All hail Indian Football, Indian Boxing and Indian Chess

This one is all about celebration. So please leave your skepticism at home. Forget what we had been doing as a nation of 1.2 billion. Just enjoy what we have done in the last one week.

Just when the heady feeling of basking in the feats of Jeev Milkha Singh, Abhinav Bindra and Saina Nehwal was wearing off, there was more sporting joy in store.

First the much maligned national football team capped off a memorable AFC Challenge Cup by routing the Tajiks in the final. Its probably Indian football's finest moment since I was born - and after years of joy with my favourite club side ( Man Utd) , I have reason to cheer for my national team. All the credit has been rightly bestowed upon coach Houghton - Indian football joins the bandwagon of sports which have benefited from having a top quality foreign coach and increased international exposure.

The same could have been said of Indian Hockey but alas. Rick Charlesworth who wasn't considered good enough to coach Indian will soon become coach of the Australian men's side - replacing Barry Dancer, a highly successful coach who won the Olympic gold and the Champions Trophy with Australia. So its fitting that Indian Football's high has coincided with Indian hockey's lowest point.

Then there was a landmark achievement in Chess. Dronavalli Harika and Abhijeet Gupta gave India the unique distinction of becoming the first nation to win both the women's and the men's individual title at the Junior World Championship. This is something which even the mighty Soviet Union could never manage. If only Chess could become part of the Olympics - we would become a permanent fixture in the medals tally.

And finally the most adrenalin rushing event happened in boxing. Three Indians and three super victories. Akhil Kumar set the tone by toppling a world champion and then Jitender and Vijender followed with comprehensive wins. And the best part is that these guys were bursting with confidence before the bouts and are setting their sights on nothing less than gold. The chances of a second medal are extremely high and I am keeping my fingers crossed. Like these boxers I also want gold.

While all this was going on there was a setback in tennis - the much heralded pair of Paes and Bhupathi failed in what was probably their last attempt at an Olympic medal together. But it hardly mattered to me. These guys only have themselves and their super inflated egos to blame for it. Their coming together , their success and their break-up will forever remain one of the biggest 'what ifs' of Indian sport.

We will talk about the 'what ifs' on some other day. This day is to celebrate the new stars of Indian sport. Forget cricket, tennis and hockey. Lets raise a toast to football, chess and boxing

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