More than ever before, Indian hockey now needs clear thinking and some hard decisions if it wants to even consider rising from the debacle of the London Olympic Games.

Olympics hockey: Time for India to take some hard decisions

Business Standard

The Walther rifle was lying ice-cold in the safe. Scores of pellet boxes were kept unopened. Abhinav Bindra was feigning sleep when the five a.m. alarm rang for practice. It was an anomalous situation. For 14 years, Bindra had been waking up at three a.m. to practice at his home range if an idea suddenly dawned on him. Now, the shooting range was locked up, indefinitely. When I met him three months after his Beijing triumph, Bindra was sporting a cheerless look on his face. I had thought it was a simple case of motivational problem. I was way off the mark. It was a not-so-simple case of Post-Olympic Depression Syndrome (PODS), as he would later confess in A Shot at History: My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold. The struggle to become a champion doesn&rsquo;t end in 9.67 seconds. The struggle invariably begins the day after.

Now what?

One of the most colourful characters in chess, the Yugoslav (later Serbian) GM Svetozar Gligoric (1923-2012) died recently in Belgrade. &ldquo;Gliga&rdquo; came to international chess late. A committed follower of Marshal Tito, he spent WWII playing a deadly game of catch-as-catch-can with the Wehrmacht.

Chess (#1014)

V V S Laxman announces retirement from international cricket with immediate effect.

NEWSALERT: V V S Laxman announces retirement from international cricket 

Press Trust of India

VVS Laxman, who won many a match for India with his wristy elegance including an epic 281 against Australia in Kolkata, on Saturday announced his retirement from international cricket with immediate effect, bringing down the curtains on a 16-year glorious career.

Laxman to retire from international cricket

The Grand Slam season of 2012 in tennis comes to a close with the commencement of the US Open on August 27 at Flushing Meadows in New York. Grand Slam events attained world-wide popularity after they were thrown open to professionals in 1968. Till then only Wimbledon attracted attention in India with players from the country participating to a larger extent than in the other three majors, viz., the Australian, the French and the US.

Will FedEx be dispatched?

Garry Kasparov was a high-profile visitor to the Pussy Riot trial, where three women were jailed for singing an anti-Putin song in church. While talking to media, Kasparov was arrested and manhandled in public. He faces a charge of having bitten a police officer&rsquo;s hand. Video evidence (including clips aired on BBC) suggests the officer was undamaged &mdash; both his hands are visible. The former world champion, who is a bitter and outspoken critic of Putin, says he will counter-sue.

Chess (#1015)

Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong has said he will not contest stripping of his medals and a ban from competitive cycling, following the recommendation of the US Anti-Doping Agency, over doping charges.

Brakes on a battle

The troubles at the highest levels of Indian tennis over the past week serve as explanation for why this country has consistently underperformed in terms of sporting achievement: its sports administration is stuck in a previous century &mdash; culturally and organisationally. The All India Tennis Association or AITA richly deserved the humiliation it was handed by Indian tennis&rsquo; top-ranked woman, Sania Mirza, in the letter that she wrote after her participation in the London Olympics was confirmed. She pointed out that it was unacceptable for a national sporting federation, in the 21st century, to use one of the most successful Indians in the sport&rsquo;s history as &ldquo;bait&rdquo; for another player&rsquo;s participation and compliance. The reason, which she did not have to spell out, was that she was a woman, and the AITA is incapable, apparently, of putting female achievement on a par with that of a man.

Lessons from a letter 

On the subject of computer analysis, Anand pointed out the need to classify positions into three broad categories. In the first category, the computers find the best moves quickly. But a good human player who has seen the analysis can reproduce it under tournament conditions.

Chess (#1008)

With more than 140 medals, athletics is the discipline with the largest chunk of medals &mdash; over one-sixth &mdash; at the 2012 London Olympics.

Medal hopes?

Bobby Fischer&rsquo;s legacy includes the concept of incremental time-controls, where a little time is added back after every move. Even in extreme time pressure, the fear of flagging out is low. The absurd sudden-death situation where one side lacks the time to deliver mate doesn&rsquo;t arise. Increments can however, lead to &ldquo;extended&rdquo; blitz play, where both players survive on the increment for long periods. Increments change thinking dynamics. If you know that you can never run out of time, (even if you come very close), you are more likely to seek the best move rather than merely good moves.

Chess (#1009)

Manchester United is the world&rsquo;s most valuable team(Click on graphic)

Game of business

Even if you play the most offbeat openings, it is mathematically guaranteed that you will play some positions with both colours. Popular systems like the Spanish, the Queens Gambit and the Sicilian regularly see this switcheroo. There have many world title matches where the same positions have been handled repeatedly by both players with colours transposed.

Chess (#1010)

Faith and Hope

As Olympic training became more detailed, more scientific and more complicated, France created an agency in its sports ministry. Its nondescript name &mdash; Pr&eacute;paration Olympique et Paralympique &mdash; masked a more ambitious purpose: to boost medal counts through athletic surveillance, as much Spy Games as Olympic Games, under the direction of a man competitors called the French James Bond.

Long before London Games, James Bond tactics

&ldquo;I drew a lot of inspiration from great athletes in other sports as well &mdash; Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Valentino Rossi. They inspire me to keep pushing further...not just being happy with World No. 1 or with a Grand Slam title, but to reach for more.

Match point in London 2012

The other prodigies in the Carlsen generation have been overshadowed by the Norwegian GM The 22-year old is rated at 2837, which makes him the second strongest player of all-time. There are others who, in absolute terms, would be rated terrific talents/. They all have distinctive styles.

Chess (#1011)

Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle said he had felt liberated rather than daunted by Beijing 2008's spectacular opening ceremony as his quirky but impressive show opened the London Games in style.

Beijing show liberated us, says Boyle

A dazzling display of 21st century technology, lights and fireworks combined with Britain of the old and a surprise first acting role for Queen Elizabeth alongwith 'James Bond' Daniel Craig marked the opening of the London Olympic Games early this morning.

London shines in splendour in Olympics opening ceremony

Israeli athletes marched at the Olympic Games opening ceremony with black handkerchiefs in their pockets to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1972 Munich Olympic massacre.

Israelis sport black handkerchiefs at ceremony

Other Sports: Get the latest news headlines of other sports category such as Badminton, Chess, Volleyball, basketball and other Olympic Games with live coverage on Business Standard.

Other Sports News: Latest News from Olympics Games, Volleyball, Badminton | Business Standard

Get the latest news headlines of other sports category such as Badminton, Chess, Volleyball, basketball and other Olympic Games with live coverage on Business Standard.

Page 848 - Other Sports News