Road To LA: Sindhu and Lakshya To Make A Comeback at Arctic Open
PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen will look forward to their competitive action on the main stage of the Arctic Open Super 500 in Finland, which begins on Tuesday, 8th October, 2024. It will be their first outing after a couple of woeful outings at the Paris Olympics 2024. The Indian duo will return after a two-month pause to regroup on the BWF World Tour. New Coaching Strategies for Sindhu Sindhu has revamped her coaching team – she has brought in Anup Sridhar as her interim coach and South Korean legend Lee Syun Il as a consultant. She needed this after her previous coach, Agus Dwi Santoso, left in the wake of her premature exit from Paris 2024. The sixth seeded Sindhu will start off against Canada’s Michelle Li and could face up-and-coming Japanese star Tomako Miyazaki in the next round. Lakshya Focusses On Fitness Lakshya Sen is using his off-time to work on his physiques. He was to take tests at Red Bull Athlete Performance Centre in Salzburg to understand where he is fitness-wise. Unseeded in this tournament, Lakshya Sen will meet Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke and would like a return encounter against seventh seed Chou Tien Chen, whom he won in the Olympics. Young Contingent And Absences The team is represented by the very much in-form Kidambi Srikanth, who will be competing in the qualification rounds after his injury comeback. The future of Indian singles looks bright with youngsters such as Malvika Bansod and Aakarshi Kashyap. India will be missing HS Prannoy from their men’s singles as he will be missing the event due to fitness issues and change of coach. Also missing is the reigning men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. What To Expect At The Arctic Open? The Arctic Open is definitely a less crowded field and PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen should have a great opportunity to get back on their feet. Both athletes will indeed be under the prism of the camera because they would try to navigate through the pressures of competition and recalibrate their ambitions for the rest of the season. The Sportz Planet Desk,Atharva Shetye
Why Countries Vie for Summer Olympics: A Peep into the Motives Behind the Bid
With the road to LA28 being paved, cities around the world finalize their bids, which are driven by motives stretching beyond the sporting spectacle itself. The idea is that hosting the Olympics is an honor of great potential benefit associated with it, despite its being extremely expensive. Pride and National Image One major reason countries would want to host the Olympics is to develop national pride and enhance their image on the international platform. Take the instance of the Paris Olympics 2024, which emphasized the active culture and resilience amid political unrest France is facing. This was the opportunity to be part of French people under one same pride that united citizens during that moment, which echoes the bigger picture effect that hosting the Games adds to national morale. Similarly, past host cities, like Barcelona and Tokyo, used the Olympics to regain their position on the world stage and generate infrastructure that would endure for generations. Economic Development and Infrastructure The financial cost of hosting the Olympics can be crippling in the short term, as the costs almost always end up being far higher than the projected budgets. Still, the potential for long-term economic benefit is too high to ignore. New infrastructure, such as transportation systems and sports venues, can induce further development. For instance, it was Tokyo’s 1964 Games that paved the way for extensive improvements in transport infrastructure through the construction of the Bullet Train. In contrast, costs can be heavy. Greece slipped into a financial crisis as it struggled to pay off billions of dollars in debts run up hosting the 2004 Olympics. Rio de Janeiro missed the 2016 financial targets for its Olympics. Tourism and Trade This can also help in improving tourism and trade. The 1992 Olympics in Barcelona gave the tourist profile a drastic makeover, turning the city into one of the top destinations in Europe. Similarly, the 2008 Olympics in China helped facilitate entry into the World Trade Organization, opening up new trade opportunities. These long-term gains thus show how hosts could cash in through their exposure to the world. The Road to LA28 With the Los Angeles Olympics 2028 in the future, it remains banked on the exploitation of existing infrastructure to avoid falling into the financial pitfalls of previous host cities. As LA keeps this balance between cost and opportunity, it can set a precedent for future hosts. As nations like India weigh their bids for 2036, they shall look at the successes and challenges of past hosts to help navigate the complex decision of whether to embrace this global event. Although the task of hosting the Summer Olympics is both extremely expensive and a logistical nightmare, potential returns in citizens’ pride and global image, together with long-term economic benefits, make the Olympic opportunity quite attractive to many countries around the world. As the Road to LA28 unfolds, future hosts will be watching closely to get a feel for what the ultimate return on their investment is. The Sportz Planet Desk,Atharva Shetye