Golden hopes

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There is a radical revamp in the attitudes of our sporting achievers. Call it brashness, call it confidence, but our boys and girls are ready to mix it up with the best out
there.

Saina Nehwal
This year has been an excellent one for me. I achieved a lot — the Indian Open Grand Prix Gold, Singapore Super Series, Indonesia Super Series, Commonwealth Games and the Hong Kong Super Series; and two high-ranking accolades in the Padma Shri award and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award this will push me to realise my targets set in the coming year.

Next year is going to be crucial for me since it will be the Olympic qualification year and I will be concentrating mainly on the Super Series tournaments and the world championships. I am glad to be ending this year on a high with the Hong Kong Open title. I will begin next year with the Mal-aysian Super Series followed by the Korean Super Series in January.

Ashwini Akkunji
I’m so glad I have been a part of the golden year of Indian athletics. The Commonwealth Games was very special since we won the first athletics gold after 52 years. The fact that we completed a hat-trick of gold medals in 4x400m relay at the Asian Games was special too. On the flip side, it was a tough year for us since we practised very hard and the medals came after a lot of sacrifices. Personally, it was the most memorable year of my life. I cou-ld not have asked for a better year with gold medals at the Commonwealth Ga-mes and the Asian Games. It was also a life-changing phase because I went from a little-known athlete to a known face. Looking ahead, my focus remains on the 2012 London Olympics.

Vijender Singh
This has been a fine year for Indian boxing. There were plenty of expectations of us with the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games taking place this year. It is good that me and my teammates have managed to complete a successful year. The Asiad gold was special after claiming top honours in the World Championships last year. The only disappointment was Videocon backing out as the Delhi franchise in the World Series of Boxing (WSB). WSB is a great opportunity for boxers to earn fights against top-class opponents from around the world.

With Indian pugilists performing brilliantly in the international arena, I am sure more corporates are going to come forward and support the sport. It would be great if sponsors backed the Delhi franchise in 2011. I want to win the World Championships in March and prepare myself to gun for gold in the Olympics.

Personally, my focus is solely on the London Olympics in 2012. Marriage is still far away from my mind now. Once I bring home gold then I’ll probably start planning about marriage.

Virdhawal Khade
It has been a remarkable year for Indian swimming because it is not every day that we break a 24-year-old jinx. A medal each at the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games will go a long way in championing the cause of the sport. I’m very happy that my training partner and paralympic swimmer Prasanta Karmakar won a medal at the CWG. I’m hoping that after our exploits this year, more people will come forward to support swimming in the country. Personally, it has been a great year. Qualifying for the 50m butterfly final was very satisfying. Winning the bronze in the same event at the Asian Games was a high point of my career. This medal was not just an achievement, but a testimony to the fact that Indian swimmers have it in them to race and win alongside the best. At the moment, I’m focusing on the Olympics.

Somdev Devvarman
The year 2010 was a memorable one for me with two singles gold medals in my kitty — the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games — and I am hoping to continue my good run next year as well. It would be nice to break into the top 50 of the rankings. But I don’t want to put any pressure on myself. Let’s just take it one small step at a time. Fitness for me has always been very important. It’s necessary to stay injury-free and therefore it’s always been high on my agenda and the coming year is no different. I work with my fitness coach throughout the year.

I expect in the coming year the standard of tennis will rise. The facilities in India are definitely getting better, but there is room for improvement. There is no dearth of talented or skilled players in our country but the right steps are being taken. Hopefully we’ll see the results soon.