Sports: Commonwealth Games; Right on Target

Sports

India Today
Sep 28,1998

COMMONWEALTH GAMES
Right on Target

India excel in a field short of world-class standard. The real test will come at the December Asian Games.

By Mohan Pisharoty

Roopa Unnikrishnan As the medals rolled in, the flag went up and the anthem played, Indian hearts beat a trifle faster. Fourth on the medal list, as India was at one point, was enough to make one believe in miracles. In international sporting competitions, India's name is usually somewhere near the bottom, a few names below Burundi.

Yet the smiles were proof that this was no mirage. Jaspal Rana and Ashok Pandit (centrefire pistol pairs), Mansher Singh and Manavjit Singh (trap pairs) and Roopa Unnikrishnan (sport rifle prone) were smoking at the shooting range; the badminton men won a team silver, the women bronze and the weightlifting men were winning medals of every hue by the dozen.

But wait, this was not quite the sporting revolution we had anticipated. Every medal was admittedly a testament to hard work, but by and large everyone knew the standards weren't frightening. Prakash Padukone, manager of the badminton squad and a man who understands greatness, put it sharply: "Aparna (Popat) did well, but she gives too many easy points. That may be fine at the Commonwealth level, but it will not work at the Asian Games where the standard is world class."

In many events this was a common refrain. In weightlifting, the Chinese were missing, in hockey the Spanish, Germans and Dutch, in shooting the Koreans. There were exceptions: in trap shooting, Mansher and Manavjit defeated Olympic champion Michael Diamond of Australia. Yet shooting coach Sunny Thomas admitted it would be difficult to replicate such a performance at the Bangkok Asiad. The truth is many countries use the Commonwealth Games to experiment, as an arena to learn; with the more important Asian Games to be held in December this year, India could have done the same. Yet have we learnt our lessons?

The usual suspects, read politicians, were there, even "observers" like Chetan Chauhan and Ajit Panja. Politicians are welcome to shop (an old Indian habit impossible to stop) but it would have been more sensible if the contingent had included doctors and physiotherapists. The South Africans sent 14 doctors and physiotherapists, the Australians brought over 20 medical personnel including surgeons and orthopaedic specialists. The Indians had no back up, the teams so desperate that cricket physio Andrew Kokinos was attending to injuries suffered by hockey players, explaining to athletes the value of rehydration in such humid conditions. When the cricket team departed, he was asked to stay on.

Countries across the world, not just struggling Asian nations but also the advanced Europeans, have realised that stealing is the only way to get ahead. Stealing coaches that is. India has always settled for the cheaper Eastern Bloc coaches or believed their own coaches are sufficient. In contrast, New Zealand has acquired Chinese-born badminton coach Li Feng, the Malaysians have enlisted Morten Frost Hansen and Australia is searching for a Chinese coach. Suresh Kalmadi, Indian Olympic Association president, claimed he had spent his time meeting foreign officials. Now he says, "In two months, I will have a foreign coach for every major discipline."

And probably give them one year to win Olympic gold. Indian hockey has changed its coach thrice in the past year or so, even though the international norm is quite different. Ric Charlesworth has been Australian women's coach for five years and men's coach Terry Walsh has a contract that runs till 2000. They stay whether they win or lose a tournament.

The final lesson came in the ring where Indian boxers like Dingko Singh and Gurcharan Singh found that skill was easily blunted by technology. Computer scoring has always been a controversial aspect; it was no different in Kuala Lumpur. The boxers and their seconds are not supposed to know how many points they have scored; however, since the points were displayed on television outside the arena, team members would sneak out, note whether their boxer was ahead or behind, and then alter their tactics accordingly. Often this led to defensive boxing, for boxers, knowing they were ahead, simply stayed away from their opponents. Dingko, an aggressive boxer, still doesn't know how to play the computer.

Three months from now, the Bangkok Asian Games begin. It would be unfortunate if India did not learn some lessons from Kuala Lumpur.

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