As 'Indiculture' and 'Times of India' reported Another Wardrobe Malfunction at Wills India Fashion Week 2008 when a Belgian model Debi Dropped her top when she was showcasing the collection of Famous designer Rajesh Pratap Singh. When Debbie was asked about the incidence she said its the part of her job to show the dress in best possible way but sometimes accidents happens and thats what happened today.
When Debby walked on ramp with her Blue dress One of her sleeves slipped off her shoulders, leaving her assets exposed. Somehow she managed to handle the situation.
It seems fittings have not been checked properly and carelessness of the designer made this incidence happen.
Famous personalities of fashion world are taking it as an accident happened during the show. These malfunctionings has become common in fashion shows as last year Carol gracious dropped her top while the show and Gauhar Khan faced the same embarrasement when her skirt torn in front of the audience. Now its up to the audience they take it as wardrobe malfunction or an accident.
What do you guys think its a fashion stunt or an accident?
Gazal Dhaliwal: Story of an Indian transgender
Soon after I turned 13, my mirror stopped being my friend. The school uniform added a compulsory turban to my head, and nature added hair to my face. Clothes were nice if they were my mother's and long hair was fine when it was in plaits, instead of being wound inside a turban. Games were fun as long as they were 'Teacher' and 'Housekeeping' and not cricket; preferred companions were girls and not boys. But then I was Gunraj from Chandigarh, today I am Gazal, 25.
And if you just looked at my picture again to check how masculine (or feminine) I look now, I will not blame you. It is the most natural reaction from a society, which unconsciously enforces a rigid distinction between genders. Any blur on this line is generally laughed at. Yet, I must tell you the story of my gender change, my liberation. Because there are thousands of people who feel trapped in their bodies. They hide instincts for fear of rejection, uncertain whether it is right to feel and want what everyone around them finds wrong. I want people to know how I survived 25 years in a role I did not choose for myself. A role which I played day after day without any hope of the curtain falling.
When I was often told that I was girlish, I was totally confused. The condescending voices opened taps of guilt deep inside, but somewhere even deeper, rivers of happiness sprang from that acknowledgment of my true self. But the happiness made me feel guiltier because no one told me that it was all right to be happy.
One of my happier childhood memories is of a school drama, in which I played a female character. During rehearsals, I was the most excited actor. Dressed in a pretty skirt for the performance, I told my father that I would be adjudged the Best Supporting Actress, if my performance was good. Best Supporting Actor, he corrected. I argued and tried to pick holes in his argument. But reason and logic were on his side; I only had a mess in my head. A transsexual child is forever trapped in this quest for identity, and in finding ways to evade the mocking laughter and derogatory names hurled by taunting peers. There is a sinking feeling all along that I do not fit in, that I never will fit in.
Puberty is a tough time for everybody, a time when one tries to understand one's sexuality. In that age of unanswered questions, I distinctly remember getting goosebumps watching a provocative music video by a male pop singer. And in the numerous sleepless nights that followed, it dawned on me, for the first time with a sense of absoluteness, that I was different, and would always be. For years to come, I was to think how unfair it was of God to make me gay.
But thankfully God did not leave me without anything. Today, I do not value academics much, but through my growing up years, I was considered a "bright child", "good orator" and a "very disciplined student". But for me my worth was in my singing, writing and histrionics. Recently, when I met my ex-schoolmates and teachers, they had high opinions about my student days. Said one, "Gunraj, I used to think it so unfair that you had every enviable quality in you." While another said, "I wouldn't have imagined you as anything, but a truly happy child."
I give my family the entire credit for still having been able to retain a sane mind. My stress found an equal opposition in the love I constantly got from my parents, my extended family and later, my friends. Initially, my parents could not comprehend how a boy could feel like a girl, yet they never gave up trying to understand, and never gave up on me. They would ask me to try and change the way I thought. I would wail: "It is not about the way I think, it is about the way I am. I do not choose to be like this, Papa. I was born this way. Why don't you go and try living as a member of the opposite gender?"
They did not punish me even when they found out that I would impersonate a girl and chat to strangers over the phone. When I ran away from home before my board exams, they brought me back and loved me even more. My brother, sister and relatives stood by me and held me tight when I teetered at the edge of a precipice.
The board exams went well, so did the entrance exams and I was admitted to a well-known engineering college. Thus I went to spend four years of my life in a boys' hostel. I was prepared to be an oddity there, ready for the remarks-"Always goes to the bathroom to change!" "Speaks so effeminately!" "Walk is so girly!" What I was not prepared, however, was for the severe ragging. Despite those unmentionable horrors of the first year, those four years are the most beautiful time of my life. In the cacophony of mocking voices and laughter, there were a few precious faces, which became my dear friends. I think it was in those years that I started realising that it was all right to be happy with myself. College life gave me freedom and the chance to explore my extra-curricular interests. Besides singing, debating and directing college plays, I would sneak out and watch late-night movies and go on trips with friends.
After completing college, I found myself sitting in the massive office of a software giant, gazing at the computer screen. A studio apartment, the company bus, my desk and the office dormitory summed up my entire world. I was rated among the top 10 per cent of the company's 20,000-strong work force. I never objected to an 18-hour workday because it kept me from the jeering whispers in the corporate hallways.
It was hard to trust anyone now. The fear of rejection kept me from accepting anybody new in my life. I desperately wanted to run away again, but I realised that the only thing to run away from was my own self. There were times, however, when the pangs of loneliness were so acute that I would look for a companion in gay websites. I would also meet men occasionally, but they were looking for a 'man' in me-my whole life had been about not being one. Gradually, I understood that gender dysphoria is not the same as being gay. While the causes of stress in both conditions might be similar to an extent, the conditions themselves are quite different.
A homosexual man, for instance, might have no problem in wearing a formal shirt and tie to office every day, while that particular dress code of my company was one of the three main reasons I decided to quit! My extremely peaceful and dull place of posting was the second. The third reason was an attempt to 'fit in' somewhere.
So I moved to Mumbai-my city of dreams. I was doing a one-year diploma in filmmaking. I was I happy that I had made the right career choice, and filmmaking was a sedative to the pain I could never completely learn to live with.
A year passed in a flash, and it was time to choose subjects for our final documentary films, which had to be made in groups of six. When I proposed 'Transsexuality' as a theme, only two friends who knew my condition raised their hands in support. That was perhaps the most important moment of my life. Soon enough, three more friends joined in, and the group was complete. The title suggested was 'To Be or Not To Be'. It sounded perfect, but something inside me said that it would change. The new name occurred to me the next morning-To be… ME.
I had never had any plans of coming out of the closet for the film; but that was the case with all the transgenders we met. Soon I realised that I was expecting others to face the demons, which I could not face. Now it was time to accept, love and celebrate being myself. Almost magically, the day I decided to face the camera, we started discovering others who were willing, and even excited, to share their stories! In my heart, I knew it was God's way to tell me that He supported my decision. To Be… ME turned out to be the best film of the year.
I had been reading about Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS) for many years, but my research for making the film had reassured me that it was not only all right to be happy, but it was my right to be happy. "So, when are you going for it?" was the first question my father asked after seeing the film. And ever since that question, there has been no looking back.
A year-and-a-half ago, I started my gender reassignment procedure, which will probably go on for another year. Frankly, this period of transformation is not one of the most convenient-socially, physically or emotionally. I was fortunate to be hired as an assistant by a veteran filmmaker and the staff at my office is truly godsend. They do their best to understand the issue and go out of their way to ensure my comfort in this period of transition. In the last 20 months my inner-self is slowly, but surely, taking its form in the mirror. I am thrilled to get compliments that I have always pined for, and it is musical to hear the taxi driver ask, "Madam, kahaan jaana hai?"
On October 19, 2007, my male genitals were replaced by female genitalia through vaginoplasty. Dr Chettawut performed the surgery in Bangkok. Currently, I down four tablets a day, a part hormone therapy, which has to be continued throughout my life. I am also undergoing electrolysis for removal of facial hair. This will continue for one more year. Finding myself cost me around Rs 5.5 lakh, including Dr Chettawut's fee of $7,000.
Thailand is renowned for male-to-female SRS. In my three-week stay, I saw patients of different nationalities, races and ages. Dr Chettawut performs around 20 vaginoplasties every month. It melted my heart to see a middle-aged woman accompanying her 'husband' for 'his' surgery. The 'husband' was a transsexual woman. I had read on the internet about such cases, where a spouse turns into a companion for a transsexual person, but to actually see it was like witnessing the purest form of love.
The surgeon's certificate identifies me as an "infertile female". Both are strong words. For most, the first might be stronger; for me, it is the second one. Being a mother, after all, is not just about the ability to give birth. Being transsexual, also, is not just about looking masculine or feminine. And the condition itself is not psychological. The bottom line is that gender dysphoria needs a medical correction. And an SRS is only as unnatural as any other surgery.
The sooner a transsexual person can start their gender reassignment procedure, the easier is the transition, and the better, the visible results. But at the same time, one must be mature enough to understand one's priorities. If 'infertile' is the stronger word for you, or if you're doing this for anybody except yourself, think again!
I still have a lot of catching up to do. I badly need to get some humour and spontaneity into my life. Then there is an urgent need to catch up on clothes, shoes, earrings and makeup. But there is this one thing I caught up with, recently and not many people do that-Life!
Conservationists have recently bought up land concessions from governments in an effort to combat the destruction of forests still inhabited by tigers.
'Human-tiger conflict'
The WWF painted also warned that the Sumatran Tiger could face extinction.
The conservation group's co-ordinator in Nepal, Bivash Pandav, said he believed there were some 3,500 tigers left in the world, compared with an estimated 5,000-7,000 in 1982.
In many ways the tiger stands at a crossroads between extinction and survival, and which path it takes is totally dependent on us
Sujoy Banerjee
WWF India
The director of WWF India's species programme, Sujoy Banerjee, said that at the beginning of the 20th Century there were an estimated 40,000 tigers in India, but that there were now no more than 1,400 - 60% fewer than in 2002.
Mr Banerjee said a serious threat to the remaining tigers came from poor Indian farmers who are determined to protect the livestock that they depend on.
"Whenever there is human-tiger conflict, the ultimate loser is the tiger," he said.
The situation in Indonesia was described as critical, with loggers having laid waste to vast tracts of the tigers' vital forest habitat.
Based on current trends, more than 90% of the country's forests may have been destroyed by 2050, the group said.
"In many ways the tiger stands at a crossroads between extinction and survival, and which path it takes is totally dependent on us," Mr Banerjee warned.
It must surely rank as the saddest day in Indian hockey, maybe even for Indian sport. For years we have clung to the hope that hockey will one day bring us the Olympic gold as it once did for decades at a stretch. Reaching a situation where we needed to qualify to play in the Olympics was painful enough; now we have a situation where we will not even be playing at the Beijing Olympics. That was really unthinkable. Now it is true.
Frankly, even though all of us - in certain sections of the hockey community - knew that it would be tough to face the predicament of needing to win a tournament to make the berth, I still felt we would scrape through despite all the pressure. Unfortunately, that did not happen.
I can assure you, it is not just Indian fans, but all over the hockey world people will be sad. World hockey needs India, which is why the international hockey body has been so keen to help us.
But now with a result like this, the existing sponsors may shy away, unless they are given a long-term plan and an assurance that something serious is being done. Hockey anyway was finding it tough to attract sponsors. Now it is going to be become even more difficult.
Hopefully, we can still retrieve the situation by thinking afresh.
While it is easy to blame the players saying they did not perform, players alone cannot be held responsible. At some level, the officialdom, and I mean the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF), needs to take the responsibility.
The same officials have been at the helm for years, and we only have seen the game go down steadily.
Surely, we have the pool of talent at junior levels, but somehow by the time they reach the senior level, motivation levels drop. Plus the players - I have myself seen it and spoken to them - are made to feel insecure.
Remember most players do not shirk, because hockey is their livelihood. The players know they have been employed for their play. And playing for the country is the highest honour, it also gets them incentives. So they all realise that performing on the field is most important. But they can do this only when they are made to feel secure.
Cutting and chopping has been our officials' policy. They hold all the power and the players dare not stand up to them even to demand what is rightfully theirs. I have known players being yelled at for asking simple facilities at national camps.
In the past we have had players play an entire tournament with just two sets of shirts and shorts. Tell me, how will a player be able to give his best, when he is not even made to feel proud of the shirt he wears.
Incentives, if any, are so meagre that they are embarrassment. More so in an age when we see cricketers, golfers, tennis players, shooters and so many other make a very good living.
The players are then belittled and humiliated in public by people who have never held a hockey stick. That is no way to treat players in your national sport.
Yes, for the next few weeks, the media and the public will rave and rant and ask for explanations. But tell me, who will give them? The IHF is maintaining silence.
Upset as I am, I am still hopeful. There is still lot of talent at sub junior level. I see them in tournaments in Punjab and these kids are still very enthusiastic. But the powers that be need to wake up and have tournaments at the grass-roots level. We will need 8-10 years to re-build.
We need to go back to the drawing board and start afresh. But for that we must infuse new blood. Not just in the team, but all around, including in the federation.
(Pargat Singh is three-time Olympian and former captain who played for India in more than 300 international matches.)
When Joaquim Carvalho took over as national coach from V. Baskaran after the 2006 Doha Asian Games, where the Indian hockey team suffered for the first time the ignominy of failing to win any medal and losing to China of all teams, he had declared that Indian hockey was not dead.
To the discerning he sounded like a doctor reassuring friends and well-wishers of a sick patient entrusted to his care. To Carvalho's credit, it must be said that he did bring the patient around, if only briefly, as the Asia Cup victory in Chennai in September showed. But when it came to the ultimate test of the Olympic qualifier at Chile, it turned out that the revival was not strong enough.
All those victory margins against teams like Russia, Mexico, Austria or Chile were false indicators. All along, Carvalho was aware that the acid test would come when his team faced Great Britain. India were beaten 2-3 in a less important league match and 0-2 in the all-important final, the game that carried the prize of a berth in the Beijing Olympics.
A nervous nation, which had gone to bed the previous night with a prayer on its lips for its team struggling in a different hemisphere, was numbed by shock when it awoke. For all its fears, it was not prepared to believe that the Indian hockey team, eight-time gold medal winners, would have to miss the Olympics for the first time since it made its famous debut at Amsterdam in 1928.
It was the hockey team that first put India on the world stage, its skill with stick and ball being seen as some sort of magic. A sport India learnt from its British rulers in the cantonments became its national game. By a quirk of fate, now a British team has knocked India out of the Olympics.
When the world's best battle it out in the Beijing Olympics, the Indian hockey team will be left to lament on the sidelines, watching the games on television.
The legendary hockey wizard Dhyan Chand, whose birthday is the National Sports Day, and others of his generation are no longer alive to see Indian hockey suffering such a disgrace. But there still are some men around, veterans of the glorious late 1940s and 1960s, who would rather have wished themselves dead than see this decline and fall in the autumn of their lives. Many of them are too pained to talk even if they are able to summon the energy to pick up the phone.
After the return of the medal-less hockey team from Doha, many old-timers still fit enough to walk a mile or two and other hockey lovers staged a protest march on the streets of New Delhi to draw public attention to the sorry state of the game. They did draw some attention, but not enough. It will take some time for the Santiago shock to sink in.
When the inevitable blame game and post mortems begin, the dirty linen of the past will again be washed in public. Coach Carvalho, who blamed his players for lack of discipline, will come under fire. In both games against Great Britain, Indian players earned yellow cards for being too aggressive, leading to temporary suspensions. International umpires just don't approve of players jutting their elbows in others' chins or knocking them over. This unacceptable display of 'aggro' has been leniently dealt with in domestic competitions.
The administrators of the game will get their share of blame, especially one man. But will that help? He has had his way in the past. Changing coaches is the easy way out. One has lost count of the number chopped and changed. It's an old story, too disgusting to bear repetition.
Former Indian hockey Olympians dubbed Monday the saddest day after the country failed to make it to the Olympics for the first time in 80 years and sought a thorough overhaul of the way the game is run.
Aghast over India's rout in the Olympic qualifiers, ex-players across the country also sought a change of guard in the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) and also held coach Joaquim Carvalho responsible for the disaster.
The angry reactions came after Britain beat India 2-0 in the final of the Olympic qualifiers in Chile, throwing out the eight-time Olympic champions from the mega event for the first time since 1928.
"This is the saddest day in Indian hockey and maybe in Indian sport," rued former captain and three-time Olympian Pargat Singh. It is a collective failure. More than the players, the administration must own up the failure."
Echoing him, Gurbux Singh, a member of the 1964 gold-medal winning team, told IANS in Kolkata: "This is the saddest day for Indian hockey. I still can't believe that India will not play in the Olympics."
But he quickly added: "This is not the time for desperation. It is time to regroup."
Adrian D'Souza, the Indian goalkeeper at the 2004 Athens Olympics, said: "This is really disappointing. The game has changed over the years. Compared to other countries, we don't have proper infrastructure or funding. It's going to take a long time for players to get over this defeat."
Added another Olympian Ashok Kumar, son of the legendary Dhyan Chand, the wizard of hockey: "The IHF, the sports ministry and players are all to be blamed for the loss.
"The standard of our game has fallen to dismal levels. The administration will have to change for things to improve."
Gurbux Singh pointedly held Carvalho responsible for the humiliation.
"There were two fatal errors. One was Carvalho's insistence of not allowing technical adviser Ric Charlesworth to get involved in the planning and composition of the team and of not allowing him to travel to Australia and Chile.
"The second was the omission of some senior players like Sandeep Singh and Arjun Halappa who are in fine form," said the head coach of the 1976 Indian team that finished seventh in the Olympics.
Jagbir Singh, who played for India at the Seoul and Barcelona Olympics, said the country did not prepare well for the qualifiers and the writing was on the wall.
"This was coming. We are past being hockey champions and we should realize that now. The governance of the game is to be blamed. We did not prepare well. We did not play enough tournaments before the qualifiers. The effect could be seen on the field.
"We played stereotype hockey. There was no planning. The body language of the players was dismal. They were frustrated and invited yellow cards. These turned into nightmare," he said.
Viren Rasquinha, who represented India till recently, said the team lacked a strategy.
"There was lack of composure and discipline in the final. The strategy was poor. Luckily we did not concede many goals. We could have easily lost by six goals."
Indo-Asian News Service
Hockey is among the most ancient of sports, with records of a ball and stick game dating back to the earliest civilisations.
A similar game was popular throughout medieval Europe, and the name hockey is thought to derive from the French hocquet, or shepherd's crook.
The sport we know today originated in 19th Century England, possibly as a winter variation on the traditional summer sport of cricket.
Blackheath Football and Hockey Club was founded in London in 1861 and at nearby Teddington, much of the modern game was developed.
A spherical ball replaced a rubber cube and the striking circle, in which players can score goals, was incorporated into the rules of the men's Hockey Association, founded in London in 1886.
The All England Women's Hockey Association followed in 1895, while in the same year England beat Ireland 5-0 in the first men's international match in London.
England's women lost 2-0 against Ireland the following year when the first women's international was played in Dublin.
DID YOU KNOW?
The longest game in Olympic hockey history lasted 2hrs 25mins when the Netherlands beat Spain 1-0 in 1968
As the British Empire increased in size the sport was spread around the world and men's hockey joined the Olympics in 1908, although the women's game did not feature until 1980.
India dominated the sport in the first half of the 20th Century, winning all six Olympic gold medals and 30 consecutive games from 1928 to 1956.
Until the 1970s, the game at international level was mainly played on natural grass, but has become an even more exciting game since switching to astroturf.
Pakistan had two victories in the 1960s and also won the first ever hockey World Cup in 1971, before West Germany became the first Olympic champions from Europe in 1972.
Zimbabwe took the inaugural women's title in 1980 but since then Australia have dominated with three wins, though they finished out of the medals in Athens.
The Netherlands were bidding for their third consecutive gold in Athens but were beaten 2-1 by Australia in extra time.
MEDAL TABLE
Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
Men (since 1908; top five)
India 8 1 2 11
Pakistan 3 3 2 8
The Netherlands 2 3 3 8
Great Britain 3 1 3 7
Australia 1 3 3 7
Women (since 1980; top five)
Australia 3 0 0 3
The Netherlands 1 1 3 5
Spain 1 0 0 1
Zimbabwe 1 0 0 1
Germany 1 0 0 1
Former Olympian Gurbux Singh dubbed Monday as the "saddest day for Indian hockey" after the defeat of the national team Sunday night at the hands of Great Britain that shut the Beijing Olympics door for India.
"This is the saddest day for Indian hockey. I still can't believe that India will not play hockey in the Olympics," Gurbux Singh, who was a member of the Indian national team that won the gold medal in the 1964 Olympics, told IANS.
"However this is not the time for desperation. It is time to regroup," he said.
Great Britain shut the Olympic door on India's face as two quick strikes in the first 10 minutes of the final qualifier game in Chile spelt disaster for the Indian hockey team that will now sit out the Olympic Games for the first time since 1928.
With the Olympic qualification boiling down to one final game Sunday, India failed to rise to the occasion. India had earlier lost to Great Britain 2-3 in the league phase.
A saddened Gurbux Singh said: "Let's not start the blame game. But there were two fatal errors - one was Joaquim Carvalho's insistence of not allowing Ric Charleswoth (technical director of the team) to interfere with the team's planning and composition or allowing him to travel with the team to Australia and Chile."
"The second was omission of some of the senior players like Sandeep Singh and Arjun Halappa who are in fine form.
"But we have to rise from this," said the head coach of the 1976 Indian team that finished seventh in the Olympics.
Asked if pressure did the team in, he said: "We were playing well in Chile but we faulted in the two crunch games against Britain. It mattered."
Indo-Asian News Service
Indian Hockey Federation Chief K.P.S. Gill Monday declined to comment on the team's shocking loss to Great Britain in the qualifiers that kept it out of the Olympics for the first time in 80 years.
Gill said he would issue a statement only after the team returns home.
"I'll issue a statement after the coaches (the team) are back," Gill told IANS.
India lost 0-2 to Great Britain in the final of the Olympic qualifying tournament in Santiago, Chile, dashing their hopes to qualify for the Beijing Olympics this year.
Within minutes of the defeat, which will surely go down as one of the darkest chapters in Indian hockey, coach Joaquim Carvalho announced that he was stepping down along with his assistants Mohinder Pal Singh and Ramesh Parameswaran.
It marked the first time the eight-time Olympic gold medallists will stay out of the Games. India won the Olympic hockey gold six times in a row from 1928 to 1956. They lost the final in 1960, but regained the gold in 1964 at Tokyo. In 1968 and 1972 India returned with bronze medals. In the truncated Olympics in 1980, India won the gold one last time. Since then India have failed to make the semi-finals of the mega-event. This time, they have failed to even get there.
Indo-Asian News Service
Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) vice president Narendra Batra quit Monday after the country's shocking failure to make it to the Olympics and begged the government to take over IHF to save the game.
"I have resigned in disappointment," Batra told IANS after eight times Olympic champions India lost 0-2 to Britain in the final of Olympic qualifier in Chile and failed to qualify for the mega event for the first time in 80 years.
"The government should take over the association for the next 10 years and run it through former sportspersons and administrators to bring hockey back on track," Batra pleaded.
Asked if IHF president K.P.S. Gill should share the blame and also resign, Batra said: "Morally, he should but he will not do so. He is stubborn."
The rift in IHF became public with Batra alleging that Gill and IHF secretary general K. Jyothikumaran were not on talking terms.
"I know that Gill and Jyothikumaran are not talking to one another for six to seven months. Hockey is in a mess," he said.
Batra also blamed coach Joaquim Carvalho for the debacle at Santiago.
"Joaquim was a compromise choice as coach. I will blame him for the debacle. But I will not blame the players because they live in sub-standard conditions, wash their own clothes and get almost no allowance," he said.
Indo-Asian News Service
The first casualty of India's failure to qualify for the Beijing Olympic Games is coach Joaquim Carvalho. Carvalho, who had said before leaving for Chile that he would step down if the Indian men's hockey team failed to make it, has kept his word.
Carvalho, a former India player, is stepping down along with his assistants M.P. Singh and Ramesh Parameswaran.
Carvalho, however, said he would formally resign on the team's return to India and once he has met K.P.S. Gill, president of the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF).
Gill, meanwhile, had nothing to say. When asked for his reaction to the debacle, the IHF president told IANS Monday morning: "I'll issue a statement after the coaches (with the team) are back."
Soon after India's 0-2 loss to Great Britain in the final of the qualifying tournament Sunday, Carvalho said his failure to "deliver a result" prompted him to resign.
Carvalho said that the Indian hockey team did have potential and many of the young players in this side should form the nucleus for the future.
Only one Olympic berth was available from the Santiago qualifier, which had six teams. Great Britain has made it.
Indo-Asian News Service
Indian Hockey is dead now.
Great Britain shut the Olympic door on India's face as two quick strikes in the first 10 minutes of the final qualifier game here spelt disaster for the Indian hockey team that will now sit out the Olympic Games for the first time since 1928.
With the Olympic qualification boiling down to one final game Sunday, India failed to rise to the occasion. India had earlier lost to Great Britain 2-3 in the league phase.
Great Britain struck in the fourth minute through Barry Middleton and six minutes later Richard Mantell made it 2-0. Britain was then content to hold on to the lead as the Indians failed to breach the rival's citadel.
As the game ended, it marked the first time the eight-time Olympic gold medallists in hockey will stay out of the Olympic Games. India won the Olympic hockey gold six times in a row from 1928 to 1956. They lost the final in 1960, but regained the gold in 1964 at Tokyo. In 1968 and 19672 India failed to reach the final, but returned with bronze medals. In the truncated Olympics in 1980, India won the gold one last time. Since then India has failed to make the semi-finals and this time India failed to make it to the tournament at all.
Within minutes of the defeat, which will surely go down as one of the darkest chapters in Indian hockey, coach Joaquim Carvalho announced that he was going to step down along with his assistants Mohinder Pal Singh and Ramesh Parameswaran.
Under scorching sun in the Chilean summer, the Indians wilted without a serious challenge and as the clock ticked away they turned desperate and nervous. They squandered many chances and then became reckless, committing fouls, which twice resulted in them being reduced to 10 men in the second half.
Great Britain started the game with a sense of purpose and had the Indians on the back foot in the early stages. Middleton made good a pass from Ashley Jackson to open the scoring and that immediately pumped the British up.
With India failing to react early, Great Britain scored again by converting a penalty corner, which was earned after a decisive run by James Tindall. Richard Mantell scored off the penalty corner with a direct flick.
Two up, Great Britain began controlling the midfield, forcing the Indians to start their run from far away or to rely on deep balls. The British defenders kept intercepting them.
With their moves not bearing fruit and time running out, Indians did increase their pace, but their frustration also resulted in some rough play.
Umpires Henrik Ehlers of Denmark and John Wright of South Africa had to bring out their cards more often. Despite being stretched, Great Britain held out very well and did not allow Indians any clear shots at the goal.
In the last 10 minutes of the first half, despite been reduced to 10 players when Sardar Singh received a yellow card, India kept besieging the English circle but only had one dangerous attempt at goal on a penalty corner by V.R. Raghunath. That was well deflected by Alistair McGregor.
Meanwhile, Great Britain came close to getting their third goal through Rob Moore, but Baljit Singh brought off a miraculous save.
In the second half, the tension was even higher. With the Indian fans in the stands adding to the din, the players went all out but nothing really came out of that.
Again it was Great Britain who had a superb chance to make the break in the early stages of the period when a run by Richard Alexander gave them a great opportunity. However, much to India's relief Jonty Clarke was not able to control the ball in front of an open goal.
India were reduced to 10 players a second time when Prabhjot Sngh was penalised for a reckless back tackle. That send-off gave Britain more breathing space.
Even as India tried, it was Great Britain who were coming to close to scoring again. They created another golden opportunity when Clarke beat the Indian goalkeeper in a one-on-one but the shot hit the post.
As the end neared Great Britain were playing cautiously to avoid giving Sardar Singh and Rajpal Singh a chance. The Indians also wasted penalty corners in their nervousness.
The last few minutes saw Indians become more disorganised and they then withered away before the hooter sounded the death-knell. There will be no Indian men's hockey team at the Olympic Games for the first time in 80 years.
Indo-Asian News Service
The leaders of Pakistan's two main opposition parties have agreed to form a coalition government following their triumph in parliamentary elections last month.
Asif Ali Zardari, the husband of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto -- and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced the pact Sunday following talks near the capital, Islamabad.
The leaders said parliament will quickly restore senior judges who were fired by President Pervez Musharraf.
The two parties have been engaged in coalition talks since the February 18th elections, in which they routed allies of the president.
Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) won the most seats in the election but not enough to rule by itself. Mr. Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) party came in second.
On Friday, Mr. Musharraf said he would fully support the incoming government, as long as peace is maintained.
Mr. Musharraf is expected to convene the new parliament within the next two weeks.