Indian medal prospects for 2013 Asian Athletics Championships

The event will be held in Pune, India from July 3rd to July 7th. 

4 Consensus Medal Prospects for India: 

1) Sudha Singh

Event: Women's 3000 m steeplechase

Past medals: Gold in 2010 Asian Games, Silver in 2009 Asian Championships, Silver in 2011 Asian Championships.

Personal Best: 9:45:60 (National Record Holder)

2) Vikas Gowda:

Event: Men's Discus Throw

Past Medals: Bronze in 2010 Asian Games, Silver in 2010 Commenwealth Games

Personal Best: 66.28 m (National Record Holder) 

Other notable achievements: 2006 NCAA Champion (US College competition) in Discus throwing, graduated from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. 

3) Krishna Poonia

Event: Women's Discus Throw

Past Medals: Bronze in 2006 Asian Games, Bronze in 2010 Asian Games, Gold in 2010 Commonwealth games. 

Personal Best: 64.75 m (National Record Holder)

4) Tintu Luka

Event: Women's 800 m 

Past Medals: Bronze in 2010 Asian Games

Personal Best: 1:59:17 (National Record Holder) 

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Here are all the Indian athletes selected for the event:

Men:

100 & 4x100m Relay: 1. ANIRUDH KALIDAS GUJJAR; 2. M VIJAY KUMAR; 3. MANIKANDAN; 4. KRISHAN KUMAR RANE; 5. SAMEER MON; 6. RENJITH KG.

200m: 1. PRATIEK NINAWE; 2. RITESH ANAND; 3. AMIYA KUMAR MALLICK.

400M, 4X400M Relay: 1. KUNHI MOHAMMED; 2. NEERAJ PAWAR; 3. AROAKIA RAJIV; 4. BIBIN MATHEW; 5. DAVINDER SINGH; 6. SACHIN ROBY.

400 Hurdles: 1. SATINDER SINGH; 2. JITHIN PAUL; 3. RAMA CHANDREN.

800M: 1. SAJEESH JOSEPH; 2. MANJIT SINGH; 3. SAGAYA RAJA FRANCIS

1500M: 1. SANDEEP - II; 2. PRANJAL GOGOI

5000M: 1. LAKSHMANAN NITINDER; 2. SINGH MOHD. YUNUS

10000M: 1. KHET RAM; 2. RATI RAM SAINI; 3. LAKSHMANAN

3000M Steeple Chase: 1. JAIVEER SINGH; 2. NAVEEN KUMAR

110M Hurdles: 1. SIDHANT T; 2. PINTO MATHEW

High Jump: 1. JITHIN C. THOMAS; 2. NIKHAL CHITRASU

Pole Vault: 1. PRAVEEN KUMAR; 2. BALA KRISHNA P.

Long Jump: 1. PREM KUMAR; 2. ARSHAD M; 3. ANKIT SHARMA

Triple Jump: 1. M RENJITH; 2. ARPINDER SINGH

Decathlon: 1. BHARATINDER SINGH; 2. DAYA RAM; 3. K DILEEP KUMAR

Discus Throw: 1. VIKAS GOWDA; 2. ARJUN SINGH; 3. VIKAS POONIA

Hammer Throw: 1. CHNDRODAYA N. SINGH; 2. KAMALPREET SINGH; 3. KAUSHAL SINGH

Javelin Throw: 1. KRISHAN KUMAR PATEL; 2. SAMRJIT SINGH; 3. RAJENDER SINGH

Shot-Put: 1. INDERJIT SINGH; 2. SATYENDRA SINGH; 3. OM PRAKASH.

Women:

100M, 4X100M Relay: 1. ASHA ROY; 2. MERLIN K JOSEPH; 3.SHARADHA NARAYANAN; 4. SINI S; 5. SRABANI NANDA; 6. BHAGYA SHREE SHIRKE

200M: 1. ASHA ROY; 2. DUTEE CHAND; 3. SRABANI NANDA

400M: 1. M R POOVAMMA; 2. NIRMALA

4X400M Relay: 1. ANU MARIAM JOSE; 2. ANIL DA THOMAS; 3. SARITA; 4. PRIYANKA MONDAL

400MH: 1. ELAVARASI; 2. ANU R

800M: 1. TINTU LUKA; 2. M GOMATHI; 3. SUSHMA DEVI

1500M, 5000M & 10000M: 1. OP JAISHA; 2. SINI A MARCOSE; 3. JHUMA KHATOON; 4. PREEJA SREEDHARAN; 5. L. SURIYA; 6. KAVITA RAUT; 7. MONIKA ATHARE

3000M: 1. SUDHA SINGH; 2. KIRAN TIWARI; 3. PRIYANKA PATEL

High Jump: 1. SAHANA KUMARI; 2. MALLIKA MONDAL

100MH: 1. GAYATHRY G; 2.HAMASREE J

Pole Vault: 1. KHYATHI; 2. V.S. SUREKA

Long Jump: 1. MAYOOKHA JOHNY; 2. NEENA V; 3. PRAJUSHA MA

Triple Jump: 1. MAYOOKHA JOHNY; 2. SHEENA N.V; 3. AMITHA BABY

Heptathlon: 1. SUSMITA SINGHA ROY; 2. NAVPREET KAUR; 3. LIKSY JOSEPH

Discus Throw: 1. KRISHNA POONIA; 2.SEEMA ANTIL; 3. NAVJEET KAUR DHILLON

Hammer Throw: 1. MANJUBALA; 2. GUNJAN SINGH

Javelin Throw: 1.SUMAN DEVI; 2. ANNU RANI

Shot Put: 1. P.UDAYA LAXMI; 2.NEHA SINGH; 3.NAVJIT KAUR.

Women's wrestling: Geeta Phogat

Geeta Phogat was the sole women's wrestler who represented India in the 2012 London Olympics. She had a tough draw in the event and ended up losing to Tonya Verbeek of Canada and Tetyana Lazareva of Ukraine. In my opinion, her inexperience ended up holding her back in the Olympics and hopefully she will come back stronger for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The world wrestling federation (FILA) is considering changing the rules of wrestling so that the over all points from the start of a particular tournament would be considered in the final results. Phogat said "I think the new rules will make the sport more exciting for the fans."

"I am praying for wrestling to come back in the Olympics. It's every athlete's dream to be a part of it (the event), many wrestlers would be deprived of this opportunity." Says Phogat.

After participating in the Olympics, Geeta was disappointed that she didn't win a medal. She kept working hard and a couple of months later ended up winning the bronze medal in the 2012 Wrestling World Championship in Canada. Previously she also won gold medals in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, 2010 Commonwealth Championships, and 2012 FILA Asian Olympics Qualification Tournament.

The fact that she won the bronze in the world championships after the Olympics shows that she will do better going forward. 

India wins the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy

Here was a good write up on the game from www.cricinfo.com, by Sidharth Monga:

India 129 for 7 (Kohli 43, Jadeja 33*, Bopara 3-20) beat England 124 for 8 (Morgan 30, Ashwin 2-15, Jadeja 2-24) by 4 runs

Pinch yourself again and again. This match was completely out of the realms of reality. After the ICC - who hadn't considered it fit to have a reserve day for the final - added 75 minutes to the rainy day to accommodate 20 overs in the final, both sides panicked in the compressed environment; Ravi Bopara was the bowling demon for England; India defended 129 with slip, gully and silly point for spinners; Ishant Sharma, the most expensive bowler, was the first to bowl out and took two crucial wickets in his last over; and MS Dhoni led superbly to become the first captain in the world to have won all ICC trophies.

The only aspects of this game remotely real were the effectiveness of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, and the early fluency of Shikhar Dhawan and Jonathan Trott. Around them, everything went topsy-turvy. The pitch turned square, despite all his efficiency Jadeja didn't attempt a crucial run-out, the third umpire seemed to make a big dubious call with Ian Bell's stumping, but then again there was Dhoni making a superlative call under pressure.

You can spend hours debating it, and wonder how it worked. On this turner, Ishant had been the easiest bowler to hit. His three overs had gone for 27, and you asked yourself why he got even the third. That third had brought the target down to 48 off 30 thanks to a six smoked clean by Bopara. However, with three overs left and 28 to get - Umesh Yadav had two to go, Ashwin, Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar one each - Dhoni went to Ishant.

Even if Yadav had been injured, Bhuvneshwar - three overs for 19 - had one left. Dhoni's hunch seemed to be going bust after a pulled six and two wides on either side of the stumps: 20 off 16 now. Who knows how these things in big limited-overs matches work with Dhoni, but Ishant bowled a slower ball and Eoin Morgan mis-hit to midwicket. It was a front-of-the-hand slower ball, pretty much common fare in limited-overs cricket today, but Morgan didn't pick it.

The next ball seemed even more innocuous on the face of it. Short ball, no sting, head high, pulled down clean, but straight to the fielder at square leg. Roll that dismissal back, though. And it is difficult to figure out the logic here, but there was no midwicket for that ball. That man inside the circle was at square leg, next to the umpire. Ishant Sharma was Dhoni's new Joginder.

The bizarre events weren't quite over. In the 19th over, Jadeja, almost unplayable and wise so far, had a chance to run the diving Stuart Broad out but he chose not to try. Jadeja could be forgiven a moment after having bowled well all through the tournament, after having scored the pivotal 33 after India had been 66 for 5, and after having begun India's turnaround with the ball. That was India's last mistake too.

In the 20th, bowled by Ashwin, when Stuart Broad hit a leg-side four, Dhoni brought everybody on the off side asking the batsman to clear it if he thought he was good enough. Broad wasn't on this occasion. Surprisingly Broad didn't try to dominate the strike, leaving Tredwell to get 10 off the last three balls. The only way England could have won was for Broad to hit two fours or a six, but two couples later the six off the last ball was a bridge too far for the lesser batsman on a turning pitch. The last ball was cue for an expressive celebration - by his standards - for Dhoni who has been through a tough time over the last two years.

India had won a thrilling final of what has been a good tournament, but all was not right. This was hardly the ideal match. The ICC had only tried to cover its backside by stretching the match to 8.30pm. This match should never have been played today after the amount of rain Edgbaston had taken, but there was no tomorrow. So we had a match that put both the sides out of their comfort zones. The Indian batsmen had no rhythm going in and out, and England were playing essentially a T20 with three men who don't make the T20 side. Remember when the XIs were named at the toss, this was a 50-over game.

In the first exchange, though, India seemed to struggle more. On the wrong side of the toss, with two rain breaks in the first half of their innings, they couldn't really have planned their innings, and soon found themselves struggling when it came to the run-rate. That brought panic, and Bopara was the beneficiary with the wickets of Dhawan, Suresh Raina and Dhoni - for his first duck in ODIs since October 2010. In the last seven overs, though, Virat Kohli and Jadeja brought India back with a punchy partnership of 47 off 33. Kohli couldn't see India to the end, but Jadeja did, his knock including an inside-out six off James Anderson.

For some reason, the England batsmen panicked in the chase too. Trott was fluent, but spin brought the turnaround. Jadeja began with a tight fifth over, and Ashwin got Trott stumped in the next with a dipping offbreak outside leg. In the next over, came another less-than-ideal play. Bell was given out stumped when the third umpire couldn't have been sure that the foot was in the air when the wicket was put down. England were so displeased, Eoin Morgan even made a sign for the review.

Morgan managed to put it behind him and, with Bopara, nearly pulled off a special win with calculated hitting and smart running between the wickets. But that was before England imploded. You can watch replays of that Ishant over that took out both Morgan and Bopara many times over, but will struggle to explain it logically. Sometimes you just can't from the outside. Sometimes you have to pinch yourself.

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My random thoughts after the game:

1. The Indian squad looks very promising for the future, I think for the first time in my life I am witnessing the Indian squad over achieving as a team, the individual players don't have a legacy behind them yet they play with confidence. It is very refreshing. 
2. Props for Ravinder Bopara for giving his best effort to lead the England squad for victory. If he stayed on for a few more overs it would have been their game. 
3. I liked the comment that M.S Dhoni made during the presentation ceremony about how having better cricket fields and infrastructure in India is helping the youngsters become better fielders compared to in the past the players weren't able to practice diving and sliding on the field due to bad cricket infrastructure. If better infrastructure is making that big of a difference for the sport of cricket, can you imagine how much the other sports are lacking in terms of infrastructure and how much of a difference it would make for them? Just some food for thought.

My thoughts about the crowd:

1. It was great to see so much support for the Indian team. The Indian diaspora really rallied behind the team and they deserve a lot of praise for doing that through the harsh weather. The match commentators reported that 80% of the stadium was filled with Indian supporters. 
2. The thing that irked me though was how inconsiderate the crowd was towards the England team. If you immigrated to a new country the least you can do is cheer for the home team at least during the final award ceremony. 
3. I felt sorry for the England team that they played on their home field but ended up feeling like they were in New Delhi.