Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology - Chapter 1101

Chapter 1101: The Olympics (11) The End

After the end of the cricket tournament, it was KhoKho. However, unfortunately, the viewership for this tournament was not too high, but it was not a surprise to Vijay, since KhoKho, as a game, was very fun to play, but to watch, similar to American football or rugby, it is not so fun when compared to its competitors. This is one of the reasons KhoKho, as a sport, is not too famous even in the Bharatiya Empire. The months of October and November, when the ultimate KhoKho takes place, are considered yet another offseason by a lot of people. Only those special people attracted by the tactics and mechanics of the game pay attention to it, so it is not surprising that the Europeans were not interested in the game either.

Just like how Vijay was constantly surprised by the unexpected things that happened ever since the Olympics began, something out of his expectations appeared once again. The three African vassal kingdoms, the Kingdom of Congo, Ubangi, and Chari, all three actually entered the semi-finals. Although it was not too difficult for any team to enter the semifinal because there were only 10 teams competing in the game, and that too all vassals of the Bharatiya Empire, it was still surprising that the ones who actually came till the semifinal were the African kingdoms.

‘ Is KhoKho popular in Africa? ‘ Vijay couldn’t help but speculate. Anyway, due to the unexpected factors, the finals were not only filled with the Bharatiyas and their supporters, but also people from Europe. Maybe they thought it was interesting to see how the black people, whom they considered as animals, going up against Bharatiya’s one of the most advanced countries in the world, would compare. Although the core reason for their idea was disgraceful, at the very least, they did inadvertently boost the popularity of the game throughout Europe with the medium of the newspaper reporters who were attracted, along with the Europeans.

The pressure on the Bharatiya Team Captain Shiv Reddy was high. If he is not able to win, or even only win by a narrow margin, his ability will be questioned, and his sports career will practically end. Not to mention, he could see the potential of Congo; they had extremely good players as well, maybe not so refined in technique, but in athleticism, they had a slight edge.

Thankfully, he did not embarrass his country, as he was able to bring the Bharatiya Empire its second gold in the Olympic Games for team sports.

After KhoKho, it was Khabadi. The Bharatiya captain Bhima Thakur was excited for the semi-final. Once again, the teams that were qualified for the semi-finals surprised a lot of people. Bharathiya Empire’s qualification was given, but the qualification from Javanesha and Malaya Pradesh caught a lot of people, including Vijay, by surprise, but thinking about it, he felt it was natural.

Kabaddi is a sport that was much more popular in the southern part of the subcontinent than in the north, and the people who migrated more to the kingdoms of Javanesha and Malaya Pradesha were mostly from the southern part of the subcontinent. Not to mention, there were already many Tamil-speaking people residing there before, so it made sense that Kabaddi, a game that originated from the land of the Tamils, would have some foundation in these kingdoms. But what really surprised him was that the Russians were selected as well. How the hell was it possible? He did not know, since he had never thought Kabaddi was a famous sport in Russia.

So, unable to hold down his curiosity, he directly asked Peter for the reason.

“Oh, that, while you are true that most Russians do not like Kabbadi, or team sports for the matter of fact, the tribal people in Siberia seem to like it a lot. You might not know this, but Kabbadi is basically the regional sport for people in Far East Siberia.”

Vijay was surprised. He did not know that the soft power of the Bharathiya Empire had seeped in so deeply across different countries in the world.

Given that Russia was involved, a lot of the European audience was attracted to the Kabaddi finals between the Bharatiya Empire and the Russian Empire.

Sadly for the Europeans, the end result was not any different. The Bharatiya Empire continued to dominate in the sport and defeated the Russians with a four-point lead, thanks to Vishnu Agarwal, the team’s top raider.

In a similar fashion, the Bharatiya Empire won the gold in rugby as well, and finally, the time for the most anticipated sport in the Olympics was here; it was time for football.

All 4 gigantic stadiums built for the purpose of the Olympics were filled with people coming from all over the world. Hotel rooms all over Venice were packed, and people were sleeping in public parks, temples, and some groups even booked whole convention centres.

Shouts of small and loyal groups waving their own country’s flags reverberated in every street of Athens, while the local Greeks, since their own team did not make it out of the qualifiers, all hung the saffron flag of the Bharatiya Empire on their windowsills and rooted for the team of the Bharatiya Empire.

For this special game, even Monarchs like Ezidi Servan, Georgios Paleologos, Ibrahim Hassan Al Masri, and others who had temporarily gone back to their kingdoms to handle business had come back to witness the games.

This time, the competition was tough. Apart from the Bharatiya Empire, there was no other country from Asia in the semifinals. The Ming Empire came close, but unfortunately, they lost to the Italians, so naturally, the Italians were also in the semi-finals, along with, regretfully enough, the British and the Austrians.

The first semi-final was the British versus the Italians, which was once again regrettably won by the British by a small margin. In the match between the Bharatiya Empire and the Austrians, the Bharatiya Empire came out as the better team.

The finals between the British team and the Bharatiya team were a once-in-a-generation event. People knew that the Olympics, after the successful inauguration this year, would only get more popular, along with more countries sending higher-quality and quantity of teams to represent. Who knew when a Bharatiya Empire vs British match would take place?

The favourite to bet was naturally the Bharatiya Empire with the odds of 9:1, but that does not mean the British had no chance at all. The odds alone explain it. For all the previous matches Bharatiya Empire had participated in, the odds were in double digits, sometimes even triple, and never a single digit. The ability of the British to bring the odds of the Bharatiya Empire to a single digit alone is enough to illustrate how good the British team is.

Dhruv Rajput, who was both a defender and the captain of the Bharatiya team, touched the ground, prayed to God, and entered the field along with his team. Under the cheers of thousands of the crowd, the waving flags of saffron and the St George’s Cross made him feel like he had entered a battleground where he had to prove his might and defeat the enemy.

On the opposite side, the English team stepped onto the field after drawing a cross on their chests as well, looking a bit more stiff and nervous than the Bharatiya team.

The referee’s whistle cut through the intense atmosphere of the face-off like a hot knife through butter.

The British team pushed forward first. Their striker moved fast, piercing through the left side, trying to pressure the Bharatiya defence early.

The Bharatiya right-back stopped him with a clean tackle, and the ball bounced away. The British supporters shouted in excitement, but the Bharatiya goalkeeper, Arjun Dev, calmly collected the ball and kicked it far across the field.

The Bharatiya midfielders immediately took control. The central midfielder, the one who controlled the pace of the team, received the ball and directed it to the wings. The movement was smooth and steady, the same way they had played all tournament.

People in the stands, especially those from Europe, were surprised at how organised and calm the Bharatiya players were under pressure.

“Damn it, won’t these guys crack ? ” some cursed under their breaths.

The first chance came quickly.

The Bharatiya left-winger sprinted down the side, passing the British full-back with ease, and sent a low cross into the box. The Bharatiya striker reached it in time. A short step, a sharp kick, and the ball went straight into the net.

“WOW!!!!”

“The hell was that? ”

“Bharat ” “Bharat ” ” Bharat ”

“We win, we win, the Bharatiya Empire, we win ”

“…”

The stadium erupted.

Saffron flags waved everywhere. Even the Greeks, who had no team left, shouted and clapped. The British side of the stadium went silent for several seconds before they began shouting to encourage their players again. Vijay, watching from the top stands, nodded with a small smile.

The British did not give up. They pressed harder, especially through the centre. Their midfielders tried long passes, short passes, anything that could break the Bharatiya defensive line. In the 38th minute, they came close. Their striker shot a powerful ball that would have gone in, but Dhruv Rajput blocked it with his body. The sound echoed, and several people gasped. Dhruv simply stood up and went back to his position.

The second half became intense.

The British attacked again and again. Their supporters stood up every few minutes, shouting whenever the ball entered the Bharatiya penalty area. The atmosphere inside the stadium was thick. People from Asia, Africa, and Europe all watched closely. Even the monarchs sat forward in their seats.

But the Bharatiya defence did not break. Arjun Dev made save after save. The British players visibly grew anxious.

Then the moment came.

Dhruv intercepted a British pass near the halfway line. He passed it quickly to the midfielder, who immediately sent a through ball between the British centre-backs. The Bharatiya striker ran forward. The stadium fell silent for a brief second. The British goalkeeper tried to cut the angle, but the striker kicked the ball to the far corner.

The net shook.

“No way, NO WAY THAT WENT IN!” an English nobleman shouted with disbelief as he pulled his hair in frustration.

“BHARAT, BHARAT, BHARAT!” A young man from the Bharatiya Empire directly removed his shirt and swung it wildly.

“They scored, they actually scored at the end!” A Jewish security manager was in disbelief.

“Bro, I swear my heart just stopped…” a Japanese collapsed to the seat after feeling a wave of relief.

“Bharatiya Empire, Bharatiya Empire, keep shouting!” a young man kept encouraging others as he stood up on his seat himself.

“That’s it, that’s the winner, they have done it!” The Italians felt excited.

“I’m losing my mind, how is this even real…” the French noble felt depressed.

The sound was even louder than before. People from all over the world stood up. Some shouted. Some clapped. Some looked shocked. The British supporters looked defeated.

Finally, the referee blew the final whistle.

P.S.Whew….

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