India at Rio - August 19th and 20th summary

Golf : Aditi Ashok had 2 good days and 2 bad days. She had a 3 under par scores on the good days and 8 and 5 over on the bad days. With that she had to finish 41st. End of day 3 after a 8 over any chance of a medal was gone. It would have been a good experience for the 18 year old. Let's see how she performs on the tour. Seriously golf doesn't belong in the Olympics. 

Wrestling : Sandeep Tomar lost in the pre-quarters and with the Russian who defeated him losing the next round, there was no chance of repechage. 

Athletics : The most disappointing thing about this Olympics has been the athletics team. The relay teams both finished 7th in their heats. The mens team were later disqualified for baton change violations. Sandeep Kumar finished 35th in the 50km walk. Kushbir Kaur finished 54th in the women's 20km walk and the other walker Sapana did not cross 8km. 

Badminton : Sindhu played really well in the finals. However, Marin was in a different league. Sindhu won the first game after being down for the most part of it. In second and third games she fought well but could not match up to Marin. Marin has been playing really well last 2 years and it was wonderful to see her win the gold at the Olympics, even though personally I would have loved to see Sindhu win it. It was also the first time there were no Chinese amongst the medals. 

Narsingh Yadav Saga - Questions to WFI, NADA & IOA

The Narsingh Yadav controversy came to sad end early this morning when CAS handed him a 4 year ban. 

Quota Place - Who gets to go to the Olympics

Narsingh Yadav won the Bronze medal in the World Championships in 2015 and won a quota for the country. As a general principle it was always the player who won the quota who goes for the tournament. Everyone thought Narsingh would go to Olympics, till the double olympic medal winner Sushil Singh opposed that. Sushil asked Wrestling Federation of India(WFI), to hold a bout between the two to decide who will go to Olympics. When WFI, rejected the request Sushil went to the courts and the courts upheld the decision of WFI. We all thought the story ended there. story continued

Failed Dope Test 

It seems WFI received a anonymous phone call saying the athletes in Sonepat facility are doping. In the aftermath all athletes were tested, Narsingh failed the test conducted on June 25th and the 2 sample tested on July 5th. The offense was supposed to be for taking methyldienolone, a substance known to increase muscle and weight. Everyone was surprised as the wrestlers were more looking to lose weight. His roommate also tested positive for the substance. Narsingh claimed it was a sabotage, WFI also agreed to it and appealed to NADA. 

In the interim Praveen Rana was announced as replacement, there was no way WFI were looking at Sushil Kumar as he had taken them to the courts. Sushil filed a complained against a fellow wrestler called Jitesh with the police and a FIR was filed. 

Sabotage Accepted 

NADA surprisingly accepted the sabotage claim, not sure what proof was shown. NADA's justification for overturning the ban and accepting the sabotage claim were

1) All samples before June 2nd of Narsingh was negative for any substances
2) The level of the substance has drastically reduced between June 25th sample and July 5th sample and Narsingh was not aware that he was positive from the June 25th sample when the sample was taken on July 5th. They presumed it was only a one time ingestion and that will not really help an athlete. 
3) NADA gave the benefit of doubt to Narsingh. 

This ruling came on August 1st, after a marathon hearing by NADA.  Immediately WFI requested that Narsingh Yadav be accepted as the official athlete and the poor Praveen Rana was dropped. All other wrestlers were participating at Georgia but Narsingh was made to wait in India. He was practicing in India and traveled only on 10th to Rio. 

WADA Challenges NADA Decision

WADA challenged the decision in CAS on 16th August just 3 days before his event. Narsingh was supposed to take part in the freestyle 74KG category on 19th August. CAS scheduled a ruling on 18th August. The hearing went for 4 hours and CAS finally ruled (Full details here) that there was no proof for sabotage and banned Narsingh for 4 years. 

The ruling said "Narsingh Yadav was sanctioned with a four-year ineligibility period starting today and that any period of provisional suspension or ineligibility effectively served by the athlete before the entry into force of this award shall be credited against the total period of ineligibility to be served. Furthermore, all competitive results obtained by Narsingh Yadav from and including 25 June 2016 shall be disqualified, with all resulting consequences (including forfeiture of medals, points and prizes)"

WADA did not accept the sabotage angle stating "The CAS Panel did not accept the argument of the athlete that he was the victim of sabotage and noted that there was no evidence that he bore no fault, nor that the anti-doping rule violation was not intentional. Therefore the standard 4-year period of ineligibility was imposed by the Panel. " 

Narsingh issued a statement later that he will prove his innocence. JSW who support him issued a statement believing in Narsingh's innocence and that they will continue to support him. 

Reacting to the development, IOA (Indian Olympic Association) secretary general Rajeev Mehta told PTI, "It's not a just loss for Narsingh at the Court of Arbitration for Sports but he was beaten by his compatriots who did not want to let him compete at the Olympics and not by his opponents. The picture is clear and neither I nor anyone has to say who's done the foul play. If you go back, you can easily connect the dots and would clearly know who could be the suspect. As of now, the culprits have been successful in stopping him from the Olympics, though we may challenge the order and minimise the ban. It's a loss for the country.

Mehta added, "We must go deep into the matter and the government should initiate a CBI inquiry into the matter. It's not a small thing, it's plaguing our country's sport and we must nip this in the bud. 

Questions 

1) What was the proof that NADA went by except presumption that as the levels of the substance had gone down between the two tests to prove sabotage?
2) What is the point of asking for a CBI inquiry now? Why was there no proper investigation done quickly on this? 
3) What was NADA thinking to clear someone based on presumption?
4) Why did IOA and the sports ministry go with NADA on this? It went all the way to the top with the PM issuing a statement that nothing will stop Narsingh from participating in Olympics after NADA cleared him. 
5) Was IOA/WFI/NADA in a hurry to prove that they will not allow an athlete to be victimized?
6) It is understandable that doubts will be raised on Sushil, but it is right on the part of IOA Secretary General to make a statement like this? 
7) Is Sushil really that stupid to think he will be given the quota if Narsingh gets the ban? In India, you cannot take on the strong people in the sports bodies and win and I am sure having been working with them so long he would have known that already. 
8) WADA is very clear, they go only by the results of tests. The ownership is on the athlete to prove his innocence. Which is what the CAS has upheld today, didn't NADA know about this?  

Conclusion 

India has lost a chance to participate in the event. NADA shouldn't have given Narsingh a clean chit just based on presumption. Sushil's (the only person to have won 2 Individual medals at olympics - till date) reputation is in taters. Poor Praveen Rana was used and dumped. NADA/IOA/WFI are the only people to be blamed for this mess. 

India at Rio - What to look forward today - August 19th

Golf : Day 3 of the golf event - Aditi Ashok is currently in the tied 8th position. She had a very good second day. Starts at 4pm IST

Wrestling : Sandeep Tomar is in the 57kg Freestyle wrestling. He starts his campaign against Victor Lebedev of Russia in the pre-quarters. We also had Narsingh Yadav in the 74kg category but because of the 4 year ban. Starts at 6:30pm ist

Athletics : 4*400 Relay for both men and women - The heats are at 5:10 am for Women and 5:40am for men. The men's team has the 3rd fastest time this year, hope at least they carry the qualification time into the olympics.  We have Sandeep Kumar in the Men's 50km walk, which starts at 4:30pm IST and we have Kushbir Kaur and Sapana in the women's 20km walk which starts at 11pm IST. 

Best result would be for the relay teams both men and women to qualify for the finals and the Walkers finishing in the top 20. 

Badminton : Sindhu plays her finals today against World # 1 Carolina Marin. Carolina has been phenomenal form last 2 years or so. Sindhu is also playing beautifully the whole tournament. Hope she joins Abhinav Bindra as the second Indian to win an Individual Gold. Let's Go Girl.. #GoForGoldSindhu Match starts at 6:55pm ist

India at Rio - August 18th Summary

Wrestling : After Sakshi's bronze medal yesterday, was expecting Babita to do one better. Unfortunately she lost her very first match against the Maria Prevolaraki, Greek wrestler 5-1. With Maria losing her quarters there was no second chance for Sakshi. 

Golf : Aditi Ashok has had a good second day. She now has a 6 under par score. She is currently in tied 8th spot(leader has 10 under par score). Two more days to go. 

Badminton : The biggest result of the day came from Sindhu. She defeated the World # 6 Okuhara in straight games 21-19, 21-10. First game was bit close but in the second Sindhu was very dominant. She is in superb form. 19th Finals against Carolina Marin. 

India at Rio - August 17th summary

Golf : Aditi Ashok is in a much better form than the men's golfers. She is currently tied 7th with a 3 under par score. 

Badminton : Heartbreak for Srikanth. He was nervous in the first game and lost it 6-21. He came back strong in the second game to win 21-11. The third game was close till around 17 points and then Lin Dan took a lead and never looked back to win the third game 21-18. The hopes of a medal in mens badminton ended with this loss. 

Athletics : Tintu Luka was in the fray in the 800m heats. She did what she does always, ran very fast in the first lap and then the wheels comes off. She finished 6th in the heat and 29th overall and failed to qualify for the semis. However she got a seasons best today which was good.

Wrestling : I was expecting Vinesh Phogat to win a medal today and she started very strong in the pre-quarters with a 11-0 victory. In the quarters she got injured badly and forfeited the match. She was sadly taken out on a stretcher. Hope she recovers soon. 

Sakshi Malik started her campaign with a 3-1 win in both her round of 32 and pre-quarters. In the quarters she lost a hard fought match to the Russian wrestler. Luckily the Russian went on to win her semis and get to the finals, which gave Sakshi a chance to compete in repechage rounds. She had to win 2 matches to win a bronze which she did. In both matches she was down but came back strongly in the nick of time to win the matches. In the last match she was down 0-5 but came back strong to win it 8-5.

Sakshi Malik won India's first medal in rio a bronze. This is also the first time an Indian women is winning a wrestling medal at the Olympics. Great job. 

India at Rio - What to look forward today - August 18th

Golf : Day 2 of the golf event - Aditi Ashok is currently in tied 7th position with a 3 under par score. Starts at 4pm IST

Badminton : Sindhu takes on Nozomi Okuhura of Japan, the world # 6. Let's hope she continues to carry her good form. A win will assure at least a Silver medal but a loss will take her to the bronze medal play off against Li Xuerui or Carolina Marin. Starts at 7:30pm IST.

Wrestling : Babita Kumari is in the womens 53kg. She is up against Maria Prevolaraki of Greece in the pre-quarters. Starts at 6:30pm IST. Hope she goes one better than Sakshi

India at Rio - August 16th summary

We just two Indians in fray today - Hardeep Singh in 98kg greco roman wrestling and Sindhu in badminton quarter finals.

Hardeep lost his match against the Turkish opponent. With the turkish wrestler losing in the semis,  there was no chance in repechage.  

The big result of the day was Sindhu defeating world #2 Wang Yihan in the quarter finals in straight games to advance to the semis.  Wang had the lead for the most part of the first game but Sindhu came back to tie it around point 15 and then it was going back and forth. Sindhu won the first set 22-20. In the second set Sindhu took initial lead and held on to it for long. At a point she had a 5 point advantage 18-13. Wang came back to draw level but Sindhu held her nerve to win the second game 21-19. She will be up against the winner of the all Japanese quarter finals between Nozomi Okuhara (world #6) and Akane Yamaguchi (world #12)