Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

The Technology & Economic Forum is a venue to discuss issues pertaining to Technological and Economic developments in India. We request members to kindly stay within the mandate of this forum and keep their exchanges of views, on a civilised level, however vehemently any disagreement may be felt. All feedback regarding forum usage may be sent to the moderators using the Feedback Form or by clicking the Report Post Icon in any objectionable post for proper action. Please note that the views expressed by the Members and Moderators on these discussion boards are that of the individuals only and do not reflect the official policy or view of the Bharat-Rakshak.com Website. Copyright Violation is strictly prohibited and may result in revocation of your posting rights - please read the FAQ for full details. Users must also abide by the Forum Guidelines at all times.
Stan_Savljevic
BRF Oldie
Posts: 3522
Joined: 21 Apr 2006 15:40

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by Stan_Savljevic »

Posting in full, cos outlook webpage is a beatch to get into after some time elapses.

‘How To Make Cycling Pay in Six Easy Lessons’:
‘Beating Up’ Sohrab Bhoot

Nothing epitomizes the early battles between Indian sport administrators better than the case of Indian cycling in the 1950s. Cycling was a sport at which Indians had shown much promise in the early years. The first Indian cyclist of distinction was Janki Das, who participated in the British Empire Games at Sydney (Australia) in 1938, with Swami Jagan Nath accompanying him as manager. The Cycling Federation of India was formed a year later and in 1940 it was affiliated with the Union Cyclists Internationale (UCI).

The inevitable then happened. A rival body came up when Sohrab H. Bhoot of Bombay formed the National Cyclists’ Federation of India (NCFI). Bhoot had been part of the original team of Dorab Tata that founded the Indian Olympic movement and in 1948 he managed to merge both organizations under the banner of the NCFI.37 The crisis, it seems, had been solved, and in the early years a relatively stable NCFI consistently sent Indians team to international competitions. Indian cycling teams participated in the 1948 London Olympics and the World Cycling Championships at Amsterdam in 1946 and Brussels in 1949.

It is not surprising therefore, that cycling was one of the sports included in the first Asian Games held at the National Stadium in New Delhi in 1951. Bhoot used the opportunity to formally constitute the Asian Cycling federation with himself as its founder president. It is pertinent to note, though, that a number of Indian cyclists performed with distinction at the first Asiad:

1. R.K. Mehra : Silver Medal in 4000 mtr Team Pursuit
2. Madan Mohan : Silver Medal in 4000 mtr Team Pursuit
3. Lhanguard : Silver Medal in 4000 mtr Team Pursuit
4. Gudev Singh : Silver Medal in 4000 mtr Team Pursuit
5. N.C. Bysack : Bronze Medal in 1000 mtr Time Trial
6. Sanwas Shah : 4th Position in 120 miles Road Race

The Asiad, however, did not prove to be the kick-off for Indian cycling that it could have been. Through the 1950s Indian cyclists continued to participate in various international championships and road races40 without much success. The real story of cycling unfolded off the tracks and it was a story that explained much about the failure of Indian sport. By the early 1950s, Bhoot was not only the president of NCFI, but astonishingly also its chairman, honorary secretary and honorary treasurer. No doubt he had many talents but none of them related to running a cycling federation.

‘The attraction of running a sport federation it seems lay in the chance to become the arbiter of foreign tours.’ Complaints flooded in about the ‘dubious methods’ being used by the talented Mr Bhoot in ‘collecting money from Cyclists and Cycling Associations for promised trips abroad’. In 1953, he led an Indian cycling team to Romania that failed miserably: one cyclist was scratched from the sprint event, another finished last in his heat and a third fell off his cycle while negotiating a bend.

The Times of India had no doubts whom to blame. In an acerbic analysis, its correspondent mused that the ‘enterprising and resourceful’ Mr Bhoot (who was untraceable for a few days after the disaster) must have been busy writing a textbook for his ‘proprietary organisation’. He then twisted the blade in, noting that Mr Bhoot’s musings could only be titled: ‘How to Make Cycling Pay in Six Easy Lessons’. The reports did not seem to be without substance.

In 1955, Booth took another team of cyclists to participate in the World Festival of Youth in Warsaw and the World Cycling Championship at Rome and Milan. Poland’s High Committee of Culture issued first class air tickets for the cyclists and also arranged for free board and lodging. Yet, they were ‘required’ to pay Rs 6,000 each to the enterprising Mr Booth before their departure from Bombay.

This was a huge sum in 1955 and the ten ‘chosen’ cyclists finally arrived in London on May 27. Yet, half of them were sent back the very next day ‘as they had no more money’. The others were forced to find work to fund their remaining trip. According to an IOA note to the IOC, the Indian cyclists did find work at the R. Woolfe Rubber Factory at Uxbridge in London. Alone in a foreign land, each of the team members were forced to a pay a further sum of £40 to Mr Booth. Only then could they travel on for the races. Worse was to come in Warsaw. By now, the cyclists were so angry at

Bhoot’s ‘disgraceful behaviour’ that they refused to take part in the races. An unperturbed Bhoot simply exited Warsaw, leaving the team to its own devices. The Poles had already paid for first-class air tickets, which never reached the cyclists. Now the Polish Cyclists’ Federation stepped in to bale out the stranded Indians by paying for new tickets to Vienna and back home.

The Warsaw incident was not an isolated case. In the same year, the chairman of the Warsaw–Berlin–Prague Road Race informed the IOA that all competitors taking part in the race had been given valuable gifts from the organisers. In the case of Indian cyclists, however, the gifts had been ‘appropriated’ by Mr. Bhoot and all protests ‘had been of no avail’.

The IOA’s Bhalindra Singh was unambiguous in his judgment: ‘Mr Bhoot conducted himself in a similar manner regarding the small sums of money given to the competitors in the Road Race as pocket money.’ Not surprisingly, Indian cyclists were so angry that Sohrab Bhoot was actually ‘beaten up’ during the Second Youth Sports Games of 1955. The aggrieved cyclists might have got their own back in that sordid incident but the cause of Indian cycling had been hurt immeasurably by now. As Raja Bhalindra Singh noted, the team, selected not on the basis of ‘cycling ability, but of their financial position’, was an extremely weak one and brought no credit to itself in the Peace Race, did not even enter for the Second Youth Sports Games.

While on this trip, the Indian team also traveled to Italy and once again a ‘regular fight’ broke out between the cyclists and Sohrab Bhoot at a Milan hotel. Things got so bad that the police had to be called in and the headlines in the Italian press said it all. Sample some of these: ‘Strange story of Indian cycling team’; ‘Milan hotel proprietor calls in police’; ‘Indian cyclists stranded’; ‘Manager vanishes with money’; ‘Disgraceful scene in Milan’. It couldn’t have got worse for India. No wonder the cyclists had failed to realise the promise they had shown in the first Asiad.

Deja vu anyone?!
Clicky
Tanaji
BRF Oldie
Posts: 4521
Joined: 21 Jun 2000 11:31

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by Tanaji »

^^
| |

That post (content) is really infuriating... such Bhoot characters need to be drawn, quartered and worse. Sadly this is standard SOP in Mera Bharat Mahan now, but for 1950s?

Sigh.
Stan_Savljevic
BRF Oldie
Posts: 3522
Joined: 21 Apr 2006 15:40

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by Stan_Savljevic »

India's contingent for Beijing08 and my predictions on how they ll fare.

Archery: Dola Banerjee, Pranitha Vardhineni, L Bombayala Devi, Mangal Singh Champia {Dont expect medals, but one or two flashing things from L.B.Devi and Dola}

Athletics: Anju Bobby George (Long Jump), Krishna Poonia (Discus), Harwant Kaur (Discus), Preeja Sreedharan (10,000m), Manjit Kaur (400m), Chitra Soman (4x400m relay), Sini Jose (4x400m relay), MR Poovamma (4x400m relay), Mandeep Kaur (4x400m relay), S Geeta (4x400m relay), K Mridula (4x400m relay), J J Shobha (Heptathlon), Sushmita Singh Roy (Heptathlon), G G Pramila (Heptathlon), Vikas Gowda (Discus), Renjith Maheswary (Triple Jump), Surender Singh (10000m)
{If all goes well, Anju can win a medal. The womens 4x400 can make the finals, winning a medal means Mandeep need be in super-form, and coming back from an injury I dont know. Some of the throwers can spring a surprise on their day, but with the Russkies and the East Oiropeans dominating the show, even a bronze may be super creditable. I will be happy if some of the throwers can end up as Asian best, which means top 8.}

Badminton: Anup Sridhar, Saina Nehwal {If Anup makes it to the quarters, it would be awesome. Anything is possible after that. Saina -- well its an experience trip}

Boxing: Jitender (51kg), Akhil Kumar (54kg), A L Lakhra (57kg), Vijender(75kg) and Dinesh Kumar (81kg) {Jitender and Vijender are good bets for quarters. All they need to do is get one huge win over a much higher ranked opponent for a bronze. The signs are positive so far, esp Jitender. This is an event where a semifinal appearance gets a bronze. I will put some of cash in this event.}

Judo: Khumujam Tombi Devi, Divya {Also rans}

Rowing: Bajrang Lal Takhar (Single M1X), Devnder Khandwal and Manjeet Singh (Light Weight Double Scull) {Same as above}

Shooting: Manavjit Singh Sandhu (Clay Pigeon Trap), Mansher Singh (Clay Pigeon Trap), Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (Clay Pigeon Double Trap), Gagan Narang (10m Air Rifle), Abhinav Bindra (10m Air Rifle), Samaresh Jung (10m Air Pistol), Sanjeev Rajput (50m Rifle 3 Position), Anjali Bhagwat (50m Rifle 3 Position), Avneet Kaur Sidhu (10m Air Rifle) {This is our bestest bets. Anyone can win any medal on their day. I will just pray for at least a couple of golds here.}

Swimming: Virdawal Khade (50m, 100m, 200m Freestyle), Ankur Poseria (100m Butterfly), Sandeep Sejwal (100m, 200m Breaststroke), Rehan Poncha (200m butterfly) {Experience trip for Virdhawal and Rehan. I have no hope for this games. London12 or perhaps later, yes I do.}

Table Tennis: Achanta Sharath Kamal, Neha Aggarwal {Also rans. A round of 16 (or even 32) finish for Sharat will be great.}

Tennis: Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi (doubles), Sania Mirza (singles and doubles), Sunitha Rao (doubles) {If I could change things, I will rewire Hesh and Lee's head better. Ifffffffffff and only if... They are our good bets, they have(d) chemistry, but they (have) manage(d) to do the unthinkable. This is their swansong. This is their epiphany. This is the payback time for the Athens bronze loss. Will Lee and Hesh end up scripting the greatest comeback ever made in the annals of Indian sporting history? Or will they end up being the best Indian tag-team to have never made it beyond their rightful share of the spoils? Time will tell, I am hopeful. After their listless performance at Indy and a cpl of weeks before, not even Lee and Hesh can save my hope, only God can.}

Weightlifting: L Monika Devi (69kg) {Forget it. I will be happy if WADA does nt come home hunting for dope allegations. From the heydays of Malleswari and Kunjurani, we have given up on the one sport where we held many a world record before. Whats worse, our mens team is under eternal spotlight for doping. Same for the womens team. If this brave Manipuri girl is untainted, I feel sorry for her for being in such a sad organizational apparatus as the IWF. May many a Manipuri women of your ilk bloom. Thats the state of IWF for short.}

Wrestling: Sushil Kumar (66 kg Freestyle), Yogeshwar Dutt (60 kg Freestyle), Rajiv Tomar (120 kg Freestyle) {Forget it.}

Yachting: Maj N S Johal (Heavyweight dinghy) {Sorry, same as above}


Flag-bearers: Either Anju or Rajyvardhan or Paes-Hesh has to be the flag bearers. Given that tennis is an ego-fest, it is a choice between Anju and Rathore. I guess IOC will go for Anju at the start and whoever wins a medal to be the flag-bearer in the closing ceremony.

Final tally {My prediction}: 2 - 1 - 1 {I will be happy to be proven to be super conservative :mrgreen: }
sum
BRF Oldie
Posts: 10195
Joined: 08 May 2007 17:04
Location: (IT-vity && DRDO) nagar

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by sum »

{If all goes well, Anju can win a medal. The womens 4x400 can make the finals, winning a medal means Mandeep need be in super-form, and coming back from an injury I dont know. Some of the throwers can spring a surprise on their day, but with the Russkies and the East Oiropeans dominating the show, even a bronze may be super creditable. I will be happy if some of the throwers can end up as Asian best, which means top 8.}
Reaaaaaaaaly doubtful about this...

Btw,good that the hockey team isnt there...else,it would have been listed as a medal chance to struggle to win even a single game or else heartbreaking concede a last minute goal and miss out the quarter rounds(Sydney 2000 where they managed to do it with Poland)!!!! :roll:
Singha
BRF Oldie
Posts: 66601
Joined: 13 Aug 2004 19:42
Location: the grasshopper lies heavy

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by Singha »

4 medals in shooting but nothing else is my prediction.
Katare
BRF Oldie
Posts: 2579
Joined: 02 Mar 2002 12:31

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by Katare »

0-0-1 is what I would call conservative anything else is pipedream :((
nelson
BRFite
Posts: 988
Joined: 02 Mar 2008 21:10

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by nelson »

There seems to be no material change since last Olympic games in terms of quality of participants, because of lack of grooming and systematic approach to training.
However, individual brilliance sustained for two to three days might help us see our country's name in the medal tally. (1, 1, 2) is more than a dream. :|
Stan_Savljevic
BRF Oldie
Posts: 3522
Joined: 21 Apr 2006 15:40

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by Stan_Savljevic »

nelson wrote:There seems to be no material change since last Olympic games in terms of quality of participants, because of lack of grooming and systematic approach to training.

Boss, such broad-based painting is not true. I remember days in the late 80s and early 90s when furrin travel for "exposure" was absolutely big deal. Why, even hoi polloi found flight tikkits expensive et al? Do you remember days when some distant relative used to be called furrin return? I remember cos I have heard statements like that circa 80s and early 90s.

The dawn of 91-92, I remember distinct change. DD1 and DD2 went out of fashion and I remember hearing about star tv network. Barring live telecast of crikkit, we could see live hockey matches in India {It may have degenerated now.}. But the point is things have changed immensely from say even the 92 Barcelona games. Do you remember our gold medal prospects at that time: Limba Ram in archery and the hockey team. Thats all I remember.

The shooting folks in general have become super competitive. I see world records shattered by Indians that never get mentioned here or elsewhere. I see exposure trips for 16-19 year olds in swimming {You heard of Khazan Singh and Sebastian Xavier - their infinitely lasted records have been done away with, which in itself means scientific coaching has paid dividends so far. Same case for athletics. Records by super dooper oldies like Milkha Singh, Gurbachan Singh Randhawa, TC Yohannan, Sriram Singh, Bahadur Prasad, Henry Rebello, PT Usha, Valsamma, Shiny Wilson, why even Beenamol's recent records have been put away long back.} Same also for boxing, esp the amateur scene. From one or two odd names like Dingko Singh, Devarajan, Zoram Thanga, Devendra Yadav etc, we now have a contingent that fairly and squarely beats the Russkie-Uzbek-Tajik show in former SU where refereeing is often not unbiased. We have had Cuban coaches come here and prepare teams. We have had very recent majors' doubles champions in tennis. Same for badminton.

The laggard, if I may say so, is table tennis which is skewed anyway. And water sports like rowing, yachting etc where cash needs to be poured like crazy. Even motor sports has a strong following. The problem with us is that we dont push super intensively in medal winning sports. Take Thailand: It knows that there are at least 8-12 divisions in boxing, at least 5 in badminton. Take China: If you look at the genesis of China's medals table from 1984 onwards, you will see them first focussing on medals intensive sports and then once, they have driven competition away, other sports. We need to focus on shooting where we have super talent. Womens weightlifting was a possibility, but the IWF in itself is tainted now.

Given all this, your blanket statement does nt hold water. Even some of the admin folks have become educated. Of course, there are many who are driven to sports associations due to name, fame and the game, its better than the days of yore. And trust me on that cos I have seen far worse crap reading sportstar in the mid-90s. And btw, the shooting contingent now has more world records to boot than the one that went to Athens 8) The boxing team is far better equipped than before. Even the swim team is better. Tennis is worse, and I think Gopichand retired a bit early. But overall, this Indian contingent is better than the one that went to Atlanta, Athens or Sydney. Recall bronze in 96 Leander, bronze in 00 Karnam Malleswari, silver in 04 Rathore... Pass me the ghee shakkar this time in advance.
nelson
BRFite
Posts: 988
Joined: 02 Mar 2008 21:10

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by nelson »

Stan_Savljevic wrote:
nelson wrote:There seems to be no material change since last Olympic games in terms of quality of participants, because of lack of grooming and systematic approach to training.

Boss, such broad-based painting is not true. I remember days in the late 80s and early 90s when furrin travel for "exposure" was absolutely big deal. Why, even hoi polloi found flight tikkits expensive et al? Do you remember days when some distant relative used to be called furrin return? I remember cos I have heard statements like that circa 80s and early 90s.

The dawn of 91-92, I remember distinct change. DD1 and DD2 went out of fashion and I remember hearing about star tv network. Barring live telecast of crikkit, we could see live hockey matches in India {It may have degenerated now.}. But the point is things have changed immensely from say even the 92 Barcelona games. Do you remember our gold medal prospects at that time: Limba Ram in archery and the hockey team. Thats all I remember.

The shooting folks in general have become super competitive. I see world records shattered by Indians that never get mentioned here or elsewhere. I see exposure trips for 16-19 year olds in swimming {You heard of Khazan Singh and Sebastian Xavier - their infinitely lasted records have been done away with, which in itself means scientific coaching has paid dividends so far. Same case for athletics. Records by super dooper oldies like Milkha Singh, Gurbachan Singh Randhawa, TC Yohannan, Sriram Singh, Bahadur Prasad, Henry Rebello, PT Usha, Valsamma, Shiny Wilson, why even Beenamol's recent records have been put away long back.} Same also for boxing, esp the amateur scene. From one or two odd names like Dingko Singh, Devarajan, Zoram Thanga, Devendra Yadav etc, we now have a contingent that fairly and squarely beats the Russkie-Uzbek-Tajik show in former SU where refereeing is often not unbiased. We have had Cuban coaches come here and prepare teams. We have had very recent majors' doubles champions in tennis. Same for badminton.

The laggard, if I may say so, is table tennis which is skewed anyway. And water sports like rowing, yachting etc where cash needs to be poured like crazy. Even motor sports has a strong following. The problem with us is that we dont push super intensively in medal winning sports. Take Thailand: It knows that there are at least 8-12 divisions in boxing, at least 5 in badminton. Take China: If you look at the genesis of China's medals table from 1984 onwards, you will see them first focussing on medals intensive sports and then once, they have driven competition away, other sports. We need to focus on shooting where we have super talent. Womens weightlifting was a possibility, but the IWF in itself is tainted now.

Given all this, your blanket statement does nt hold water. Even some of the admin folks have become educated. Of course, there are many who are driven to sports associations due to name, fame and the game, its better than the days of yore. And trust me on that cos I have seen far worse crap reading sportstar in the mid-90s. And btw, the shooting contingent now has more world records to boot than the one that went to Athens 8) The boxing team is far better equipped than before. Even the swim team is better. Tennis is worse, and I think Gopichand retired a bit early. But overall, this Indian contingent is better than the one that went to Atlanta, Athens or Sydney. Recall bronze in 96 Leander, bronze in 00 Karnam Malleswari, silver in 04 Rathore... Pass me the ghee shakkar this time in advance.
I reiterate that nothing material has changed since last olympics and amplify in that:
1. There is no consistent result in international arena strong enough to assure us an Olympic medal. If there is player or a sport you would bet on, I am game.
2. We are better than before. Yes we have certainly improved, but not vastly enough to post an altogether different score in the final medal tally.
3. Efforts based on perseverance and motivation of few respectable Indian sport persons have precluded a washout in the previous three editions. We still rely on such hopes only to fare marginally better this time.

The point remains: there is no significant improvement / positive change in the grooming and training to make India a strong contender for medal in the coming Olympic games. And certainly the "admin folks" of Indian sports can do a lot better than what have now.
Suraj
Forum Moderator
Posts: 15043
Joined: 20 Jan 2002 12:31

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by Suraj »

I like this Veedhawal Khade guy in swimming. The guy is not your average SDRE swimmer. He's just 16 years old, stands 6'3" (>190cm) and has already crushed Sebastian Xavier's long standing short course national record. I don't expect him to win in Beijing, but him and all the new youngsters in various sports (e..g Somdev Varman in tennis) have very good prospects in future.

As for table tennis, forget it. The Chinese are on another level, even with the speed glue ban after the Olympics. They're even taking the Europeans apart, and the latter are a far cry from their 1990s domination. Only Samsonov looks any good among them, and Boll to a lesser extent. Sharath Kamal hasn't beaten anyone in the top 20, except Korean Oh Sang Eun, who's no longer in the top 20.
BijuShet
BRFite
Posts: 1587
Joined: 09 Jan 2008 23:14
Location: under my tin foil hat

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by BijuShet »

Stan_Savljevic wrote:India's contingent for Beijing08 and my predictions on how they ll fare.
...
Final tally {My prediction}: 2 - 1 - 1 {I will be happy to be proven to be super conservative :mrgreen: }
Smoking strong stuff are we? 2-1-1 is a pipe dream. I would take 0-1-1 as a good performance and 0-0-2 as a decent performance and 0-0-1 as par for the course and 0-0-0 as chaltha hai we are like that only.

Like every squad in the past, we sent this squad too with a warm send off and no matter what the final medals tally will be, they will be received with a warm reception too. We need to cut back on some of this warmth and use a cold shoulder technique for send offs. Returning medal winners must be feted but all others flogged in public for the collosal waste of national resources.
sum
BRF Oldie
Posts: 10195
Joined: 08 May 2007 17:04
Location: (IT-vity && DRDO) nagar

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by sum »

Returning medal winners must be feted but all others flogged in public for the collosal waste of national resources.
Not sure if this is the right way to go considering we already struggle kids to get into sports!!!

Btw,whatever happened to Anjali Bhagwat? A no-hope and no-name from sureshot medal prospect in just 4 years??
Vasu
BRFite
Posts: 869
Joined: 16 Dec 2002 12:31

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by Vasu »

^^ thats a very 'crickety' way to look at it, I agree. usually our cricketers are reserved for this extreme fan instability.

I googled Anjali Bhagwat to see what was going on. Yeah, she is going to beijing, and she's still a medal prospect, but the spotlight is on other athletes. Anjali's been busy with other things as well.

Ace shooter Anjali Bhagwat launches her website

I like this heading: We're the best you have, have faith in us: India's Olympic contingent
The Indian contingent on Friday expressed confidence that India's chances in the Olympic Games certainly looked brighter this time, as Indian sport had progressed tremendously in the last few years.

"We promise that we will not return from the Games with even a drop of blood in us as all of it would have been spilled in training and on the ranges. We have been training really hard and will definitely give our best shot. Believe me, we are the best athletes you have so be proud of us and have confidence," said Manavjit Singh Sandhu, ace Indian shooter and one of India's main medal hopes.

Manavjit was speaking at the official send-off ceremony for the Indian contingent organized by the Indian Olympics Association (IAO) and the official sponsor Samsung India Electronics.

Other athletes present at the event were - Shooters Anjali Bhagwat, Samresh Jung, Gagan Narang and Avneet Kaur Sidhu; boxers AL Lakra and Vijender Singh; judo fighters Khumujam Tombi Devi and Divya; and archer Dola Banerjee.

Fellow shooter Samresh Jung expressed the same view. "Our training has been good, performances have improved and results are coming in various events but nobody can predict a medal," he said.

India's most successful archer Dola Banerjee also echoed other athletes' views and said the future of Indian sports looked promising.

"Indian sport has improved in the last five-six years. We have failed sometimes but we are getting there. Chances are that from next Olympic Games India will win more medals in different events. And if we win some medals this time, that will surely boost our confidence," she said.

Dola Banerjee became world champion in archery by winning the gold medal at the World Cup in Dubai in November 2007.

Another medal hope, Anjali Bhagwat, who is participating in the third Olympics of her career, looked relaxed and said exposure and experience had calmed her. Speaking about her earlier experience she said: "I was too young in 2000 Sydney Games and was taking each and everything too seriously and forced myself more than it was needed. Now I have learnt that you just need to focus on your performance. Since it is an individual sport you can afford to concentrate on just your game and other things take care of themselves."

On being hailed as a medal prospect, she said she enjoyed it all. People's expectations helped her improvise and come up with good performance.

R Zutshi announced incentives for those who would win medals at the Games. The gold medalist will be given an amount of Rs 20 lakh, the silver medalist Rs 15 lakh and the bronze medalist Rs 10 lakh, he informed.
:evil:
I don't know if I have said this before, and sorry for the rant, but I hate this medieval practice of encouraging our athletes with big money. Most of the people who make it do not go for the money, its the glory and the pride of representing India. Nothing's changed in the heads of Kalmadi and Randheer Singh though. I remember reading (or watching) Indian hockey goalie Adrian D'Souza saying that of course the money was peanuts, but the fact that you are there representing your nation is just another feeling. God bless such men and women.
Vasu
BRFite
Posts: 869
Joined: 16 Dec 2002 12:31

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by Vasu »

meanwhile, from The Guardian, UK

Track and failed: the making of a sleeping Olympic giant
In the Olympics, few nations are bigger underachievers than India. Despite a fast-growing economy and a population of 1 billion, at the last Olympics in Athens, the country managed just one medal, a silver in double trap shooting.

The president of the Indian Olympic Association, Suresh Kalmadi, shocked no one this week when he warned the country not to expect "too many medals in Beijing".

In comparison India's neighbour..............

Many theories have been proposed to account for India's failure. Some experts say India has not much in the way of sports culture and few heroes; others blame a "corrupt sporting bureaucracy". Things have got so bad that in the past, Indian sports ministers have suggested a moratorium on international competition to train athletes who will not be a national embarrassment.(???)

In a recent paper, Anirudh Krishna and Eric Haglund, two academics at Duke University in the United States, said that the problem for India is not the size of the economy or the large population but the number of people who can "effectively participate in sports".

Although India's economy is growing, the country is mired in poverty. Nearly 8 million children suffer from malnutrition and more than 250 million live below the poverty line.

The pair accept economic size wields a major influence over how well a nation does at the Olympics. Economists have long argued that richer countries have substantial advantages in international athletics: enough leisure time for people to participate in sports, good facilities, and a system of rewards for athletes.

However, the academics say that Cuba, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Kenya and Uzbekistan are countries "not known for having high average incomes [and] have won many more medals than India."

Controversially, the paper contends that social mobility is the key to countries' success at the Olympics. Populations that are better informed and better connected to opportunities, in societies where information and access are widespread "tend to win a higher share of Olympic medals", they said.

They point out that India has low social mobility, and say that in villages in two Indian states where 300 children had graduated from high school, only four had found well-paying, white-collar jobs.

But many commentators say the academics have missed the point. "India has to be seen in its historical, cultural context. We were a colony, and that led to an inferiority complex. We are an extremely diverse nation, which leads to internal squabbles," says Boria Majumdar, a sports historian and author of Olympics: The India Story.
Karkala Joishy

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by Karkala Joishy »

Whatever Bachchan does, wtf right does this retard have to object to it? Obviously he is flailing about for an issue to champion. :evil:

Raj targets Bachchan at MNS cine union launch
MUMBAI: MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Sunday criticised Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan for allegedly favouring a music composer from Uttar Pradesh. He was speaking at the launch of his MNS Cine Workers Union (MNSCWU) that was held at Rang Sharda Auditorium in Bandra.
However, Thackeray could not stop himself from criticising the film industry. "The industry people learn film-making in Pune but don't really care to learn even four words of the Marathi language," he said.

"We will not allow anyone to insult the Marathi language," he added.

Thackeray even took objection to the usage of the word 'Bambai' in Kareena Kapoor-starrer Jab We Met. He said, "Madras is now called Chennai and that is properly used in movies but nobody uses Mumbai in Hindi films. This will not be allowed in future."

Thackeray cited an example saying, "Every domestic help in any advertisement is called Shantabai. We will not allow this." He said his association would form a parallel censor board to curb all the misrepresentation of Marathi and Maharashtrians in Bollywood.
BijuShet
BRFite
Posts: 1587
Joined: 09 Jan 2008 23:14
Location: under my tin foil hat

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by BijuShet »

Vasu wrote: ...
I don't know if I have said this before, and sorry for the rant, but I hate this medieval practice of encouraging our athletes with big money. Most of the people who make it do not go for the money, its the glory and the pride of representing India. Nothing's changed in the heads of Kalmadi and Randheer Singh though. I remember reading (or watching) Indian hockey goalie Adrian D'Souza saying that of course the money was peanuts, but the fact that you are there representing your nation is just another feeling. God bless such men and women.
Vasu, I disagree with you on this. Sports at its core is nothing more than a show at the roman Colosseum. Athletes are in it for personal glory and adulation of the crowds. A big part of that is the monetary rewards that follow success. I beleive we should take the cricket approach when it comes to competing in International events. The domestic sports scene needs to be nutured too at the same time i.e. we need to inculcate all the good aspects of sports in our kids early on i.e. team building, physical & mental development etc. But when it comes to competing in important events we need to develop the mob mentality of Roman times. Feed the losers to the lions and carry the winners on our shoulders. This way the incentive to win is high and the scary thought of losing will keep incompetent ones from being also rans.
Tamang
BRFite
Posts: 698
Joined: 19 Jun 2002 11:31
Location: Nai Dilli, Bharatvarsh

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by Tamang »

Karkala Joishy wrote:Whatever Bachchan does, wtf right does this retard have to object to it? Obviously he is flailing about for an issue to champion. :evil:

Raj targets Bachchan at MNS cine union launch
Ironically Aadesh Shrivastav (the composer) is from Jabalpur, MP IIRC.
Stan_Savljevic
BRF Oldie
Posts: 3522
Joined: 21 Apr 2006 15:40

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by Stan_Savljevic »

Dont know how these guys tallied the scores, but it should be 39.5-0.5

The Chess Classic Mainz began in style. World Champion Vishy Anand and ten-times winner of the Rapid World Chess Championship in Mainz, opened the event with a simul on 40 boards. This time maybe a bit more than just the usual chess entertainment simuls tend to be. Of course, Anand has his mind on the World Championship match against Vladimir Kramnik, which will be played in October. Doing badly in a simul might not be good for his confidence. But possibly Anand does not even think about defeat and just wants to break another record in Mainz where he already holds so many. Four draws in 40 games is the best result ever achieved in these simultaneous events, which traditionally start the Chess Classic. And this record was set back in 1994, at the first Chess Classic ever – and by no other but Vishy Anand himself.

14 years and two World Champion titles later Anand now tries to top himself. In the “Goldsaal” – the “Gold Hall” – of the Hilton in Mainz he quietly moves from board to board to show his opponents what a World Champion can do with the pieces. In the beginning Anand, playing White on all 40 boards, keeps a steady pace, moving in a constant rhythm, which, however, slows down a bit while some of his opponents manage to pose him more seriously problems. But there are not many who are able to do so. The 40 players visibly try their best to outwit the best player they might ever have played against and will ever play against, but to no avail. No matter how hard they think about their moves, how tricky the maneuvers they come up with, the strategies they plan to follow, the World Champion seems to grasp all of them in a moment and to dispel all dreams of victory with quick and smooth play, which forces one after the other of his opponents to resign. And while the simul takes its course more and more boards are dominated by a white Kings on e4, indicating a win by Anand. After three and a half hours of play only about half of the players are still in the game. Only one player managed to achieve the draw.

Even though most of spectators in Mainz are experienced chess enthusiasts, who have seen, played or even gave the one or the other simul, the whole spectacle still amazes. Why does it take the simul player only seconds to find better moves than his opponents? Why is his fairly automatic play, necessary to play on 40 boards at the same time, still superior to the creative efforts of the individual player?

Simultaneous events are chess spectacles. Only few games of them made it to the textbooks and mainly because of some nice tactical trick and unlike the really “serious” events onlookers, fans and journalists are allowed to use their flashlight cameras throughout the simul. Anand seems undisturbed. He quietly and efficiently follows his course, making the moves he thinks best on board after board. And while he quietly and efficiently beats one opponent after the other the fascination of chess and particularly the way Anand plays it slowly unfolds. In the week to come the Chess Classic in Mainz will offer more and faster events than a simul. But the fascination of chess will always be seen.

In the end Anand won 39-1, breaking his own record.

Clicky

India will take on Afghanistan on the opening day of the AFC Challenge Cup football championship at the Gachibowli stadium here on Wednesday. Coach Bob Houghton said the tournament was a great opportunity for India to improve its status at the Asian level. “It would be important to win this tournament since the winner gets to take part in the Asia Cup. And there are few teams below rank 15 (in Asia) which can get a chance to play at that level.

Clicky

The Wrestling Federation of India has decided to recruit foreign coaches for the young wrestlers who have dished out a creditable performance at the recently held Asian cadet championship in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Indian boys and girls won altogether 20 medals — consisting of seven gold, three silver and 10 bronze — which earned the squad the first ever team championship. Announcing the federation’s intention to hire foreign coaches, the IWF President, G.S. Mandher, said, “Looking at the talent and necessity, we have decided to recruit foreign coaches for both sub-junior and junior national teams who will work with them and prepare them for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.”

Clicky
Jeev Milkha Singh's win at the Nagashima Shegio Invitational Sega Sammy Cup 2008 helped him move up nine places to 66 in the official world golf rankings.

Clicky
Last edited by Stan_Savljevic on 30 Jul 2008 01:20, edited 1 time in total.
Stan_Savljevic
BRF Oldie
Posts: 3522
Joined: 21 Apr 2006 15:40

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by Stan_Savljevic »

I posted a report about Gagan Narang getting some funding before, but the nay-sayers seem to creep out of the woods ever-so-often.. Things are a-changing, yes, so have some patience is all I can say. Take it fwiw anyway. I would like to highlight every word here, but yea let me do the usual job for those lacking time.

G. Rajaraman speaketh

Big Hopes
Boxing: Vijender Singh and Akhil Kumar
Archery: Laishram Bombayla Devi, Dola Banerjee and Vardeneni Pranitha
Tennis: Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza

But since Leander Paes won a bronze in 1996, breaking a long jinx, there has been a change in attitude. Four years later, weightlifter Karnam Malleswari brought home a bronze from Sydney. Then double-trap shooter Rajyavardhan Rathore was on target with a silver in the 2004 Olympics in Athens. And now, in 2008, there's a realistic chance that India could return from Beijing with more than one individual medal.

If this has happened, it's because of both government support and private effort. The Mittal Champions Trust, for instance, has supported 13 sportspersons on their journey to Beijing. And Olympic Gold Quest, promoted by sporting legends Prakash Padukone and Geet Sethi, has helped ace shooter Gagan Narang.

There's reason for the growing hope: Narang has been in good form, setting a new world record a few weeks ago in a pre-Olympic competition in Hanover; pugilist Vijender Singh stunned the boxing world recently with an upset vic- tory over Athens Olympic Games best boxer Bakhtiyar Artayev (Kazakhstan) in the 75 kg category at the aiba President's Cup tournament in Taipei; the women archers—especially Laishram Bombayla Devi—have stoked hopes with fine performances; Mahesh Bhupathi, with Leander Paes and Sania Mirza for company, will remain sentimental favourites for tennis medals.
...
So next time you hear the lament, "A billion Indians and yet...#", you may well say, "One of them might finally just make it count." Beijing beckons.
Last edited by Stan_Savljevic on 30 Jul 2008 01:25, edited 1 time in total.
Stan_Savljevic
BRF Oldie
Posts: 3522
Joined: 21 Apr 2006 15:40

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by Stan_Savljevic »


Did you hear someone say 'Chak De India'? Ask him to take a reality check, for nothing seems to have changed for women's hockey in India. If at the start of the year, the national team players returning from a training-cum-competition camp in Australia were dumped into a shabby dormitory, 14 to a room, at the Karnail Singh Stadium in New Delhi, the situation is no better at the ongoing camp in Bangalore.

The number of players per room has come down but the treatment is just as bad. They are now stacked nine to a room with conditions so bad that some players have fallen ill. The players, housed at SAI's Kenkeri complex in Bangalore, have another month to go before their ordeal ends. All this when a new hostel meant for hockey players lies unoccupied, awaiting a chief guest for inauguration. The girls have been forced to live in dormitories because the Beijing-bound athletes, who are also training at the Kenkeri, have been allotted more rooms than the hockey players. "But what about us?" asked a player. "Are we expected to live like cattle?"

The players, some of whom spoke to the TOI on condition of anonymity, were at their wits end, trying to cope with the conditions at the camp. "We are undergoing a fitness camp but how do you expect us to even recover from our daily training when we do not get proper rest," said a player. Another one revealed that the toilets were filthy and they were struggling to cope with it.

"The rest of the facilities are okay, the food is good and bed linen and other things are better than what we faced at the Karnail Singh Stadium. But because we get very little rest, some have fallen ill," said a player. With coach MK Kaushik yet to reach Bangalore, the girls are only undergoing a fitness camp now. Vidya Stokes, the president of the Indian Women's Hockey Federation, was not even aware that the girls were living in such conditions. "Please call me on Tuesday morning," was all Stokes had to say.

Clicky
Vasu
BRFite
Posts: 869
Joined: 16 Dec 2002 12:31

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by Vasu »

BijuShet wrote:
Vasu wrote: ...
I don't know if I have said this before, and sorry for the rant, but I hate this medieval practice of encouraging our athletes with big money. Most of the people who make it do not go for the money, its the glory and the pride of representing India. Nothing's changed in the heads of Kalmadi and Randheer Singh though. I remember reading (or watching) Indian hockey goalie Adrian D'Souza saying that of course the money was peanuts, but the fact that you are there representing your nation is just another feeling. God bless such men and women.
Vasu, I disagree with you on this. Sports at its core is nothing more than a show at the roman Colosseum. Athletes are in it for personal glory and adulation of the crowds. A big part of that is the monetary rewards that follow success. I beleive we should take the cricket approach when it comes to competing in International events. The domestic sports scene needs to be nutured too at the same time i.e. we need to inculcate all the good aspects of sports in our kids early on i.e. team building, physical & mental development etc. But when it comes to competing in important events we need to develop the mob mentality of Roman times. Feed the losers to the lions and carry the winners on our shoulders. This way the incentive to win is high and the scary thought of losing will keep incompetent ones from being also rans.
Biju, totally agree with you, but again, I can't relate what you have said to my point about money.

Added later: The money that I am talking about is in no way the money that we need to put into these good things.
BijuShet
BRFite
Posts: 1587
Joined: 09 Jan 2008 23:14
Location: under my tin foil hat

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by BijuShet »

Vasu wrote:
R Zutshi announced incentives for those who would win medals at the Games. The gold medalist will be given an amount of Rs 20 lakh, the silver medalist Rs 15 lakh and the bronze medalist Rs 10 lakh, he informed.
:evil:
Vasu wrote:
BijuShet wrote: Vasu, I disagree with you on this. Sports at its core is nothing more than a show at the roman Colosseum. Athletes are in it for personal glory and adulation of the crowds. A big part of that is the monetary rewards that follow success. I beleive we should take the cricket approach when it comes to competing in International events. The domestic sports scene needs to be nutured too at the same time i.e. we need to inculcate all the good aspects of sports in our kids early on i.e. team building, physical & mental development etc. But when it comes to competing in important events we need to develop the mob mentality of Roman times. Feed the losers to the lions and carry the winners on our shoulders. This way the incentive to win is high and the scary thought of losing will keep incompetent ones from being also rans.
Biju, totally agree with you, but again, I can't relate what you have said to my point about money.

Added later: The money that I am talking about is in no way the money that we need to put into these good things.
I assume you were expressing disgust on the cash reward incentives being offered to those who would win medals at the Games. I was all for it as I feel we need to offer an amount of a few crores for a gold medal at the olympics. Silver and bronze medal amounts I dont particularly care about so 15 and 10 lakhs are decent amounts but are really peanuts compared to the cost of home ownership in mega cities. The idea is to afford Gold medal winners a life style of glitz and pomp and make these people an example for the young to emulate. Here I look at our stars in cricket who are always in media limelight and seen to be driving the latest model cars and hanging with the whose who of bollywood. This creates an impressions of success all around. Compare that to a modest paying job in Indian Railways or in a State Bank for the gold medal winners. It surely does not say focus on sports and not the next JEE or CAT to the prospective sportsmen of the future. Let me present a recent example of : Rasquinha quits international hockey ... The 27-year-old from Mumbai said he would be taking a year's break from domestic and club tournaments to pursue an MBA degree at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad...
anupmisra
BRF Oldie
Posts: 9203
Joined: 12 Nov 2006 04:16
Location: New York

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by anupmisra »

I think you all should look at the bright side of going to Beijing. All the athletes will return with no one skipping over the fence to claim asylum or vanish. :D
BijuShet
BRFite
Posts: 1587
Joined: 09 Jan 2008 23:14
Location: under my tin foil hat

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by BijuShet »

anupmisra wrote:I think you all should look at the bright side of going to Beijing. All the athletes will return with no one skipping over the fence to claim asylum or vanish. :D
One can never be sure of that as there may be some lal jhanda types in this squad who may use this opportunity to jump fence. Their GDP is atleast twice ours so a Govt job there may pay more than a Railways job here. :twisted:
Vasu
BRFite
Posts: 869
Joined: 16 Dec 2002 12:31

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by Vasu »

BijuShet wrote:
I assume you were expressing disgust on the cash reward incentives being offered to those who would win medals at the Games. I was all for it as I feel we need to offer an amount of a few crores for a gold medal at the olympics. Silver and bronze medal amounts I dont particularly care about so 15 and 10 lakhs are decent amounts but are really peanuts compared to the cost of home ownership in mega cities. The idea is to afford Gold medal winners a life style of glitz and pomp and make these people an example for the young to emulate. Here I look at our stars in cricket who are always in media limelight and seen to be driving the latest model cars and hanging with the whose who of bollywood. This creates an impressions of success all around. Compare that to a modest paying job in Indian Railways or in a State Bank for the gold medal winners. It surely does not say focus on sports and not the next JEE or CAT to the prospective sportsmen of the future. Let me present a recent example of : Rasquinha quits international hockey ... The 27-year-old from Mumbai said he would be taking a year's break from domestic and club tournaments to pursue an MBA degree at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad...
yes Biju, the 15 lakhs for a medal don't matter much here, thats my point as well. When rich kids in urban India spend amounts bigger than this on their hobbies, 10/15 lakhs don't matter much. Another reason why these announcements piss me off is because I don't see any other announcements from these bozos about infrastructure, planning and long term vision. Announcing money rewards for immediate performance is a very narrow and short-termed vision, in my view. Once this money is over, then our best athletes will again be back to training in substandard conditions. Hence my gripe.

If these bozo's had any vision or plan, they would have started athletic schools named after our PT Usha's and Milkha Singhs in every part of the country, with these people themselves running after the young runners with sticks in their hands to push them further. Our best retired athletes and sportsmen are always kept sidelined because the babus dont want to disturb the status quo.

Even for cricket, the only money there is in cricket is spent on the few faces we see playing for India, and recently, the IPL. Otherwise the infrastructure of domestic cricket is again, pathetic, in fact, it doesn't exist at all. How many ranji players do we know, do we follow Ranji at all?

Apologies for the whinefest.
Vasu
BRFite
Posts: 869
Joined: 16 Dec 2002 12:31

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by Vasu »

India barely beat Afghanistan in its first match in the AFC Challenge Cup. Climax Lawrence scored in the 90+2'nd minute.

Anyways, AIFF is what the French call - Le incompetant.

AFC Challenge Cup’08: Training Facilities Caught Short Of Standards
The Indian city of Hyderabad is to host the second AFC Challenge Cup, which begins on Wednesday. But there has already been a number of complaints regarding the training facilities available to the players.

The Indian national football team was supposed to train at the Goshamil Police Stadium but the utterly bad conditions implied that all they could do was a simple warm-up for half an hour.

The Indian national team arrived at the Goshamil Police Stadium on Monday afternoon but coach Bob Houghton, visibly unimpressed by the conditions of the ground, pulled his players off after just half an hour.

Conditions at other stadiums in the city have been equally bad. Matches were moved from the Lal Bahadur Shashtri Stadium to the Gachchibowli Stadium only recently due to bad ground conditions.

So much so that an Indian national team player on conditions of anonymity told Goal.com,”Mahesh Gawli was injured because of bad conditions at the Lal Bahadur Shashtri stadium.”
:evil: :evil:
BijuShet
BRFite
Posts: 1587
Joined: 09 Jan 2008 23:14
Location: under my tin foil hat

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by BijuShet »

Vasu wrote:
BijuShet wrote:
I assume you were expressing disgust on the cash reward incentives being offered to those who would win medals at the Games. I was all for it as I feel we need to offer an amount of a few crores for a gold medal at the olympics. Silver and bronze medal amounts I dont particularly care about so 15 and 10 lakhs are decent amounts but are really peanuts compared to the cost of home ownership in mega cities. The idea is to afford Gold medal winners a life style of glitz and pomp and make these people an example for the young to emulate. Here I look at our stars in cricket who are always in media limelight and seen to be driving the latest model cars and hanging with the whose who of bollywood. This creates an impressions of success all around. Compare that to a modest paying job in Indian Railways or in a State Bank for the gold medal winners. It surely does not say focus on sports and not the next JEE or CAT to the prospective sportsmen of the future. Let me present a recent example of : Rasquinha quits international hockey ... The 27-year-old from Mumbai said he would be taking a year's break from domestic and club tournaments to pursue an MBA degree at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad...
yes Biju, the 15 lakhs for a medal don't matter much here, thats my point as well. When rich kids in urban India spend amounts bigger than this on their hobbies, 10/15 lakhs don't matter much. Another reason why these announcements piss me off is because I don't see any other announcements from these bozos about infrastructure, planning and long term vision. Announcing money rewards for immediate performance is a very narrow and short-termed vision, in my view. Once this money is over, then our best athletes will again be back to training in substandard conditions. Hence my gripe.

If these bozo's had any vision or plan, they would have started athletic schools named after our PT Usha's and Milkha Singhs in every part of the country, with these people themselves running after the young runners with sticks in their hands to push them further. Our best retired athletes and sportsmen are always kept sidelined because the babus dont want to disturb the status quo.

Even for cricket, the only money there is in cricket is spent on the few faces we see playing for India, and recently, the IPL. Otherwise the infrastructure of domestic cricket is again, pathetic, in fact, it doesn't exist at all. How many ranji players do we know, do we follow Ranji at all?

Apologies for the whinefest.
Vasuji there are no 2 opinions on the lack of sports infrastructure in India. That has always been the case and will continue to be the case into the next 2 decades atleast. One way to get a leg up on infrastructure is to bid and win opportunities to stage major international events. As for infrastructure I beleive local sports channels must find ways to make national sports leagues work just like IPL i.e. make our national games a big affair and create healthy sports rivalries between the affluent states of India. Create a larger than life potraits for the state champions and goad them to perform better. This way the sellers of shampoo and soap in India will also get a larger pool of talented celebrities to choose from and thus bring down their cost of endorsement fees paid to current celebrities. If this takes root then instead of all politicians and their chamchas clamoring for BCCI board postions, they will also run after other sports body too i.e. there will be more money for them to pocket in other sports too. In India the only way to make things happen is to offer opportunities to all interested parties to make money so that no one has a stake in failure.

Monetarily rewarding a single exceptional performance of an athelete is not necessarily a bad idea in my opinion. To me the money reward for an olympic gold medal must be astronomical i.e. you win one gold medal at the olympics and you are set for life. With such huge incentives we will see a better crop of dedicated sportsmen and a better medals tally in major events. If we give them 15-20 lakhs then it just keeps them warm but not set for life. I believe a few crores offered for a gold medal at the olympics will significantly change the medals landscape.
Suraj
Forum Moderator
Posts: 15043
Joined: 20 Jan 2002 12:31

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by Suraj »

The problem with just focussing on large monetary reward for winning a gold is that it presumes what is missing is sufficient incentive to win. That does not at all appear to be the case. Instead, the emphasis ought to be on a contemporary training system focussed on generating sportsmen who perform at the world level. That includes access to skills training and fitness regimens, equipment, support systems to address injuries, sports psychologists, financial support to participate in international events.

That is the basis of the recent Mittal Champions Trust and related private endeavours, like Olympics Games Quest. Without a system where sportspersons are given complete freedom to focus on their sport for the express purpose of achieving world-level performance, high monetary incentives for Olympic golds are meaningless. By all means reward them highly after success, but what they need now is a proper support system. Otherwise, it would be the equivalent of leaving a kid under a mango tree, to jump and grab a mango, the nearest of which is 6' above him.
BijuShet
BRFite
Posts: 1587
Joined: 09 Jan 2008 23:14
Location: under my tin foil hat

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by BijuShet »

Suraj wrote:The problem with just focussing on large monetary reward for winning a gold is that it presumes what is missing is sufficient incentive to win. That does not at all appear to be the case. Instead, the emphasis ought to be on a contemporary training system focussed on generating sportsmen who perform at the world level. That includes access to skills training and fitness regimens, equipment, support systems to address injuries, sports psychologists, financial support to participate in international events.

That is the basis of the recent Mittal Champions Trust and related private endeavours, like Olympics Games Quest. Without a system where sportspersons are given complete freedom to focus on their sport for the express purpose of achieving world-level performance, high monetary incentives for Olympic golds are meaningless. By all means reward them highly after success, but what they need now is a proper support system. Otherwise, it would be the equivalent of leaving a kid under a mango tree, to jump and grab a mango, the nearest of which is 6' above him.
Surajji I am not opposed to any of the ideas you or vasu propose. My thoughts are in line with yours except I say in addition to all that we need to reward our winners. Can someone tell me what PT Usha is doing nowadays. I do not see her leading a life of pomp and glory after what she achieved despite the pathetic support she must have received early on. Her success spawned a generation of woman atheletes who felt they could be like her. But that was a decade ago. Today where are our woman athletes. We are hanging on to 1 atheletic medal hope in the current olympics and that too if we are lucky.
My point is we need to build better sports infrastructure and we need private sponsorship and money in sports to help nurture budding talent. But once this talent is developed and it has been displayed via a gold medal we need to reward it well. Case in point is Sania Mirza and her performance. She has not won any thing of significant value in the tennis world but she just showed us a promise and the rewards flowed for her. Her endorsement revenues dwarf some of our cricketers too but all we have from her is potential and no real hope that she will win in any of the 4 annual major tennis events. We rewarded her too soon while the consistent winners are denied the limelight. Anand is a world chess champ and yet there are no airports dedicated to him neither is he selling me my Chawanprush. The 2004 olympic silver winner Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has not been sighted selling me my khich khich Vicks ki Goli. That is the irony of sports in India. We reward potentials while the real talent is confined to the closet and remembered every other year for Asian and Olympic events.
Suraj
Forum Moderator
Posts: 15043
Joined: 20 Jan 2002 12:31

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by Suraj »

BijuShet: My view is that you're putting the cart before the horse. To achieve success in competitive sports today is not merely a question of money or being set for life. Even if you were to announce ~Rs.4 crore ($1 million) to each gold medallist, that still will not imply we'll have any golds. Competitive sports today is not an individual endeavour. It takes a cutting edge support system, where promising young sportsmen are identified, trained, physiologically and psychologically managed, enabled access to progressively more competitive environments inside and outside the countries, all the while leaving them to focus on their art. I would also add - when they're reaching the end of their careers, support systems to train them to work in the normal world, e.g. fully paid academic degree program access. This, by and large, does not exist in India.

I disagree that sportsmen really require such an enormous level of adulation (naming airports etc). Sania Mirza is merely the symptom of a prodigy that we do not know how to handle. Few really know how to handle such prodigies anyway, but when we can't handle a normal athlete of great promise, the chances of us handling someone like Mirza well is even lower. Reckless commercialization around her is merely one issue. She's erratic, prone to injury and lacks the support base needed to hone her doubtless natural gifts into a consistent worldbeater, outside of any efforts she makes on her own to build such a system. The AITA doesn't know much of that.

Not sufficiently rewarding the few who've performed is a smaller concern than that of a system that's nonexistent, besides recent private efforts like MCT and OGC. It does not even have to be a state-run system. But a vertically integrated system is necessary - powerhouses like US, China and Russia all have it, formally in the case of the latter two, or informally in the case of the US. Measured adulation for results will follow when we have a system that produces worldbeaters with regularity.

PS: please don't call me 'ji' or 'saar' - it gives me nightmares of being a neta/babu :)
BijuShet
BRFite
Posts: 1587
Joined: 09 Jan 2008 23:14
Location: under my tin foil hat

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by BijuShet »

Suraj wrote:BijuShet: My view is that you're putting the cart before the horse. To achieve success in competitive sports today is not merely a question of money or being set for life. Even if you were to announce ~Rs.4 crore ($1 million) to each gold medallist, that still will not imply we'll have any golds. Competitive sports today is not an individual endeavour. It takes a cutting edge support system, where promising young sportsmen are identified, trained, physiologically and psychologically managed, enabled access to progressively more competitive environments inside and outside the countries, all the while leaving them to focus on their art. I would also add - when they're reaching the end of their careers, support systems to train them to work in the normal world, e.g. fully paid academic degree program access. This, by and large, does not exist in India.

I disagree that sportsmen really require such an enormous level of adulation (naming airports etc). Sania Mirza is merely the symptom of a prodigy that we do not know how to handle. Few really know how to handle such prodigies anyway, but when we can't handle a normal athlete of great promise, the chances of us handling someone like Mirza well is even lower. Reckless commercialization around her is merely one issue. She's erratic, prone to injury and lacks the support base needed to hone her doubtless natural gifts into a consistent worldbeater, outside of any efforts she makes on her own to build such a system. The AITA doesn't know much of that.

Not sufficiently rewarding the few who've performed is a smaller concern than that of a system that's nonexistent, besides recent private efforts like MCT and OGC. It does not even have to be a state-run system. But a vertically integrated system is necessary - powerhouses like US, China and Russia all have it, formally in the case of the latter two, or informally in the case of the US. Measured adulation for results will follow when we have a system that produces worldbeaters with regularity.

PS: please don't call me 'ji' or 'saar' - it gives me nightmares of being a neta/babu :)
First off, no more ji or saar for you per your request. I completely agree with everything you wrote. Now how do we make this happen in India?
Vasu
BRFite
Posts: 869
Joined: 16 Dec 2002 12:31

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by Vasu »

I think all of us agree on the urgent need for infrastructure, but do not agree on how important the monetary incentives are, or are even important at all. Lets just leave it to that, because we'll probably never agree on it. It goes without saying that without a strong support system, rewarding an individual with money for an immediate performance will *never* result in a medal, and like Suraj said, that should never be the incentive anyway.

Putting our athletes back into the system, if a system ever comes about, is probably the best thing we can do for us and for them.
Singha
BRF Oldie
Posts: 66601
Joined: 13 Aug 2004 19:42
Location: the grasshopper lies heavy

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by Singha »

genetics plays its role. we better identify 10 sports we can be good at and focus on
that rather than trying gymnastics and pole vaulting :(( I feel events that that do not
require freakish physical attributes are ideal for us as India does not seem overly blessed
with either running(africa) or strength ability (north europe,siberia,CAR,mongolia).
that way "shooting", "yachting" or "archery" is great. and all carry plenty of medals.

without a lavish support system, the african nations are still able to produce some
world class raw talent that is refined upto world stds later under their national training
and foreign athletic schols. sometimes they have just one champion like hicham el guerrouj
or haile gebrelassie but that in itself is a brand and top attraction.

btw if anyone noticed Sania has slipped 15 more places down to around 50.

btw panda's sole track champion Liu Zhang is facing strong fight from a new cuban
jaguar. a tremendous H&D fight coming up in 110m hurdles. and asafa powell is in
murderous form in 100m...hope he delivers on the big day.
Raju

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by Raju »

Instead of issuing blanket statements dealing with genetics, we should consider our lack of sporting culture in light of the shabby way in which women hockey players are treated by their federation. Same with men.

It was same two decades ago, it is same today. No difference there.

Everyone likes the same kind of sporting facilities. They want personal space, cleanliness, whether in India or in west or in the far North. If we compare the ratio of person to facilities we will fall well short of acceptable world standards.

We need to integerate local technology like Ayurveda and Panchakarma, Ashtakarma with sports in all seriousness. This will help us getting ahead of the curve.
Suraj
Forum Moderator
Posts: 15043
Joined: 20 Jan 2002 12:31

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by Suraj »

BijuShet: There's already a nascent system in the form of the MCT, OGQ and others of the kind, though it focusses on established athletes and attempts to catapult them to world-beating performance. What's missing is enhancement of the system that identifies talents at a young age, plus the accretion and development of cutting edge sports education on skills, endurance, injury management and psychological strengthening.

I don't see how genetics are a big deal here. There are plenty of unhealthy Chinese folk who couldnt jump over a foot-high obstacle without landing on their face. Indians are not entirely a very small people. Nutritionwise, there has been significant improvements in the last few decades, whose results are noticeable around you - just check a rough average of the height and physique of youngsters around you today with that of an age group say 10 years older, or more. I've a high-school aged female cousin in smalltown Kerala who's over 5'5" but has several female classmates who are taller. Average heights have noticeably increased in recent years, though they've grown taller before building a physique, so that they have a lanky look (a la Ishant Sharma).
vishnur
BRFite -Trainee
Posts: 6
Joined: 27 Jun 2008 22:55

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by vishnur »

$50K Challenger at Kentucky from July 21-28, 2008 - Hard Courts

[Q1] Somdev K. Dev Varman (566,IND) d Takao Suzuki (348,JPN) 6-2 2-6 7-6(7)
[Q2] Somdev K. Dev Varman (566,IND) d Marcus Fugate (620,USA) 6-0 6-0
[Q3] Somdev K. Dev Varman (566,IND) d Rubin Statham (439,NZL) 6-2 6-2

[R1] Somdev K. Dev Varman (566,IND) d. Jamie Baker (256,GBR) 7-5 6-2
[R2] Somdev K. Dev Varman (566,IND) d. Bobby Reynolds (92,USA) 6-7(4) 7-5 6-4
[QF] Somdev Dev Varman (566,IND) d Andrea Stoppini (ITA, 249) 7-6 (6) 6-1
[SF] Somdev K. Dev Varman (566,IND) d. Xavier Malisse (162,BEL) 4-1 Ret.
[F] Somdev K. Dev Varman (566,IND) d. Robert Kendrick (125,USA) 6-3 6-3

At the $100K Challenger in Vancouver, Canada - Hard Courts

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,345) d Cecil Mamiit (PHI,406) 6-4 2-6 7-6 (4)
[R2] Somdev Devvarman (IND,345) d Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE,72) 0-0 Ret.
[QF] Somdev Devvarman (IND,345) vs Go Soeda (JPN,124)
Rahul M
Forum Moderator
Posts: 17168
Joined: 17 Aug 2005 21:09
Location: Skies over BRFATA
Contact:

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by Rahul M »

AFC challenge cup

Ind 2 Tkmn 1
both goals by bhaichung butia, one from the hip !
Ind group champions.
Vasu
BRFite
Posts: 869
Joined: 16 Dec 2002 12:31

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by Vasu »

ahh. we needed this win. If India wins this tourney, we'll get to play in the Asian Cup!
Stan_Savljevic
BRF Oldie
Posts: 3522
Joined: 21 Apr 2006 15:40

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by Stan_Savljevic »

Some statistics for perspective here.

India will take on DPR korea (North korea) or Myanmar in the semis, most likely Myanmar. DPRK is ranked 94 in the official FIFA rankings, and Myanmar is 164. We are ranked 153, so we are expected to win against Myanmarese "statistically." FWIW. For that matter, Tajikistan with whom we drew are 154 and Turkmenistan and Afghanistan whom we beat are 158 and 181.

The SAF championship loss to Maldives has costed quite a few points. Our points now are 137, and the 150 ranked team has 169. So we are the top of the rest for lack of a better word. If we have to get below rank 150 {and btw, the 150th ranked team is Lebanon who beat us 4-1 at home and drew 2-2 away at the fifa2010 qualifiers last year..... a long way to go..}, we need to make a huge win {or two or three} over some super highly ranked teams. Something like the Tiger cup win over Thailand/Vietnam/Indonesia etc. Would be a great start if we thump the North Koreans with some more rain and what not.

Now for Bob Houghton uvacha

"I'm very pleased with the whole performance so far. We have got seven points out of nine, so it has been a good five days for us," said the Englishman. "It was a very good performance tonight, the team spirit was good. This is an honest team, they work together the whole time and they stick to what you ask them to do. This is a good bunch of boys and they deserved a victory tonight."

"You cannot say that this was the best performance because the conditions were so difficult but tonight was a real indication that the boys have a good, fighting spirit. They dominated the whole of the first session without getting a goal, but yet they came out strong in the second and kept fighting till the end."

Houghton felt his players coped well with the difficult conditions. "I thought that if it had rained for another half hour, the match would have been called off because there was water on the field. But the boys showed a different side of them, charging the headers, pressuring the ball and making no errors at the back until the last five minutes. I thought the two centre backs (Anwar Ali and Samir Naik) were outstanding and the two front players (Sunil Chettri and Bhutia) ran all through the game. I thought they would run out of steam with the pitch being so heavy. But they kept going."

Turkmenistan coach Rahim Kurbanmamedov was disappointed with the defeat, adding that the weather had ruined his plans. "We started off well but after the rain came down, our game deteriorated. We had to change tactics and just could not cope with the pitch," he said. "We expected India to come out strongly against us so it wasn't a surprise that they attacked right from the start. We knew India would be looking for a win. But we were confident until the weather did us in. Our game is centred on short, crisp passing and it was not possible to play that kind of a game."

Clicky
Stan_Savljevic
BRF Oldie
Posts: 3522
Joined: 21 Apr 2006 15:40

Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Post by Stan_Savljevic »

So its Anand vs Carlsen at the Mainz rapid classic finals. There is so much hype going on all over the chess web. Seems so odd. Anand seems the least bothered guy about all the Bobby Fischer-Magnus Carlsen comparison. Rightly so. BF was for lack of a better Anglais word is "yengeyo level" in Madras Tam. Btw, Carlsen's massive rise in the FIDE live rankings has been stopped for now. Some draws/losses/non-top finish in the prev tournament means he is around 2787 now. Anand at 2798. Anand gets to focus on K-man after this Mainz classic which he is expected to win.

Humpy is all set to shed quite a few points with her more or less disastrous performance at North Urals. This has been the strongest womens chess tournament in history so far. Category 11. Elo 2522. She could nt have gained a huge number of pts, but could have shed a lot. That was how it was looking right from the start. Humpy made a strategic mistake to play these doofus level tournaments and shed points at random. She needs to get to 2700 asap. Not possible this way. She needs to go the way of Judit and get to mens alone tournments. The categories are higher, the penalty for losing is lower, the chances of gaining Elo are higher.

Another thing thats been running silently on the side is the world junior mens squash championship in Switzerland. Our folks ended in the top 16, but not past that stage. The juniors show needs lots more support for the running game. In any case, most of these guys are too young-bloody to have developed the body/stamina for the senior game thats a pita of sorts. FWIW, the Paki player Aamir Atlas Khan lost the finals which he was expected to win easily {Aamir plays the senior circuit and this is the junior world cup}. The team rounds are on now. I would like to see India in the top 8. A top 4 finish will be icing on the cake. Remember, India is the cwealth champions, so we are not a bad team either.

On the senior side, this is super massive news. In the August PSA rankings, Sourav Ghosal has jumped 11 spots to 44. Awesome, buoyed essentially by his 6TH ICL CHENNAI OPEN 2008 win against Ritwik and a couple of quarterfinal finishes in Malaysia and Pakistan. Ritwik has nt risen at all though. Two other juniors, Harinder Pal Sandhu and Parth Sharma, have also risen significantly. To keep track of em in the future.
Post Reply