Monthly Archives: November 2008

The regression of Indian badminton

Posted on November 27, 2008 by

The Badminton Association of India’s national circuit has turned into a farce, with only one senior tournament (the Tata Open in Mumbai) being held this calendar year (ie, since April), and the scheduling of only one more. Without the presence of a vibrant domestic circuit, how on earth is a healthy crop of young players going to emerge? More importantly, if the BAI is not conducting tournaments, what is it doing? Continue reading →

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Saina and the making of a new world order

Posted on November 26, 2008 by

Not in recent memory has an Indian attracted such popular enthusiasm; some minds harked back to the days of Prakash Padukone’s reign at the top in the early 1980s. In the event, as Saina took the title rather easily, becoming the first Indian to win a world title, some parallels could be drawn with Padukone, who won the Indian Masters in this city in 1981. Continue reading →

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Zhengming: Style and Substance

Posted on November 23, 2008 by

SELDOM do style and power come in one package. Style and its attendant qualities – grace, skill, delicacy, deftness – are reckoned to be exclusive of the other qualities expected in an athlete: power, toughness, stamina. In Wang Zhengming, China seems to have unearthed a gem that has equal measures of both style and power. Continue reading →

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For Hosathu

Posted on November 22, 2008 by

I was agreeably surprised when Dr G Ramakrishna, intellectual and left-wing ideologue, called me a few days ago seeking a feature for his magazine Hosathu. For one, Hosathu is a left-wing political/ literary Kannada magazine which rarely, if ever, carries anything on sports. But the year-end special issue is carrying one feature on Indian sport, and he wanted me to contribute. Continue reading →

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Farewell, Gaja-da

Posted on November 15, 2008 by

Gajanan Hemmady, the former Indian doubles player ranked no.4 in the world, died early on 19th October. Hemmady was part of the 1952 and 1955 Thomas Cup teams that reached the final round of the Thomas Cup. Hemmady had established a famous combination with Monoj Guha; the two had a brilliant record in Thomas Cup competition. Continue reading →

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Bindra, ‘a master of suffering’

Posted on November 9, 2008 by

NEW DELHI: “Abhinav Bindra is a master of suffering,” is the most unexpected declaration from his German coach Gabriele Buhlmann. Continue reading →

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