Service, Then Jubilation

Meanwhile, the Indian tricolour flies high at Gold Coast. As the 12-day event creeps towards a close, India is proudly placed at the third position in the medals tally바카라�its 12 golds so far buoyed by a few pleasant surprises. The haul incl­udes nine medals from weightlifters alone, including five golden ones. And there is more to come in the open events that are going on now.

But even by the most optimistic yardstick, it would be well-nigh impossible for India to emulate its best-ever performance at a CWG. That high point had come at the 2010 Delhi Games, where the crucial home environment helped Indian athletes win a grand total of 101 medals. It was the only time the country had crossed the 100-mark in 15 attempts till then, and the tally included a record 38 gold, 27 silver and 36 bronze medals. India will have to bide its time to break the Delhi record in the quadrennial sports extravaganza.

That바카라�s no reason to cavil though바카라�it바카라�s still a great performance by our athletes. Among the outstanding individual performers, 16-year-old shooting star Manu Bhaker, who clinched the 10m air pistol gold with unerring ease, and the two golden Chanus from Manipur in weightlifting바카라�Saikhom Mirabai (48kg) and Khumukcham Sanjita (53kg)바카라�got the top spot with virtuoso displays. 바카라�I was with these girls as a government observer at the Commonwealth Weight­lifting Championships (CWC) last September, when we won several medals. That competition was also held at the same auditorium in Gold Coast as this CWG event. Since September, their performance has been good. I also monitored their training after the CWC, and I was sure they will win gold,바카라� Karnam Malleswari, India바카라�s lone Olympic wei­ghtlifting medallist, tells Outlook.

The biggest upset of the Games for India, though, was by the women바카라�s table tennis team. In the team event, they beat Singapore, a global superpower in the game, to win gold바카라�their first ever. And the shepherd of the sensational victory was young Manika Batra, just 22, but possessor of remarkable poise and intellect. Tall and lithe, and a mistress of subtle placement and diehard defence, the 58th ranked Manika shocked world No 4 Feng Tianwei, a multiple Olympic medallist, in the final. That win set 14th ranked India on a path to an upset 3-1 triumph over eighth ranked Singapore. In another memorable outing바카라�and a glorious corollary to the women바카라�the men바카라�s team, ranked 10th, beat 32nd ranked Nigeria 3-0 in the final. Two table tennis team gold are the stuff of fantasy. 바카라�These performances are a real surprise, especially the women바카라�s gold, because the opposition, Singapore, is a strong team and were unbeaten till now. I am very happy for the men바카라�s team. We knew from the beginning that the men had an outside chance of winning gold.... They did fantastically well. It was a double wha­mmy for us; a golden performance,바카라� Kamlesh Mehta, eight-time national men바카라�s single champion, tells Outlook.

The toast of the competition has been Bhaker, for her pressure-free, almost nonchalant excellence. The class XI student from Haryana shot a CWG rec­ord with a total of 240.9 points in the final of the 10m air pistol. Heena Sidhu and Shreyasi Singh emulated her golden feat in their respective shooting categories. 바카라�It has been a good, solid performance by our shooting team so far. It바카라�s heartening to see young talent coming forward and taking on the best in Gold Coast. It is good for our chances of securing a strong presence at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, as this young brigade will boost medals prospects. They seem to be enjoying themselves바카라�a very healthy sign,바카라� says Mansher Singh, the 1994 CWG trap gold medallist and now a coach with the Indian team, from Gold Coast.

It has been apparent for a few years that in team events, only China and Japan stood before our badminton might like a great wall. This was confirmed at the CWG, when India broke Malaysia바카라�s monopoly in the CWG mixed team event, as the Saina Nehwal-led side registered a 3-1 upset win in the best-of-five final. However, it바카라�s true that the badminton field in CWG is weaker without major Asian powerhouses China, Japan, and Korea. 바카라�The field is pretty light in CWG, the Chinese, the Japanese, the Danes and the Koreans are not there. It should be easy to reach the quarters and the semis in open events; after that it depends on how well you play. In the Asian Games they [barring Denmark] will take the field. In CWG, the competition is not even half as tough as the Asian Games or the World Championships. Out of top eight countries, only three바카라�India, England and Malaysia바카라�are playing here; the others are not up to the mark,바카라� says Uday Pawar, a former national doubles badminton champion.

But Pawar, who formed a potent force with Prakash Padukone in doubles, is fulsome in his praise. 바카라�After the team events, the players will have to maintain concentration and make sure they are fit right till the end of the open events, esp­ecially those who have played in the team events. It바카라�s a test of their fitness, and that바카라�ll be an important part of how well they can do,바카라� he points out. He exp­ects two medals each in the men바카라�s and women바카라�s singles, besides the men바카라�s and women바카라�s doubles.

Not only badminton, competition in some other disciplines as well, inc­luding track and field, will be tougher at the Asian Games, to be held in Indonesian cities Jakarta and Palembang in August-September this year. Athletes will have to guard against false sense of superiority that might creep in with CWG successes. Another crucial factor for them will be the short gap between the CWG and the Asian Games바카라�just four months. In this period, they will have to recover mentally and physically, and raise their game for the bigger test. Also, the athletes, coaches and administrators will have to chalk out an ideal schedule of training and competit­ion, so that they can mount a formidable challenge.

In Gold Coast, five boxers바카라�Amit Panghal, Naman Tanwar, Mohammed Hussamuddin, Manoj Kumar and Satish Kumar바카라�were assured of a medal each as they reached the semi-finals in their respective weight categories. In hockey, too, both the men바카라�s and women바카라�s teams have done well to progress to the semi-finals. In the women바카라�s event, India will play hosts Australia and England will clash with New Zealand. Both teams, though, had their share of scares early on. A lowly Wales shocked the women in the opening match while the men바카라�s team squandered a 2-0 advantage against Pakistan in the opener to be held 2-2 in the last minute. Both recovered to make it to the semis; for the women, who beat the formidable English team, it was an achievement. 바카라�The loss to Wales was unpredictable and indigestible to any person who understands hockey. But the win over world No 2 England erased the loss, and now, the first target of reaching the semis has been met. In the men바카라�s section, it was shocking to see India being held by Pakistan, which is not a good team. The real battle starts from semi-finals,바카라� says former India women바카라�s team coach A.K. Bansal. Int­erestingly, eight-time Olympic cha­mpion India has never won the Commonwealth Games men바카라�s hockey gold, while the women have won only once, in 2002 in Manchester.

India would hope to keep its third position intact by the time the Gold Coast  Games end, on April 15. But, as Pawar points out, there are tougher days ahead for our athletes in the Asian Games. CWG has 71 countries; at the Asiad, 45 nations will jostle for podium finishes, with powerhouses like China, Japan and South Korea to contend with. Fans would hope the winners at Gold Coast will cling on to their form, then climb up a notch.