sports

Remembering Mohammed Shahid while he fights yet another battle in Gurgaon

I don’t remember watching Mohammad Shahid play.

Hassan Sardar—his Pakistani counterpart—was much more of a household name in those days.

But I do recall—faintly—the 7-1 drubbing of the Indian men’s hockey side in the 1982 Asiad final in New Delhi.

It was a tragedy—a loss wasn’t unexpected—-but  humiliation was disaster.

Mohammed Shahid was a member of that squad; he was also part of the 1980 side that last won gold for India at an Olympics.

But it was goalie Mir Ranjan Negi who was anointed villain of the piece. He was termed a ‘traitor’ and there were claims that he had been bribed by his opponents.

Negi said:

“Everywhere I went, I was abused by the public. Nothing matters to me more than playing for my country. I am a proud Indian and will always be so. There were lots of things that happened in the run-up to the final. You find out. I will not speak about the politics that contributed to our defeat.”

His team-mate Zafar Iqbal later said:

“The entire team was to blame; we forwards missed chances, the defence left huge gaps that the Pakistanis exploited. Despite making great efforts to cover the gaps, poor Negi became a sitting duck and the Pakistanis scored at will […] He was blamed solely, but every player was to blame […] The atmosphere was vicious. I remember someone claiming that he had seen Negi come out of the Pakistan High Commission on match eve […] Some even enquired whether Negi, with his first name Mir, was Muslim.”

Hassan Sardar believes that the scoreline was no indicator of how close the final really was.

He says:

“Do you know who the man-of-match that day was? It was our 17-year-old goalkeeper, also named Shahid (Ali Khan) who made more than eight saves that day. Nobody remembers that, the scoreline should have been 7-5 or 7-6, just an indication of how good the Indian team was back then.”

Mohammed Shahid now lies in a hospital bed in Gurgaon fighting for his life against a liver condition that afflicted him following a bout of jaundice and dengue.

Shahid is an employee with the Railways. They will be picking up all his medical expenses.

His condition is still critical.

The Sports Ministry has announced a grant of Rs. 10 lakhs for the former Olympian.

Sundeep Misra of Firstpost describes  Shahid thus:

“In the late 70’s and early 80’s, you didn’t go to watch hockey. You went to watch magic; mesmerizing magic created by a man from Benares called Mohammed Shahid.

Those were the kind of skills that couldn’t be taught. No amount of coaching camps, elite coaches could create supple wrists that, honestly, were an extension of the hockey stick. Shahid, short but lithe displayed his dribbling skills like a card-dealer in a casino. Defences retracted inwards, backing off not willing to take on this twisting and turning dervish whose only challenge in life seemed to be cutting through defences like a combine harvester in a wheat field. Fans watched in disbelief. Opposition coaches gave up. Defenders wanted to quit the sport. Little kids wanted to know ‘dodge kaise karte hain’. Commentators lost their voice if Shahid didn’t have the ball. In those days, Mohammed Shahid was hockey.”

A Times Of India story called him “the genius of dribble”.

Shahid himself was much more self-effacing.

He said:

“Look, I am Mohammed Shahid. That will not ever change. Yes, I was India captain; people said I had God given talent with dribbling skills. Mujhe bhi yaad hai, har waqt mar dodge, mar dodge. Par ek time ke baad mann bhar gaya (Even I remember dodging past players all the time. But after a while, it was enough).”

Sardar has fond memories of playing against Shahid.

He said:

“Yeh bade afsos ki baat hai (It is quite unfortunate to hear of this) Kya kamaal ka khiladi tha! Aisi behetreen stickwork modern hockey mein bahut kum dekhne ko milti thi. We may have been sworn rivals on the field, but I was a Shahid fan. All our pre-match plans would revolve around how to check Shahid and he would simply destroy it all. We could never catch him

But do you know, Shahid and I were part of a dream attacking trio that could never be realised. Shahid would often tell me, ‘Hassan-bhai, had we played together in the same team, no one would have been able to touch us.’ Imagine a team where Zafar was left-in, I was centre forward and Shahid on the right…”

Hassan laughingly recollected an incident during the 1986 bilateral series when he was at the receiving end of Shahid’s wizardry and threatened to sort Shahid out by visiting his hotel room.

He said:

“Blind with rage, I told him, ‘Arrey, mujhe sey panga kyun le rahe ho?! Lag jayegi, toh udte hue jaoge.’ But it just wasn’t us alone. None of the European teams could ever catch him. In the Pakistan camp, we would say, ‘Yeh sabke phephre nikal deta hai, bhaga bhaga ke…”

Shahid has the respect and love of his countrymen, teammates and opponents.

Here’s hoping that he makes a full recovery and soon.

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Mohammed Shahid passed away aged 56 on July 20, 2016. May his soul rest in peace. 

Winning ugly is still winning: Why be a beautiful loser?

Everybody loves a winner.

Even more so, a pretty one.

Like Federer, like Brazil in the 50s and 60s.

Sometimes, winning is everything.

So when the purists crib that Portugal were unaesthetic in the triumph at the European Cup this year, let’s put their comments in the right perspective.

It is Portugal’s name that will be inscribed on the trophy and history will record them as victors.

Will it matter , in a few years, how they emerged kings despite winning just one game in normal time? Will it matter that they barely made the pre-quarters, drawing all their three group Games?

It will not and Cristiano Ronaldo knows and recognises this better than anyone else.

Hobbling on the sidelines in the final, the man from Madeira cheered and spurred his teammates on inspiring them to the podium in his absence.

In the process, he went one better than his rival and the best player on the planet, Lionel Messi.

Messi may be beautiful, he may be sublime, but he has still to win a title for his native Argentina.

Ronaldo has his measure there.

Unlike tennis, badminton or squash, soccer is a team sport.

And one man does not a team make.

Winning need not be elegant, it need not be pleasing to the eye or the spectators.

Sometimes, it’s simply about getting the job done, doing what’s needed when it’s required.

Yes, we love to see our winners be gorgeous, heavenly and glorious.

But for every Federer, there’s a Nadal.

And for every Spain, there’s a Denmark, a Greece and now a Portugal.

Imran Khan: Fairy tales

“We grow up with fairy tales,  but in life there is no happily ever after. And if there were,  I would get bored of life. To me,  life is interesting when one is struggling.” 

—Imran Khan,  cricketer and politician. 

Roger Federer almost pulls off another miracle

He almost pulled off another miracle,  didn’t he? 

After coming back from the dead against Marin Cilic in the quarters, Roger Federer was leading 2-1 against Milos Raonic only to lose his bearings—figuratively and literally—failing in the last two sets in yet another gruelling five-setter. 

The Swiss missed the French Open this year—his first Grand Slam since 1999,  ending an unbelievable streak of appearances. 

With Novak Djokovic knocked out early,  die-hard Fed fans believed this was his best chance to clinch his 18th Slam. But it was always going to prove an uphill battle for a 34-year-old. Realists would not begrudge another championship for the great but their expectations are always tempered and tinged with a healthy dose of skepticism. 

In the end, it proved to be too much even for the tennis machine. The cracks and the strain were visible towards the end of the fourth set with Roger dropping his serve in the final game to lose the set without taking it into another nail-biting tie-breaker. 

But he had done enough to revive Wimbledon out of its stupor. 

Britain’s favourite son,  Andy Murray,  might clinch yet another title on the hallowed grass of the All-England Championship. 

But for many,  this Wimbledon is simply to be Federer’s thing of beauty—forever. 

Bhaag, Milkha, Bhaag: Biopic for masses and classes

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Language: Hindi

Directed by:
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra

Produced by:
Rajiv Tandon
Raghav Bahl
Maitreyee Dasgupta
Madhav Roy Kapur
Rachvin Narula
Shyam P.S
Navmeet Singh
P. S. Bharathi

Written by:
Prasoon Joshi

Based on
The Race of My Life by Milkha Singh and Sonia Sanwalka

• Farhan Akhtar as Subedar Milkha Singh a.k.a. The Flying Sikh
• Japtej Singh as young Milkha
• Divya Dutta as Isri Kaur, Milkha’s elder sister
• Meesha Shafi as Perizaad
• Pavan Malhotra as Hawaldar (Constable) Gurudev Singh, Milkha’s coach during his days in the Indian Army
• Yograj Singh as Ranveer Singh, Milkha’s coach
• Art Malik as Sampooran Singh, Milkha’s father
• Prakash Raj as Veerapandian
• K.K.Raina as Mr. Wadhwa
• Rebecca Breeds as Stella
• Dalip Tahil as Jawaharlal Nehru
• Dev Gill as Abdul Khaliq
• Nawab Shah as Abdul Khaliq’s coach
• Jass Bhatia as Mahinder
• Sonam Kapoor as Biro, Milkha’s fleeting love interest

The movie begins with the Flying Sikh’s heart-breaking loss at the Rome Olympics in the 400 metres. Milkha Singh is far ahead of the field but turns to see where his rivals are losing vital seconds. The result is a fourth place finish; he too breaks the Olympic record alongside the medallists.

Milkha is haunted by ghosts of his childhood past from Govindpura, in the then Punjab Province, British India—now Muzaffargarh District, Pakistan.

Milkha’s parents, a brother and two sisters were slaughtered before his eyes in the violence that ensued following the partition of British India.

The film takes off with Milkha’s return to India and his refusal to lead a contingent of Indian athletes to Pakistan to race against Abdul Khaliq—-the fastest man in Asia.

Milkha’s back story is narrated by Pavan Malhotra as Hawaldar Gurudev Singh, Milkha’s former coach, and how he made the journey from a refugee camp to becoming the foremost Indian sportsperson of his generation and arguably of all time.

The movie is gripping while depicting life in a refugee camp and young Milkha’s initiation into a life of petty crime but meanders in scenes portraying his first love Biro.

To prove himself worthy of her, Milkha quits his criminal ways and joins the army.

The young Sardar starts running to gain an extra glass of milk, two eggs and excusal from regular drill.

Milkha is soon on his way becoming one of India’s top athletes and making the cut for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

There he meets and falls for Stella (played by Rebecca Breeds), the grand-daughter of his Australian technical coach. Breeds is charming and delightful lighting up the screen in her cameo.

The Games, however, are a disaster for Milkha. He loses and vows to make good by breaking the existing world record of 45.90 seconds.

He trains hard over the next four years with unyielding determination and even rejects a romantic overture from Indian Olympic swimmer Perizaad.

Milkha takes the world by storm in the run-up to the Rome Olympics and is one of the pre-Games favourites for the 400 metres.

The rest is history.

Milkha makes the journey across the border for the Friendly Games against Pakistan after being persuaded by Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

The highlight of the movie is his visit back to Govindpura where he exorcises past demons and is reunited with childhood friend Sampreet.

The race against Abdul Khaliq is a formality with Singh much too strong and powerful for his opponents.

The film ends with an older Milkha Singh completing a victory lap visualizing his boyish self running alongside him.

Overall, an enjoyable movie especially for sports fans and a Don’t miss if you’re a follower of Indian athletics.

I M Vijayan: National teams and club football 

“National teams depend a lot on the professionalism of their footballers to perform well in major tournaments. And, that professionalism owes a lot to club football.” 

—I M Vijayan. 

Marcus Willis’ fairy tale at Wimbledon ends with Roger Federer


Embed from Getty Images


Marcus Willis will have that beer.

He’s earned it.

Capturing seven games in his second round match against Roger Federer he surely deserves one.


Embed from Getty Images


The man owes it all to a girl—a girl he met this February, a dentist named Jennifer Bates.

He fell in love, turned himself around and found himself in round two of this year’s Wimbledon earning himself 50,000 pounds.

Brexit might have taken its toll on the UK’s currency but that could not dim the

£30-an-hour part-time Wokingham tennis coach’s joy.

Beating Ricardas Berankis, ranked 54, in the first round was unexpected.

But qualifying for Wimbledon proper required him to win six gruelling matches.

As Goran Ivanisevic, his idol, put it:

“I love this story. This is great.

Pre-qualifying, then qualifiers, winning the first round against a not easy player. Berankis can play.

It’s just great. Perfect. He will go on Centre Court or Court One.

The biggest match of his life and he has won already. For him he is a winner. He is the story of Wimbledon and it cannot get better than this.

He cannot beat Roger Federer, no chance but he does not care. He has won already seven matches and he won Wimbledon for him. This is it.

He will go on Centre or Court One. He is the happiest man, whether he comes to the match sober or drunk it doesn’t make any difference.

Everyone will love him and support him and Roger will be nice to him.

Eventually maybe not but it’s going to be great. I think he should quit after this. Retire. Because this is it.

It does not get better than this. Great, well done, I’m really so happy for the guy.”

Roger Federer had nothing but respect for Willis. He treated him as a top-50 player because “because that’s the level he was playing at”.

Willis sounded both disappointed and upbeat after his loss.

He said:

“It sounds funny, but I’m disappointed to lose. I went out there trying to win.

I’ve had a fantastic few weeks, and this has been great, but there’s life after Wimbledon, and I want more. More experiences like this. I have to knuckle down and work harder.

I’m absolutely exhausted. I might wait and calm down. But I’ve earned myself a beer, I think.

I haven’t thought (about marrying Jennifer) , to be honest. This whole few weeks have been a bit of a blur. But I do like her quite a bit.

Amazing. It’s not my standard Wednesday.”

Has he seen Wimbledon, the movie?

“I haven’t. People are telling me about it, but I’ve never seen it, really. I’m not a massive film watcher. I’m quite fidgety. I’m more of a doer than a watcher.”

Andy Murray, his fellow countryman, batted for Willis insisting that journeymen deserved more money.

He said:

“The first thing is we need to improve the prize money at Futures level. I think it’s stayed the same since the 1980s. The cost of everything has gone up massively since then so it’s impossible to stay at that level for more than a couple of years.

Someone like Marcus, if he had lost in the pre-qualifying at Wimbledon, we wouldn’t have this unbelievable story and he might not be coming back to play in January. You never know. There has to be more money at the bottom of the game.

It’s a difficult one.Because now players are breaking through later than they ever were before so they are obviously finding ways to hang around. A lot of the guys play club tennis to try to make some extra money, which helps. We don’t have that in this country. You can travel to Europe and do that. In Spain they have a few more money tournaments.”

Willis is ranked 772 in the world.

But for the match against Federer he dressed up wearing not just  Roger’s classic white Nike bandana headband but an R.F.-branded shirt as well.

At the end of the match, he was not just another pretender but Marcus Willis,  a 25-year-old from Slough,  able to trade blows with the best in the business.

For most people, the story will be about Marcus’ two magical weeks at Wimbledon.

But Willis knows better.

It started earlier, much earlier, with a girl named Jennifer.

Leander Paes: Parents and champions

“Parents who wish to mould their kids into champions must recognise that the support system of the family is essential for an athlete’s success. Without your support, your child’s dreams will never grow wings.”

—Leander Paes.

Ashutosh Pednekar, racketlon and gold medals

You’re aware of decathlons, pentathlons and triathlons.

But what do you know of racketlon?

Racketlon is a combination sport where you play four racket sports in sequence from the lightest paddle to the heaviest: table tennis, badminton, squash and tennis.

A match consists of four sets running to 21 points in each sport. A two point margin is needed to secure a set.

Each player serves two points at a time from each side of the court—except in ping-pong.

The winner is the player who secures the most points—in total.

The Racketlon website elaborates on the more interesting aspects of the sport:

“The fact that in each individual sport a mediocre player can challenge a top player – on equal terms! The guy may even be on the world ranking in one of the sports – as long as the outcome of the overall match is unclear that set will still make up an interesting game! And this has significant implications for the tactical aspects of the game; It is one thing to play well against a player that is your equal but it is an entirely different matter to deliver a top performance against someone who is far below (or above) your own standard.

A second special characteristic of racketlon is the fact that all points count equal. In any of the individual sports, say tennis, you can afford loosing some points at some stages with no implications for the overall match whereas other points (e.g. set or match points) carry much more weight. A clear indication of this is that a tennis player may well win less points in total and still win the match. In racketlon all points are – to a much greater extent – equally important. Most racketlon players would agree that this has clear implications for how each of the games are played. ‘Racketlon badminton’, for example, seems like a whole different ball game compared to normal badminton not to mention ‘racketlon tennis’. If this is a pure psychological or, in additition, a mathematical consequence of the racketlon counting I leave open at the moment but it is beyond doubt, however, that a tennis gummiarm (Swedish for ‘rubber arm’ referring to the behaviour of the arm holding the racket at the time of ball impact) and accompanying ‘chicken’ play is a surprisingly common sight in racketlon contexts. In a tight match the concluding tennis event is often a matter of extremely tightly strung nerves. A lost point is a lost point and can never be compensated!”

India has a champion navy officer, Ashutosh Avinash Pednekar, who won medals in the over 45 and men’s amateur category at the Nordic Racket Games held at Vejen, Denmark on May 28 and 29 and at the Super World Tour – King of Rackets tournament held at Oudenaarde, Belgium from June 3 to 5.

He won gold at Denmark in both categories and gold and silver in Belgium.

The Commodore is looking forward to being the first Indian to win gold at the World Racketlon Championships scheduled later this year in November at Germany.

Pednekar was introduced to the sport by a fellow squash player Abhinav.

Speaking to SportsKeeda, he said:

“He gave me the interesting aspects of this sport and I got all the details through internet.I realised if I had to take part I need to have some strength in table tennis, a sport which was new to me. I gave myself six months to train hard and when I was confident I had touched reasonable level thought of my next step of participation.”

Ashutosh was already a keen squash and badminton player.

Can Ashutosh deliver on his promise of gold at the World Championships?

He replied:

“I have planned to sharpen my table tennis skills with a professional trainer and keep in good touch in the other three.”

Go well, Ashutosh, Lone Ranger of Indian Racketlon!

Lionel Messi retires from international soccer: Will he return?

What do you say to Lionel Messi when he loses yet another final and announces his retirement from internationals?

Are his fans to cry, “Come back, Messi, we’ll always love you, come what may”?

Or to join his plaintive chorus to ‘Don’t cry for me, Argentina’.

“Don’t cry for me Argentina
The truth is I never left you
All through my wild days
My mad existence
I kept my promise
Don’t keep your distance.”

Truth be told, my first reaction to Messi’s missed penalty was the demoralising effect it would have on his teammates. To see their skipper miss his shot by a mile could only create more flutters and nerves in their midst.

And sure enough, his teammates missed another and that was the end of Argentina’s Copa America Centenario dreams.

That Messi would take this loss to heart and view it as a personal failure could only be foreseen in hindsight.

Will Messi be back?

The magician with the ball does know that soccer is a team game and that he’s not expected to shoulder the blame for his team’s inadequacies. And it’s not as though there isn’t a blueprint available on how to nullify the Messi threat personified by an Argentinean side. Germany have done it before and Chile did it to them twice.

Messi is hardly the first high-profile player to miss a crucial penalty. His Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo missed one in this year’s Euro. Roberto Baggio and Michel Platini are on that unfortunate list too.

Time is a great healer and it’s possible that the lure of another World Cup could draw the mercurial forward back.

Yes, it’s possible, and we certainly hope to see him back in national colours.

Until then, we’ll continue to enjoy his exploits with Neymar and Luis Suarez for Barca.