NAGPUR, Aug 6, 2014
By Paritosh Pramanik
A NAGPURIAN might still take years to win medal at the Commonwealth Games, but the Glasgow Games that concluded on Sunday, already had one from Orange City emerging as a surprise ‘winner’.
Nagpur’s Omprakash Mundra emerged ‘winner’ on the final day of the XX Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.
Mundra, who was watching the men’s final of badminton event at Emirates Arena, was thrilled when gold medal winner Parupalli Kashyap gifted him his racquet after defeating Derek Wong of Singapore in the summit clash.
Everybody saw Kashyap, a bronze-medallist at the Delhi Games, animatedly celebrating his historic 21-14, 11-21, 21-19 triumph over Wong. Kashyap rose to the occasion and played a sensational game of nerves to eke out a breath-taking win in the over an hour final showdown.
Kashyap flung his racquet in the air and continued his celebration on the court. Immediately after that the shuttler picked up his racquet and ran towards Mundra, who was cheering the Indian throughout the summit clash from the stands. Kashyap took the Indian flag from Mundra and handed his racquet surprising all present in the arena.
“It really surprised me as well as all those present when Kashyap came to me running and asked for the Indian flag. It was more like a shock than surprise when he gifted me his racquet with which he had just created history,” said Mundra while talking with ‘The Hitavada’ over phone from Glasgow.
“I think he (Kashyap) might have heard my cheering from the stands as I was continuously shouting and supporting him throughout the match,” said an elated Mundra.
“Even before the final, Kashyap obliged me by clicking a photograph,” said Mundra. A die-hard sports lover, Mundra was in Glasgow specially to support Indian athletes. The steel businessman from city also witnessed the squash final which Indian pair of Dipika Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa won defeating England’s Jenny Duncalf and Laura Massaro.
The lucky charm of Indian contingent was also present in the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre where Indian wrestlers Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt won the yellow metals.
“I love sports and love to support our sportspersons,” said Mundra, who reached Glasgow directly from Rio de Janeiro where he was selected as a volunteer of VVIP Hospitality Enclosure for the June-July FIFA World Cup, along with his wife Premlata.
After spending more than two months on ‘sports field’, Mundra will be returning back to Nagpur on Thursday with the ‘surprise gift’ and fond memories of two mega sporting events of the world. He will take ‘rest’ before embarking on ‘participating’ in another
sports event.
By Paritosh Pramanik
A NAGPURIAN might still take years to win medal at the Commonwealth Games, but the Glasgow Games that concluded on Sunday, already had one from Orange City emerging as a surprise ‘winner’.
Nagpur’s Omprakash Mundra emerged ‘winner’ on the final day of the XX Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.
Mundra, who was watching the men’s final of badminton event at Emirates Arena, was thrilled when gold medal winner Parupalli Kashyap gifted him his racquet after defeating Derek Wong of Singapore in the summit clash.
Everybody saw Kashyap, a bronze-medallist at the Delhi Games, animatedly celebrating his historic 21-14, 11-21, 21-19 triumph over Wong. Kashyap rose to the occasion and played a sensational game of nerves to eke out a breath-taking win in the over an hour final showdown.
Kashyap flung his racquet in the air and continued his celebration on the court. Immediately after that the shuttler picked up his racquet and ran towards Mundra, who was cheering the Indian throughout the summit clash from the stands. Kashyap took the Indian flag from Mundra and handed his racquet surprising all present in the arena.
“It really surprised me as well as all those present when Kashyap came to me running and asked for the Indian flag. It was more like a shock than surprise when he gifted me his racquet with which he had just created history,” said Mundra while talking with ‘The Hitavada’ over phone from Glasgow.
“I think he (Kashyap) might have heard my cheering from the stands as I was continuously shouting and supporting him throughout the match,” said an elated Mundra.
“Even before the final, Kashyap obliged me by clicking a photograph,” said Mundra. A die-hard sports lover, Mundra was in Glasgow specially to support Indian athletes. The steel businessman from city also witnessed the squash final which Indian pair of Dipika Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa won defeating England’s Jenny Duncalf and Laura Massaro.
The lucky charm of Indian contingent was also present in the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre where Indian wrestlers Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt won the yellow metals.
“I love sports and love to support our sportspersons,” said Mundra, who reached Glasgow directly from Rio de Janeiro where he was selected as a volunteer of VVIP Hospitality Enclosure for the June-July FIFA World Cup, along with his wife Premlata.
After spending more than two months on ‘sports field’, Mundra will be returning back to Nagpur on Thursday with the ‘surprise gift’ and fond memories of two mega sporting events of the world. He will take ‘rest’ before embarking on ‘participating’ in another
sports event.
