Bharathiya Nari-s at Rio -Congradulations all, for best efforts :
Opinion
18/08/2016.
682.
All Members,
Respected family members of this great holy Nation.
Sub : India Badminton 2016 Highlights: PV Sindhu beats World no. 2 Wang Yihan to enter Badminton Singles semi final
Ref : PV Sindhu beats China's Wang Yihan in quarter final of Women's Singles Badminton championship at Rio Olympics 2016
In one of the most thrilling encounters of Rio Olympics 2016, India’s Pusarla Venkata Sindhu defeated China’s Wang Yihan to enter the semi final of the Women’s Singles Badminton event. Sindhu beat Yihan 22-20, 21-19 making this the second consecutive Olympics in which an Indian player has qualified for the Women’s Singles Semi Final. Four years ago, it was Saina Nehwal and this time it is the brilliant PV Sindhu!
It all started with a sensational opening game which lasted just about 30 minutes. Sindhu started slow and was lagging behind at first interval 8-11. However, she staged a fantastic comeback just after the interval to make it 13-13. By now, Sindhu was dealing in smashes. And then for the first time in the game, she took the lead at 15-14! This was followed by a series excellent cross court shots and aggressive play which took her to two game points at 20-18. Then, Yihan fought back to tie the score at 20-20. She cleverly read a drop from Yihan and got to 21-20. Finally, an out from Wang Yihan closed the game at 22-20 in favor of India’s Sindhu.
Riding on the confidence from the first game, PV Sindhu started the second one on a dominating note and kept the lead till 9-4. Yihan tried to fight back and close to gap taking the score to 7-9. But Sindhu was unstoppable and the score at the interval once again was 11-8 but this time in favor of Sindhu. Sinshu stayed really patient during rallies and scored point after point giving her a 5-point cushion at 18-13! This is when China’s Wang Yihan brought on her A game. She became ferocious and showed courage under pressure to completely eliminate the 5-point lead taking the score to 18-18! And then with her sensational play, Yihan even took the lead 19-18! Sindhu stayed calm at this point and a fantastic return was sent out from Wang Yihan taking the score to 19-19. A smash here got Sindhu to match point putting the number 2 seed Yihan on the brink of defeat. Finally, a smart return from PV SIndhu became the shot of victory as Sindhu defeated Yihan 22-20, 21-19.
2.
Sub : Four years after London, PV Sindhu exacts Saina Nehwal and India’s revenge in Rio
Ref : Four years ago, the Chinese girl Yihan Wang had decimated Saina Nehwal in the London 2012 Olympics semis.
PV Sindhu looked fitter, faster and more motivated than Yihan Wang. (Source: AP)
In four years PV Sindhu had slayed Yihan Wang multiple times — notably at the Worlds and last autumn at Denmark — that she had effectively taken the sting out of an erstwhile dreaded opponent.
“It’s just one more win, it’ll be something if she can win the semis,” the coach P Gopichand said, keen on an upgrade.
Yet, revenge had been exacted. PV Sindhu handed out a bruising defeat to Yihan Wang in the last eight, and denied China its customary pair of medals. Four years ago, the Chinese girl had decimated Saina Nehwal in the London semis.
For the double World Championship medallist and for a coach who has now taken four different singles players into the quarter-finals of the Olympics, the ferocious win was the threshold of a possible medal — even if Sindhu was hardly a fancied name going into the Games.
Yet, the last two months had been boot-camp — both physically and emotionally — where the two young Olympian first-timers, Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth, and coach went about making the most of eight-odd weeks.
Sindhu had played 23 tournaments in the leadup to the Olympic qualification cut-off, and was desperately in need of propping up both her agility and fitness while peaking for the Olympics.
The two selfies that the young guns shared on social media in the lead-up had been of outrageous horizontal leg-splits in a gym as they tried out pilates, calisthenics and worked on the two aspects of fitness and agility that makes Sindhu’s attacking game look even more deadly.
Been there, done that :
When the draw came out, Tai Tzu Ying and Yihan Wang hence hadn’t seemed entirely impossible for the ninth seed. Sindhu had in fact beaten the two on back-to-back days on way to her Denmark Open finals — the only time she’s made the finals of a Super Series. She’s yet to win a Super Series title, though rival coaches are known to consider her an extremely dangerous floater in a draw — never too far from upsetting top players, never too overawed by reputations, though her head-to-heads needn’t always look remarkable.
Sindhu has in fact learnt far more from all her losses — at one point in 2014 she had played 20 three-setters upwards of 1 hour and played a dozen see-saw battles at match point, losing from the cusp of victory, bouncing back seemingly lost causes. 2014 also gave her a Commonwealth Games loss at the hands of Canadian Michelle Li in Glasgow — a score settled here at the Olympics.
Tai Tzu, considered the circuit’s most talented stroke maker was in fact cramped to such an extent by the looming Sindhu that she looked downright ordinary in the pre quarters.
Yihan though was a feared Chinese at the Olympics — never to be taken lightly, despite her debilitating back troubles and slowness on court and a hugely slowing hand speed.
Sindhu’s fitness — a sort of trademark of all Gopichand’s athletes — came to the fore when after a marathon 45-stroke rally (in 46 seconds, that’s a shot-per-second) which went Yihan’s way, Sindhu would return calmly to take the next two points and wrap up the first set during the 22-20, 21-19 victory.
Big-game temperament :
“She was really fired up, stayed calm and was aggressive in finishing with great attitude shown,” coach would say. “It was the way she fought and pulled off the strategy.” Her defense and big point temperament was right up there, and though she had been inconsistent and squandered leads in the past, she had shown a great work ethic.
In the end she was fitter, faster and frankly more motivated for a medal than Yihan. Getting into retrieving straight away, Sindhu had negated Yihan’s attack as well as employing tactical changes on the big points.
The Indian would slow the game down by giving the shuttle a little more height, tempting a strokeplayer Yihan to be drawn into errors. “As Sindhu was moving very well and with a highly improved defensive game, she could employ the tactic,” former Olympian Aparna Popat said.
Changed gameplans had seen her play at the net persistently and at another time respond with good smashes though she briefly got caught in parallel rallies.
This is also a different Sindhu from before with world-class fitness levels: the longer the match goes, the greater her chances of winning — not something that could be said of her two months ago. She had Yihan absolutely knackered with her game pace.
She looked ready for a 2 hour match even. Yihan’s slide has been quite visible – at Europe last year, where Sindhu thumped her, Yihan has looked injured, out of sorts, and ever her racquet looked a cheap make.
Ghosts of the 2012 Olympic Games, where Yihan Wang had terrified Indians were safely buried, as Sindhu moved onto bigger things.
3.
Sub : The father of Olympics semifinalist PV Sindhu took an 8-month holiday to help in training for
Rio 2016 :
Ref : PV Sindhu's parents can be held up as an example for all Indian parents to follow if they want to see the country doing well in sports.
by Dipankar Lahiri
PV Sindhu’s parents have been with her every step of the way in her career, but they are happy to cheer from home as she fights on in Rio
It has been discussed to death why Indians have not been able to step on to any Rio 2016 podium yet, despite the frequently changing national records at all age levels suggesting that the state of Indian sports is at an all-time high. The most number of fourth-placed finishes have come for India at 2016, but as the saying goes, nobody remembers fourth.
Of all the issues that are being seen as possible reasons for India’s failings, one less mentioned aspect is how the average Indian parent does not see pursuit of sports as a viable career choice. In a wealthier country, the failed pursuit of a sport can still afford somebody a second chance at happiness and success. But for the majority in our country, the security of a second career choice is unheard of.
And so, while Dipa Karmakar and Lalita Babar and their ilk make the nation proud by pushing their bodies to the limits, the average Indian teenager struggles to touch his or her own feet.
Unless a situation is reached where more parents are open to the idea of their children taking up sports as a profession, India is unlikely to have a wealth of competitors vying with each other in all Olympic sports, like is the case with countries like USA and China.
An example for all Indian parents to follow :
PV Sindhu, who has just rejuvenated India’s flailing medal hopes by upsetting the World No. 2 Yang Wihan and progressing to the badminton semifinal, is a case in point.
Sindhu’s father P.V. Ramanna and mother Vijaya Ramanna are not with Sindhu as she charts what could be a historic course in Brazil; they opted to cheer her on from their suburban residence around 20 kilometres from Hyderabad. But what they have done in terms of preparing Sindhu for the Rio Olympics and her career in general needs to be valourised as an example for all Indian parents to follow.
A Railways employee and a former volleyball player, Sindhu’s father had taken an eight-month leave before the Rio Games, as his daughter trained for a maiden Olympics appearance. During this period, Ramanna drove his daughter to Pullela Gopichand’s training academy at 4 am every morning. He also frequently discussed details of Sindhu’s game with her, a practice followed since the earliest days of the shuttler’s career.
Sindhu’s mother, who thinks that her daughter is a champion already – no matter how far she progresses – said this before the Rio Olympics: “She does not find the time to do what other kids of her age do as she is busy practising most of the time. The last five months have been really tough on her.”
At some level, it also must have been tough for Sindhu's parents. 'She plays badminton' is still not a very acceptable answer to the question 'What is your daughter doing?' in most Indian social circles. But they persisted with her choice, and the results are there for everyone to see.
Will other Indians parents learn from their example?
My view
1. Bharathiya women putting their best efforts at Rio, than men;
2. Respect Bharathiya Nari;
3. Love them as they are our mothers;
4. After best efforts of Gymnast #Dipa and wresler #SakshiMalik;
5. Sindhu, fast moving to her goal, wish her best of LUCK!
Thank you for reading
JAIHIND.
Next with another Topic ....
Note
1. The other women in wresling and few boxers done well!
2. Congratulations!!
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