Who’s to blame?

The Sports Minister M. S. Gill is pragmatic about India’s chances at the Olympics, though he has high hopes on the Indian women’s relay team claiming a medal in Beijing.-SHANKER CHAKRAVARTY

Are we a country of non-performers who shy away from the big stage and are content with whatever comes our way? By Y. B. Sarangi.

Every four years, there is talk of medals and top-10 finish by Indian sportspersons. Invariably we end up with very little from the Olympic Games. The blame game begins then. Should sports be funded and promoted by the Government and its agencies or should it be left to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and its affiliated units?

Any attempt by the Government to regulate the sports bodies is met with resistance as it happened some time ago when the then Sports Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar was forced on to the backfoot by a belligerent IOA on the question of a new National Sports Policy. Aiyar was taken off the Sports Ministry at a time when he was engaged in formulating several far-reaching policies and finalising projects to promote sports at the grassroot level. We now have a new minister, M. S. Gill, who has lost no time in providing more financial benefits to the sportspersons, but the draft policy document that Aiyar had so meticulously prepared has since been put on the backburner.

M. S. Gill is pragmatic about India’s chances at the Olympics, though he has high hopes, without much basis, on the Indian women’s relay team claiming a medal in the Beijing Olympics.

Will fortunes smile on India in Beijing where, for the first time, our country’s hockey team will be missing in an Olympics?

If one keeps the eight gold, one silver and two bronze medals won in hockey out, India can only show four Olympic medals, won by wrestler K. D. Jadhav (1956), tennis player Leander Paes (1996), weightlifter Karnam Malleswari (2000) and shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (2004), since Independence.

It is a miserable tally for a nation of more than one billion. Even though population is no criteria for winning medals, the question assumes significance in the wake of China’s incredible achievements in global sports. China looks set to exceed its best performance at home.

On the other hand, India’s pathetic progress at the Games every four years is a matter of great shame. But then the nation wakes up to look at non-cricket sports only once in a while, like in an Asian Games year or an Olympic year.

Are we a country of non-performers who shy away from the big stage and are content with whatever comes our way?

“Yes,” say some of the top sportspersons who have proven their mettle at the highest level and seen everything from close quarters. “Our athletes are shy of participating in international meets. They are satisfied with qualifying for the Olympics, not competing in it. Sriram Singh, P. T. Usha or I, we gave our best performances in the Olympics. Athletes should give their best instead of being satisfied with qualification,” says Olympian and 110m hurdler Gurbachan Singh Randhawa, one of only six Indians to have qualified for an Olympic final.

Khajan Singh, the most successful swimmer India has produced, says that targets set by Indians are always mediocre and that explains their performance. “We never target to match the international standards. We are always happy to target what the Indians have done earlier. We have to choose our targets properly.”

For Khajan, there are three aspects to understand the whole scenario. “First, facilities are not there. Then one should know his/her level. If someone is of the Asian level then he should concentrate on that. Another problem is if someone is good, then people start comparing him with other greats which distracts the athlete from his goal.”

But are these the only problems that haunt our athletes? During an Olympic year several questions come up about facilities, poor scientific back-up, quality of coaches, food, foreign exposure etc. Why are these drawbacks associated with us alone time and again?

“As a nation we are not focussed on sports. We don’t have a tradition and a legacy in sports. There is lack of self-belief among athletes to do well in the biggest tournaments, because we have not seen a champion,” explains Pullela Gopi Chand, a former All England champion who is currently Indian badminton’s chief coach.

Agrees Kamlesh Mehta, “The expectation is so high and it’s not anywhere near our potential,” says the former National table tennis champion.

“You look at nations doing well in sports; they spend so much on sports. That’s the main reason why we are not doing well,” says Kamlesh. “We have Prakash Padukone, Geet Sethi, P. T. Usha, but these are exceptions. As a system we have not produced enough.”

These could be broader issues that affect the Indians’ progress at the world stage, but there are specific concerns that need to be addressed. “Now every sport is a team work comprising the sportsman, scientific support and coaching. It’s not so in our country,” observes Balbir Singh Bhatia, former national champion and the former Secretary of the Indian Weightlifting Federation.

“Besides, diet is very costly. At least, Rs. 5000-7000 per month is required on diet for a kid pursuing any sport. The parents cannot afford it. Those who can, send their kids to cricket,” says Bhatia.

Exposure is another thing where our athletes lag. “More exposure is badly needed. In 1991, the Cuban boxers had a month long training camp in Bangalore and we trained with them which helped us develop our game and do well in future. The athletes improve psychologically too by training with better athletes,” says 1994 World Cup bronze medallist boxer Devarajan.

Another area of concern, of course, is the negligence of talent spotting and promotion at the grassroot level. “More sports schools and colleges should be opened since the talent at the grassroot level is drying up. Our base in schools and colleges is very poor. Ninety per cent of the schools don’t have a playground,” complains G. S. Randhawa.

Sprint queen P. T. Usha, who missed out on an Olympic medal by one-hundredth of a second in 1984, concurs. “We need a system to catch up with the world standards. For that, concentration at the grassroot level is important. Scouting of talent and training according to age should be there,” she said.

Usha feels that the media has a major role to play. “Instead of focussing on negative news, they should analyse and highlight feats of the youngsters,” she suggests.

“In strong sporting countries, the university teams are so good whereas it’s poor in India. That’s another major difference,” adds Kamlesh.

Lack of foreign coaches has always been a topic of debate, but now, with liberal support from the Government, there is no dearth of foreign coaches. Targets are still not being met; experts in training methods and recovery have run up huge bills without producing the desired results. They eventually blame our system when sportsmen fail on a big stage like the Olympics.

Asked, recently, why an Indian athletics team was being sent to Malaysia to prepare for Olympics when facilities were also available in India, a ministry spokesperson said the moment an objection was raised about a coaching programme, a federation tended to place the blame on the government.

“World- class coaching is required. We should have elite coaches. We should bring foreign coaches. But the Indian coaches who have produced results should also be given proper recognition,” says G. S. Randhawa.

Khajan is more specific as far as choosing a coach is concerned. “It’s important to change coaches in time. If I have the ability to teach someone up to the matriculation level, then I should do that. For a student to study MBA, the teacher has to be someone qualified. But, it does not happen in our country.”

Kamlesh, silver medallist at the 1986 Asian Games, is critical of the way Indian federations make up their mind on a foreign coach. “We do not see the bio-data while hiring a foreign coach. We should see how many medals his wards have won in Olympics or Commonwealth Games. There is no point appointing a ‘B’ or ‘C’ grade coach.”

The root cause of all the ills is empty coffers, believes Randhir Singh, the Secretary-General of the IOA and the first Indian shooter to win an Asian Games gold medal. “The budget (for sports) is not good enough. There are not enough back-ups like good coaches, scientific support, proper training, diet and infrastructure and for all this you need money.” But, amidst the darkness, can anyone see light at the end of the tunnel?

“Yes,” asserts Randhir, “Indian sport will get a boost because of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The kind of money needed to be spent on sports will be available in the next two years. There is a need to change the mindset of people towards training of the athletes. The Ministry, SAI, IOA and national federations should work together for the players’ benefit. And, thankfully, now it’s happening.”

And what about India’s prospects in the Beijing Games?

“In shooting we have a good chance of winning medals. All of them are world-class shooters and there is a good chance,” says Randhir with confidence.

“This time, it looks like our shooters, archers, boxers and tennis players have a good chance. But in athletics, there is no scope because they have no consistency,” remarks G. S. Randhawa. So, in Beijing, will India be able to do well? Will a new chapter in Indian sports be written in the Chinese capital?

Only time will tell.