Women hockey on the move

K.R.Wadhwaney

The Indian women hockey is on the move. The experts are of the firm belief that women have the capacity and mind to make their presence felt against the top teams in the game. The new Asia champions, they rightly deserved 'shabhash' from International Hockey Federation (FIH) and officials of the sub-continents. This crown has come after they had worn silver in 2004. The FIH president Narendra Batra had gone on record saying that 'there would be revolution in Indian hockey' after he became FIH president.
Skipper Rani Rampal's opportunism to strike winner in 'sudden death' and goal-keeper's Savita proving that she was an excellent 'defender' were talking points of the team, who played with mind and tenacity to beat China in the final at Kakamigara (Japan). The arrival of the Team India will widen the world of women canvas.
Paying rich tributes to the new Indian coach Harendra Singh, the team, led by Rani, for motivation to change mind-set said, 'we will not look back after this unexpected win .
Harendra Singh said: "To look-back-towill mean again to be lost".
Beating China twice and Japan has done a lot of good to girls. The IHF is seized of great success. There is no need of a foreign coach. The team has secured a berth in the 2018 World Cup. This is the time to strike reputation.

Guru and shishya

The rivals in the final, India and China, dished out magnificent style of attack. After a long break, the Indian five forwards moved as if it was a wave advancing. The players did not stay long on the ball and distributed it quickly with accuracy.
There was a misunderstanding between the coach and the discipline. They parted their way. The discipline suffered an enormous loss not because of lack of competitive spirit but because of unsettled mind. The two mature minds met across the table and buried the hatchet. The coach Pullela Gopi Chand, welcomed Saina Nehwal and the star was happy to get into the second home, academy.
Saina showed this welcome by surprising P.V.Sindhu, presently much higher in ranking and achievements, in straight games 21-17 and 27-25 to stay the national champion third time. The scores reveal the struggle and competition. No one is willing to guess what would have been the going in the third game if it had happened. Both looked exhausted after about an hour's razor-sharp battle.
The ball is in the coach's lap. Both are his favourite students. If he handles the vex situation meticulously with tact and maturity, the sky is the limit of these highly talented and determined girls. If all three function in unison, maybe, they will achieve rank of one and two and contest World Cup final and figure prominently in All-England Open.

"A big monkey off my back"

The coach and support staff is one unit. The academy is one of 'Gopi' Sir. The aspirants for honour are two.
Like Saina, H.S. Pronnoy shocked Srikanth to win national title in three games at 21-15, 16-21 and 21-7 .
The Indian badminton is sizzling because upsets are the index of competition. Chiragh Kumar Kapur was on all happiness as he broke the jinx in winning a maiden Panasonic Open India by three strokes at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC) on Sunday, November 6, 2017. He threw a trophy while kissing his daughter. His final day score was three under-69.
Kapur's in—second Asian title—saw him play Panasonic Open Swing. He was second in Thailand. The other three are Malaysia, Indonesia and Japan (final round. Seven others were placed at runner's-up position.

Uphill task

MC Mary won her fifth Asian Boxing Championship, the first after return from break. She had to sacrifice a lot of essential comfort to meet an uphill task of combining Rajya Sabha and Boxing. She is unlike other stars. She honours Rajya Sabha. To achieve this, She had to change her weight category. She had to adhere to new schedule of diet. She did it. The women's boxing was non-entity when joined the circuit. Now the women boxing is on the high. She has won awards and rewards. Four important are: Arjuna 2oo3, Padma Shri 2006, Rajiv Khel Ratna 2009 and Padma Bhushan 2013.
Mary's story is nothing but strength of character, convictions and perseverance. She is not interested about conquering peaks and winning laurels, She believes in fighting back to return to the top of boxing, a very exacting discipline.