Sunday 29 July 2012

Archery Lords It Over At Lords

Wow! Archery at Lords. That too right on the green, green grass of the hallowed cricket ground. Right in front of the even more hallowed Pavilion! Seeing is believing. And Rati and I actually saw it. We watched the quarter, semi and finals of the women's team archery. Fascinating skills across a target 70 metres away; that's a distance of over 200 ft from where the archer stands and the bulls eye.

A 15 minute walk from home normally takes us to the Lords Cricket Ground in London's St. Johns Wood. Today it took us a lot longer. Rain. Not the ideal conditions you will agree for an outdoor event. We seat ourselves down in our strategically positioned seats with terrific views of the field of play and the Lords pavilion. The sun is now shining brightly. Russia pull one out of the hat to beat Chinese Taipei and reach the semis. India is knocked out in the previous round by eminently beatable Denmark.

Right in front of the Lords pavilion, a different occurance on the hallowed cricket turf - Olympic archery!

The sun disappears. Meanwhile major domos Korea and China make the final. The final begins in pouring rain. Rati and I are half drenched but fully excited as the archers seem so steeped in the power of the moment that they do not seem to feel even a rain drop. Amazing sport this. Not a second is wasted during, in between and after matches. Everything is timed to the second and precision is the only thing which matters.
The finals in the rain.....typical London weather.

The final reaches its climax, the rain vamooses, the sun emerges, a rainbow forms way above the Mound Stand and South Korea pulls off a two point victory to record an amazing 7 Olympic gold medals in a row feat. Perhaps one day India will rid the Koreans of the archery Olympics gold. Perhaps.

We leave Lords in the smug thought that the greatest sports event on Earth has broken the cricket bastion right where it matters most - Lords. For a few days more the archers will be the Lords here. Then the English and South African cricketers will regain their paradise for the third test of the on going series. And I'll be back at Lords to watch.....cricket!