GOLD and everything after

India has its first individual gold medal at the Olympics. Wow!
Watched Abhinav Bindra's interview on NDTV .... never will there be a more phlegmatic gold medal winner! Quite astonishing really, to see someone so disinclined to dwell on the event. Apparently he hates interviews for their "stupid questions" and values his privacy above all. What a welcome change from celebrity culture.

Hats off to a fantastic achievement.

Sport is a great leveller though. Its four years since Athens, and the past hero and current flag bearer, Rajavardhan Singh Rathore, showed up after doing a bunch of commercials ... replete, this time around with a new look, a french beard and a swagger to boot, but finished 15th out of 19th contestants. Sad to see such an anti-climax. That's what sport does I guess.

Today seems an important day, nevertheless, with Saina Nehwal and the tennis boys and girls matching up against fairly decent opposition at Beijing. Saina is well on her way to winning the first game of her Qtr final it seems.

And lastly, Badrinath's outburst seems to have paid off. I have heard of this TN player for a while now, from people who have played alongside him for the state, and from all accounts he is a terrific batsman and a genuinely sincere and honest individual. He expressed his anguish at being sidelined in favour of someone with far fewer credentials (Virat Kohli) for the one-day squad to Sri Lanka. Tendulkar's injury means that Badrinath finds his way in.