Bowled over by Hawk-Eye?

Guess what snooker champion Pankaj Advani is thinking about when he meets opponents over a match? It?s his winning strategy. ?There is nothing called a natural game or a natural player today. Strategy is the buzzword. Beyond the current match, one even has to think about whom one is going to meet next in the tournament,? says this Khel Ratna awardee. ?I track opponents through match recordings, which help me crack their moves and work out a strategy of my own when I meet them next,? says the 22-year-old cueist.

Digest this. The annual Tour de France cycle race is much more than a few enthusiasts on pedals. Besides tracking the heartbeats of the cyclists by way of innovative health monitors, the race is brought to fans through satellite technology onto their internet-enabled computers, TV and mobile phones. The competition also has 1,500 temporary telephone lines deployed and mobile network boosted over the entire course to ensure optimum coverage. This is mostly in 3G, with some 50 technicians mobilised around the clock and support from 330 regional colleagues at each stage to handle the transport, assembly, operation and supervision. Phew!

Another deserving contender is Formula One motor racing, which tracks the vrooming machines through the world?s most accurate timing systems. The qualifying sessions here are decided on gaps as narrow as 1 /1000th of a second. The latest is Lenovo coming forward to help AT&T Williams team further. ?Digital technology has essentially allowed us to pick up timing data from the Grand Prix organisers and process it,? says Robin Gearing, head, vehicle dynamics, AT&T Williams. ?We build up our own timing database and then have live analysis on the pit wall on how the race is panning out. All the engineers on the pit wall have their Lenovo ThinkPad T60p notebooks with them and can see the rate at which they are gaining or losing on their competitors and try and predict when they will stop at the pit.?

Then realise the importance of technologies like Hawk-Eye (which promises to help umpires give a leg-before-wicket decision) and Snick-o-meter (a microphone deployed in one of the stumps to detect sound waves generated during the path of the ball). ?In a historic move, the Mecca of tennis, Wimbledon, too introduced the Hawk-Eye technology, doing away with Cyclops in the show courts to assist umpires with line calls. Trinity is another instance of how technology has found its way into tennis. This helps chair umpires to identify the net calls with ease,? says sports enthusiast Ravi Menon.

Indoor sports too is embracing technology. Remember the 1996 chess match where grandmaster Garry Kasparov outsmarted IBM’s Deep Blue machine in chess. Again, there were poker players Phil Laak and Ali Eslami trouncing Polaris (a poker playing software) with a record of 2-1-1. For chess grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand, the experience of playing with computer chess programmes like Rebel and Fritz made him think differently.

?One cannot outdo a programme in calculations, so one has to try and get it out of a book. Just because a mathematician uses a calculator doesn?t mean a calculator is going to replace mathematics. The principle stands for chess too,? says Anand in an interview.

Professional Golf Tour of India tour commissioner Ajai Gupta is elated about the way technology is upgrading golf with tournaments today boasting of LED scoreboards tracking players? performance and global positioning system coordinates checking where the golf ball would land. However, he believes technological support that enhances a player?s on-field experience is more important. That?s why, for him the things to talk about are the golf balls, golf clubs and spikes in the shoes. ?Better manufacturing of equipment underlining the potential of aerodynamics, usage of newer materials and shapes, apart from machines that emphasise physical training to ensure fewer injuries, are where technology delivers,? he says.

Targeting players who want to play golf but don?t have a membership, Neo International Sports Academy has brought in Nisa OptiGolf. ?OptiGolf’s proven technology can provide either a realistic and time efficient social game or an advanced teaching tool. Regardless of the weather or even after dark, you can play a round of golf in comfortable surroundings. The unique combination of real photo imaging and video of actual golf courses, combined with a specially designed hitting mat that has several surfaces (no sensors, no limitations on hitting location!) and the use of regular golf ball and clubs. OptiGolf is a most realistic and enjoyable golf experience indoors, says Mushtaq Khan, managing director, Neo Sports Academy.

?Sportspersons are fast realising how they can better their game. Right from technologies like Hawk-Eye in cricket to Shotlink in golf, the emphasis is to check their performance and rely on machines than help their sports reach their fans,? says tech blogger Amit Agarwal, sitting at home enjoying ActiveSports on his Tata Sky connection. ?The feature adds an element of interactivity and lets me enjoy cricket from different viewing angles. This kind of preference is not available to even someone who has bought a premium ticket to the stadium.?

So, sportspersons and their fans, here?s to technology!