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Saturday, August 4, 2012

Fury 3

My sincere apologies if my words do not form properly. I am furious. And I do not blame myself.

I am not a boxing connoisseur. I have never been. I don't know the rule-book inside out like some of my acquaintances. I do stay up, though, to watch India compete. I still do not know what results in a point and what does not. What I know is that things are rather less well-defined in boxing than in most sports.

All I know is:
Event 1: Sumit Sangwan had a howler the other day. That's what everyone told me. People who do understand the sport and its rules. We had appealed. It was overturned.
Event 2: Vikas Krishan Yadav possibly should have lost anyway. That's what everyone told me. People who do understand the sport and its rules. They had appealed. It was accepted.

I repeat, I do not know the rules of boxing. All I know is that they are very subjective. I do not intend to know, either. All I know is that both the events should not have happened. One of them happening is a heartbreak, but can still be accepted, since umpiring errors happen in all kinds of sports.

Twice is not acceptable. It simply does not sound right. No, I'm not furious because the opponent was an American. Or because the jury was British.

My fury comes from the fact that there is no way out of this. If you win fairly, the decision goes against you and the protests go down the drain. If you win unfairly, the protests are upheld immediately.

Is there a way that we will be allowed to win in a sport that's not this subjective?

How are our boxers supposed to motivate themselves if this is how their dreams are going to end after four years of toil?

BCCI have been right all along, actually. They have actually been successful in bringing down the unfair decision count against the Indian cricket team by the sheer flex of muscles. My sincere apologies to them for being sarcastic all along.

7 comments:

  1. Dur... ebarer boxing er point system er kichhu bojhai jachchhe na!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Perhaps it is easy for me to say since I have never been a fan of the Olympics (athletics was uninteresting, and when we were kids sports like tennis (actually this was changing at that time) and soccer were not graced by the best (professionals not allowed). But that was a statement of personal aesthetics, and I would be the first to admit that I was missing something. With what I am hearing about the Olympics this year, I am beginning to believe that the Olympics are now overhyped. Players fixing matches, referees handing out decisions that are howlers, not broderline wrong (there seems to be general consensus on this), and referees being suspended ....nothing that ought to happen in an elite club of sportspeople.

    While perhaps, we have good reason to feel agrieved at being 'cheated',
    I think the object is a little broader than our team being deprived of a boxing mdeal. It is that the hype sets one up for a real sports competition, but that is marred by stuff I just don't want to hear of in sports.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am not a fan of any sport that is not cricket or chess, RGB. Maybe just T20. None of these are a part of the Olympics.

      I simply support India every year. We fail, and yet I support. Defeats do not demoralise me.

      It irks me, though, when we're robbed of what we deserve. It's not about the hype. It's about robbing us of what we deserve. Think of the boxers. They have waited for this for four years. And then be eliminated for a fault that wasn't theirs.

      Delete
  3. "I am not a fan of any sport that is not cricket or chess, RGB." :)

    I understand what you are irked at. But what I am saying is, if the Olympics are to be run this way, perhaps they are not worth the four year wait you talk about. The importance that one gives to the Olympics as the greatest sport arena, is beginning to seem out of place.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I see what you mean. But then, the hype and everything associated are expected to be a part of the package, given the globalisation, consumerism and all.

      Delete

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