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Iron man: Sushil Kumar became only the second Indian wrestler after KD Jadhav in the 1952 Helsinki Games, to win an Olympic medal |
Although this is India's best-ever showing at the Olympics, the true worth of the showing can be assessed when contrasted with the medal hauls of other Asian and much smaller nations elsewhere in the world.
Inevitable
Since comparisons between Asian behemoths India and China in matters concerning achievements have become inevitable, it is pertinent to note that China is leading the medals table with a total of 46 gold medals (in addition to 15 silvers and 22 bronzes) ahead of USA, which is a distant second with 29.
Sushil Kumar ended India's seeming interminable medals drought in these Games last Tuesday after shooter Abhinav Bindra ended the 108-year wait for an individual gold, with a (joint) bronze in the men's 66kg freestyle wrestling category,
Sushil lost his first round bout against eventual silver medallist Andriy Stadnik of Ukraine, but won his next three bouts during the repechage rounds to win the bronze jointly with Otar Tushishvili of Georgia.
Sushil has become only the second Indian wrestler after KD Jadhav in the 1952 Helsinki Games, to win an Olympic medal.
Indian supporters can look forward to a gold, silver or bronze medal in the 75kg boxing event from 6 ft Vijender Kumar, who out-pointed Carlos Gongora (Ecuador), 9-4, to set up a semi final clash with Emilio Bayeux Correa of Cuba today.
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Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula is incensed over his soccer team's 0-3 shellacking at the hands of archrivals Argentina in the Beijing Olympics.
According to the Brazilian media, Lula said he was "raged" (sic) as the Brazilian team showed no desire to win".
Shameful
The president is reported as saying: "Losing the game to Argentina in this way is really shameful."
While Brazil lick their wounds before their bronze medal play-off against Belgium tomorrow, the coach's future hangs in the balance.
Dunga, the former World Cup captain, has been slammed for his ultra cautious tactics since he took over as coach.
After the defeat to Argentina, he said it wasn't Brazil's night, adding that Argentinean mercurial forward Messi was "unstoppable".
"You can't always score," he explained matter-of-factly. "If we could score in every game it would be marvelous. There are days when you can mark Messi and days when you can't."
Meanwhile, Argentinean legend Diego Maradona has rubbed salt in the wound saying he had rarely seen Brazil play as negatively as it did in the semi-final defeat to Argentina.
"It's a long time since I've seen Brazil so stingy and defensive", the former Argentina captain was quoted by his country's media.
"I didn't think they could do any damage. They never managed to play their way out of defense, nobody helped Ronaldinho and they never played coherently. I think Argentina were better in every metre of the field."
