Somdev Devvarman, the new poster boy of Indian tennis has been scaling new heights on a regular scale. His recent feat, of being one of the top 100 players in the circuit speaks very highly of him. He is currently ranked 96 in the ATP circuit. It’s after a long time that we have witnessed an Indian player ranked below 100. The last men’s player to achieve this landmark was Leander Paes.
Somdev Devvarman
Somdev Burman, born in Guwahati came into limelight during his college days in the University of Virginia in USA. He received applauds from all and sundry which gave him further encouragement to make it as one of the best singles player India has produced. He is young and has lot to prove in the international level. But whatever has been seen of this player on the courts is simply amazing to the passionate Indian fans who have been long crying for a good player in the international circuit.
His first major success came in front of the packed Tennis stadium at Chennai where he defeated Carlos Moya and Iva Karlovic during the Chennai open which he still treasures, but later faltered in the final hurdle playing for the elusive title where he lost to Reinnar Schuttler. The championship proved that he was ready to face the big guns of the industry and give a run for their money.
Devvarmanation!
He has always showcased a great skill in the court and his stamina along with his powerful strokes are already his strong points, as a result of which he has been climbing the ranking charts on a regular basis. But if he is to survive in this modern era of Tennis then he has to improve his game in each and every aspect, so he could compete with the elite Tennis players and play those Grand slams with confidence. He has been now regularly playing in ATP circuit but has not achieved major success in terms of trophies. Though to show for his continuous efforts he has been victorious in 4 ATP futures tournament and one Challenger too.
Players like Ramesh Krishanan had made it to the quarter finals of 3 grand slam. Vijay Amritraj , who once reached a ranking of 16 (highest by any Indian) in 1980 and also have 16 singles titles to his credit, and leander Paes who has already produced a Bronze Medal in the Olympics are big boots to fill for Somdev. The lad from Guwahati has the talent and the determination to clear all obstacles and hold the Indian Tri colour high.
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists for competition. Boxing is typically supervised by areferee engaged in during a series of one- to three-minute intervals called rounds, and boxers generally of similar weight. There are four ways to win; if the opponent is knocked out and unable to get up before the referee counts to ten seconds (a knockout, or KO) or if the opponent is deemed too injured to continue (a Technical Knockout, or TKO), if an opponent is disqualified for breaking a rule, or if there is no stoppage of the fight before an agreed number of rounds, a winner is determined either by the referee’s decision or by judges’ scorecards.
A boxing match typically consists of a determined number of three-minute rounds, a total of up to 12 rounds (formerly 15). A minute is typically spent between each round with the fighters in their assigned corners receiving advice and attention from their coach and staff. The fight is controlled by a referee who works within the ring to judge and control the conduct of the fighters, rule on their ability to fight safely, count knocked-down fighters, and rule on fouls. Up to three judges are typically present at ringside to score the bout and assign points to the boxers, based on punches that connect, defense, knockdowns, and other, more subjective, measures. Because of the open-ended style of boxing judging, many fights have controversial results, in which one (Or both) fighters believe they have been “robbed” or unfairly denied a victory. Each fighter has an assigned corner of the ring, where his or her coach, as well as one or more “seconds” may administer to the fighter at the beginning of the fight and between rounds. Each boxer enters into the ring from their assigned corners at the beginning of each round and must cease fighting and return to their corner at the signaled end of each round.
The sport of boxing has two internationally recognized boxing halls of fame; the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) and the World Boxing Hall of Fame (WBHF), with the IBHOF being the more widely recognized boxing hall of fame.
The WBHF was founded by Everett L. Sanders in 1980. Since its inception the WBHOF has never had a permanent location or museum, which has allowed the more recent IBHOF to garner more publicity and prestige. Among the notable names in the WBHF are Ricardo “Finito” Lopez, Gabriel “Flash” Elorde, Michael Carbajal, Khaosai Galaxy, Henry Armstrong, Jack Johnson, Roberto Durán,George Foreman, Ceferino Garcia,and Salvador Sanchez. Boxing’s International Hall of Fame was inspired by a tribute an American town held for two local heroes in 1982. The town, Canastota, New York, (which is about 15 miles (24 km) east of Syracuse, via the New York State Thruway), honored former world welterweight/middleweight champion Carmen Basilio and his nephew, former world welterweight champion Billy Backus. The people of Canastota raised money for the tribute which inspired the idea of creating an official, annual hall of fame for notable boxers.
The International Boxing Hall of Fame opened in Canastota in 1989. The first inductees in 1990 included Jack Johnson, Benny Leonard, Jack Dempsey, Henry Armstrong, Sugar Ray Robinson, Archie Moore, and Muhammad Ali. Other world-class figures include Roberto “Manos de Piedra” Durán, Ricardo Lopez, Gabriel “Flash” Elorde, Vicente Saldivar, Ismael Laguna, Eusebio Pedroza, Carlos Monzón, Azumah Nelson, Rocky Marciano, Pipino Cuevas and Ken Buchanan. The Hall of Fame’s induction ceremony is held every June as part of a four-day event.
The fans who come to Canastota for the Induction Weekend are treated to a number of events, including scheduled autograph sessions, boxing exhibitions, a parade featuring past and present inductees, and the induction ceremony itself
Competitive swimming in Europe started around 200 BCE, mostly using the breaststroke. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawlused by Native Americans. Due to a British disregard for splashing, Trudgen employed a scissor kick instead of the front crawl’s flutter kick. Swimming was part of the first modern Olympic games in 1896 in Athens. In 1902 Richard Cavill introduced the front crawl to the Western world. In 1908, the world swimming association, Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA), was formed. The butterfly stroke was developed in the 1930s and was at first a breaststroke variant, until it was accepted as a separate style in 1952. In 1964, Lillian Bonnell won the award for being the first woman to participate in a swimming competition and because of her now millions of women participate every year
Competitive swimming became popular in the nineteenth century. The goal of competitive swimming is to constantly improve upon one’s time(s) in any given event. To be the best in a particular event means having the fastest time compared to other people in that event, though some professional swimmers who do not have a number one national or world ranking are known to be the best with regard to their technical skills in the water. Typically, an athlete goes through a cycle of training in which the body is overloaded with work in the beginning and middle segments of the cycle, and then the workload is decreased in the final stage as the swimmer approaches the competition in which he or she is to compete in. This final stage is often referred to as “shave and taper”; the swimmer has tapered down his or her work load to the point where he or she is able to perform at their optimal level, and then the swimmer shaves off all exposed hair and dead skin cells for the sake of reducing drag and having a sleeker and more hydrodynamic feel in the water.
Swimming is an event at the Summer Olympic Games, where male and female athletes compete in 16 of the recognized events each. Olympic events are held in a 50 meter pool (long course). There are 40 officially recognized individual swimming events in the pool, however the International Olympic Committee only recognizes 32 of them. The international governing body for competitive swimming is the Fédération Internationale de Natation (“International Swimming Federation”) better known as FINA.
In open-water swimming, where the events are swam in a body of open water (lake or sea), there are also 5 km, 10 km and 25 km events for men and women. However only the 10 km event is included in the Olympic schedule, again for both men and women. Open-water competitions are typically separate to other swimming competitions with the exception of the World Championships and the Olympics.
In competitive swimming four major styles have been established. These have been relatively stable over the last 30–40 years with minor improvements:
- Freestyle swimming
- Breaststroke
- Backstroke
- Butterfly stroke
Most swimming sport events are held in special competition swimming pools, which are either long course pools such as those used in the Olympic Games (50 m) or short course pools such as those used in the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) (25 yards or 25 m). Competition pools have starting blocks from which the competitor can dive in, and possibly also touch-sensitive pads to electronically record the swimming time of each competitor.
It’s recommended that swimmers wear water proof sunscreen to meets and daytime swim practices that are outside to prevent sunburns. It’s also recommended that swimmers dry off well between events at meets and change into dry clothes as soon as possible after swimming to prevent rashes and skin infections.
It also is important for pool water to be properly maintained to avoid rashes and skin infections.
Swimmers should shower with mild soap after swimming to remove pool chemicals such as chlorine and salt. Swimmers should use goggles to protect the eyes from pool water and improve underwater vision