Seeing Double

Then, as millions watched 8212; though a cable blackout in Delhi meant many missed the moment 8212; Rathore took the medal from Randhir Singh, Asian Games gold medal winner.

Today, Rathore 8212; now a national icon 8212; says his greatest satisfaction lies in seeing the interest his silver has generated among shooters. 8216;8216;I couldn8217;t have asked for anything more. It8217;s a good sign and I am sure in the next Olympics India8217;s 8216;quota8217; winners would be more than what it was at Athens. It also means more medals in shooting for the country.8217;8217;

THE EFFECT
Peoples Power

November dusk at the Dr Karni Singh Range, New Delhi. The National Shooting championships were being staged here and Major Rathore was in attendance. He8217;d already had a chat with Allan Daniel Peoples, a student of St Stephen8217;s College and a contestant in the skeet event. That evening, Peoples 8212; all of 19 years old 8212; shattered the myth that you need to be a grizzled veteran to win at skeet. And also won the junior title, just for emphasis.

Now training his double-barrel on a place in the future Indian team, Peoples credits the victory to many people but most of all to Rathore. 8216;8216;All of us now look up to him and his feat. It was kind of him to speak with me the day before the finals and give me some

tips on handling pressure. It came in handy particularly with veterans around.8217;8217;

What next? His New Year resolution is 8216;8216;more frequent visits to the range8217;8217;, to fulfil his ambition of competing at the highest level. Peoples believes he will have to go a long way but is confident, given his age and well-wishers like Rathore.

NET GAINS

THE NEWS
Sania Cracks 200

All right, an Indian woman had cracked the WTA Top 200 before sania Mirza. But to do that Nirupama Vaidyanathan had to move to the US, where she could play 8216;8216;better8217;8217; if not more, tournaments. Sania stayed at home, put up with the non-existent system, financial drawbacks and limited opportunities, and picked up her points. If 2003 saw one Big Win 8212; the junior Wimbledon doubles 8212; this was the year when, with meticulous planning and financial backing, she won consistently.

Beginning the year ranked 403 as a wild-card entrant in the Hyderabad WTA, she ended it at 170. The greatest moment was on October 25 when, having won her fifth title in Lagos, she was ranked 193. The Top 200 had been breached. The wins continued; in her last tournament of the year, the 50,000 Challenger in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Sania claimed her first Top-100 scalp world No 75 Anna-Lena Groenefeld.

However, there8217;s a very long road ahead of her. For one, she still has to play a Grand Slam she8217;s qualified for next month8217;s Australian Open. A win in the first round there would help her equal Nirupama8217;s record of winning a match in a Slam. So how much is she in awe of Nirupama? 8216;8216;Niru was really phenomenal for Indian women8217;s tennis but I wasn8217;t in competition with her. As a pro it has been and will be a continuous pursuit of doing well and realising that Indians are no push-overs8217;8217;.

THE EFFECT
Miss Consistency

Though Sania usually steals the spotlight when it comes to women8217;s tennis, Delhi8217;s Bhambri sisters have been plugging away in her shadow. And the most emphatic performance has come from Ankita. This year has seen her win an ITF tournament in Kolkata, come runners-up in Gurgaon, New Delhi, Lucknow and reach the semis in New Delhi and Hyderabad. Her year-end finish at 481 is way out of the Sania league but she8217;s shown consistency.

She appreciates the strides taken by Sania. 8216;8216;A great effort. It8217;s often noticed that more the exposure abroad the more you gain in confidence. Sania has proved that goals can be achieved.8217;8217;

SPRINT SIBLINGS

THE NEWS
Binu8217;s Semis Surprise

First, KM Binu, new to the event, reached the 400m semi-final and set a national record. He wasn8217;t new to the Olympics, though; his sister Beenamol was at her third Games and, as he says, he8217;s 8216;8216;been listening to Olympics stories from my sister all the time.8217;8217; But there was more practical advice too: 8216;8216;My sister ensured that theoretically I was an Olympian even before I reached Athens.8217;8217; Beenamol had worked it down to the last detail. 8216;8216;Everything from the way to behave at the athletes village to the crucial warm-up before the race, I knew it all before I reached Greece,8217;8217; he says.

The surprise came from an unexpected quarter: the starter8217;s instructions, which were in Greek. 8216;8216;So I was a bit late in reacting. And that fraction missed at the starting point can make a big difference in 400m,8217;8217; he says.

THE EFFECT
Sister Act

A couple of days after Binu8217;s feat, KM Beenamol took the 4x400m women8217;s relay to its first ever final and also created a national mark. How did Binu8217;s race help Beenamol? 8216;8216;The tension of worrying about Binu was gone8217;8217;, she says. 8216;8216;Knowing that my brother was at his first Olympics, I was a bit scared. After his record-breaking effort I was at peace and was in the right frame of mind to approach my event.8217;8217; Binu, she says, showed how 8216;8216;total outsiders8217;8217; too can make things work. 8216;8216;As with Binu, the 4215;400 relay squad was not given a chance by anyone and reaching the Olympic final was a real big thing,8217;8217; she says. She speaks about the time they all spent training in Ukraine before the Olympics. 8216;8216;We decided that whatever people say we will give our best.8217;8217;

But did Binu do his best in the semi-final? 8216;8216;No I wasn8217;t happy with his timing, he is capable of doing much better,8217;8217; the sister replied promptly. A typical reply from an elder sister!

BATTING, BEATING

THE NEWS
Sultan of Multan

March 29, 2004. Virender Sehwag, in inimitable style, hits a six over midwicket to become the first Indian ever to score a triple century in Test cricket. The sheer audacity of that shot is amplified when you realise that, months earlier, he8217;d fallen five runs short of a double ton while playing the same shot. Instantly, the Nawab of Najafgarh became the Sultan of Multan.

Sehwag, who was out on 309, was the second fastest to reach triple hundred, needing 375 balls as against Matthew Hayden8217;s 362 balls. Yet his effort was surprising because no one would have betted that he, of call people, could stay at the crease long enough to for such a big innings. It apparently surprised the man himself, too. 8216;8216;I didn8217;t believe I had done it. It will take some time to sink in,8217;8217; were his first reactions after the triple ton.

His inspiration was obviously the Master Blaster, guiding him all along at the other end. 8216;8216;Jisko maine dekh kar cricket khelna seekha, he was with me when I reached the mark,8217;8217; Sehwag about his idol. At Multan, and through the year, the pupil upstaged the master in style.

THE EFFECT
Batman8217;s Robin

If the Australians set the trend of fast scoring and big hitting, and Sehwag perfected it among Indians, the stage is set for Shikhar Dhawan to carry the torch in the next generation. The 20-year-old left-hander came into prominence early this year at the Under-19 world cup, when he cracked centuries against Scotland, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to aggregate 505 runs and earn the 8216;man of the tournament8217; award. Dhawan8217;s batting is eerily similar to Sehwag8217;s, based on an early domination of the attack. Their similarity goes beyond that, though; Sehwag first shot into prominence at the U-19 World Cup in South Africa. Sehwag had a standout debut Ranji season, a century in his first match; Dhawan, too, has struck a purple patch with a century and two 80s in his first four games.

8216;8216;The way Sehwag has risen in international cricket has inspired me in Ranji this season8217;8217;, Dhawan said

CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARD

THE NEWS
World Junior Chess Champion

Pendyala Harikrishna8217;s career graph has followed a path similar to that of Vishwanathan Anand. At Kochi in November, 17 years after his idol achieved the feat, Harikrishna 18 did the ultimate, becoming the second Indian to win the world junior crown. The chess revolution triggered by Anand had come full circle.

So how was Hari influenced by the master? 8216;8216;Watching Anand play at the Olympiad before the World Juniors was a treat. Anand8217;s speed amazed me and I decided to copy him. I was a bit slow so here I consciously kept up a certain speed in the opening phase of the game.8217;8217; The future is bright and Hari is focussed on what lies ahead. 8216;8216;My immediate aim is to reach 2650. I should be around the 2635 mark in the next list.8217;8217;

THE EFFECT
Rookie Rook

He already had several firsts to his credit 8212; youngest national sub-junior champion, youngest Indian to beat a GM 8212; and this year Parimarjan Negi became the youngest Indian IM norm holder. Currently being coached by Evgeny Vladimirov, who8217;d also worked with Harikrishna, Negi 11 says he is looking for an IM title and the GM norm in 2005. But he8217;s more excited about his next competition, the Corus in Holland next month, where his idol Anand is also participating.

8216;8216;To get an invitation to play along with Anand is the dream of any youngster. I am really thrilled,8217;8217; Negi said.