By Mohammed Shafeeq

Basking in Olympic glory, star shuttler Pusarla Venkata Sindhu has now set her eyes on the World Superseries, the only trophy missing from her cabinet, while becoming the World No.1 remains her ultimate goal.

The tall 5′ 11″ silver medallist in women’s singles badminton at Rio Olympics is conscious of the fact that she will be the most marked player by her opponents in the upcoming tournaments.

The Hyderabadi, who returned to a hero’s welcome by both the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments, said that her immediate aim is the Superseries. “My immediate aim is the Superseries. I will focus on that,” said the 21-year-old who finished runner-up at the Denmark Open last year.

Also Read: Rio 2016 | P V Sindhu goes one up on Saina Nehwal

For the World No.10, reaching the top rank remained her ultimate goal, which she had set for herself in 2012 after breaking into the top 25. “If you keep winning tournaments, you automatically become number one. I will have to definitely work hard and give my best,” said Sindhu, the only double bronze medallist from India at the World Championships.

For Sindhu, whose parents are volleyball players, badminton was a passion when she held the racquet at the age of eight.

“It was a step-by-step journey. First the national circuit, then the international circuit. I was the first (Indian girl) to win a bronze at the World Championships. Slowly I got confidence in myself. I was down with injuries, ups and downs but then finally I made it.”

Her coach Pullela Gopichand believes that she is still far from a complete transformation. Which are the areas she thinks she needs to work on? 

“No particular one thing. I had been playing all the strokes and it is very important that you learn and you keep on learning.”

Does winning an Olympics silver increase the pressure to perform well every time she goes on court? 

“Nothing like pressure but it will depend on how I prepare. It will also depend on the strategy I have to make keeping in view what happens in a particular match.”

Sindhu, who went down fighting at the Rio Olympics final to Carolina Marin of Spain, the current World No.1, said there was no pressure in the crunch game.

“There was no pressure. I played my game. It was a good game. I congratulated her. She played aggressively.”

How did she feel after taking a 1-0 lead in the first game?

“I never thought it’s over. I believed in myself. There was one more game. I knew that she is not going to leave (the contest). She came back and the third game was equally good but she took the lead, maintained it and won.”

Was she disappointed at the loss?

“I was not. In the final game, I thought I can come back as I did in the first game after trailing 16-19. I should appreciate her. She played with the intention of winning. Both of us were fighting equally hard. Only one can win and it was her day,” Sindhu said.

“Gopi sir told me he is very happy. ‘It was a good week for you, I don’t want you to be upset, we did not think we will come thus far and you played brilliantly well’.”

Which was the toughest match for you?

“Every match was equally tough since the first round like the one against Michelle Li (Canada). The pre-quarterfinal was also tough. Tai Tzu-ying (Chinese Taipi) was not an easy player. Then the quarterfinal against World number two Wang Yihan (China). In the past, I won few matches and she won few. It was same against Nozomi Okuhara (Japan) whom I defeated in the semifinal.”

“I feel each one was equally tough and each one was totally different because everybody has a different style of game and different strategy. I never thought I will win an Olympic medal. I took it one match at a time.”

Sindhu also felt that the Chinese are not unbeatable as players from others countries too were playing well and coming up.

“This time I think there were no Chinese in the women’s singles. They played well. (Defending champion) Li Xuerui was injured but ups and downs are always there in life. For me particularly, the match with Wang Yihan was good. She did not leave (any chances). She is a very experienced player.”

Things have changed a lot for Sindhu with the silver medal — and it’s not just the cash rewards of Rs 13.5 crore and countless other gifts one is talking about.

“It’s truly different feeling. I feel my life has changed. I never thought I will get the medal at Olympics. It was my first Olympics. I am really happy. It’s a dream come true.”

She is also elated over the fact that from the country’s top leaders to celebrities, everybody rooted for her. Amitabh Bachan tweeted that he wants to take a selfie with her while Rajnikanth said he had become her fan.

“It’s is a great thing. It made my day. Today I was retweeting to them to thank them. Millions of people supported me. I think their support, blessings and prayers helped me,” Sindhu concluded.

IANS

With five gold medals at the Rio Olympics 2016, US swimmer Michael Phelps became the most talked about athlete on Twitter followed by legendary Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt and Brazilian football player Neymar.

During the Olympics, over 187 million tweets were sent which led to 75 billion impressions (views on and off Twitter) of tweets, the company said on Wednesday.

Neymar’s game winning penalty kick for Brazil in a shootout versus Germany in the gold medal football match took top honour as the most exciting moment measured by Tweets per minute (TPM).
This was followed by Bolt winning gold in the 100-metre event for the third straight Olympics.

Swimming remained the most discussed sports on Twitter followed by football and track and field events.

US gymnast Simone Biles’s tweets became the most retweeted athlete tweets. Bolt came next followed by Argentine tennis player Juan M del Potro.

Twitter Moments kept fans around the world connected to the live #Rio2016 moments, tweets and conversations. With the new Rio 2016 section in Moments, fans had the option to follow country specific Moments feed.

IANS

Rio 2016 Olympics bronze medalist wrestler Sakshi Malik was accorded a grand welcome by people and the state government as the motorcade carrying her entered Haryana.

Sakshi, who arrived in Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport early on Wednesday from Rio de Janeiro, was given a rousing reception at the airport itself. The Haryana government in a state-level function held to honour Sakshi, rewarded her with a Rs 2.5 crore check and announced a government job for her.

The Delhi government had also announced a reward of Rs 1 crore for her. “I got a very good welcome. Felt very nice. Lot of people from my village and state came to receive me,” Sakshi, who stopped at New Delhi’s Haryana Bhawan for some time, told the media.

“I will rest for a few days and then begin the training schedule again,” said a visibly happy Sakshi, who got a first medal for India at the Olympics by winning bronze in the 58-kg women freestyle wrestling event.

Sakshi’s motorcade delayed reaching Bahadurgarh town as she was stopped and honoured by people from various villages in Haryana along the Delhi to Rohtak highway.

The wrestler was accompanied by her mother Sudesh and father Sukhbir Malik. She was accorded the status of a state guest by the Haryana government.

Haryana’s Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Anil Vij, who was present in Rio as the head of state delegation, accompanied the star wrestler on the return flight.

At the insistence of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, the event to felicitate Sakshi was pre-poned from Wednesday evening to morning. The venue was also shifted from her hometown Rohtak to Bahadurgarh town, 30 km from Delhi. Khattar, along with other ministers and officials, was present at the venue to welcome and honour Sakshi.

Sakshi was given the honour to be the flag-bearer at the closing ceremony of the Rio games.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia last week visited Sakshi’s native place in Rohtak, 70 km from Delhi. He announced a direct promotion for Sakshi Malik’s father Sukhbir Malik — a bus conductor with Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC).

IANS

Indian marathon runner O.P. Jaisha said she fainted at the Rio Olympics on a hot, humid day because no Indian sports official provided her with water or glucose water, a reminder that sports federations in India are often ignorant of sporting requirements.

Much has been written about Indian sports associations managed by politicians instead of athletes. Now, there is clear data on the details:–

Only one sports association (SA) — the Athletics Federation of India — has a former national athlete as president.
– Only nine SAs have former or present players on their governing bodies.
– 12 SAs have not made available any details about the tenures of presidents and members.
– Only two SAs have any kind of plan for the future.
– Women constitute between 2 per cent and 8 per cent of SA governing bodies. Hockey India, with 34 per cent female representation, is the exception.

These are the key findings of a new report, Governance of Sports in India: 2016, by InGovern Research Services, an advisory, which analysed publicly available data from 27 sports associations and federations (including the Indian Olympic Association). The IOA’s members include 38 national sports federations (NSFs).

Of these 38 NSFs, sports and disciplines represented by 26 NSFs –which the report probes — featured in the recently-concluded Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The major findings are segregated into five major buckets:

1. Incorporation and constitution of associations and federations

– Nine SAs have failed to disclose their objectives to the general public.
– 10 SAs have failed to make available their constitution/charter to the general public.
– 10 SAs have not made public their governing statute, which includes the roles and responsibilities of the president, members and other office bearers.

2. Composition of associations and federations

– Only one SA has a former national athlete as its president.
– As many as eight SAs do not have female representation on their governing bodies. This excludes four NSFs that have not provided any details of their governing bodies.
– Of the other SAs, women constitute between 2 per cent and 8 per cent of the governing bodies. This doesn’t include Hockey India, which has a 34 per cent female representation.- Only nine SAs have former or present players in their governing bodies.

3. Governing Body

– 11 SAs have not provided information related to rotation, tenure as well as term limits of the members of their governing bodies.
– 12 SAs have not made available any details regarding the tenure limits of their presidents and members.
– Of the remaining 15 SAs, only six have set tenure limits for their presidents.

4. Financial Disclosures and Strategy

— Only two SAs — All India Football Federation (Strategic Plan 2014-17) and the Indian Golf Union (Tee20 Strategic Plan 2013-2020) — have designed a strategic plan for improvement of their respective sports.
— As many as 16 SAs do not publish financial statements in the public domain and/or on a regular basis.
— Only one SA — All India Football Federation — has had its financial statements audited by a reputed auditor.
— Only one SA — Table Tennis Federation of India — has disclosed remuneration details of key personnel.

5. Management of Conflicts of Interest

— Only one SA — Hockey India — has adopted a conflict-of-interest policy.
— None of the SAs have disclosed any conflicts of interests or transactions concerning the president or members of governing bodies.

The report outlines six major recommendations that could improve governance of sports in India:

1. Design a strategy/road-map for future: The IOA and all SAs should adopt a strategic roadmap that is disclosed to the public domain. Implementation of this roadmap should be monitored and disclosed regularly.

2. Revamp of elections and succession planning: The SAs should amend their constitutions to set the maximum term limits and retirement limits for members and office bearers (such as president, secretary, treasurer). Once they reach the limit, they should not be considered for future appointments.

3. Be transparent: SAs should put their financial statements, profiles of executive council and administrative staff, budgets, expenses and remuneration details in the public domain.

4. Mitigate conflicts of interest: SAs should disclose conflicts of interest and ensure they are not allowed.

5. Increase player- and female-representation on the council: This is important to enhance diversity on councils.

6. IOA should be more transparent: IOA must disclose its budgets and audited financial statements of its participation in any national and international events. For these events, it should disclose participating sportspersons, non-playing staff, including officials and doctors and a break-up of expenses.

(24.08.2016 – In arrangement with IndiaSpend.org, a data-driven, non-profit, public interest journalism platform. Devanik Saha is a freelance journalist and MA Gender and Development candidate 2016-17 at Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex. The views expressed are those of IndiaSpend. Feedback at respond@indiaspend.org)

By Rajesh Sahu

After taming world number 2 Wang Yihan, P V Sindhu thrashed world number six and reigning All England Champion, Nozomi Okuhara of Japan, to reach the final of women’s singles at Rio Olympics – the  first Indian badminton player to do so. The 21 year old won in straight games 21-19, 21-10 to set up the gold medal clash with world number one Carolina Marin of Spain. At the least Sindhu is assured of a silver medal, one better than Saina’s bronze at the 2012 London Games. Considering the form Sindhu is in, even a gold medal seems a distinct possibility. 

A Brand new Sindhu   

For the Rio Games, Sindhu has decided to shun her usual boring shorts and t-shirt. In the semifinal she was  seen sporting an elegant sleeveless yellow dress. Her game and her attitude on court has also been refreshingly different. 

With her reach (she is almost 5.11 inches tall) and aggressive wrist snaps and stroke-play, Sindhu looked to dominate her higher ranked opponents. It’s Sindhu’s brand new game; she no longer looks vulnerable to sharp drop shots. And not someone who would earlier win a few quick points and then follow it up with a series of unforced errors. All that has changed.

At Rio, Sindhu has been more consistent, cutting down on unforced errors drastically. And even while trailing, she doesn’t look lost and tired anymore. This could very well be because of her high fitness level. 

The Making of a Champion

The first time I visited the Gopichand Academy was way back in 2009 to do a special show on Saina Nehwal for reaching the world ranking number 2. We spent a good three days at the academy, with our cameras firmly focused on Saina. When Sindhu slowly rose through the ranks in the next couple of years, I went back to have look at the training sessions shots we had taken and found a tall and lanky shuttler playing doubles alongside Saina and both having fun on court. The next time I would visit the academy after three years, it was all business for Sindhu, practicing hard at her singles game but Saina still hogged most of Gopi’s attention. 

The Gopi Factor  

When ace shuttler Saina Nehwal decided to part ways with Pullela Gopichand, opting to be coached by Vimal Kumar instead, Gopi had to prove a point. Gopi had given his all to create a world-beater in Saina. The bitter parting and Saina citing lack of attention from the national coach at the Gopichand Academy must have hurt.     

That prompted Gopi’s undivided attention to focus on Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth. Both have worked tirelessly under Gopi’s guidance. The tall lanky Hyderabad girl is now transformed into a feisty world-beater. 

It clearly is reflected in her Rio performance. Saina’s early exit did also put the focus firmly on Sindhu. And she has risen to the occasion and how. 

She might have won back to back medals at the World Championships but her Rio performance is something else. As Sindhu prepares for the final against the world number one Carolina Marin, this is what she had to say “My target is gold and I promise to play my heart out against Carolina Marin.” Looking at her performance in the previous rounds one wouldn’t expect anything less. 

Saina Nehwal is back at her best.

The 26 year old is easily India’s biggest medal hope at the Rio Games. Saina is fearless, takes the Chinese shuttlers head on, has the game and the heart to add another medal to the Bronze medal she won at the London Olympics in 2012. Her event badminton, discipline women’s single, which is quite an open competition this time around.

Also Read: Saina Nehwal back to her best

The Chinese top players Li Xuerui, Wang Yihan and Wang Shixian have all looked vulnerable this year. With Ratchanok Intanon mired in a doping controversy, an injury free Saina could go deep into the medal rounds. Young Spanish shuttler Carolina Marin is another player is another big gold medal contender at the Rio.

When Saina won the Australian Open Super series at Sydney earlier this year, it was her maiden title of the season, her second title win in Australia and 10th Super Series title overall. The win now doubt give her confidence for her second consecutive medal prospect at the Rio Games.

Ranveer Singh faux pas; wishes Indian cricket team for Rio Olympics

Asked to give a message to the Rio bound Olympic team, Ranveer Singh started on the wrong foot – wishing luck to the Indian cricket team, who are in West Indies for a Test match tour. The actor landed in Mumbai after a three month long shooting schedule in Paris. Ranveer was shooting for the Yash Raj’s upcoming film ‘Befikre’. Although it was 4.30 in the morning when Ranveer came out of airport, he was greeted by a big media gathering and highly charged Ranveer was full of emotion and answered questions; on the many kissing scenes with Vani Kapoor in Befikre and also on wedding rumours with Deepika Padukone.  

Ends her title drought by beating another Chinese opponent to bag her second Australian open title

When Saina Nehwal entered Sydney Sports Centre on Sunday, she knew it was a long time since she had won a title. Saina’s last tournament win came in India Super Series at Delhi in 2015. Even the last time she played in a final was way back in November 2015, where she lost to Li Xuerui in China.

But going to the Australian Open final, Saina Nehwal looked in ominous touch, having overcome her nagging injuries that have proved to be her undoing in earlier tournaments this year.

In the quarterfinals she got the better of world number two and winner of four titles this year, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon. In the last four, Saina demolished her nemesis China’s Wang Yihan in straight games 21-8, 21-12. She beat Yihan in all department of the game – court movement, deception and power. Over the years these have been the hallmarks of the Chinese game.

Unlike in earlier round matches though, Saina started off slowly in the final against her Chinese opponent Sun Yu – losing the first game 11-21. But she cut down her errors, tightened her net game and hit some powerful smashes to win the next two games 21-14, 21-19.

This was Saina’s maiden title of the season, her second title win in Australian and 10^th Super Series title overall. The win will be a big  a boost for her second consecutive medal prospect at the Rio Games.

There was a lot of fuss when Salman Khan was named India’s Goodwill ambassador of Rio Olympics. The backlash after his appointment made the authorities to also give Abhinav Bindra, Sachin Tendulkar and AR Rahman the Rio Olympics ambassadorship.

Apart from Bindra, who is an Olympic champion, other ambassadors have nothing to do with the Olympic movement. Salman, in an interview, broke his silence on the issue, questioning why others were not questioned when they have very little or nothing to do with the movement.

“After me, who all have been made goodwill ambassadors? Sachin Tendulkar, AR Rahman and Abhinav Bindra, right? But it started off well right? For the media and for everyone else,” Salman said.

“The media should have done the same thing when Sachin and Rahman were roped in. Why didn’t that happen? Why did the media not give them the same kind of coverage they gave me? In their case too, while one isn’t a sportsperson, the other one has only played one sport,” he pointed out.

Aishwarya Rai, Katrina Kaif back Salman on Rio Games Controversy

Salman insisted that every time he becomes a soft target because of a number of court cases that are pending against him. “So, you have issues with one person, who has court cases, becoming the Olympics goodwill ambassador,” he insisted.

Meanwhile, the Bhai of Bollywood made it clear that he is not leaving his ambassadorship, while adding that his intention of getting associated with the Olympic movement is to help athletes. “My intention was that Olympics should get publicity and everyone should know about it,” Salman said.

Get more of Glint Tv:

Go to Glint.tv youtube Page
Go to Glinttv Twitter Page
Go to Glint.tv Facebook Page