Today was the day for table tennis or good ole ping pong. The men's team second semi finals is witnessed in an arena next to the boxing one at London's ExCel. Hong Kong faces off against South Korea. The story of how Hong Kong shocked favourites Japan by the narrowest of 3-2 matches in the quarters is best told by someone else.
A lot is justifiably expected from the HK paddlers but this is not to be. South Korea, the second seeds, are in unrelenting mood. They register a 3-0 win over HK. The scoreline is rather deceptive as two of the three matches go down to the wire. On another day HK could easily have been 2-1 up with plenty to play for in the last two matches. But today there was no pop in either Hong Kong or ping pong.
I rush back home as soon as the table tennis finishes to catch Vijendra Singh's boxing bout on TV at 10 pm. Vijendra's meeting someone from Uzbekistan whom he convincingly beat in the Asian Games in 2010. So this should be a doddle right? Wrong!
Mr Singh is distinctly unlucky to find himself two points adrift of the Uzbek at the end of the second round. The English TV commentators can't believe their eyes. Neither can Rati and I. "The judges have pressed the wrong pads'" the English expert commentator concludes. Vijendra is hard done by and can't make up the deficit in the last round. There's something fishy in the way the judges score against Vijendra in the second round and the way Vijendra himself holds back from raining punches on the Uzbek in the last 45 seconds of the fight. Perhaps Mr Singh was just plain pooped of all energy. Whatever it is he succumbs just one step away from his second Olympic medal and immortality in Indian sport.
Mery Kom to the rescue. Eight hours earlier Magnificent Mery boxes the most important bout of her life to reach the semi finals and guarantee herself a medal. She's a women's boxing legend across the sport and her's is a popular and facile victory. Her twin sons turned five yesterday. Last evening's victory was her birthday gift to them. Today's a gift to her state, Manipur, and her Country.
Before Mery boxes Vikas Gowda throws the discuss far enough to reach the final. Well done to the man with a large physique and an even larger heart. Good luck Mery in the semis and Vikas in the finals.
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| Is he going to hit the ball or swallow it? |
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| Who's coaching whom? A huddle of players and coaches in a tense situation. |
I rush back home as soon as the table tennis finishes to catch Vijendra Singh's boxing bout on TV at 10 pm. Vijendra's meeting someone from Uzbekistan whom he convincingly beat in the Asian Games in 2010. So this should be a doddle right? Wrong!
Mr Singh is distinctly unlucky to find himself two points adrift of the Uzbek at the end of the second round. The English TV commentators can't believe their eyes. Neither can Rati and I. "The judges have pressed the wrong pads'" the English expert commentator concludes. Vijendra is hard done by and can't make up the deficit in the last round. There's something fishy in the way the judges score against Vijendra in the second round and the way Vijendra himself holds back from raining punches on the Uzbek in the last 45 seconds of the fight. Perhaps Mr Singh was just plain pooped of all energy. Whatever it is he succumbs just one step away from his second Olympic medal and immortality in Indian sport.
Mery Kom to the rescue. Eight hours earlier Magnificent Mery boxes the most important bout of her life to reach the semi finals and guarantee herself a medal. She's a women's boxing legend across the sport and her's is a popular and facile victory. Her twin sons turned five yesterday. Last evening's victory was her birthday gift to them. Today's a gift to her state, Manipur, and her Country.
Before Mery boxes Vikas Gowda throws the discuss far enough to reach the final. Well done to the man with a large physique and an even larger heart. Good luck Mery in the semis and Vikas in the finals.