Peter Gade has always been one of my favourite badminton players. The genteel Dane from the land of the awesome Morten Hansen Frost. At the Badminton World Championship in Hyderabad last week, Gade lost in the quarter-finals to Lin Dan of China, the eventual world champion. But what Gade spoke minutes after losing the match showed he was a champion as well.

"I am good but Lin Dan is always that extra bit better than me," said Gade, shaking his head, with a smile. This from a man who is ranked world number 3, two places above Lin Dan.

A journalist commented, "Lin Dan was able to pick all your smashes today pretty well."

"Oh, yeah. He always does. He is so good and covers the court very well," said Gade, all admiration for the player who had outplayed him.

Would Ricky Ponting have spoken like this ever? For a generation that is growing up idolising the likes of Punter and co., Gade is a classic example of humility and excellent sportsman spirit. To be able to admire the talent of a rival. I would any day go and pay to watch Gade in action, knowing it is a gentleman wielding the racquet.

Our own Saina Nehwal has been as dignified and gracious in victory and in defeat. The Hyderabadi hurricane had smashed Russian Anastasia Prokopenko in her first match in the championship but Saina was not crowing about it. "Anastasia played very well and was excellent at the net."

Asked about her rival in the pre-quarters, Saina admitted she will have to be on her toes against Petya Nedelcheva, the world number 10.

Did not Rudyard Kipling call triumph and disaster, both impostors, to be treated just the same. Respect your rival is the mantra that coaches need to inculcate in their wards. Trying to get under the rival's skin, Aussie style, is ill-mannered. Do I sound old-fashioned? Perhaps yes, but isn't that also true Olympic spirit.

A couple of months back, I was watching the National Rapid Chess championship in Hyderabad, where a 40-year-old player was battling his wits against a 10-year-old boy. Chess, a mind game, is a great leveller where age does not really matter. But the way the older player behaved was a shame. He kept heckling the boy, intimidating him with his body language, showing exasperation with the boy's moves and mocking at him whenever he captured a piece. The older guy won the game but to me, he was a loser that day. I hope the lesson the youngster took home was not that you need negative aggression to be a winner.

They say sport is all about aggression, attitude and body language. Point taken. But aggressive body language does not necessarily mean you transform into a Sreesanth on the field (I mean the heckling, irritating, angry Sree, not the post-Bhajji slap, weeping Sree !!). At the badminton championship, Diju, India's mixed doubles player boasted before his and Jwala Gutta's quarter-final match, "We have beaten the world champions before." He would have wished he did not say that because the Indonesian team smashed the living daylights out of Diju and Jwala the following day.

My six-year-old daughter Tejaswini who plays chess, was at a tournament last month. The most docile player I have seen. As instructed by her coach, Tejaswini was meticulously jotting down the notations after every move she and her rival made. Much to the exasperation of her rival who wanted to finish the game in a jiffy. I could sense Teju's unintended 'strategy' to slow down the game was getting to him. And it worked. Her rival lost the game.

Aggression, non-violent. The way to go !