Olympic medal has more value than even world championships. So,
qualifying for the Olympics is also considered an achievement. For me,
it was an extremely proud feeling when I became the first paddler from
India to qualify to the 1998 Seoul Olympics.
The Olympics Village was altogether a different experience. I was very happy to meet my favourites Steffi Graf and Ben Johnson there. The next Barcelona Olympics proved more memorable for me, as I qualified from the Asia Zone and also earned one extra entry. Sujay Ghorpade filled in the position, while Chetan Baboor qualified in the general category.
In the single’s event, I was playing my first match against medal contender Lu Lin of China. I had lost to him badly just before the Olympics, so he clearly was quite confident. But, as the match progressed, I found my rhythm. I was almost on the verge of winning, given that I was 10-point up in the second game. He didn’t give up that easily and reduced the margin considerably. I needed just one point and had a service. I clearly remember the pressure was on me. I was sure Lin was capable of returning a difficult service. So, in order to surprise him, I delivered an ordinary serve like beginners do. The move worked as he was under pressure too and ended up making a mistake. It was the biggest moment of my life.
—Kamlesh Mehta took part in the 1988 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona Olympics. He was coach of the national TT team till recently. He spoke to Ashish Phadnis.
The Olympics Village was altogether a different experience. I was very happy to meet my favourites Steffi Graf and Ben Johnson there. The next Barcelona Olympics proved more memorable for me, as I qualified from the Asia Zone and also earned one extra entry. Sujay Ghorpade filled in the position, while Chetan Baboor qualified in the general category.
In the single’s event, I was playing my first match against medal contender Lu Lin of China. I had lost to him badly just before the Olympics, so he clearly was quite confident. But, as the match progressed, I found my rhythm. I was almost on the verge of winning, given that I was 10-point up in the second game. He didn’t give up that easily and reduced the margin considerably. I needed just one point and had a service. I clearly remember the pressure was on me. I was sure Lin was capable of returning a difficult service. So, in order to surprise him, I delivered an ordinary serve like beginners do. The move worked as he was under pressure too and ended up making a mistake. It was the biggest moment of my life.
—Kamlesh Mehta took part in the 1988 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona Olympics. He was coach of the national TT team till recently. He spoke to Ashish Phadnis.
No comments:
Post a Comment