan Chand was the main contributor to this success. India played 24 matches and won all 24, scored 178 goals (at an average of 7.43 goals per match) and conceded only 7 goals. India again won two more gold medals in Olympic hockey in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

Apart from hockey, Indians have performed in athletics, six Indians and the 4x400 women's relay team have reached the finals of their events in Olympics. They are Norman Pritchard in 1900 (two silvers in sprint and hurdles), Henry Rebello in 1948 London (Triple Jump), Milkha Singh 1960 Rome ( fourth place in 400 metres), Gurbachan Singh Randhawa 1964 Tokyo (fifth place in 100 m hurdles), Sriram singh 1976 Montreal ( seventh in 800m), P.T Usha in 1984 Los Angeles ( fourth in 400m hurdles) who unfortunately lost her bronze by 1/100th of a second and the 4 member squad of the 400m. women's relay P.T.Usha, M.D.Valsamma, Vandana Rao, Shiny Abraham reached seventh place, the same year.

Other than this, India's record in the Olympics paints a rather gloomy picture, for a country having a population of over a billion people. Apart from the 8 gold medals, one silver medal and two bronzes in Hockey, two silver medals in athletics, India has won silver in shooting (Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore 2004 Athens), bronzes for wrestling ( Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav 1952 Helsinki), shooting ( Dr Karni Singh 1964 Tokyo), tennis ( Leander Paes 1996 Atlanta) and weightlifting ( Karnam Malleswari 2000 Sydney).

We wish best of luck to the Indian contingent for the 2008 Beijing Olympic.