Hockey Horrors

India has through history beaten Belgium in the hockey world cup and olympics. This afternoon India ensured this piece of history is altered. Our hockey heroes contrived what I thought was impossible by being blanked 3-0 by a belligerent Belgium. We scored only 6 goals in our 5 league matches, lost all of them and earned the distinction of being the only team in the competition not to score even a single point.

Our beloved Aussie Coach, Mr Nobbs, got the physical condition of our players ship shape. Somewhere along the line old Nobby forgot that simply running around more or faster than the others does not a hockey match win. He threw out most of the senior players, brought in a bunch of bacchas who are just past their junior days, so much so that India has the youngest team in the competition.All this is great if Nobby is preaparing the team for Rio and the 2016 Olympics. Someone forgot to tell him it is London and not Rio we needed a team from him! Maybe in Rio.....

Our hockey men have their backs to me and their backs to the wall.

Our chaps in blue keep attacking but the opponents keep scoring the goals!

We keep running around in circles and Nobbs, standing to the left of our flag, fellin' dizzy and clueless.

The hockey is best forgotten except for an earlier match I witnessed wherein the Aussie steam rolled Pakistan 7-0. The animals where there at the Olympic Park to brighten my Olympic day. The police horses in all their majesty. A guide dog, cute and all Labrador. And the Dog Relief Area (see photos below) more than made up for Nobby and his men.

Horses for courses. This horse is on course to do his job in the Olympic Park.

A cute black Labrador I snapped close to the hockey stadium. This one's a professional - a highly trained Guide Dog. 

The dogs at the Olympics are having a field day. This enclosed area, the pink sign on the wooden wall declares it's a "Dog Relief Area", is for the pooches to relieve themselves. Don't miss the toilet paper on the wall. Wonder whether it's meant for a pooch or a person!

Later in the evening we watch our good man Gowda on TV in the discuss final. He throws well, for an Indian that is. By Olympic standards he was good enough to finish only 8th. Relatively speaking he did us proud merely by reaching the finals. Good on you mate.

Ping Pong Pop

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.

Is he going to hit the ball or swallow it?

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.

Magnificent Mery Makes Merry

Today at the Olympics for India undoubtedly belongs to the mother of two, 5 times world champion, the pocket dynamo, Mery Kom. Another magnificent stadium, ExCel, and another fine performance from an Indian lady makes for another day of sumptuous Olympics fare. 

Women's boxing is happening for the first time ever in the Olympics. Mery's bout against the accomplished Pole, also a world champion of the past and the current world no 5, was the third fight on the women's time table. It was the first competitive match in Olympics history though. Once again, after the Saina Nehwal quarter final, a sprinkling of Indians in the stadium created a noise disproportionate to their numbers. We have a ring side seat, ideal for jumping around, raising our flags and screaming "India, India" and "Mery Kom, Mery Kom". Enough to get the TV camera on us!



The rocky type music is on full blast as Mery Kom enters the arena.



Magnificent Mery walks in to the arena in her trade mark understated manner, bows her head in prayer and is ready to box. None of the jumping around on toes, punching the air in anticipation of the real thing and "if looks could kill" looks. Mery Kom prepares to box as though she was setting off from home for a pilgrimage. A simple lady from a humble background in an aggressive sport!

The fight itself is packed with action and incident. Once both boxers wrestle each other to the ground. On another occasion Mery's head guard comes loose and the boxing stops to have that mended. Mery also losses balance twice and is on the floor. The Indian moves into the ascendency after an even first round and begins the last one with a bulging 5 point lead.

Mery Kom, in blue, takes the fight to the Pole right from the outset.

Soon she's making headway with clever jabs, hooks and upper cuts.

The result of the bout is announced amidst a cacophony of noise in the stadium. The final score is 19-14 in favour of the blue corner. Mery Kom has delivered against a tricky opponent. One more victory and she'll be guaranteed an Olympic medal. 

The winner is declared. Mery Kom exults. The vanquished Pole hangs her head in dejection.

The lady in blue, Mery Kom, wins the day and the evidence is on the scoreboard.

These Games have lived up to the friendly games tag, at least for me. I again make friends. This time it is Brendon and Julie. We exchange telephone numbers and agree to meet for a drink the next evening at the same venue (they are again coming for the boxing and I'll be back at ExCel for the men's team table tennis semi finals). Julie, the Irish lady, I discover is a big India fan and takes photographs with my flag. She's immediately mentions the 1970s Hindi movie of the same name, a movie in which the keralite, Lakshmi, acts in and as Julie.

Bull In, and Outside, A China Shop

To Wimbledon, to Wimbledon, to the Centre Court, to watch two finals, or Gold Medal matches as these are called at the Olympics. Rati and I go to see two but we get to watch four Centre Court matches instead. More of the extra two later.

Serena Williams comes from a different planet. On this planet they play better tennis than any humans have ever done. The power and panache displayed by Serena this afternoon was breath stopping stuff. Poor Sherapova could do nothing to stop the bull in, and outside, a China shop Williams.

Sharapova reaches for the skies but falls flat in the final.

The match was a NC (a boxing abbreviation for No Contest) but watching Serena whack the ball perhaps harder than any women has ever done was worth our while. In the midst of this match Rati gives me stunning news. Saina Nehwal has won a bronze. The first Indian badminton player to stand on the victory podium in an Olympics. Sabash Saina. You make us proud.

The ladies singles medal ceremony is best remembered for the US flag sailing away from the flag pole in the midst of the US anthem! Wimbledon just isn't used to flags and hoisting them I guess.

Contrasting moods at the medals ceremony. Serena is beaming. Sharapova is sulking. A reflection of their respective performances!

In stark contrast to the ladies final, the men's doubles final between the Bryan brothers from the US and the French duo of Tsonga and Llodra produced keen and closely fought fare. Tsonga is a character and stands out of the foursome if nothing but for his antics on court. The French give way at the end to lose a close match to the US favourites but not before we see some super fast serving, ferocious hitting and precision volleys.

"Appa, WAKE UP. I've just got an email from the Games organisers informing us of an additional earlier match on Centre Court this morning. Let's go faaast."  This was how Rati ensures I begin this day!

The matches at Wimbledon are behind schedule due to rain in the last few days (nothing new!). The back log requires to be made up. These Olympics folks are so organised as to send out individual emails about extra matches to ticket holders. Amazing.

We watch two more matches on Centre Court than what we have paid for - Andy Murray's mixed doubles quarter final and the Williams sister's doubles semi finals. Both matches are super to watch. It was indeed a bonus to get to see Andy Murray and Venus Williams play, not to mention Serena again blasting away to victory. Paes and Sania lose their quarter final in the afternoon. If only they had won we would have watched them play their semis on Court no 1. If only.

Rati and I have an unforgetable day. A full 10 hours we spend at Wimbledon. It somehow seems like but a couple of hours, such is the way time flies on Centre Court.

Vijay Kumar Sharma - smokin' silver bullets!

Most of us, myself included, would not even have heard of young Vijay Kumar. After this afternoon none of us will forget him. A bolt from the blue silver medal in the 25 metre pistol event. Subedar Vijay Kumar Sharma, displaying all the calmness and discipline of an army man, shoots silver bullets out of his smoking gun to land an unexpected heaven sent medal for India. The heavenly 16 Dogra Regiment man displays a cool as a cucumber and cold as ice demeanour through his medal winning performance and afterwards too. Shabash Subedar.

News of the Subedar's silver comes to me at a most opportune time. The India v Germany hockey match has just finished, I rise from my seat but my spirits sink. India have again been outplayed. The Indians blunder in between bouts of pristine hockey, Coach Nobbs gets his tactics and playing 11 for the day wrong and Germany romp home with a 5-2 verdict.

My new found Indian friend in the chair next to me, Dr Deepak, is still seated and pouring over his iPad. "We've got a silver," Dr Deepak suddenly proclaims. My sinking spirits are shaken from their slumber. "A silver Dr?" I query more in disbelief than elation. Vijay Kumar jee triggers an osmosis within me. From sinking spirits of reasons hockey and Saina Nehwal's loss in the badminton earlier in the day, my low lying emotions permeate through the membrane of an Indian triumph and generate an instant elation. The day has turned the corner. I walk back from the hockey stadium with a spring in my step, my mind blanking out the darker memories of the hockey I had just been witness to.

On the way out of the Olympic park a cheerful English lady, Jo, accosts me. "Can I please have a photograph with you and your flag? I supported India at the hockey just now and want to send the photograph back to my team in India," Jo explains. We click a few snaps together and I discover she's from Goldman Sachs and manages an IT team of Goldman's in Bangalore. We exchange email ids and I am again off on my way, imagining silver bullets buzzing all around me. Well done Subedar Vijay Kumar Sharma. May the Indian Army immediately give you two promotions!



I click the Olympic Stadium as I walk back from the hockey. Athletics action had just commenced a few hours back.



When I reach home my spirits are lifted even more. We watch Vikas Krishnan in the 69 kgs class box his way into the quarter finals. Soon Rati informs me that the women's singles final will be between Serena Williams and Sherapova; the mens's doubles finals will have the Bryan brothers and the effervescent French duo of Lladro and Tsonga. Couldn't ask for more. Tomorrow Rati and I will be there in Wimbledon's Centre Court to watch these two finals. The mind boggles!

The India London 2012 Olympics pin-up badge. This particular one belongs to our badminton singles quarter finalist, Parupalli Kashyap.

Saina on Song!

What a match! What a lady! What a day! Saina Nehwal did herself and India proud in a packed Wembley Arena this afternoon with a clinically professional performance to defeat that wily old coyote from Denmark, Tine Baum, 21-15; 22-20, and make the semi-finals of the Olympics badminton women's singles.



Supple Saina - in action in the quarters earlier today. She's lost weight, 5 kgs, in preparation for the Olympics.



Us Indians, and there were more than a fair sprinkling present, went crazy. The chants and screams were several and varied. "Jeete ga bhai, jeete ga, India jeete ga", "Let's go Saina, let's go", "Come on Saina", "Come on India", "Chak de", "Chalo Saina, chalo", "Steady Saina, steady", all pierced the air with clock work regularity through our badminton queen's match. The atmosphere was India charged with many Indian flags proudly being waived. At times Saina must have felt she was playing in Lucknow, not London.



Chic Saina - the pretty lady makes a fashion statement, a single piece dress! The endorsements will pour in.



The guru and the pupil. Gopichand, the coach, coaches. Saina, the player, gets coached.



The first game saw Saina take control from the beginning. She kept a healthy lead through the game and ran out a facile winner in the first. The second saw tables turned. Tine Baum started well and nearly ended the game well too. Baum had three game points at 20-17 but it was one of those Saina end of game fight backs for which she has now got a growing reputation for. Five points Saina pulls off in a row to take the second game too and the match.



She stoops to conquer. Approaching victory.....



Pandemonium breaks out amongst us Indians present. I move with my tricolour a few steps down to the edge of the court and 'am soon followed by three other screaming flag totting Indians. We set up an incessant chant of "Saina, Saina". She looks up from packing her racquets into her bag and says a shy, polite "Thank you". A super badminton player. A fine lady.



Yours truly in truly celebratory mood right after Saina's match and next to the court she played on. "Come on India!" Thanks for the many message from India about me appearing on TV with the beloved tricolour. Jai Hind!



Lots of photographs later (by now most of the Indians in the crowd had gathered where I was sitting next to the court) us Indian supporters go out of the stadium together chanting "India, India", waving our flags furiously. Lots more photographs and lots more new Indian friends made in the gathering outside. Olympic victory is the best medicine to bring Indians together in any part of the world. And badminton in the Country seems to be becoming ever so popular. Thanks a ton Saina.



The badminton queen walking back from the stadium to the Ibis hotel next door on Wembley Way soon after I meet and congratulate her. Notice she herself is carrying her kit bag and saunters on the high streets of London totally unrecognised.



Wembley Wonder

Today was a double header. First the India - New Zealand hockey match at the Olympic Park and then a rush across town to the football at one of the world's most famous stadia, Wembley Stadium.

One went with a spring in one's step to the Riverbank Arena to watch our hockey men. After the memorable fight back in the second half of the previous match against Holland, us India supporters were encouraged to expect India would put it across the higher ranked Kiwis. All went according to the Indian script as we scored in the very second minute. 1-0 to India and the promise of more to come. Alas, it was not to be. In a disappointing performance thereafter the spoils of the day were taken by the Kiwis with a 3-1 score line.

I make a quick dash immediately after the match from the Olympic Park deep in East London to the Liverpool Street station where Rati meets me. After a hug and another, "Happy birthday Rati", we set off by Tube to the outer reaches of North West London and the Wembley Stadium. Miraculously we are in our seats for the start of the South Korea - Gabon football game. And what seats they prove to be! What a stadium we are in! Without doubt the best stadium I've ever been in. The spectator attendance at the match, in true Wembley Stadium tradition, is flashed on the giant screens during the second half of the game. 76,927 is the spectator count for the game.

The fabulous Wembley Stadium. The best stadium I have ever been in.

How the 76,927 were controlled post the match and found themselves home provides another example of how well organised these Games have been. Wave after wave of humanity find themselves lead into the Wembley Park tube station without any hiccups. Event after event the stadia have matched the superb way the crowds have been managed.

Post match most of the 76,927 spectators are lead into Wembley Park tube station - orderly and organised.

Although our World number 1 archer, Deepika Kumari, fares miserably in her first round today, our badminton singles flags are flying high. P. Kashyap has probably surprised himself by reaching the quarter finals whilst Saina Nehwal surprised no one by doing likewise.

I am eagerly looking forward to being at the Wembley Arena to cheer Saina along.....