Personalities # 31 - Dhyan Chand

We will today look at the Master of Hockey in India, the National Sports day in India is celebrated in his honour, he is none other than Dhyan Chand.

Dhyan Chand made great contribution in enhancing prestige of Indian hockeyin the eyes of the world. He was born on August 29, 1906 in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. His Hockey career spans long and his achievements span longer. By his superior play, Dhyan Chand was held in high esteem with in the country as well as abroad. Dhyan Chand helped his country in winning gold medals in hokey in 3 successive Olympicgames; Amesterdam Olympics (1928), Los Angles Olympics (1932) and Berlin Olympics(1936). He was the captain of the gold medal winner Indian Hockey team in the historic 1936 Berlin Olympics. Dhyan Chand scored 101 goals at the Olympic Games and 300 goals in other international matches and his record is unbroken. Dhyan Chand had a wonderful command in wielding the hockey stick and this earn him the title " Hockey Wizard". India won one gold medal in Hockey at Amersterdom Olympics and out of a total of 28 goals scored by Indian hockey, 11 were scored by Dhyan Chand alone. He died on December 3,1979.

Thus we end our month and the "Personalities" series. Our next month is August. We have successfully posted short bios of 31 personalities in 31 days, beginning with Stephen Hawking and ending with Dhyan Chand.

Personalities # 11 - Sunil Gavaskar

Today we will have something on cricket and something to do with the Little Master.It is of course, Sunil Gavaskar.

Sunil Gavaskar, regarded as the best opening batsman in Test Cricket history was also widely admired for his technique against fast bowling, with a particularly high average of 65.45 against the West Indies. Gavaskar was a member of the victorious Indian side in the 1983 World Cup. He was born exactly on this day, the 10th of July 1949, in Bombay, India. Gavaskar set world records during his career for the most runs and most centuries scored by any batsman. He held the record of 34 Test centuries for almost two decades before it was broken by Sachin Tendulkar in December 2005. Gavaskar was named India's Best Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year in 1966. A diminutive player, Gavaskar stood at just 165 cm, but the stature of this great player scared many opposition bowlers and he made his test debut against the West Indies. Gavaskar was captain of the Indian team on several occasions in the late 1970s and early 1980s, although his record is sadly, less impressive. Gavaskar was also a fine slip fielder and his safe catching in the slips helped him become the first Indian (excluding wicket-keepers) to take over a hundred catches in Test matches. While Gavaskar could not be described as an attacking batsman, he had the ability of keeping the scoreboard ticking with unique shots such as the "late flick". Among his many awards are the Padma Bhusan, and the Border-Gavaskar trophy has been instituted on his name.

Personalities # 10 - Mani the Parakeet

It seems that animals have made an astrological impact at predicting international sporting events. Today we have another "Predictor", Mani the Parakeet.

Mani the Parakeet is a Malaysian born Rose-Ringed parrot residing in Singapore. It has been an astrologer 'assistant' to M. Muniyappan since 2005. Muniyappan is locally known to makes his predictions using a simplified form of cartomancy. Mani became a celebrity in Singapore, and later internationally, when he picked the correct winners for all of the 2010 FIFA World Cup quarter-final ties, as well as the Spain-Germany semi-final. At one point on July 5, 2010, a day before the Uruguay-Netherlands semi-final match, Mani topped Google's "Hot Searches" in Singapore. Prior to his World Cup stint, Mani and his owner M. Muniyappan, used to see an average of 10 customers a day. Following his World Cup success, this increased to around 10 customers an hour, and most of these come to see the celebrity parrot. Only one of his predictions, the Uruguay vs Netherlands Semi-Finals prediction has been wrong. As a result, Mani made a new prediction for the World Cup Final between Netherlands and Spain. It has tipped a Dutch win over Spain. On the other hand, fellow oracle star Paul the Octopus has gone for a Spanish victory. It is deemed to be a face-off over superiority between the two. Mani's method is simple, Mani exits his small wooden cage and chooses between two white cards — each hiding the flag of the countries of a match that will be played. Mani will pick one of the cards up with his beak and flip it over, revealing the winner for the match.

Personalities # 8 - Paul the Octopus

The ongoing month-long Personalities Series will not only feature men and women, but will also feature prominent animals. Today we have another prominent animal that has been in the news lately due to the FIFA World Cup 2010. You must have heard him, for he is Paul the Mystic Octopus.

Paul the Octopus, a 4 year old common octopus residing in Sea Life Oberhousen Aquarium in Germany has been used as an oracle to predict or foretell the match results of Germany in international level football matches involving Germany. Paul has been reported to have correctly predicted the winning team for 5 out of Germany's 6 matches at the EURO 2008, that is with about 83% success. Moreover, he has correctly predicted each of Germany's 6 matches at the FIFA World Cup 2010. Before German international football matches, Paul is presented with food in two identical containers; one container is marked with the flag of Germany and the other is marked with the flag of Germany's opponent in the upcoming match. In each instance, Paul's choice of food box is interpreted as his prediction as to which will be the victorious team. Paul hatched from an egg in an aquarium at Sea Life Weymouth in Weymouth, England. Paul's near accurate predictions for the 2010 World Cup have gained him worldwide status as a celebrity animal. He is thus also referred to as the Oracle Octopus or Psychic Octopus.

Summer Extravaganza - World Cup Mania

Today we have the last post for the World Cup Mania subseries and today we also end the Summer Extravaganza. It has really been a great factfull summer with the Factorium and 4 editions of the FactBook. Hope all of our readers have enjoyed the Fact Bonanza called Summer Extravaganza. Presenting before you the last fact on FIFA All-Star teams today....

The All-Star team is a select team of 23 best players chosen by FIFA's Technical Study group from the World Cup finals. It is commercially termed Mastercard All-Star Team. The number of players was expanded from 11 to 16 at the 1998 finals, and then to the current 23. Before 1998, journalists and experts chose a "Dream Team" with outstanding players from each playing position. The current format of an All-Star team has 3 Goalkeepers, 6 Defenders, 6 Midfielders and 4 Forwards, totaling to 19. The All-Star team for 2006 FIFA World Cup was:

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon, Jens Lehmann and Ricardo.

Defenders: Roberto Ayala, John Terry, Lilian Thuram, Phillipp Lahm, Gianluca Zambrotta and Ricardo Carvalho.

Midfielders: Ze Roberto, Ronaldinho, Zinedine Zidane, Michael Ballack, Francesco Totti and Luis Figo.

Forwards: Hernan Crespo, Thierry Henry, Miroslav Klose and Luca Toni.

A new subseries: "Quoty Quotes" starts tomorrow....

Summer Extravaganza - World Cup Mania

Today we will look at some facts on the Golden Boot or Golden Shoe award, which is one of the coveted award in FIFA World Cups.

The Golden Boot Award goes to the top goalscorer of the FIFA World Cup.

The award was introduced at the 1930 World Cup. The 1994 World Cup in the United States was the first time that Silver and Bronze boots awards were added to reward the second and third top scorers in the tournament. Since 1994, if there is more than one player with the same amount of goals, the tie-breaker goes to the player who has contributed the most assists (with the FIFA Technical Study Group deciding whether an assist is to be counted as such). If there is still more than one player, the tie-breaker goes to the player who has played the least amount of time.

So far, the highest goals scored in a World Cup are 13, by Just Fontaine of France in 1958. In the last world cup, Miroslav Klose won the Adidas Golden Shoe with 5 goals, followed by Hernan Crespo with 3 and Ronaldo with 3.

Summer Extravaganza - World Cup Mania

For the next 3 days, we will see facts on 3 of the prestigious awards presented by FIFA. We will today see some facts on the Golden Ball award, which is one of the prestigious awards presented at the FIFA World Cup.

This award was first given in 1982 as Golden, Silver and Bronze Ball. FIFA has also made a list of best players in the previous world cups. According to the list, Jose Nasazzi was the best player in the 1930 World Cup. The award is commercially termed "Adidas Golden Ball" and was presented to Zinedine Zidane of France in 2006. This was followed by Fabio Cannavaro and Andrea Pirlo. In 1982, Paolo Rossi of Spain was presented the first ever Golden Ball followed by Falcao of Brazil with the Silver Ball and Karl-Heinz of Germany with the Bronze Ball.

We will see interesting facts on the Golden Boot and All-star team in the remaining 2 days' time.

Summer Extravaganza - World Cup Mania

We continue the World Cup Mania today with something to do with awards concerning the FIFA World Cup.

There are a total of 7 awards/recognitions currently that are attributed to the players and teams which have distinguished from the rest, in different aspects of the game. These are:

1. The Golden Ball (currently commercially termed "adidas Golden Ball") for the best player. Also, the runners-up get the Silver and Bronze Ball for 2nd and 3rd Place respectively.
2. The Golden Shoe (also known as the Golden Boot, since 1982 commercially termed "adidas Golden Shoe") was first awarded in 1930 for top goal scorer. Also, Silver and Bronze shoes have been awarded since 1982.
3. The Yashin Award for best goalkeeper (first awarded in 1994).
4. The Best Young Player (currently commercially termed as "Gillette Best Young Player") award for best player under 21 years of age at the start of the calendar year, first awarded in 2006.
5. The FIFA Fair Play Trophy for the team with the best record of fair play (first awarded in 1970).
6. The Most Entertaining Team award for the team that has entertained the public the most, during the World Cup final tournament, as determined by a poll of the general public, first awarded in 1994.
7. An All-Star Team (currently commercially termed "Mastercard All-Star Team") comprising of the best players of the tournament, is also announced for each tournament since 1990.

3 More days of Exciting World Cup Mania left....

Summer Extravaganza - World Cup Mania

Today is the last day of facts on the FIFA World Cup 2010. But we will be continuing our World Cup mania till the 21st of June i.e till the end of the Summer Extravaganza. Today we will have a look at the 'official' things of the World Cup 2010.

The official mascot for the 2010 FIFA World Cup is Zakumi, an anthromorphosised leopard with green hair, presented on 22 September 2008. His name comes from "ZA", the international abbreviation for South Africa, and "kumi", a word that means "ten" in various African languages. The mascot's colours reflect those of the host nation's playing strip – yellow and green. Zakumi's official motto is 'Zakumi's Game is Fair Play.'

The official song of the FIFA world cup "Waka Waka" is presented by the Colombian singer Shakira and the band Freshlyground from South Africa, and is sung in both English and Spanish.

The official match ball for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, manufactured by Adidas, will be named the Jabulani, which means "bringing joy to everyone" in isiZulu.

The official FIFA World Cup sponsors are Budweiser, Castrol, Continental, McDonalds, MTN, Mahindra Satyam, Seara and Yingli Solar.

The official Prize money on offer for the tournament was confirmed by FIFA as $420 million, a 60 percent increase on the 2006 tournament. Before the tournament, each participating team would receive $1 million, for preparation costs. Once at the tournament, teams exiting at the group stage would receive $8 million. Thereafter, the prize money would be distributed as follows:

1. $9 million - Round of 16

2. $18 million - Quarter Finals

3. $20 million - Semi Finals

4. $24 million - Runners Up

5. $30 million - Winners.

That brings us to the end of facts on the World Cup of Association Football 2010. More World Cup Mania tomorrow....

Summer Extravaganza - World Cup Mania

Today we will be reading facts on the venues for the FIFA World Cup 2010 and tomorrow about the Official Masoct, Football, Anthem and more. Let us begin today then!

The 10 venues are

1.Soccer City, Johannesburg

2. Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban

3. Cape town Stadium, Cape Town

4. Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg

5. Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria

6. Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth

7. Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein

8. Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane

9. Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg

10. Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit.

More World Cup Mania tomorrow....

Summer Extravaganza - World Cup Mania

For the next 3 days we will see about the FIFA World Cup 2010.

The ongoing FIFA World Cup 2010 is the 19th FIFA World Cup of Football. It will run from 11th June - 11th July. The qualification of the World Cup began with 204 member nations, matching the 2008 Summer Olympics. Also, this is the first time that an African nation has got hosting duties. In the Final tournament of the World Cup, 32 nations will be participating with 4 teams from AFC, 3 from CONCACAF, 13 from UEFA, 5 from CONMEBOL, 1 from OFC and 6 from CAF. We already saw about these associations yesterday.

A total of 10 venues will host the 64 matches to be played. See this innovative FIFA World Cup schedule calendar on this link.

More FIFA World Cup 2010 Coming tomorrow....

Summer Extravaganza - World Cup Mania

We now come to the Presidents of FIFA on this last day of facts on FIFA. Till date there have been 8 presidents, these are:

Robert Guerin - 1904-1906

Daniel Burley Woolfall - 1906-1918

Jules Rimet - 1921-1954

Rodolphe Seeldrayers - 1954-1955

Arthur Drewry - 1955-1961

Stanley Rous - 1961-1974

Joao Havelange - 1974-1998

Sepp Blatter - 1998-Till Date

More World Cup Mania tomorrow....

Summer Extravaganza - World Cup Mania

Today we will look at more facts on FIFA, the world governing body of Association Football. We will today see about the structure of FIFA and tomorrow about its presidents.

FIFA is an association established under the Laws of Switzerland. Its headquarters are in Zürich. FIFA's supreme body is the FIFA Congress, an assembly made up of representatives from each affiliated member association. Aside from its worldwide institutions (presidency, Executive Committee, Congress, etc.) there are confederations recognised by FIFA which oversee the game in the different continents and regions of the world. These are:

AFC - Asian Football Confederation in Asia and Australia.

CAF - Confédération Africaine de FootbalL in Africa.

CONCACAF - Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football In North and Central America.

CONMEBOL - Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol in South America.

OFC - Oceania Football Confederation in Oceania.

UEFA - Union of European Football Associations in Europe.

More FIFA tomorrow....

Summer Extravaganza - World Cup Mania

With the World Cup underway, everyone is celebrating the Football Fever, even the Factorium with its subseries, World Cup Mania. For the next 3 days we will have a look at the governing body of the FIFA World Cup, FIFA. We will see facts on FIFA for the next 3 days.

FIFA Abbreviates to Fédération Internationale de Football Association or the International Federation of Association Football. It is basically the international governing body of Association Football like ICC for Cricket. The current president of FIFA is Sepp Blatter. Till Date there were 8 presidents in office with the first one being Robert Guerin from 1904-1906. Its motto is "For the Game, for the World." FIFA has 208 member associations, which is 16 more than the United Nations and three more than the International Olympic Committee, though five fewer than the International Association for Athletics Federation. FIFA governs football's major world tournaments, notably the FIFA World Cup. Its headquarters are in Switzerland, Zurich. If you were wondering what "Association Football" is, let me assure you that Football and Soccer are general names of the sport and that Association Football is the 'real' name of the game.

More FIFA tomorrow....

Summer Extravaganza - World Cup Mania

We will see the bids from 1974-2010 World Cups today.

1974, 1978, 1982: In an odd set of circumstances, three hosts were chosen in London, England on July 6, 1966. West Germany and Spain bid in 1974 with West Germany clinching the bid as Spain withdrew. Argentina and Mexico bid for the 1978 World Cup and Argentina won as Mexico withdrew. Spain and West Germany bid for 1982 World Cup and West Germany withdrew in line of 1974 Hosting Duties as Spain had done in 1974 in line for 1982 Hosting Duties.

1986: Columbia won the bid after an unopposed bidding process. However, Columbia later withdrew due to financial problems and Mexico, Canada and USA then Bid with Mexico emerging winners.

1990: England, Greece, Italy and Soviet Union bid, with Italy winning the vote against England after the others dropped out.

1994: Brazil, Morocco and USA bid, with USA emerging winners after winning the voting process.

1998: France, Morocco and Switzerland bid with France emerging victorious after winning 11 votes while Morocco and Switzerland getting 7 votes.

2002: Korea Republic, Japan and Mexico bid and for the first time, a joint bid was formed y Japan and South Korea which got the hosting duties after an oral voting.

2006: Brazil, England, Germany, Morocco and South Africa bid with Germany winning against the others in a voting process.

2010: Egypt, Libya/Tunisia, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa Bid. Libya and Tunisia withdrew and South Africa won with 14 votes against Nigeria's 10 and Egypt's 0.

Summer Extravaganza - World Cup Mania

Today we will look at an unique and behind-the-clouds aspect of the FIFA World Cup that is perhaps most important. You guessed it Right - Bidding. We will look at the different bids for the world cups. We will look at 1930-1970 world cups today and 1974-2010 world cups tomorrow. The Format is Year, Aspiring Hosts, Winner.

1930: The aspiring hosts were Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Uruguay. Uruguay won the bid after withdrawls for the other bidders.

1934: Only Italy and Sweden bid and as Sweden withdrew, Italy were the hosts.

1938: Argentina, France and Germany were the bidders. Argentind emerged victorious after getting 19 votes.

1950: Brazil had the bid for the 1942 world cup but because of the WWII it couldn't host then. So it was given the bid to host the 1950 World Cup.

1954: Same with Switzerland. Initial hosts for 1946, granted in 1954.

1958: Sweden got the bid after the bidding process went yet again, unopposed.

1962: Argentina, Chile and West Germany. West Germany withdrew and Argentina lost to Chile in voting.

1966: England, West Germany and Sweden were the bidders. England won after securing 34 votes after Spain withdrew.

1970: There were 2 bidders - Argentina and Mexico. Mexico won the bid in voting, with 56 votes.

We will see the remainder of Bidding tomorrow....

Summer Extravaganza - World Cup Mania

Today we will have a look at the names of the Official FIFA world Cup footballs from the 1970 world cup to the 2010 World Cup. Unfortunately, there were no names to be found for the World Cup balls before 1970.

1970 and 1974: Telstar

1978: Tango

1982: Tango Espana

1986: Azteca

1990: Etrusco Unico

1994: Questra

1998: Tricolor

2002: Fevernova

2006: Teamgeist

2010: Jabulani

Summer Extravaganza - World Cup Mania

As we all know, the FIFA World Cup 2010 will be held from 11th June. So, this subseries will be all about Football and facts and trivia regarding the World Cup and football altogether. So we begin today....

Today we will have some elementary facts on Countries that have won the FIFA World Cup in the years. The world cup was not held in 1942 and 1946 due to World War II. The format is Year, Winners, Runner Ups, Host Country.

1930: Uruguay, Argentina, Uruguay

1934: Italy, Czechoslovakia, Italy

1938: Italy, Hungary, France

1950: Uruguay, Brazil, Brazil

1954: West Germany, Hungary, Switzerland

1958: Brazil, Sweden, Sweden

1962: Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Chile

1966: England, West Germany, England

1970: Brazil, Italy, Mexico

1974: West Germany, Netherlands, West Germany

1978: Argentina, Netherlands, Argentina

1982: Italy, West Germany, Spain

1986: Argentina, West Germany, Mexico

1990: West Germany, Argentina, Italy

1994: Brazil, Italy, United States

1998: France, Brazil, France

2002: Brazil, Germany, Japan/South Korea

2006: Italy, France, Germany

More Foot Bol up for tomorrow....

Summer Extravaganza - Sunny Sports

Today is the last day of sunny sports and let us wrap it up by looking at the History and Types of Kabaddi.

Kabaddi is known as Hu-Tu-Tu in Western India, Ha-Do-Do in Eastern India and Bangladesh, Chedugudu in Southern India and Kaunbada in Northern India and is a different game version of the Chakravyuha which was an ancient war strategy and defensive formation in the shape of a circle. The game was introduced in the Indian Olympic Games at Calcutta in 1938. In 1950 the All India Kabaddi Federation came into existence and compiled standard rules. The Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) was founded in 1973 after which the men's and women's national championships were held. The first World Kabaddi Championship was held in Hamilton, Canada when 14,000 people at the Copps Coliseum watched top players from India, Pakistan, Canada, England and the United States. The next edition was in Surrey, British Columbia which hosts the first all-kabaddi stadium. Kabaddi is now a very popular game and is a regular sport in Asian Games, Asian Indoor Games and Asian Beach Games apart from SAF Games. Kabaddi will be a demonstration sport during Commonwealth Games 2010 at New Delhi. The various types of Kabaddi versions are Amar, Surjeevani and Gaminee.

Summer Extravaganza - Sunny Sports

For the last two days of the subseries 'Sunny Sports' we are going to see facts on a Tag Game. The Tag Game is Kabaddi. Today we will be looking at general information on the sport of Kabaddi and the Gameplay of Kabaddi. Before moving on...let me tell you that the Factorium has been redesigned and I have added some pages which convey information on The FactBook, The Factorium and some External links.

Kabaddi is a team contact sport that originated in India. Two teams occupy opposite halves of a field and take turns sending a "raider" into the other half, in order to win points by tagging or wrestling members of the opposing team; the raider then tries to return to his own half, holding his breath and chanting "kabaddi, kabaddi, kabaddi" during the whole raid. The name often chanted during a game derives from a Hindi word meaning "holding of breath", which is indeed the crucial aspect of play. It is the national game of Bangladesh, and the state game of Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh in India. India is currently the undisputed champion in this sport. The game in India is governed by a body called The Kabaddi Federation of India which was founded in 1950.

Now we will look at the international rules of the game as given by the International Governing body. In the international team version of kabaddi, two teams of seven members each occupy opposite halves of a field of 13m × 10m in case of men and 12m X 10m in case of women and the game is played in 2 20 minute halves. Teams take turns sending a "raider" to the opposite team's half, where the goal is to tag the opposite team member. Tagged members are "out" and temporarily sent off the field. The raider is sent off the field if If the raider takes a breath before returning or if the raider crosses boundary line or a part of the raider's body touches the ground outside the boundary except during a struggle with an opposing team member. Each time a player is out the opposing team earns a point. A team scores a bonus of two points, called a lona, if the entire opposing team is declared out. At the end of the game, the team with the most points wins. Matches are categorized based on age and weight. Six officials supervise a match: one referee, two umpires, a scorer and two assistant scorers.