India leads tally in SMS-Olympics : Deepica Paducone wins High Jump

For the 5th consecutive day, the Indian contingent led the medals tally in the 2008 SMS-Olympics held in Delhi but mostly on the portal vote-for-gold.com. Readers will know the innovative format of this competition, where a list of nominees is submitted a month in advance by each country and medals are decided during the olympics on a majority of SMS votes. Deepica Paducone won the women's singles tennis gold 6-0, 6-0 against Maria Sarapova, who was expected to put up a tough fight especially after posing in revealing costumes for Playboy in March this year. Sania Mizra narrowly missed out in the women's doubles because of a wrist injury. 'Couldn't send enough sms'es. My surgery is affecting my performance' she said. Deepica also won 17 other gold medals in unrelated events - high jump, badminton, swimming, diving and gymnastics, taking India's tally to 405 golds in the competition so far. This is in addition to the sms-oscars she won last month for best actress, actor, newcomer, child artiste, light boy and stunt double. 'What a gift to give the country on a long weekend! Deepica reflects the hope of a generation' said the Union Sports Minister in an interview yesterday. 'Even when she was in school, she used to be terrible', her school teacher remembered fondly.