Sachin=GOD Posted August 12, 2015 Posted August 12, 2015 Very well deserved. The best woman's tennis player and among the best sportspersons we have ever had. Certainly deserves it.
Gollum Posted August 12, 2015 Author Posted August 12, 2015 :(( We have gone down big time in singles. Earlier Ramanathan Krishnan and Vijay Amritraj used to be among the top players who would reach Rd 16 or QF of grand slams. Few would know that in 1984 whole year John Mcenroe lost just three matches (arguably greatest year for a player ever) and one of those was to Vijay Amritraj. Later we atleast had presence in top 100 with likes of Ramesh Krishnan and earlier version of Paes. But now all we have few pretenders playing doubles claiming to play top tier tennis :(( :((:(( Vijay Amritraj, Ramanathan and Ramesh Krishnan were legends.
Khalpat Posted August 12, 2015 Posted August 12, 2015 I don't think she deserves it even with most generous criteria. A player who was relegated from top tier to compete in second rung should not be receiving highest sporting award of the country. I would rather give it to Ishant Sharma than Saniz Mirza. Slightly unfair. This award is different from Arjuna award, when these awards are decided, they also consider the impact that player has created on our Indian society. Sania might not be a top tennis player as per International standard but was she able to become role model for other Indian girls who want to pursue their carrier in Lawn Tennis. I think , yes she did so comparing with another cricketer is useless. Other then Gavaskar, Tendulkar, Kapil Dev or to some extent Dhoni none of the others have been able to make an impact or become role model for coming generations.
Sachin=GOD Posted August 12, 2015 Posted August 12, 2015 Those questioning her for not achieving much in singles should look at the context. She is the no. 1 ranked doubles player in the world - has there been any Indian female tennis player who has come even close to this? Or for that matter, how many other female players across all sports from India have been no. 1 in their sport in the last few years? (Mary Kom, Anjali Bhagwat and Saina Nehwal are ones that I can name - I'm sure there are others but not too many). She may not have achieved as much in singles as she could have but that doesn't take away anything from her doubles achievements and the fact that she has inspired a LOT of youngsters in India (certainly more than any sportsperson other than cricketers in the last few years).
Anitha Posted August 12, 2015 Posted August 12, 2015 Sania is only the second tennis player after Leander Paes to be named for the top award. Paes had been bestowed the honour way back in 1996 after his bronze medal in the Atlanta Olympics. :hatsoff: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/tennis/top-stories/Sania-Mirza-to-be-conferred-Rajiv-Gandhi-Khel-Ratna/articleshow/48436281.cms https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajiv_Gandhi_Khel_Ratna Looking at past winners, very surprising to see that Dravid, VVS, Sehwag, Kumble, Dada, Bhupathi, Humpy, UV, Zaheer, Harikrishna, Dipika etc haven't been given this award :whack:. MSD on the list :hysterical::hysterical: Good going Sania, the way media/Indian public/GOI have fallen in love with her antics she may win the Bharat Ratna too very soon. Who knows in her mind she is chasing Margaret Court's 24 majors.:giggle: Surely you have to agree that unlike our badminton stars, she is a path breaker in Tennis. She has gone where no Indian female has gone before.
Gollum Posted August 12, 2015 Author Posted August 12, 2015 Surely you have to agree that unlike our badminton stars' date= she is a path breaker in Tennis. She has gone where no Indian female has gone before. So what are Saina and Sindhu? Name one half decent badminton star(female) before these 2. And they did it in singles, while Sania did in doubles.....duh.
RedFever Posted August 12, 2015 Posted August 12, 2015 Hang on! Why is it called Rajiv Gandhi award? Wtf has he done to be associated with it? His grandfather helped us win independence from British. What else you need ?
Desi Cartman Posted August 12, 2015 Posted August 12, 2015 His grandfather helped us win independence from British. What else you need ? In sports as well I guess. He probably ran 100m vs the british PM and won and got India azaadi :isalute:
Vilander Posted August 12, 2015 Posted August 12, 2015 His grandfather helped us win independence from British. What else you need ? who are you talking about ? Nehru ?
HippoSucks Posted August 13, 2015 Posted August 13, 2015 Hang on! Why is it called Rajiv Gandhi award? Wtf has he done to be associated with it? Many awards are named after people who have little to do with the award itself.
Anitha Posted August 13, 2015 Posted August 13, 2015 Hang on! Why is it called Rajiv Gandhi award? Wtf has he done to be associated with it? We came up with the award just after he died I guess. He was very eager about youth and sports. Are you saying we should rather not have that award at all?
Anitha Posted August 13, 2015 Posted August 13, 2015 So what are Saina and Sindhu? Name one half decent badminton star(female) before these 2. And they did it in singles' date=' while Sania did in doubles.....duh.[/quote'] Once again, they are not pioneers like Sania is. Comparing badminton with tennis is ridiculous and I am pretty sure this has more to do with the religion of Sania than any logic
Gollum Posted August 13, 2015 Author Posted August 13, 2015 Once again' date=' they are not pioneers like Sania is. Comparing badminton with tennis is ridiculous and I am pretty sure this has more to do with the religion of Sania than any logic[/quote'] WTF are you smoking? Saina,Sindhu not pioneers? Badminton singles is much more competitive than tennis doubles, they have broken the Chinese stranglehold on the game, they have set the benchmark for future generations to follow. Singles Olympic bronze, World Championship bronze, China Open etc>>>>>>>Any doubles major. Why bring religion into every single topic? According to you Sania is a pioneer and these 2 ladies aren't. Do you know how ridiculous you sound? Sania was brilliant as long as she was doing well in singles, the day she opted for doubles( a much easier trade), she was automatically out of the question of the best female sportsperson discussion. Anyways if you hate these 2 so much I can't change your opinion. I give up. I guess you rate athletes based on their looks and advertisements than achievements. If you talk about achievements Sania can't equal them in 10 lifetimes.
adi B Posted August 13, 2015 Posted August 13, 2015 She had a good year and winning the Wimbledon made her case strong,congratulations :clap:
Raghav_12 Posted August 13, 2015 Posted August 13, 2015 Once again' date=' they are not pioneers like Sania is. Comparing badminton with tennis is ridiculous and I am pretty sure this has more to do with the religion of Sania than any logic[/quote'] Not everybody is opposing her necessarily for religion. Giving her this award of basis of doubles performances is like giving Amol Mazumdar arjun award on the basis of stellar domestic records. When you give such recognition for performace in second tier of sports you actually encouraging people to not compete at highest level if success is difficult at that level. Award is either politically motivated or chosen by a team which had very little idea of sports or may be combination of two. After this I would not be surprised if girls in future prefer playing doubles as success is easy and earns you same level of recognition and celebrity status in India. Why bother fighting hard in tough word of Singles.
Gollum Posted August 13, 2015 Author Posted August 13, 2015 Not everybody is opposing her necessarily for religion. Giving her this award of basis of doubles performances is like giving Amol Mazumdar arjun award on the basis of stellar domestic records. When you give such recognition for performace in second tier of sports you actually encouraging people to not compete at highest level if success is difficult at that level. Award is either politically motivated or chosen by a team which had very little idea of sports or may be combination of two. After this I would not be surprised if girls in future prefer playing doubles as success is easy and earns you same level of recognition and celebrity status in India. Why bother fighting hard in tough word of Singles. Brilliantly put. We need higher benchmarks in tennis. Once upon a time it was Ramanathan Krishnan fighting it out with the Aussie greats on equal terms, then Vijay Amritraj with his epic duels against Connors, Bjorg, McEnroe. How the standards have fallen now :(( I am sure you are on the same boat as me w.r.t Sania. I loved it when she beat the likes of Kuznetsova, Hingis, Petrova, Bartoli etc in singles and followed her career very closely. After she took the easier route via doubles I stopped taking interest in her career.
Captain Posted August 13, 2015 Posted August 13, 2015 Those questioning her for not achieving much in singles should look at the context. She is the no. 1 ranked doubles player in the world - has there been any Indian female tennis player who has come even close to this? Or for that matter' date=' how many other female players across all sports from India have been no. 1 in their sport in the last few years? (Mary Kom, Anjali Bhagwat and Saina Nehwal are ones that I can name - I'm sure there are others but not too many). She may not have achieved as much in singles as she could have but that doesn't take away anything from her doubles achievements and the fact that [b']she has inspired a LOT of youngsters in India (certainly more than any sportsperson other than cricketers in the last few years). If inspiring the people of India is the criteria to be conferred with Khel ratna then yes she deserves the award.But, if actual achievements are the criteria then Sania doesn't deserve to win this award. Doubles Tennis is a joke.A 35 year old Martina Hingis who retired from singles tennis in 2007 was able to win a doubles grand slam.That's all you need to know about the quality of doubles tennis.As Raghav_12 pointed out doubles tennis is a second tier event.Heck i would treat it as third tier.
Jersey #10 Posted August 13, 2015 Posted August 13, 2015 That just shows how bad India is at sports when the highest honor is given to Sania Mirza. apparently, Indians here in the US love Tennis. I see them playing tennis on just about any open court - much more than any other ethnicity. Then again, I see a lot of 5'5" Indian uncles with big bellies play volleyball all the time. lol
Sachin=GOD Posted August 14, 2015 Posted August 14, 2015 As I said earlier, people need to look at the context before judging. Many of you are saying that standard of doubles is not very high but you don't seem to notice that standard of Indian players was so low for such a long time that they couldn't even compete, let alone win, in doubles. She has won and is the world no 1 in doubles - that is way more than what any other female tennis player has achieved in India till date. That IS a achievement irrespective of the competitive level of doubles. After seeing her a lot of youngsters have taken up tennis - now whether they concentrate on singles or doubles is a different matter.... the important thing IMO is that more youngsters are taking up tennis today than 10 years ago and Sania Mirza's rise and the fact that she has earned a lot of fame has been a factor in that.
dial_100 Posted August 14, 2015 Posted August 14, 2015 Hang on! Why is it called Rajiv Gandhi award? Wtf has he done to be associated with it? Sir, we cant do anything about past. but as long as our kids don't have to accept Rahul Gandhi Bharat Ratna award, I think collectively we would have achieved something in this life time. :giggle:
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