Day-6. Laws of probability

Today India's outing was perfectly matched with laws of probability.  In fact it has been roughly the case with most of the days. We can actually count the number of medals India would win by taking the number of athletes participating and average number of rounds in all events and applying a 1/2 probability for win and loss. The result wouldn't be very far from reality.

 Today Ronjan Sodhi disappointed in Men's double trap. Yet again last couple of missed shots proved costly. He was well with a chance till the very last of the third round. On the other hand Vijay kumar did well to stay afloat in the 25 Mr centre fire pistol with the next round of qualification due today. 1 in 1 out.

 Later part of the day Jai Bhagwan lost to a much superior boxer in 69KG category. First round he looked solid but second round onwards it was one way traffic. Later in the evening Vijendar survived a close match with score reading 15-16 and made it to the quarter finals.  1 in 1 out.

In Badminton then Saina again showing breathtaking form entered the semi finals. The games started with a line call argument and there were many umpiring errors all along. The usually calm Gopi actually could  be heard telling it to the chair umpire that this is the 4th time in the match it has happened. Followed by couple of words to Saina "thoda aage rahna".  It looked for once that the game would go to the third round as the Danish girl had the game point in the second game. But this time unlike the other games of Saina, she didn't leave it to the third game and finished up in second by pushing a little harder. It will help her keep the stamina for all crucial semi-final match which is in the morning session today. Then came mens quarterfinal. Kashyap fought like a warrior and was in a very good chance in the first game. A little stroke of luck could have won him the first game and then who knows. But he was a against a huge force in the form of world number one Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia. In the whole match I don't remember even one smash of of the malasian hitting the net.  Kashyap could match him in the first game is a huge credit for him.1 in 1 out prevailed here as well..
 The sole entry remaining in tennis Paes and Sania moved to the quarter finals  where they will meet Azarenka and Mirnyi. This will be a good match and a win will move them to semis with a very good chance of medal. The problem with Sania and Paes is none of them are good servers so they have to work a little hard or sometime harder to hold their serve than breaking other's.

Today's Menu

Saina Semis against the world number 1 Yihan Wang who has a perfect record again Saina. It will be a tough match for her.

In shooting Vijay kumar will look to consolidate his position in the next qualification round and move to final in 25 Mtr centre fire pistol.  Another event in the 50 mr rifle prone where india is represented by Joydeep Karmkar and the medalist gagan Narang. This is not Gagans favorite competition but he may be yearning for gold and will be under lesser pressure now.

In Boxing Vikas Krishna will be playing his pre-quarter final match after getting a bye in the first round in the 69Kg Category. he is one of the 4 boxers remaining in fray with 1 already moved to quarters. Applying probability here would mean that at least 1 boxer will go to semi-finals. In boxing unlike other events 2 bronze medals are given so entering in semis is assurance of a medal.

Paes Sania will be playing the quarter final today. Probabilistically they would lose? but wait probability owes india tennis a bit as Both Mahesh-Bopanna and Lee-Vardhan lost in the second round.

From today onwards athletics events are starting which are the core attractions of the games. India has it's fair share of participation but I think it will remain as just participation. Even probability wont come to Indias rescue as the number of people per event are mostly 1 or 2. Nonetheless They too deserve a mention and need to be followed.  India after independence is still yearning for an athletics medal. Milkha singh and PT Usha have reached the closest.

India will be featuring today in

Shot Put : Om Prakash Singh
Triple Jump : Mayookha Johny

In Hockey India will take on Germany. Today I guess we will know whether we should shoot for 5-8th or 9-12th place.

Apart from the people in fray, with the hockey team fizzling out the only good medals hopes are merry kom and the wrestlers who will complete next week. Good as the Indian interest would go on for someone time.

Day-5 A mixed bag

If the medal prospects are to be considered then day-5 was actually more of a dissappointment than a mixed bag. But in spite of the average results, doubtably yesterday was the most "eventfull" day for india of all games. Eventfull because not sure I had ever witnessed so many games involving india in a single day. To make it perfect there were controversies involved too.
Day before yesterday I had written about the heartbreaking story of Jwala-Ashwini. Yesterday the first news which came out on a online news portal is that 8 women doubles quarter finalists are disqualified on charges of match fixing and India to appeal for Jwala-ashwini's Inclusion in quater finals. In parallel another story floating that india has lodged a protest with IOC claiming that the match involving chainease taipe and japan wasnt played in the best of playing spirit. After some time the news on a online news portal was "Jwala and Ashwini are back in the quarter finals. In parallel one report said indias plea is rejected. This is a very clever way to keep the news floating and keep the interest going. Whereas the reality was the following. Jwala and Ashwini were in group B. 8 players were indeed suspended and were out of womens doubles and yes they were the quarter finalists. These players conspire and as already had qualified for quarter finals allegedly threw away their matches as one does while playing with their children. The serves were hitting the nets the shots were intentionally hit wide and long. The crowd jeered them when the game was over. But these players were in group A and C and not in B. Based on this Jwala and Ashwini could have been included only if IOC decided to include next 4 teams in the quarters since existing 4 are disqualified, which is very unlikely. India appeal was rejected as unlike the other games the japan-chinease taipe game didnt obviously reveal any underperformance and thus it was end of road for Jwala and Ashwini.
On the actaul sports, it started with another brilliant endevour by Kashyap. This time he was up against a shri lankan, a very attacking playing much like kashyap himself. Kashyap didnt offer him much chance in first game but in the second the Sri lankan changed his game by prodding Kashyap to end the rallies quickly and thus make unforced errors. He was successfull as the score line once was 20-07 in favor of the Lankan. But then something dramatic happened. Kashyap being 13 game points down went in his shell and started defensively returning whatever lankan had to throw at him and thus won 8 straight points as the lankan was getting impatient. Kashyap lost the game 21-15 but he had found the receipe for the third set. He won the third set confortably to move to the quarter finals. First ever indian to do that. A truely remarkable feat. His next meeting is with the world number 1. Lets see whats in store for us today evening. Watch the game for Kashyaps brilliance and Gopis pensive strategying.
Saina as expected very confortably moved to quarters. These walkaway victories to saina are like idlis to south indians so nothing more needs to be said. Just keep yourself free today evening for these two quarter finals.
Now the disappointments. From where to start? Deepika kumari the world number 1 was very ordinary may be first olypic nerves getting better of her. Shooter missed the targets. But the shocker came in hockey where New Zealand thrashed us 3-1. New Zealand? Seriously?. Better india does not qualify for olympic hockey and save us the embarrasment
The last match of the day was the mens doubles second round match featuring paes-vardhan and tsonga-llorda of france. You watch matches like this and wonder if Paes is the best sportsmen india ever produced. 39 years of age playing against second seeded with a lesser known player as partener and this guy giving the opponents a run for their money single handedly. The match eventually lost by india but these losses dont hurt as much as 3-1 trashing by kiwis. Paes was taking care of Vishnu like his younger brother and was covering almost three fourth of court. They lost the first set in tie breaker, won the second but lost the third one narrowly to lose the game. Full marks to vishnu for playing a learning game with good serve and return. This guy has a bright future. But Paes is simply exceptional. Have seen him playing along side a calm Ramesh krishnan, mahesh bhupati and martina narvatilova and now vishnu vardhan goes to show how accomplished a doubles player he is.
Today I get a feel that we will have another medal to our tally. Ronjan Sodhi will bring some good news in doubles trap.
Todays Menu
Medal hope : Ronjan Sodhi (shooting).
Arjun: Saina, Jai Bhagwan and Vijendar in boxing.
Abhimanyu: Kashyap, Paes-Sania