[noopster]

This just in...Indian badminton doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Jwala Gutta have been reinstated after earlier failing to qualify for the quarter finals. The Indians has appealed against the result of a match between Japan and Chinese Taipei suspecting foul play. 4 other teams- 2 South Korean, 1 Chinese and one Indonesian- were also involved in match-fixing after blatantly attempting to throw their matches to avoid meeting stronger competitors/ compatriots in the next round.

Always thought India's lack of killer instinct harmed our interests. Not so, it seems. Congrats, girls!

Edit: The 4 teams mentioned above have been disqualified.

[Ironhide]

Favourites for me would be Boxing and hockey , and in that order. More so because I've played both the sports for long years in school and college. It's always nostalgic to relive those moments of playing through mind numbing exhaustion, the satisfaction of a pass well executed or a punch well connected, the thrill of weaving through a horde of defenders, the high one gets when one wins (or for that matter, loses to a deserving opponent).

[Samir Taheer]

Can the poll not be edited? You missed out a majority of events, including the most popular amongst men - Beach Volleyball!!

I'll be at the Olympic park on Monday to watch the men's basketball semis and at Greenwich park on Thursday to watch the Dressage finals and prize distribution!!

Mod Note: Done! Added my favourite, gymnastics, as well.

[kaushik_s]

Originally Posted by noopster

This just in...Indian badminton doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Jwala Gutta have been reinstated after earlier failing to qualify for the quarter finals. The Indians has appealed against the result of a match between Japan and Chinese Taipei suspecting foul play. 4 other teams- 2 South Korean, 1 Chinese and one Indonesian- were also involved in match-fixing after blatantly attempting to throw their matches to avoid meeting stronger competitors/ compatriots in the next round.

Always thought India's lack of killer instinct harmed our interests. Not so, it seems. Congrats, girls!

Edit: The 4 teams mentioned above have been disqualified.

Where you got the news about Indian Team being reinstated? The official site still shows India's team to be in the third position in the group :(. Wish they had win the last match with a better margin, they were almost sailing very easily with a 9-0 lead in the second game but the other team got few too many points to made it a close match later.
Today Saina just destroyed her opponent. The way she is playing I hope that she wins the Gold this time. Hope that Saina will destroy China

[mallumowgli]

Indian team not reinstated. That was a false alarm. Been reading TOI noopster?

[noopster]

ToI is one confused bunch. First they reported that the girls had qualified (it made their print edition too) then they changed it to say they won but were placed third in the group, so no dice. When I first posted that, the news had just broken that 4 teams are likely to be disqualified and the desi TV channels started celebrating without realising that the disqualified teams were all in Groups A and C, while our ladies were in B.

It didn't help that the Indian team had raised a formal protest against Japan who lost rather facilely to the Taiwanese. As late as this afternoon, Mid Day claims optimistically that the appeal has a great chance of being upheld!

I checked on the London 2012 page just to be sure- they are still in 3rd place in Group B. It's a pity that, having won 2 matches. They may be out but still got my respect!

[Eddy]

Is Ronjan Sodhi out, or has he qualified for the medal round ?

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by noopster

I checked on the London 2012 page just to be sure- they are still in 3rd place in Group B. It's a pity that, having won 2 matches. They may be out but still got my respect!

The quarter Finals are already over and two of the 'promoted' teams are already in the semi-finals. So no hope for us now. India were unlucky not to go through. I did not see the 1st and 3rd game, but they fought really well to win the 2nd game and I heard they did very well to win the 3rd.

I guess this format is going to be re-looked at for the next olympics.

[_chikku]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Is Ronjan Sodhi out, or has he qualified for the medal round ?

He is out. Finished at 11th.

[manolin]

watching saina play makes me feel so proud.

[kaushik_s]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

The quarter Finals are already over and two of the 'promoted' teams are already in the semi-finals. So no hope for us now. India were unlucky not to go through. I did not see the 1st and 3rd game, but they fought really well to win the 2nd game and I heard they did very well to win the 3rd.

I guess this format is going to be re-looked at for the next olympics.

Had Indian team got qualified, they would have had a great chance to win a medal for sure. Really bad luck for us.
Anyway, the great news is again from Saina and she is thru to the Semi-finals. She will be facing the world no 1 Wang Yihan :(. Although till now Saina couldn't beat Wang, but this must be the time when she should.

[joe1980]

Lets pray for Gold in Badminton. Sania is rocking!

[manolin]

Originally Posted by joe1980

Lets pray for Gold in Badminton. Sania is rocking!

saina or sania? though both were good today!

[joe1980]

Shame on me for that spelling mistake. It is Saina!

[noopster]

Bad news- Kashyap Parupalli, playing his first Olympics, went down fighting in the quarterfinals to Lee Chong Wei 19-21, 11-21. Apparently he put up quite a fight in the first game but was outclassed by the Malaysian top seed.

Now all eyes on Saina who took just 39 mins to demolish her Danish opponent in the quarters and is now one win away from a medal and two wins away from gold! It's not going to be easy against the marauding Chinese but more power to her!