No asterisks please

The Hindustan Times of August 5, 2012 headlines, “China’s groans, Saina’s bronze”; of course, the strap line says, in suitably smaller size letters, “It wasn’t just luck that got India its third medal.” The Hindu says, “Lady luck smiled on India as Saina Nehwal won the bronze medal in women’s badminton singles” when her Chinese opponent, ranked number 2 in the world had to forfeit the match because of injury.

Full disclosure: I am a true blue fan of Saina, ironically ever since her loss from a leading position in a match in Beijing Olympics four years ago. I was watching her for the first time, that too only on TV and was besotted with her game – nothing spectacular but looked solid, and showed the fighting spirit she has become famous for.  I was angry at her for that collapse. From that time on, she could do no wrong.

Now, this fan of Saina is furious at both the paper reports. Though HT goes on to say, quoting her coach, that Saina would have eventually won that match, the report’s focus is on her opponent’s injury, and how that contributed to the medal for India and the gamesmanship of the Chinese player that was not quite effectively countered (after all, she was leading when she quit).

Note: the medal is for India, not for Saina. Had this not been for India – like at any event other than the Olympics – I wonder how prominent that asterisk would have been. The success would have been ignored and therefore, no asterisks. The strap line would not have been there and her coach would not have been quoted.

Saina Nehwal is the Bronze Medalist in badminton at the London Olympics. This is the news, the whole news and nothing but the news.

No wonder, I hate asterisks.

I will tell you how much I hate asterisks. I hated it when Viswanathan Anand’s chess victory was asterisked, citing that his opponent was a lowly player (I have a post up on this). I hated it when John McEnroe’s victory at Wimbledon in 1983 against Chris Lewis was asterisked for the latter being uncomfortably near or in the three digits ranking territory. Going farther back Jimmy Connors’s victories in the finals of Wimbledon and the US Open over the then ageing Ken Rosewall in 1974 were marked with asterisks for the stage his opponent was in his career then.

If only I had the patience, I would list out any number of such instances where illegitimate questions were asked and inappropriately answered ending up with a shower of asterisks on what should be celebratory moments of achievements.

What is most incongruous is who puts these asterisks on a sportsman’s performance. It is the scribes who had not set foot on an athletic track, got wet in a competition size swimming pool, glared at any chess talent across the board, faced a single blistering serve from the other side of the net, or jump smashed a shuttlecock. Who gave them this power? Why, you and me, of course. We, as we read these supposedly fair and critical evaluations of athletic performances, let our minds go vacationing. We have become passive imbibers of what goes for news and news analysis. We have lost all perspectives and are becoming more and more blinkered.

This blinkership is carried on to the records set by these athletes, but ironically in the opposite direction. In the swimming pool competitions, what is the most astounding news coming out of London? It is the paucity of Olympic and world records being broken, as compared to at Beijing; only nine in 34 events. The dog-did-not-bark situation. I will explain.

At Beijing swimming records were hauled in by the baskets. Indeed, if you did not break a record (the dog-did-not-bark) while winning a gold medal, it carried an asterisk! The reason? The Speedo LZR swimsuits. These have since been banned. So, my question is, shouldn’t the records be removed? The athletes’ records were tainted by the LZR suits and now that the suits have been banned the records must also be expunged – throw the baby out with the bathwater!

Now, check back with the performances in the pool at London. I have not done it but my guess is sans Beijing, many performances will now have established a record. This kind of an asterisk that carries sharp logic, I like.

But, if you intend to even suggest an asterisk to Saina’s Bronze medal at the London Olympics, beware, you have to contend with this barking and biting dog.

Raghuram Ekambaram