Road To Paris – Episode 10

We are getting closer and closer to the D-Day and more and more qualifying spots are getting sealed up. Here is a quick summary of the updates since Episode 9

Qualifiers

Table Tennis: Men’s & Women’s Teams have qualified via rankings for the first time ever. This also means that there will be 2 Indian players in both Singles events as well.

Weightlifting: Defending Silver medalist Mirabai Chanu qualifies for the 49 KG event as the sole Indian weightlifter at the Games.

Badminton: India will have representation in 4 events through Rankings missing out in Mixed Doubles. Men’s Singles - HS Prannoy & Lakshya Sen, Women’s Singles -PV Sindhu; Men’s Doubles – Satwik Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty duo; Women’s Doubles – Ashwini Ponappa-Tanisha Crasto duo.

Updates

Sharath Kamal will be the flagbearer at the Games.

Athletics: Now 7 Men have breached the Qualification mark in the Men’s 20km Walk. Only 3 can qualify!

Boxing: None of the Indians could earn a Quota place during the 1st Qualifying event and now have to wait for the next set of qualifiers.

Qualification Summary for Team India

Sports: 11, Events 39, Entries:55. Athletes: 66 

Links: Episode 9 

BookMarks #117: Same As Ever

Title: Same As Ever: Timeless Lessons on Risk, Opportunity and Living a Good Life

Author: Morgan Housel

Genre: Non-fiction, Self-help, Life Lessons

Published: 2023

BookMarks

A short volume based on a simple premise that planning for the future will depend more on what will not change but remain the same? It is based on patterns which will keep repeating.

Here are a few nuggets from the book:

The main question to ask is what will not change? For predicting the future e.g. base human instincts and responses to stimuli.

Risk is what's left over after you have thought of everything. (Remember the unknown unknowns)

The world is driven by envy. Lower expectations lead to more happiness.

Guiding people's attention to a single point is one of most powerful life skills.

Every market valuation is a number from today multiplied by a story about tomorrow. And stories cannot be always predicted.

The real world is a never-ending chain of absurdity, confusion and imperfect people.

Stability is destabilizing.

Accelerated artificial growth tends to backfire.

Patience and scarcity add the most value.

Remember to stay afraid because that is the best way to not make careless mistakes.

Complex to make and simple to break. Bad news is instant, good news takes time. Progress from compounding takes time and is not often noticed.

You waste years by not wasting a few hours - be a little underemployed.

Plan like a pessimist and dream like an optimist. Save like a pessimist and invest like an optimist.

An expert is always from outside (or as they say घर की मुर्गी  दाल बराबर)

You never know what struggles people are hiding.

It is easier to recognize other people's mistakes than our own.

Medicine is a biological science while being a doctor is a social skill of managing people's expectations.

It's hard to predict a response till you actually experience it firsthand.

Wounds heal, scars last!

Overall, a simple yet profound concept and like the book says a good story-telling. 

Previously on BookMarks: Freedom at Midnight

Road To Paris – Episode 9

We have entered the Olympics Year, and the race for the remaining qualifying spots in heating up. For the Indian contingent, the elations and heartbreaks continue, on the field (and the shenanigans off it).

Here is a quick summary of the updates since Episode 8

Qualifiers

Shooting: After the 2024 Asian Shooting Championships, India now has a qualifier in every single category for the first time ever. 

Men’s: Varun Tomar (10m Air Pistol), Vijayveer Sidhu (25m Pistol), Anantjeet Naruka (Skeet).
Women’s: Esha Singh (10m Air Pistol), Rhythm Sangwan (25m Pistol), Raiza Dhillon (Skeet)

Equestrian: India have a Quota Place in Individual Dressage through Anush Agarwalla – first ever appearance in this particular event.

Sailing: Vishnu Sarvanan earned a Quota Place in Men’s ILCA category

In other news

Badminton: Indian Women won their first ever Badminton Asia Championships. This was also their first ever medal at the event.

Tennis: Rohan Bopanna, at 43 years young, won his first Men’s Doubles Grand Slam title at the Australian Open finally reached No. 1 ranking.

Athletics: 6 Men have now breached the Qualification mark in the Men’s 20km Walk. Only 3 can qualify!

Hockey: Women’s Team fails to reach the Games after finishing 4th in the Qualifiers. A real heartbreak for the team which came so close to a medal at Tokyo.

Wrestling: The mess continues - Elections held, New body elected and then suspended by Govt. An ad hoc committee in place and two separate Nationals held.

Qualification Summary for Team India: Sports: 6, Events 22, Entries:29, Athletes: 44.

Till next time!

Links: Episode 8 

Wisdom in the middle

From today's edition of Times of India came this Garfield comic strip.

Quite a relatable one!

And then remembered a few other lines on the subject

Bread rises in the yeast and sets in the waist

A moment on the lips a lifetime on the hips

I am in shape, Round is a shape