Author: Boria Majumdar

Boria Majumdar in Paris She was in tears, and understandably so. Months and years of effort, and it had all ended after the crushing loss. “For two days, I did not eat anything or drink water even,” said Nikhat Zareen. “I did not sleep at night. If you don’t eat, how will sleep? If I had won, all of this would be looked at as positive. Now, people will say I am giving excuses, so I don’t want to say much.” She was already crying by then. “I tried my best, and now will take a break,” said Nikhat. “I…

Boria Majumdar in Paris It is the round-of-16 match that none of us wanted. And did not want to speak about either. And yet, it is now upon us. Two of India’s best, two of our absolute favourites, clash on the Olympic stage with one advancing to the quarterfinals. HS Prannoy v Lakshya Sen is a tough one to call. On form, it has to be Lakshya. But as an Indian sports lover, you just don’t want to call this one. I’d much rather buy myself a glass of Coke, sit in the media centre and follow the action, rather…

Boria Majumdar in Paris In all the excitement surrounding the Paris Olympics, there are some serious issues as well that have cropped up with food and hygiene. The Indians, or a sizeable section of the Indian athletes, are unhappy with the arrangements in the athletes village. One athlete, speaking on condition of anonymity said, “I have to order food from outside literally every day, because when I reach the end of the queue and to the food table in the dining area, it is almost over. They don’t refill immediately and it takes 20-25 minutes to reach the front of…

Boria Majumdar in Paris It was around 11am Paris time and Rani Rampal, one of my favourite athletes, called. “Your coverage is fantastic,” she said. Then, we discussed Manu Bhaker for a bit and how many medals India could expect. I reminded Rani of Tokyo and the humongous effort the girls had put in. And the fact that she had given me her jersey after the win against Australia. Covering an Olympic Games isn’t easy. You have to be ready to do 18-hour days. Be tireless. Also be prepared to face the trolls, who will all come at you saying…

Boria Majumdar in Paris It was always going to be the match to win for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. And yet again, in the middle court, a French player was playing, which meant that that crowd was as loud as ever. But nothing mattered to them from the start. Focussed and determined, they set the pace. Against a famed Indonesian team, which has played some close matches with them in the past, one expected a tougher fight. It wasn’t. The Indians were just too good. That’s what it was. They played at a level very different from their opponents…

Boria Majumdar in Paris There has been a lot of abuse hurled at Deepika Kumari. Why hasn’t she won a medal? It is as if she has committed a crime by not winning. The truth is her performance in the women’s team quarterfinal was poor. Criticism is fair. But abuse? Why is it that her effort to make it to the Olympic Games after motherhood is being ridiculed? And why is she being constantly trolled? For the record, India’s cricket team did not win an ICC Trophy for 11 years. Sachin Tendulkar did not win a World Cup until nearly…

At 8-8 in the first game, Manika Batra seemed to pause for a second. There was a slight shake of the head and then that intense concentration. She seemed determined to not let the game slip away. After every point, a customary look back at her coach, and make no mistake, it was so very different from Tokyo. Four years earlier, it was Manika alone in the TT hall with yours truly being the only Indian support cast for her, in the absence of acoach in her corner. In contrast, the Austrian she was up against had multiple coaches to…

Boria Majumdar in Paris Ever tried. Ever Failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”- Samuel Beckett We will never know if anyone ever repeated these words from Beckett to Manu Bhaker. Perhaps not. But Manu did exactly what Beckett had suggested. She tried in Tokyo and failed. Failed poorly. Tried again at the Asian Games. This time, she failed better. And thereafter came the turnaround. With Jaspal Rana in her corner, she tried again. By then, the fear of failure had been conquered and steel instilled in her as she stepped out on to the range in Paris.…

Boria Majumdar in Paris It was a pleasant surprise to see Jay Shah, the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) at the opening of the India House here in Paris. World cricket’s most powerful man at the moment, Shah is here for a couple of days and was present at the inauguration to promote cricket for Los Angeles 2028. It was the first time we were meeting after India’s World Cup win and it was natural that the conversation would go to that. After a brief chat about the trophy win and about Suryakumar Yadav…

Boria Majumdar in Paris In Tokyo, she was all of 19 years old. And when she failed to win a medal because her gun malfunctioned, Manu Bhaker was viciously trolled. We forgot that she had qualified for the games on her own merit and had never promised anyone that she’d win a medal. No question that Manu most distraught that she couldn’t win. Did we try to find out what she went through? How did she cope with failure? Was she depressed? We forgot that today’s vanquished are often tomorrow’s victors. And make no mistake, Manu is a rare talent.…