Bharat Rakshak

What Ails Indian Sports

INDIA IN THE OLYMPICS
In the over hundred years of the Modern Olympics (1896--2000), India, have won a total of eight gold, three silver and five bronze medals. In contrast China, which gained admission to the Olympic movement just two decades ago won 16 gold, 22 silver and 12 bronze medals at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics alone. Ethiopia, Ecuador, Burundi and Costa Rica with national economies and sports budgets much lower than India won gold medals at the Atlanta Olympics and were much higher in the total medal list. In terms of population and landmass, India alone is one-sixth of the Earth, yet in three successive Olympics--1984, 1988 and 1992-it finished without a medal in the Olympic Games. Earlier in the 1976 Montreal Olympics India finished without a medal. In 1968, 1972, 1996 and 2000 Olympics India finished with a solitary bronze medal.
China's target for the 2000 Sydney Olympics was over twenty gold medals. However China surpassed their own expectations and finished third in the medals tally with 28 gold, 16 silver and 15 bronze medals. China's overall tally of 28 gold and 59 medals is the highest ever by an Asian nation. As expected China dominated Table Tennis and Badminton. Chinese players won four of the five gold medals at stake in badminton, including the men singles and women singles crown. In table tennis China made a clean sweep of the five gold medals at stake in the men's and women's individual competitions. India's ambitions at the Sydney Olympics were modest, just three medals in hockey, men's doubles in tennis and women's weightlifting. As in the past, India faltered and finished with a solitary bronze medal, won by Karnam Malleswari in the below 69 kgs. women's weightlifting. In the 1996 Atlanta Olympics India finished with a solitary bronze medal won by Leander Paes in tennis and were 71st in the medals tally. Four years later in Sydney, India also had just one bronze medal, won by Karnam Malleswari in the newly introduced sport of women's weightlifting to finish 70th. The question that arises is what ails Indian sports? Why do Indian sportsmen and women repeatedly flop and often perform below their best in glamour events like the Olympics.
For instance in Sydney 2000, shot putters Shakti Singh and Bahadur Singh who are in the 20 metres plus region managed only just over 18 metres to finish 32nd and 27th respectively. In the javelin throw Jagdish Kumar Bishnoi hurled the javelin to 70 metres, nine metres short of his best and was 15th out of 17th in his group. In women's discus throw and javelin throw Neelam J. Singh (26th out of 32) and Gurmeet Kaur (32nd out of 35) were also about five metres below their life best performances. The relay squads also did not even equal their own life best performances. In years gone by, lack of finance, inadequate foreign competition and overall poverty were cited as excuses. These excuses no longer hold true. There is now no lack of funds or insufficient long-term training. For three successive Olympics, from 1992--2000, the Indian boxing hopefuls trained for months in Cuba at a total cost of over Rs. 10 million (Rs. 1crore), the shooters, the yachtsmen, hockey team and even athletes all get international exposure but finish with no medal.
Apart from the 8 gold, one silver and two bronze medals in hockey, India's other medal successes in the Olympics were confined to athletics, tennis, women's weightlifting and wrestling. The late K.D. Jadhav of Mahrashtra bagged a bronze medal in the 57 kilogram freestyle wrestling category in 1952 at Helsinki, Leander Paes' got a bronze medal in men's singles tennis in 1996 at Atlanta and four years later Malleswari got a bronze medal in weightlifting. Over a 100 years ago, an Anglo-Indian from Calcutta, though some claim he was an Englishman residing in India, Norman Pritchard also secured two silver medals in athletics, in the 1900 Olympics at Paris. He won the 200 metres silver with a timing of 22.8 seconds. In the 200 metres hurdles (an event discontinued after the 1904 Olympics) he again won the silver with a timing of 26.6 seconds. In individual sports, India has just won five medals in the Olympics, since their first participation in the 1920 Antwerp Olympics.
Yet in each Olympics or regional events like the Asian Games, the number of sports officials making foreign jaunts outnumbers the actual competitors. For instance weightlifting coach Raj Kumar Sirohi, who got the Dronacharya Award for 1998 was dropped from the 2000 Sydney Olympics squad so that an official could be accommodated. Sirohi is rated as the best coach in his discipline in the country at present and his wards excelled in the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur. The seven-member Indian squad trained by him finished with three gold, five silver and five bronze medals yet Sirohi was not allowed to travel to the Sydney Olympics. Earlier in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Asian champion Sriram Singh was a likely medallist in the 800 metres. However for the final his muscles were stiff and he needed the help of a masseur. The Indian contingent did not have a masseur in their ranks. Sriram ran heroically in the final and led for about 600 metres before being overtaken by the ultimate winner Alberto Juantorena of Cuba and fading to seventh spot. His personal coach, the Hyderabad veteran Illyas Babbar came to Montreal at his own expense. The IOA did not think it fit to send Babbar at their own expense to Montreal, even though Sriram was India's best bet for an individual medal. Instances of such crass negligence and nepotism are aplenty in Indian sport, and they are also an indication of lack of success. It is a far cry from the idealism that led to the formation of the Olympic movement in India in the 1920s.
The pioneering spirit of Sir Dorab Tata of the house of Tatas, helped develop sports consciousness in India. During his business travels abroad, he noticed the importance of sports in other countries. He wanted India to imbibe interest in sports. Dorab Tata at his own initiative got together a squad of four athletes and two wrestlers to represent India in the 1920 Antwerp Olympics. He paid for the expenses of this trip. On his return from Antwerp, his efforts led to the formation of an Indian Olympic Association (IOA). He helped to form Provincial Olympic associations and to conduct state-level athletic competitions. At his own expense he sent Dr. A. Neohren, then Director of the YMCA to visit every nook and corner of the country and generate enthusiasm for sports in general and athletics in particular. It was due to such pioneering efforts that the IOA was formed in India in the 1920s. Sir Dorab Tata was unanimously elected its first President and remained in that post till his death in 1933. The generous Sir Dorab Tata paid for the expenses of the Indian contingent for the VIII Olympic Games in Paris in 1924. Sadly such zeal and enthusiasm to develop sports standards in the country has declined in the years gone by. The current set of IOA officials are more interested in foreign jaunts and holding prestigious posts in international bodies, than grassroots work to develop Indian sport. To improve Indian sport, it is imperative that IOA officials become more responsible and spend more time trying to popularise sports in various regions. It is then only that India's vast population will become an asset, as from quantity, quality can emerge. State Associations, which do not conduct regular championships in a particular sport should not be allowed to vote. The IOA must have a broad vision to develop Indian sports and not concentrate only on vote-bank politics.

Indian Sports: The Siege Within
Consistent failures in major international meets like the Olympics and World Championships have led to the rise of a plethora of excuses from crippling poverty (people still die of hunger in Orissa) to absence of a sporting ethos. However these are not the main causes for India's dismal performance in international sports. Though many of India's one billion population exist below the poverty line, there is a thriving middle class, of about 200 million, which is larger than the population of most other countries. Yet amongst this otherwise robust and dynamic middle class, there is a type of social ostracism of sports. Until the school-leaving age, sports are tolerated for the vigorous exercises they provide but persistence with them afterwards leads to parental disapproval and social stigma. Mistaken and misguided notions that practise of sport would interfere with studies and affect a career have affected many a promising career. The drop out syndrome and inadequate nutritive intake of food, are causes of India's dismal showing in Olympics. According to a survey conducted some years ago by the National Institute of Nutrition in Hyderabad, the protein intake of school children in the low and lower-middle income group in urban and rural areas is 35.6 grams as compared to a suggested requirement of 41.0 grams. Hence the protein procured is used to maintain energy rather than its primary function of building tissues and strength. Other factors are also cited and experts often dwell on lack of talent, inadequate preparation and faulty team selection.
However seen in a wider perspective, Indian sport is a reflection of contemporary society which is affected by an overall malaise of lack of values and ethics. Match fixing in cricket, Arjuna Awards the highest award for sporting excellence getting linked with connections, pulls and pressures, than actual sporting achievements and doping prevalent at the country's premier training centre, the National Institute of Sports, Patiala are some of the recent sporting headlines. Similar syndromes have bedeviled Indian sports, as can be seen in some of the other case studies in this chapter.

Arjuna Awards Imbroglio
The selection of sportspersons for the Arjuna Awards has become scandalous for some years. Ace boxer Raj Kumar Sangwan (also became a professional) and athlete Mercy Kuttan sought legal help to get the Arjuna Award. A kabaddi player, Randhir Singh employed by the Railways had 90 recommendations of politicians and bureaucrats before receiving the award in 1997. Wrestler Sanjay Kumar got nominated for the Arjuna award in 1997, after resorting to 'gheraos' and incessant pressure tactics. Letters of recommendation from high- ranking politicians matter more in getting the award than actual excellence. Both the Arjuna and Dronacharya award have got devalued. This is best exemplified by the outrageous linking together of Rachna Govil, a deputy director in the Sports Authority of India (SAI), an average athlete with Milkha Singh (4th in the 1960 Rome Olympics and winner of four gold medals in the Asian and Commonwealth Games) for life time contribution to athletics. Milkha who got the Padma Shree in 1958 rejected the Award. His rejection created a stir and made people realise the scandalous process of selection. In the past few years there have been an average of 250 nominations for the Arjuna and Dronacharya Awards. The lure of Rs. 1.5 lakhs and unlimited free rail travel by second AC, plus possible avenues of promotion makes the Arjuna award attractive and and has caused so much politicking. When the Arjuna award was instituted in 1961, it was for performance in the previous year. In that case Milkha Singh should have got the Award anytime during the early 1960s. However the rationale in those years was that as Milkha had already got a higher award the Padma Shree(in 1958) it was not befitting for him to get the Arjuna Award. So ace hurdler Gurbachan Singh Randhawa, long distance runner Tarlok Singh and 400 metres runner Makhan Singh got the awards in 1961, 1962 and 1964, the years that Milkha was still at his peak. Milkha's grouse against the politicization of the awards is justified. After all, when life time contribution to athletics was first considered in 1998, he should surely have been considered first ahead of walker Chand Ram, a gold medallist in the 1982 Delhi Asiad, but with no performance in the Olympics.
What is painful, is the absence of consistency or any rationale in the selection of sportspersons for these awards. The awards have become so politicised that now even the recommendations of the National Sports Federations get bypassed. The secretary of the All India Tennis Association (AITA) Anil Khanna had recommended Akhtar Ali's case for the Dronacharya Award. Akhtar was a successful coach of the Indian Davis Cup squad for several years. He was the coach when India notched up a memorable 3-2 win over Brazil in the 1966 Davis Cup final and qualified for the Challenge Round tie against Australia. He has also spent years grooming junior talent and his coaching abilities are recognised in foreign countries also. Akhtar deserved this award but strangely was given the Arjuna Award for lifetime contribution to tennis. This is surprising, as Akhtar's exploits as a coach are more renowned. He played just 11 Davis Cup-ties for India and had no famous victories as a player. Over the years the dignity of this Award has got marginalised. The choice of sportspersons who have made a lifetime contribution are even more arbitrary. There is no consistency in selection. In athletics, Henry Rebello who almost won a medal in the triple jump in the 1948 London Olympics (a pulled muscle prevented him from becoming Independent India's first Olympic medal winner) should have been an automatic choice for life time contribution. Again in hockey, speedy outside right Balbir Singh of Railways who scored the match-winner against Pakistan in the 1966 Bangkok Asian Games and was considered the best in the world in his position and legendary inside left Inam-ur Rehman have been consistently ignored. In contrast lesser known players like Balbir Singh of Punjab (did not play in the first eleven in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics) full back Baldev Singh and outside right Syed Jalaluddin have been considered for life time contribution to hockey. It is said that Jalaluddin got selected because he is from current Sports minister Uma Bharati's constituency and was recommended by some of her party workers. Also in football, India finest coach, the late S.A. Rahim who guided India to two gold medals in the Asian Games in 1951 and 1962 and fourth in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics has been ignored for a posthumous Dronacharya Award. To improve the stature and image of these Awards, the guidelines for selection should be more transparent. Political recommendations should be banned.

Age-Group Cheats
The lack of morality is seen in other spheres of Indian sport. False age certificates is the bane of Indian sports in age-group sports meets. Every year in junior tournaments like the Subroto Mukherjee Cup, the premier football tournament for schools in India, the Junior and Sub-junior Nehru Hockey tournaments and the Junior and sub-Junior nationals in all sports, age violations are rampant. False age certificates are produced with the connivance of unscrupulous sports teachers who pressurise Principals to issue fabricated documents. Impersonation is also a malaise in age-group sports in India. Madhyamgram High School, West Bengal won the Subroto Mukherjee Cup in 1983 by fielding a 22 -year -old postman Panna Lal Mazumdar, impersonating as a school student Moti Mazumdar. There were similar charges against some players of Mamta Model School, Delhi, which won the Subroto Cup in 1998. The Indian junior cricket team that won the Junior World cup in January 2000 had several players who were born in the month before the cut-off date. Either a remarkable coincidence or a typical case of connivance by officials desperate to succeed. What is not realised is that such cases leads to short-term success but is disastrous in the long run. Genuine sportspersons often dropout from the game, in sheer disgust. Politicking to get selected in national teams is a common malady in Indian sports. However there have even been instances of violence being used to eliminate a competitor. In the mid-eighties, swimmers from a clan in rural Delhi, who enjoyed official patronage attacked a Bombay based swimmer on the eve of selection of the team for an international meet. The subsequent leg injury prevented the Bombay swimmer from competing in the trials. In August 2000, junior Indian grapplers Palminder Singh Cheema and Ramesh Kumar Bhure attacked another wrestler 19-year-old Sandeep Rathi from Gangroli village, Meerut at a training camp in NIS Patiala. It started as a minor scuffle over a game of volleyball but rivals using knives, swords and iron rods seriously injured Rathi. Even a year later, he still has pain in the abdomen and kidney where the Palminder and Ramesh had inflicted injuries. Rathi had to spend fifteen days in the hospital and lost his place in the National squad. His wrestling career is almost over. Typically he got a raw deal from the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) who neither punished the culprits nor assisted Rathi in his recovery. Young Sandeep Rathi is thus growing up into a bitter man, who feels he has been denied justice. Sports officials have to be more responsible and set certain moral standards, otherwise the law of the jungle will start prevailing in Indian sports. As regards age group cheats, strict disciplinary action is needed. For instance the Subroto Mukherjee Cup authorities in 2000, took stern action and banned over a hundred players. Some schools had to play with just seven players. The tournament lost some of its lustre but at least an effort was made to check the malaise of over-age players masquerading as juniors.

DOPING
At the start of the new millenium, the death of 32 year old Ajit Bhaduria, a former Asian champion in discus throw, allegedly due to the side effects of doping was an eye-opener. However what often does not make the headlines are the unknown sportsmen whose lives are ruined or have even died of drug abuse. The officialdom at NIS Patiala admits that drug abuse is rampant amongst sportsmen and women of lesser calibre who are desperate to somehow make a living from their sport. Way back in 1990, weightlifter Subrata Pal was stripped of his medals in the Commonwealth Games in Auckland, for taking drugs. The theory prevalent at that time was that the lifter was not to blame but unscrupulous competition between the coaches, Pal Singh Sandhu and Salwan led to the intake of performance enhancing drugs. Both Sandhu and Salwan were vying for the coveted Dronacharya Award. Earlier at the 1986 Seoul Asiad, four Indian competitors, three lifters and a boxer returned positive results in dope tests. The weightlifters, N.G. Naidu, Tara Singh and Balwinder Singh (all Railway employees) were found to have used 'nandrolene and anabolic steroids'. The trio was banned from weightlifting for two years. Boxer Daljit Singh, who won a silver medal, also had traces of dubious drugs in his urine samples and was stripped of his title. Coaches O.P. Bhardwaj and G.S. Sandhu added to the confusion claiming that herbal medicine for a fever had led to the positive test. However the boxer, after close questioning, denied the illness. Insinuations of performance enhancing drugs were also made against shot-putters Bahadur Singh and Balwinder Singh and middle distance runners Charles Borromeo and Suresh Yadav. At home both the Indian shot-putters were in the 18 metres plus region. However neither of them repeated over 18 metres throws in competitions abroad. Similarly Borromeo faded away after winning the 800 metres gold medal in the 1982 Delhi Asiad, citing stomach ailments and injuries, that were not even cured after treatment abroad. Suresh Yadav, a captain in the Army, won the 800 metres in the Asian Track and Field Championships but also faded away quickly, complaining of several internal ailments. The first case of doping in India was noticed in rather bizarre circumstances. During the selection trials at the National Stadium, Delhi for the 1968 Mexico Olympics, then national record holder in the 10,000 metres, Kripal Singh set a blistering pace. He set near world record laps timings. However midway through the race, Kripal ran off the track, climbed the stairs of the stadium, frothing from the mouth and abused officials assembled there. It was later confirmed that Kripal had taken pills to boost his performance. However subsequent illness led to his career getting curtailed. The menace of drugs has increased in Indian sports since the 1982 Delhi Asiad. Due to declining moral standards and get rich quick attitudes it is now even widespread in Inter-University sports meets. Taking drugs is a short cut to success and ultimately the dream of a life in comfort. Drugs in sports are a universal menace, which is even recognised by the International Olympic committee (IOC). India does not even have a dope -testing laboratory of international standards. Financial constraints and huge costs are cited as reasons for not setting up a laboratory in India. However the petition filed in the Delhi High Court by long distance runner Sunita Godara and her husband that positive drug tests of several Indian sports stars were not being disclosed by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) caused a stir. Both SAI and IOA now admit that this menace is widespread in India. Efforts are being to set up an internationally approved drug-testing laboratory in the country. However this alone, will not act as a deterrent. Serious efforts must be made to educate young sportspersons of the dangers of drugs. The media should be used to spread this message. Sports teachers in schools and colleges should be educated on the perils of this problem and made to impart these lessons to young players in their institutions.
Such instances are symptoms of the morass that Indian sports have slipped into. More evidence of the malfunctioning of Indian sports and lack of morality and ethics is evident in an analysis of the three most popular sports in the country, Cricket, Football and Hockey.

HOCKEY
In hockey India first entered a team in the 1928 Olympics at Amsterdam and won the gold medal on debut. All of India's gold medals in the Olympics were in hockey, six in a row from 1928 to the 1956 Melbourne games, and again in 1964 at Tokyo and at the boycott-ridden 1980 Moscow Olympics. Seven of these hockey gold medals were won when the competition was held on grass. Since the advent of hockey on artificial surfaces at Montreal in 1976, India's only gold medal came in the Moscow games, an especially depleted competition with only six teams participating, due to the boycott by nearly 40 countries in protest against the erstwhile USSR's invasion of Afghanistan. India has also won a silver medal in hockey in 1960 at Rome and twice got bronze medals, in 1968 at Mexico and 1972 at Munich.
An analysis of the hockey results in the five fully competitive Olympics since 1976 reveals India's steady downfall in hockey. Leaving aside the 1980 gold medal triumph, the results have been dismal. India's best was fifth in 1984 at Los Angeles. Other results were seventh in1976 at Montreal, sixth in 1988 at Seoul, seventh in 1992 at Barcelona, eighth in 1996 at Atlanta and seventh in Sydney 2000. This shows that India has been unable to adjust to the demands of hockey on artificial surfaces, which demands greater speed, strength and stamina. An example from the conversion of penalty corners will illustrate this point. India's best penalty corner expert in the 1990s was Anil Aldrin whose hits were timed at 150 kilometres (about 93 miles) an hour. The world's best, during this decade, Floris Bovelander of the Netherlands had hits timed at 220 kms and the average is 180. India has been unable to bring any guile or variation in conversion of penalty corners, a vital part of modern hockey. Despite their poor performances renowned hockey coaches of the world have emphasized that even in the nineties, India had several world class players like defender Pargat Singh, centre forward Dhanraj Pillay, right winger Mukesh Kumar and midfielder Mohammed Riaz. The reason Indian hockey has underachieved in the 1990s is because of lack of tactical awareness. The contrast with current World and Olympic champions Holland is obvious. Holland has revamped their playing style, with constant inter-changing of positions, long bouts of possession play, expertise in penalty corner conversion and speed in counter attacks. India still relies on individual talent, which gets bottled up on the more demanding artificial surfaces.
Indian hockey in the 20th century can be divided into two phases, dominance on grass and the gradual decline on astro turf and artificial surfaces. From 1976 onwards the international body FIH has made it mandatory that all recognised tournaments be played on artificial surfaces. India's performances have plummeted since then in both the Olympics and the World Cup. In the World Cup, India were 12th and last in London in 1986, 10th in 1990 at Lahore and 9th in 1998 at Utrecht, Holland. This trend was only partially reversed in the 1994 World Cup in Sydney, when India finished fifth.
Leslie Claudius, the talented right half back, who was captain in the 1960 Rome Olympics feels that the shift from grass to artificial surfaces has led to declining standards because Indian hockey has not changed their approach to the game and overall technique. Claudius and several others feel that Indian coaches have not done enough homeowrk on how to prepare teams for hokey on artificial surfaces. He reasoned that, "Hockey on astro-turf means precision hitting, accurate passes and precise stopping, facets in which the Europeans and Australians are superior. The guile and stick-work for which sub-continental hockey was famous is not of much use on artificial surfaces." Claudius also felt that a mental block and a tendency to live on past glories has led to the decline of Indian hockey. He said that in contrast Pakistan, which still plays with five forwards has adopted well and won the World Cup at Sydney in 1994 and the Olympic gold medal at Los Angeles in 1984.
There are also other causes for the decline of Indian hockey. The aftermath of Independence and Partition led to the migration of large numbers of the Anglo-Indian community to Australia, England and Canada. This community had produced several stalwart internationals, Hockey in Bombay and Bengal, two important nurseries slumped with the departure of the Anglo Indians.
Interest in hockey has even declined in traditional nurseries like Bhopal, Aligarh, U.P. and even in Punjab.
The youth of Punjab are slowly playing more cricket, golf and tennis and the numbers in hockey are declining. The major reason is the absence of big money, glamour, poor visibility on TV, nepotism in selection of teams and negligible promotion or marketing of the game. In the past there would be many stalwarts competing for a single position. Now quality players fighting for a berth in the Indian team has declined rapidly.
The 1968 Olympian Inam-ur-Rehman recalls his youth in Bhopal in the 1950s and says, "there were so many players practising daily that we often had to play in gullies and streets. Each locality in Bhopal had a hockey club." Nowadays factionalism and petty politicking has ruined Bhopal hockey. The club culture has declined and the youth of Bhopal is alienated from this game. Teams from Bhopal no longer produce players of the calibre of Inam, Latif, Shahid Noor, Abdul Hamid and Aslam Sher Khan.
Former Member of Parliament and 1975 World Cup winner Aslam Sher Khan has an interesting theory about the Muslim community's gradual decline of interest in hockey. He says, "During the 1960s, Ashwini Kumar of Punjab Police and later BSF controlled the IHF. His word was final. It was rumoured that Muslims will not play well against Pakistan and so were not selected." A feeling grew that Muslims were unwanted. Such parochial attitudes led to the alienation of Muslims from Indian hockey.
Faulty selection has also led to the end of India's era of supremacy. Ashok Kumar, son of the legendary Dhyan Chand and former Olympian feels victimisation and inconsistent selection led to declining and interest in the game. He says, "if only Balbir Singh (Railways), Inam and Shahid Noor had not been dropped on flimsy grounds and been selected regularly from 1970--1975, we could have won regularly and hockey would have become a dominant sport in India with a large cult following." Ashok himself was a victim of inconsistent selection, when he was dropped on the morning of the final vs Pakistan in the 1970 Bangkok Asiad. They said he was too young to handle the pressure, even though he had played in all previous matches.
In January 1999, KPS Gill, the IHF president needlessly dropped six key senior players, after Indian returned triumphant from the 1998 Bangkok Asiad. The players were branded as rebels as they asked for regular payment for international matches. The momentum and combination of India's winning squad got shattered. Also public interest in the game declined. Frequent chopping and changing of coaches, especially in the recent past has also affected playing standards of Indian hockey.
The glory days of Indian hockey were in the late 1940s and 1950s. When the victorious 1948 London Olympics team returned by ship from the Liverpool docks, over 100,000 frenzied fans assembled at Bombay to give a tumultuous welcome to their heroes. After the 1956 Melbourne Olympics triumph, the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru had said, "Your victory gave the nation a certain stature. Keep it up." The current Indian players do not respond to such idealism. Monetary incentives are what concern them the most.
For the Sydney Olympics, the Indian squad had gone a month in advance to acclimatize. Coached by Vasudev Bhaskaran, the squad was a judicious blend of experienced stars like Dhanraj Pillay and Mukesh Kumar, playing in their third successive Olympics and talented newcomers like Mohammed Sameer Dad, Gagan Ajit Singh, goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan and Deepak Thakur. Financial incentives for success were also ample. Samsung, the sponsors of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had promised a sum of Rs. 50 lakhs to the Indian team if they returned with the gold medal. A sum of Rs. 25 lakhs was promised to the trio of coaches Vasudev Bhaskaran, assistant Harendra Singh and penalty corner specialist trainer Ranjit Singh (a resident of Spain associated with the national team for the last three months) if they guided the team to the gold medal. Way back in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Palm Beach had also promised a sum of Rs.10 lakhs for the gold and Rs.5 lakhs for the silver medal plus Rs. 5,000 for each goal scored. Four years later for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, sponsors AT &T offered $20,000 for a gold medal and there were separate incentives from co-sponsors Iodex. Besides these offers the hockey team would also benefit (Rs. 15 lakhs) from the Government of India's financial award scheme (started in 1988) for winning an Olympic medal. So there is no dearth of financial gains for Olympic success.
Expectations in India were sky high, during the Sydney Olympics. Hopes soared when India started with a bang, beating bogey team Argentina 3-0 and drawing 2-2 with favourites Australia. TV ratings for India's matches were very high. The nation seemed to have found new sporting heroes. However then came the 0-2 loss to Korea, a stumbling 2-1 win over Spain and a 1-1 draw against Poland on a rainy day which put India third in the group on goal difference and out of the semi finals. The great expectations were shattered. All the old failings, inadequate physical fitness, poor conversion of penalty corners and lack of killer instinct again re-surfaced. TV ratings of the Indian hockey team dropped. The Indian sports fan again felt let down.
In July 2001 in Edinburgh, India coached by Cedric D'Souza in his second -coming as national coach, struggled to qualify for the World Cup being held in March 2002 in Kuala Lumpur. In the Edinburgh World Cup qualifiers, India finished fifth (seven countries qualified). Change of coaches has not helped. Indian hockey is like old wine in new bottles. The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) has signed a Rs. 3 crores sponsorship deal with Castrol but no payment schemes for players are forthcoming. The players remain disgruntled. Coaches are unable to blend the senior and junior players into a cohesive national team. The overall scenario is depressing. The stark reality is that India is no more a world power in hockey and qualifying for the Olympics and World Cups seems to be the objectives rather than winning medals as in the past. Nobody has answers for this downfall. The IHF does not know where to start. Broadbasing the game in the country, reviving club hockey and activating state associations are some of the immediate tasks for the IHF, otherwise standards will fall futher.

CRICKET
In terms of television and media coverage, spectator response, generation of advertisements and sponsorship and nation wide acceptability, cricket is the 'King of Kings' in Indian sport. A survey carried out by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) some years ago revealed that over 80 per cent of India's youth prefer to play and watch cricket, rather than any Olympic sport. Middle class India has embraced cricket, because of the glamour it involves, the chance of a lucrative career and above all because cricket is one of the few games in which India gains reasonable international success. So cricket in India bestrode the firmament like a mighty colossus, dominating all other sports. However Manoj Prabhakar's sensational disclosures in the tehelka.com tapes and the CBI enquiry about alleged involvement in match fixing has jolted cricket's supremacy. Suddenly Indian cricket became an area of darkness.
Former sports editor of The Indian Express, Kishin R. Wadhwaney in his informative book, Cricket's Murky Underworld reveals that "murky deals proved one thing that cricket players were involved with bookies who, in turn, were under the thumbs of dons of the underworld." (126). Wadhwaney has warned that the nexus of the underworld, punters, bookies and cricketers and betting, bribery and match-fixing is so deep-rooted that "it may not come as a big surprise if one or more stars are done to death by the dons or their alleged associates." (126). The author states that in an important one-day match, about Rs. 1,000 crores changes hands in Mumbai alone. In Delhi also betting is said to be in the range of Rs. 1,000 crores. Thus betting in cricket has outstripped that in racing, which is never more than Rs. 1 or 2 crores on a particular day or a maximum of Rs. 5 crores on the day of the Derby. The meticulous CBI inquiry revealed the links of several established stars with punters and bookies. The reputations of giants like Azahruddin, Kapil Dev, Ajay Jadeja, Nayan Mongia, Manoj Prabhakar and several others took a tumble. With cricket under a cloud, sponsorship started to decline. For instance Kapil Dev's Samsung and Azharuddin's Pepsi's advertisement along with some others were withdrawn. It was revealed that for several years, some star players had 'fixing' matches for undisclosed sums of money. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) suspended former Indian skipper Azharuddin and Ajay Shama for life and Ajay Jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar for five years. They have also issued a six-point code of conduct for the players.
However it is felt that the BCCI had the knowledge and opportunities to break the players--bookie nexus earlier but failed to act due to vested interests. The BCCI officials felt that the problem would just blow away and scandals could be avoided. Cynics also believe that some officials of the BCCI were themselves involved with bookies and hence no action was taken, till there was a public outcry due to media revelations and investigations of the Delhi Police. The delay in prompt punitive action has led to the game of cricket getting tainted.
The media was full of lurid tales of the lack of integrity of several Indian cricketers. Each day it became a case of the god that failed. Suddenly cricket was not a symbol of national unity in India. The middle class who thought of cricket twenty-four hours a day felt disillusioned and disappointed at the greed of the cricketers. Results on the field of play also dipped. So the compulsion to watch Indian cricket declined. Viewership perceptibly diminished during the Asia Cup in Dhaka May 2000. During the past couple of years, cricket had become associated with a type of fierce national identity, an expression of nationalism and the growth of the Indian nation state. Success on the field of play like in cricket or in beauty contests were visible expressions of triumph which exponents of Information Technology cannot provide. Midnight's Children are now very nationalistic and Mona Bhattacharya, noted TV anchor, best summed up such feelings. She said, "I like watching cricket, especially one -day cricket because it is nice to see your country win once a while." But by the end of May 2000, all this had changed. The Indian cricket team was losing regularly; the icons had become fallen idols. This trend continues.
Results on the field also plunged. In the winter of 1999-2000 India's tour of Australia became the blunder Down Under. India lost 0-3 to world champions Australia and flopped in the three nation one -day series. India's twelve- year- old unbeaten record at home also fell by the wayside. South Africa trounced India 2-0 in the two test series. India fared miserably in the Sharjah tri-series and the Asia Cup at Dhaka in April-May 2000. In early 2001 there was a glimmer of hope in the comeback 2-1 series win against Australia at home mainly thanks to the batting V.V.S. Laxman and the bowling of Harbhajan Singh. However this sense of well being also faded rapidly as India continued their dismal run in overseas tours. They were held to a 1-1 draw by lowly paced Zimbabwe, fared badly against Sri Lanka and lost both the one-day finals on these tours. The cash rich BCCI has emerged as a body more interested in profits than promoting the sport. The lack of attention to detail, such as producing sporting wickets at home to enhance India's overall standard and improving domestic cricket is an indictment on their style of functioning. The BCCI must show more concern for the welfare of players in arranging overseas tours, provide better facilities for domestic cricket and take greater interest in curbing the bookie/punter-player nexus so that Indian cricket does not get further tainted. After all justice must not only be done but seen to be done.

FOOTBALL
Football in India is always an enigma. Domestic matches between arch-rivals Mohun Bagan and East Bengal always draws huge crowds in the region of 75-80,000. About 120,000 spectators watched the August 2001 league tie between these arch -rivals at the Salt Lake stadium, Calcutta. The Goa derby between Salgaocar and Zee-Churchill also attracts crowds of 35--40,000. The National football league ties between clubs teams from Calcutta and Goa also attracts spectators in excess of 50,000. However the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has done little to either develop standards or market this people's sport and capitalise on public enthusiasm. In the 1950s and 60s, India won the Asian Games gold medal twice in football (in 1951 and 1962), were runners up in the 1964 Asia Cup, and regularly finished either second or third in the Merdeka tournament in Kuala Lumpur. But now India has slumped in the international arena and are ranked 113th in the world and 19th in Asia, according to the FIFA Coca-Cola list of August 2001. The game has not expanded in India and remains confined to a few pockets in India, like the North-East region, Bengal, Kerala and Goa. In most other states it remains popular in small areas, like the Mahilpur region in Punjab or the Walled City area in Delhi. The popularity and participation in the game has slumped in traditional regions like Hyderabad and Bangalore.
AIFF officials are busy in petty politicking and are not men of vision. At present the AIFF president, Mr. Priya Ranjan Das Munshi who is often busy with his political career is being charged with embezzlement of funds. An internal AIFF audit in 1996, Indian football's richest year revealed that Rs. 2.5 crores could not be accounted for. This anomaly formed the basis of the current lawsuit against the AIFF president and his cronies. Financial irregularities have led to further loss of revenue. A $250,000 (approx. Rs. 1.5 crores) FIFA Youth Development grant given to India in 1999 was frozen, following complaints that AIFF officials were siphoning off the grant for purposes other than football. The game does not have a good image in India. Also sadly the nationalistic middle class tend not to identify with the Indian football team, as they barely play enough international matches. Indians in the urban metropolitan cities tend to root for Brazil or Argentina or Netherlands but Indian football is scoffed at as being too slow. TV coverage of Indian football is also inadequate, so it does not attract enough sponsorship. Thus Indian football is in a vicious circle from which it is difficult too escape.
...match against a local club team. This was again due to apathy by the AIFF.
For many years there was no monetary incentive for Indian players. They got paid $10 per day during trips abroad. Payments per match and bonus incentives were rare. The AIFF is unable to retain sponsors because of unfulfilled promises. Hence for many years there was not enough money to pay the national team. The newly elected (Dec. 2000) AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco introduced graded payment for the national team in the World Cup qualifiers (Asian zone, Group in April--May 2001. Each member of the Indian squad was paid Rs. 25,000 as basic pay with bonus money of Rs. 15,000 or Rs. 10,000 per win, depending on the nature of the opposition. This helped to stem the rot and led to marginally improved performances. For the first time in the World Cup qualifiers, India beat a country ranked 60 places ahead of them (UAE ranked 64 as compared to India's 124) and finished with three wins, two draws and a solitary defeat in their campaign.
India's junior and sub-junior teams are chosen only for participation in Asian championships and get limited exposure. Despite such handicaps in the 1974 Asian Junior championships in Bangkok, India emerged joint-champions with Iran (2-2 draw). Four Indians, skipper and striker Shabbir Ali, roving forward Harjinder Singh, left winger Mohd. Yacob and midfielder Prasun Banerjee were chosen for an Asian squad, selected from amongst players in these championships. So India, had the talent to be amongst the best in Asia. However this talent was not groomed and some players like defenders Joaquim Baretto, B. Dayanand and Amit Dasgupta just faded away. A waste of quality human resources. In contrast six players from Iran developed and represented their country in the 1978 World Cup finals in Argentina. This trend sadly still continues.
There is little follow up on talented players that emerge from the North -East and the Andamin and Nicobar islands. Due to little encouragement, competitive football has become dormant in many states in India. In the 1960--70s, about 100 domestic tournaments took place annually. The number has whittled down to a mere 24 tournaments per year. The AIFF should ensure that regular tournaments/leagues are held all over India to increase the reservoir of talent and get more people involved in the game.
Professional management, better marketing, greater attention to the senior and age-group National teams and broad-basing the game in different states are required for Indian football to have a brighter future in the 21st century.

Sept. 6: Gone are the days of Punjab's stranglehold on Indian hockey. Sansarpur is a village of yore, but Orissa's Sundargarh district is now the national game's hotbed. "The ball is relayed from a Singh to a Singh to a Singh," was the famous description of a foreign journalist when India were ruling world hockey. The sentence has to be tweaked a little now as Tirkeys, Ekkas and Kullus dominate national team roster. India, admittedly, have fallen by the wayside in recent decades but Orissa's passionate tribal belt is offering some hope for the future.

Failures are common in sports. India can live with its lowly position in world hockey. The harshly reality is that we were not good enough to make it to the Beijing Olympics. But the mess that has engulfed hockey administration in the country is seriously threatening to snap Orissa's famous assembly line. With no sign of a new body taking over the reins of the Indian Hockey Federation, youngsters at Rourkela's Panposh sports hostel are worried about their future.

K.C. Choudhury, a coach at the hostel, says: "We have more than 150 boys and girls in three categories (nursery, hostel and centre of excellence). Most of them are from Sundargarh district. Our players have their fingers crossed now because they have no clue about the conduct of junior nationals. If there are no nationals as a result of the problems in the IHF, where can our boys get exposure? Only national participation can get our juniors jobs. Most of our inmates are poor. They need jobs to continue playing hockey. I'm having a difficult time to motivate my boys."

The MCC-Murugappa gold cup in the city has come as a boon for the Orissa boys. Choudhury says he is glad that his team has got an opportunity to play. "At the same time, I can evaluate my team only after seeing them compete in a junior event. How can they compete with the senior stars of IOC and Air India in open tournaments?" he asks.

The coach says the national game is alive and kicking in Orissa. "You have to see to believe Sundargarh's passion for hockey. Every village has a competition in which live goats are given away as prizes. Even established players such as Dilip Tirkey and Ignace Tirkey participate in village events during their holidays. Hockey is a rage in Sundargarh. Dilip is a big inspiration for our youngsters. Whenever Dilip comes home, he makes it a point to gift sticks and balls to players in his village," he informs.

All national teams cutting across age groups have Orissa players in good numbers nowadays. Choudhary informs that the Indian junior team that won the Asia Cup in Hyderabad recently had three Orissa boys. "In our state-sponsored exclusive hockey academy, special care is given to nurture future stars, both boys and girls. We have a world-class gym apart from a good collection of CDs of international matches. We have a battery of tests (physical, mental and medical) as part of our admission procedure. There is a specific thrust on the mental abilities of the aspirants as modern hockey demands intelligence as well as physical prowess," he explains.

All is well with the Orissa production line but the problem is with the administration of the game. Ousted KPS Gill is plotting his comeback; IOA president Suresh Kalmadi is giving empty promises and the ad-hoc IHF committee is in a shambles. Then, what is the hope for the young guns of Orissa?

Kochi, Sep 10 (PTI) Harwinder Singh of Services came up with extra energy in the last lap of the 20000 metre walk to clinch the gold medal in the 48th National Open Athletic Championship on the penultimate day here today.

Twenty three-year-old Harwinder, a Havildar with Army Ordnance Corps, Secunderabad, was close on the heels of Ashok Kumar Patel of Railway till the last lap. But Harwinder increased the speed and with 300 metres to go for the finish he took the lead and maintained it successfully to win the gold with a time of 1 hour 35.21 seconds.

"I was confident of winning the gold medal here and I am happy I could do that," he told PTI after the event.

A bronze medallist at the last Open Nationals at Jamshedpur, Harwinder had participated in the England European Grand Prix during June last and finished at the seventh position.

Twenty one-year old Patel, a technician with Bilaspur Railways, had to be content with the silver with a time of 1 hour 35.32 secs and P S Jalan of Services with the bronze with 1 hour 36.11 secs.

Defending champion Railways added yet another gold medal into their swelling kitty, when Anil Singh captured the first place in the Javelin throw, clearing a distance of 74.11 metres while Kasinath Naik of Services took the silver with 72.6 metres and Karnataka's Purandar the bronze at 71.78 metres.

With the addition of Anil's gold medal, Railways medal tally had increased to 10 golds, six silver and five bronze, while the second placed Services had caputured two golds, two silver and three bronze. Kerala are in the third slot with two gold, one silver and two bronze.

Twenty six-year-old K Krishan Mohan of Services stole the limelight when he shattered the national record in the 110m hurdles to clinch the gold medal on the penultimate day of the 48th National Open Athletic championship here today.

Mohan, hailing from Guntur in Andhra Pradesh, returned a time of 13.96 secs on the way to eclipsing Naunidh Singh's National and Meet record, which stood at 14.05 secs. "I am very happy and delighted. I was confident of winning the gold medal," an elated Mohan said after the event. P Muthu Swami of Railways bagged the silver, timing 14.26 secs, while former national record holder Naunidh Singh of Police settled for the bronze with 14.27 secs.

India has dipped to an all-time low in hockey world rankings to the 11th spot in the latest revision by the International Hockey Federation on September 8. India was ranked ninth before the Beijing Olympic Games.

The Netherlands regained the No 1. spot in the women’s section followed by Argentina and Germany. China, which figured in the final of the Beijing Olympics, moves up to fourth place, ahead of Australia. India which was 13th in the list has sunk one spot to 14th.

The rankings: Men: 1. Germany (2530 points), 2. Australia (2365), 3. Spain (2295), 4. Netherlands (2158), 5. Korea (2003), 6. England (1571), 7. New Zealand (1488), 8. Pakistan (1460), 9. Argentina (1430), 10. Belgium (1363), 11. India, and 12. Japan.

These are uncertain times for Indian hockey. Directionless and captainless, the country's national game is doddering on choppy waters. Missing the Beijing Olympics is now history. It's time to start the preparations for the 2010 World Cup, but the signs are not encouraging.

FIH president Els van Breda Vriesman has said her tenure would be a failure if she demits office without seeing India among world's elite. Disappointment is in store for the FIH boss if the state of hockey in India now is any indication. Gill is gone; Jothi is entangled in a web of a TV sting operation, but there are no positive signals from the ad-hoc body headed by IOA president Suresh Kalmadi.

But hope is eternal. The 84th MCC-Murugappa gold cup all-India tournament was off with a traditional curtain raiser at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium on Wednesday. MCC's seasoned stars including V. Baskaran, Mohd. Riaz and B.P. Govinda took on The Hindu, a first division team, and produced a competitive result, 4-4.

Govinda, a firebrand forward in the 70s, is not an intimidating sight now. With a paunch that hits you on the first look and a troublesome left leg, the Coorg-native moves at a sedate pace on the ground. But he has not lost his fire as a competitor. He maybe on the wrong side of 60 but his spirit on the ground will put a 20-year-old to shame. Govinda, playing in his customary left-in position, scored a goal and created many opportunities for his teammates. Despite his physical limitations, he rolled back the years to give a glimpse how he would have played in his prime. The touch was there so as the will to win.

Indian Bank sports officer Stephen Balasamy, who had played with the former Indian star, says: "Govinda's USP was spirit in his playing days. His fierce competitive edge hasn't been blunted by the passage of years. I can see the old Govinda today." M.S. Neelakantan, a die-hard hockey fan, says he enjoyed the show. "It was supposed to be a fun game. But it was as competitive as it could get. I was amazed by Govinda's passion. Imagine playing hockey, which is a young man's game today, at the age of 60. Hats off to Govinda," he adds.

In the MCC-Murugappa tournament proper, IOC will take on IOB, followed by a match between Air India and Army XI on Thursday evening. Players should forget the chaos in hockey administration and take a leaf out of Govinda's book and produce a passion play to herald the national game's first step towards revival in the all-India event.

With Indian hockey facing turbulent times, the Bengal Hockey Association (BHA) in association with Sahara India Pariwar organised a seminar to discuss the future of Indian hockey and ways and means of restoring its lost glory, at the Aamby Valley City on Tuesday. Delegates from about 30 affiliated units of the now disbanded Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) and some Olympians participated in the well-attended seminar. Also present were Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Suresh Kalmadi and Suniel Shetty, noted Bollywood actor.

Kalmadi, incidentally, also heads the ad-hoc body which is looking after the sport after the IOA dissolved the IHF in April this year in the wake of India failing to qualify for the Beijing Olympics. The seminar was held in the backdrop of an emerging but veiled battle for control of the IHF. Pressure is being put on the ad-hoc body to put in place the new IHF body quickly. Kalmadi has even responded to it by promising that elections for the new body would be held before the year-end. Addressing the seminar, Kalmadi said, "I’m concerned with the present state of Indian hockey but this seminar will certainly help in providing a successful dimension to the game in the coming days." Kalmadi also said that the IHF should to be run by a professional CEO.

Meanwhile, J B Roy, president of the BHA, hoped that all 41 affiliated units of the IHF would work together to take Indian hockey to greater heights in the near future. BHA secretary Gurbux Singh stressed that a ‘legitimate and powerful body comprising of new office-bearers’ was needed to take the game further. Roy, a press release claimed, was authorised by the affiliated units of the IHF to talk to the IOA on their behalf.

The India under-16 side bounced back from its 2-1 defeat to Everton to hold Manchester United 3-3 here on Tuesday night.

A few days ago, the chief of the sports company that manages boxer Vijender Kumar declared that Jitender Kumar and Akhil Kumar -- the two Indian pugilists who lost in the quarterfinals of the Beijing Olympics -- could not get through to the semifinals because of: "calls and attention from you". "You" is the media, whose presence is indeed becoming intolerably intrusive, but was it a factor in the defeats of Jitender and Akhil?

Vijender, for instance, was asked if it was all right that he, a youth icon, was photographed smoking a cigarette; he said that was for an advertising campaign, and that he'd never do it again. He was asked if it was right that his first coach be given the Dronacharya Award, despite there being a murder case against him. What could the young man say? "Yes, he should be given the award… I can't comment on the charge against him," he said. "Aren't you wasting your precious time, signing a deal with sponsors," someone else asked. "One has to rest too… you know nothing about boxing," Vijender said. Soon after, he left the venue of the press conference. He had had enough, though he was persuaded to allow the media to have another go at him. Not a master of verbal jousting, the Bhiwani boxer could get away only after another stressful inquisition.

One could sympathise with him. Success attracts such attention, even from the celebrities who are famous only for being famous. Bipasha Basu had offered to go a date with Vijender if he won a gold medal at Beijing. Vijender said she tried to call him but got through and talked with Akhil instead. A young woman sports journalist I know declared, through her messenger status, that she wanted to "marry someone from Bhiwani, whose name started preferably with V". {Oh, this must be that idiot who had a public orgasm on NDTV, Chitra whats her name? } It's very easy to love a winner, especially if he possesses good looks and wealth.

In a dramatic turn of events, a trailing Som Bahadur Pun was declared winner in a light welterweight category quarterfinal bout against Manoj Kumar in the 55th National boxing championship here on Wednesday. Services man Som Bahadur was trailing 16-21 in the fourth round with 30 seconds to go when referee G. Nagpurwala issued a third warning to Railways pugilist Manoj for “head-butting” and subsequently disqualified him.
Ugly scenes

This enraged the whole Railways team and many of its members rushed to the centre of the ring and staged a protest. Manoj sat on the floor of the ring and refused to move despite requests from the referee and ring officials. A furious Railways coach Jaidev Bisht criticized the decision while manager Sushil Kumar Sharma lodged a protest on behalf of the team. Nagpurwala, incidentally, has got a reputation as one of the best referees in the country and has wide international experience.

The bout was eventful right from the start. Som Bahadur led 3-2 after the first round. But Manoj relied on straight punches to his opponent’s body and fought back to surge ahead 11-5. In the third round, the Railways boxer increased his points despite giving away four penalty points after being warned twice by the referee and led 18-14 before the final round.

Recently, many of our athletes suffered a shocking slump in their form at the Beijing Olympics. But Lalit Bhanot, the Athletics Federation of India Secretary, says doping is not an issue at all in Indian athletics. “Our athletes have been tested so many times by WADA (the World Anti Doping Agency), and almost all our records have come in international meets, so doping is not an issue at all,” said Mr Bhanot here this evening.

“If they don’t train for eleven and half months every year, there will be no consistency.” That’s also the reason for the very poor performance of many of our stars at the National Open here, he said. Some of the country’s leading women’s discus throwers who are being touted as medal hopes in international meets were nearly 10m below their best in Kochi.

Somdev Devvarman gave world No 18 Nicolas Almagro a scare before losing his first round encounter in the Euro 370000 BCR Open in Bucharest, Romania. Ranked 226 rungs below the Spaniard, Somdev took the first set before going down 7-6(6), 2-6, 5-7 in the clay court event after two hours and 25 minutes.

Bhupathi is ready with a quick retort when asked how peaceful would the atmosphere be in the team for next week's Davis Cup tie against Romania. "It's always very peaceful. We don't talk to each other directly. We talk through the media and since there won't be any media in Bucharest, I don't foresee any problems," Bhupathi answered, tongue-in-cheek.

Bhupathi is No. 11 in the world doubles rankings, represents India at the Davis Cup, runs a successful celebrity and sports management agency and is aggressively involved in unearthing new talent. Wherever you turn within the parameters of the sport in the country, you're bound to come up against the Bhupathi name, much to the envy of the powers that be.

About the cancellation of the WTA Sunfeast Open, Bhupathi minced no words. "I have no issues with the AITA. I believe they did the right thing. A flimsy excuse is not good enough to cancel a tournament as the Bangalore guys did but if the AITA says that they didn't know about the WTA Sunfeast Open cancellation, even I've emails to show them," he said, daring the body to respond. {So the real issue here is the event was cancelled, the AITA babus and netas were 2 busy to note this in real time, felt humiliated, then went berserk and canceled the whole damn idea of private parties hosting tennis events. So they have saved face by this order now. What a set of jerks at AITA.}

Lady luck deserted Bhupathi again at the US Open, where his partner Mark Knowles hurt his knee in the second round of the mixed doubles event and the duo subsequently lost in the third round of the doubles. Knowles and Bhupathi, fourth in the Stanford Doubles Race for the Masters Cup, have had a patchy year, winning a lot of matches but stumbling at the final hurdle. {That explains things.}

"Compared with the last couple of years, I think this year has been fantastic for me. As far as Knowles and I are concerned, we've just been plain unlucky. I was injured and then he hurt himself. The good thing is we still have five events left to play and we're very close to qualifying for the Masters Cup in London," Bhuapthi said after he'd spent a few hours assessing local talent at a couple of camps organised by Mahesh Bhupathi Team Tennis, his latest endeavour.

Dismissing claims that the infrastructure for the 2010 Commonwealth Games [Images] would not be ready in time, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Suresh Kalmadi assured that things would be in place by December next year. "We are very serious about the event. All infrastructural works are running on time. I can assure you it would be ready by December 2009, after which we are planning some test events at the venues before staging the big show," Kalmadi told reporters on Wednesday.

Pun skips replay

Sports Reporter

BATHINDA: The controversial bout between Manoj Kumar and Som Bahadur Pun ended on a low-key note on Thursday with the Services boxer refusing to turn up for the replay of the bout and the Railwayman being declared winner of the quarterfinal in the National boxing championship.

On Wednesday, Manoj was disqualified following three warnings by referee G. Nagpurwala and Som Bahadur was declared winner when he was trailing by five points in the final round.

The Railways filed a protest and the jury, meeting late in the night, reviewed the video footage to order a re-bout.
‘Against norms’

The Services team management claimed on Thursday that replay of the bout did not comply with international norms of the sport and informed the Ring Officials Commission that Pun would not take part in it.

Railways coach Jaidev Bisht described Manoj’s win as the “victory of truth.”

The Services team management was planning to file a written protest against the jury’s decision to order replay of the bout. But timely intervention by some top officials of the Indian Boxing Federation (IBF) pacified the Services camp.

“They were disturbed, it’s an emotional thing. But we talked to them and there is no protest,” the IBF Vice-President, Asit Banerjee, told The Hindu.

Banerjee said “no action would be taken” against referee Nagpurwala, who left the venue after last night’s embarrassing situation.
Warning

Meanwhile, the jury issued a warning to Railways coach Bisht for appearing in the ring during the protest by Manoj and his supporters. However, another Railways coach D. Devan was suspended indefinitely for entering the ring even before the decision had been given on Wednesday.

“Bisht was let off as this would have left the Railways team without their main coach. We have referred Devan’s case to the disciplinary committee which will decide on the time period of the suspension,” Lenni D’Gama, the Chairman of the Ring Officials Commission, said.

Cheats use adrenalin rush to gain edge
Friday, September 12, 2008
BEIJING: Self-flagellation, mutilation, bladder constriction — welcome to the world of the Paralympic cheat who reaches for a belt or a sharp object rather than abanned substance to gain an edge in elite competition. The grisly practice of voluntary autonomic dysreflexia —commonly known as boosting — involves disabled athletes beating, stabbing and strapping parts of the body to provoke anadrenalin rush that might improve their performance by up to 25 per cent, or failing that, kill them.

“We are talking about head-aches, goose flesh, brain damage, arterial disruption...there have even been cases of athletes passing away,” said Peter Van de Vliet, medical and scientific director of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). While generally not regarded as a widespread problem, adherents were found in all sports that catered to athletes whose disabilities precluded a circular central nervous response, said Van de Vliet, such as those with spinal cord injuries. In essence, athletes who could harm parts of their bodies without feeling pain.

“Typically athletes can induce this through strapping or clamping the bladder or sitting on something sharp because we know that pain stimuli can induce a similar reaction on the...nervous system. We find these athletes in table tennis in severe (disability) classes, swimming, in wheelchair racing, they are in cycling,” he explained. Recognised as an unfair advantage and a health threat, boosting entered the IPC’s anti-doping code ahead of Athens in 2004 and officials at this month’s Beijing Games are keeping a wary eye for tell-tale signs. High blood pressure readings taken before and after competitions can lead to an athlete’s disqualification though nomandatory bans are meted out, unlike in conventional doping cases.

Officials were still working out a suitable process for testing, which invariably could be disruptive to an athlete’s preparations before competition, said Van de Vliet. “We call it a health test, and that’s the way we introduce it to our athletes. However, it’s part of our doping programme,” he said. In addition to random checks to weed out boosters, officials will carry out some 1,100 urine and blood tests in Beijing, 70 percent more than at Athens, according to Wang Wei, a spokesman for the Games’ organising committee.

Out-of-competition testing was also introduced in the lead-up to the Beijing Games, with Pakistani power lifter Naveed Ahmed Butt the first casualty after testing positive for a banned anabolic steroid last week. The second, German wheelchair basketball player Ahmet Coskun, was sent home on Wednesday after a pre-Games urine test revealed the presence of the banned substance finasteride, a baldness treatment which can mask the use of steroids. A tough anti-doping regime for the Paralympics is more necessary than ever, athletes and organisers say. “I don’t see it as a major problem but it’s something that we have to be very, very careful about,” Philip Craven, President of the IPC, said last week. “We’ve got more tests than ever and we’re hoping for a very good outcome,” he added.

Notions of equal opportunity and participation often obscure the fact that the Paralympics is, for many athletes, an elite competition where a medal-winning performance can secure government funding and corporate sponsorship. “There are certainly more incentives for Paralympic athletes these days,” said Canadian Sarah Hunter, who plays on the professional wheelchair tennis circuit and has been tested atleast 10 times this year. “The stakes are definitely higher,” she added.

The final match (14th September) is likely to telecast live by the national telecaster, Doordarshan.

Murugappa Gold cup semis:
In the semifinals on Saturday, IOC will take on Army XI and Air India will play IOB.

The cracks and dichotomy in the loosely put out Ad-hoc committee to run the hockey affairs after dissolution of the IHF, comes to limelight with the reported resignation of its very convenor, Md. Aslam. According to reliable source, Aslam, who successfully organized the Junior Asia Cup, was upset that his views were not sought nor considered when the As-hoc committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi announced major decisions. He was not even aware of the fact that two selectors Ajit Pal Singh and Zafar Iqbal were sent to Beijing to watch hockey matches. It is worthwhile to mention here the IOA committee which selected Beijing contingent did not recommend trip for any hockey selection Committee members.

It is understood the delay in announcing national team coach is also a bone of contention. Officially, about 20 names were short-listed yet coaches were not named. Neither IOA nor Md. Aslam are willing to comment on the resignation. It is believed Aslam is being cajoled to rescind his decision. The ad hoc committee hardly functioned as a unit, and in fact till the Junior Asia Cup they never met also. The Committee's Technical Advisor Charlesworth is already gone, marketing member never shown up so far.

It is a matter of concern the ad-hoc committee in its existence of three months did not announce any single move that would prove they meant business. The past IHF was dissolved on a national anger, but the new regime hardly came to fill in the promise expected. Their indecision proved far dangerous than their decisions. Handling of Charlesworth issue was classic case of indecision, while the Aslam Sher Khan comes under bad decision category. {Well not so, as I have argued before, but other strategic blunders take the cake.}

With the Aslam Sher Khan episode – an unnecessary removal of him – we got a taste of what is cooking up in the selection committee, now with Md. Aslam on the mat, the ad-hoc committee also proved to be a disjointed one. We all expected good things will happen after the past regime ended, but are concerned with developments such as this.

Saina Nehwal has entered the quarterfinal of Yonex Chinese Taipei Open badminton after easing past Hong Kong's Kwan Yi Mong 21-8, 21-12 Thursday. Second seed Saina will now face Purantip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand, who battled past local challenger Shih Han Huang 20-22, 21-12, 23-21. Saina earlier beat Mingtian Fu of Singapore 21-19 21-19 in the Grand Prix event. The World No. 14 Indian is playing in her first tournament since making it to the Beijing Olympics quarterfinal.

Bhupathi also had some words of sympathy for Sania Mirza and hoped the Hyderabad girl would be back next season. "She has been injured and is just unlucky. I know her ranking has been going down but that is not an issue. She will be out of the court for a while but I am hopeful she will be fit next season and will regain her spot."

A keen admirer of the game, Bhupathi, who had been giving tips to the youngsters on the sidelines of a tennis clinic, feels lack of fitness is one biggest issue of Indian tennis and has been doing his bit to address it. "Fitness is one of the biggest issue in India tennis but we are trying to address it. We have experts from Argentina, South Africa who keep coming to India and help these kids. We have coaches dedicated to fitness training and 15-20 fulltime coaches here," he said. "We have 49 sites all over the place, everytime I come to India I visit them and throw in my inputs. Besides we have head coaches who visit them in weekly basis," he added.

The Indian team’s training camp for the Chess Olympiad is on in full swing in Chennai and New Delhi. For the first time, both the men’s and women’s teams will field Grandmasters on all boards. Senior Grandmaster Lev Psakhis of Israel is training the men’s squad here and Elizbar Ubilava, who was with the men’s team at Calvia 2004 and Turin 2006, has been assigned the task of handling the women’s side. The camp, which began on September 9, will run till 23.

“Such camps are required as the team members should know each other better. I have some material and want to analyse that with the five boys,” said Psakhis. The men’s team comprises Krishnan Sasikiran (TN, captain), P. Harikrishna (AP), Surya Sekhar Ganguly, Sandipan Chanda (both Bengal) and G.N. Gopal (Ker). The women’s side has Dronavalli Harika (AP), Tania Sachdev (Del), Nisha Mohota, Mary Ann Gomes (both Ben) and Swati Ghate (Mah).

The players have been training for seven hours a day and the focus has been on endings so far, according to Harikrishna. “A role of a coach is to make the player think and play better. Success rests with the concerned player,” said Psakhis, the key man behind India’s gold medal winning performance at the 2006 Doha Asiad. Psakhis expects India, minus Viswanathan Anand, to match a team like Israel. About the placing one can expect, he said it would depend on how well the boys play.

“India is already a top nation and in four years it will equal Russia in terms of quality of play at the top,” said Psakhis about India’s growing presence in the game. Predictions can go awry in a Chess Olympiad. A strong Russian team with Vladimir Kramnik, Alexander Morozevich and other strong players could finish only sixth. “I am giving the boys a lot of work and I am trying to make them think. Computers are not there at the camp since we are not analysing the openings and what we learn today can become out of fashion when the games begin on November 12,” said Psakhis.

The Chess Olympiad to be held at Dresden (Germany) will see many changes. By increasing the players from four to five and boards from three to four, women’s chess stands to benefit. On the contrary, the numbers came down from six to five in the men’s event with the same four playing members. One important rule is that the players have to be at their table five minutes before the start of play. Also, a player cannot leave the table without the permission of the match arbiter when it is his turn to move.

Winner of two titles on the PGA Tour, Daniel Chopra will be the prize catch of this year’s Hero Honda Indian Open golf championship that has become a million-dollar event after the prize-money was doubled from last year. When the four-day event opens at the Delhi Golf Club course here on Oct. 9, three-time winner and defending champion Jyoti Randhawa will be around, along with Asian Tour leader New Zealand’s Mark Brown and last year’s Order of Merit winner China’s Liang Wen-Chong.

S.S.P. Chowrasia, who won the $2.5 million dollar Emmar Masters here in February, will be among the favourites. However, Jeev Milkha Singh’s presence is doubtful since he is nursing an ankle injury. With Arjun Atwal and Shiv Kapur still needing some work to ensure their cards for the PGA Tour and the European PGA Tour respectively, the Indian challenge will be less formidable as compared to what it was last year. Addressing media persons here on Thursday, Hero Honda’s MD and CEO Pawan Munjal hailed the phenomenal growth of golf in the country and reiterated his company’s commitment to take the National Open to greater heights. Since taking up the Indian Open in 2005, Hero Honda has raised the prize-money from $300,000 to a million dollars.

An interesting fare is in the offing in the semifinals when the MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament resumes on Saturday after a day’s break at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium. An added attraction in the line-up is the presence of the local league champion, Indian Overseas Bank. The form displayed by some of IOB players, notably, Olympian Adam Sinclair, international Senthil and the rising star, Vinod Rayar, has been the talking point for the last few days.

Indian hockey is alive and kicking despite all that negative stuff that is happening day in and day out. If it is people who make such things happen, then you will be happy to encounter affable Arif Ahmed. He mind-manages Chennai’s jewel team, Indian Overseas Bank. The local outfit surprised many before reaching the semis of the ongoing Murugappa Gold Cup. They take on Air India on Saturday. A win would take them to the Sunday finals.

Arif has a gift of gab. And he uses the gift of the Almighty to the benefit of the team. Sample this. He reminds his players with these words: Greatest of all battles are fought in ‘the space between the two ears’. Arif moved his interest from cricket to hockey as he found ‘waiting padded in the pavilion was boring’. Cricket’s loss is clearly hockey’s gain.

Arif’s mantra of success: “I tell my boys, the only way to play the game is to attack and attack”. His plan A, plan B and plan C in any order is evident in his 4-2-4 formation. He attributes the success of the IOB team to many factors -- team, Bank Sports Committee and the belief that ‘Hard work never killed anybody’. He takes great pride in mentioning that IOB was the first Chennai team to play in the northern regions in various prestigious tournaments such as one at Nabha (Punjab) and Mandi (Himachal Pradesh). They played against top teams like Services, ITBP, EME, Punjab Police etc and finished runners-up. That too the Madras boys, used to tropical climate, playing in the bone-chilling winters of the North, sans hot water, is mind boggling one.

That’s perhaps is a proof of the team having the ‘Tipping Effect’ brimming with enthusiasm. His way of preparing the team for competitions are a lesson for coaches, should they be willing to learn. A qualified Physical Trainer, Sujin Elango, makes the team stronger physically and mentally. If mornings are meant for a 2 kms. run up on the St. Thomas Mount and back, then evenings are for the skill part of the sport like trapping, one touch passing etc. Sometimes the boys are asked alternate with running on the beach. This process went on for a month before the tournament. The hockey skills first trained at the Pachyapas College Ground, gets honed on astro-turf subsequently.

IOB’s first match in the Murugappa was against the IOC which had Prabhjot Singh, Deepak Thakur and Rajpal in their ranks. How do his boys overcome the ‘overawe’ factor? Simple. “Don’t worry about them. Work hard and give your best” Additional factor being that the team played against the top teams in a prestigious event in Karnataka, where it beat the BPCL among others. The team of course is handicapped without a genuine penalty corner specialist.

Arif therefore wants his forwards to score field goals and whenver the team gets a penalty corner go for an indirect shot as "it confuse the rivals effectively". On his game plan for the Saturday semi-finals: "Players should not be tense. They should think it's one another match". Arif is meaningfully relieved with the winding up of Bank Sports Board which enabled the Banks concerned to to take their own decisions on recruiting sportspersons. {So another Nehruvian rule kicks the bucket.} IOB is perhaps the one lone bank to avails the god-send opportunity.

The singular achievement of producing champion teams in the disciplines of volley-ball, basket-ball and hockey says it all. According to well-meaning Arif, what has made the difference, despite token financial budget, is the Sports Committee concern for their sportsperson. The players were exempted from duties a month prior to the tournament, given reasonable allowances. Further, General Manager level personalities coming to the dressing room to give pep talks to motivate the players. The success story of the team at the Murugappa almost did not come as the organizers, used to give entry to the Tamil Nadu team, were reluctant to invite the institutional team. However, it was not to be – and the rest is history.

What we at this point of time wish to say is, ‘Keep it up IOB’. And strive hard to stay focused. Because, one swallow does not make a summer. Whether the team understand this or not, this manger is aware of this and it augurs well for the team that waits for its moment of glory on Saturday and Sunday.

He dismissed Anand’s dismal results in the on-going Grand Slam Finals at Bilbao and said, “Indeed it is tough for him but you should remember that he has a big match (the World championship) coming ahead. His focus is on that match. Even if he had won at Bilbao, that wouldn’t have impacted his prospects in the match. At Bilbao, it is understandable that Anand is facing a predicament. He obviously does not want to show his preparations to the world.”

India's only woman individual Olympic medallist Karnam Malleswari backed Sports Authority of India in Monika Devi controversy, saying the spectre of another Olympic dope shame might have prompted the national body not to clear the Manipuri lifter for Beijing. {Yes, rightly so. As I pointed out in a post way back, there have been way too many dope cases from the weightlifting community. I posted around 20 folks, almost the entire weightlifting body - mens and womens, thats tainted by accusations, failed tests, banned association, paying fines, an Egyptian coach quitting the scene cos he thought the whole system is effed-up etc etc. And Monika Devi was caught in the middle of this mess. Unlucky perhaps, if she is not guilty she deserves a lot more empathy than the aam weightlifter cos she comes from a background and place that deserves being held closer to the heart for all that they have been through.}

"I understand the emotional aspect of Monika. Every athlete has an Olympic dream especially for a woman lifter and you don't know whether you will get that chance next time. She must have been crestfallen but I believe 100 per cent when SAI said the results indicate there was possibility of doping," she told PTI. "I think it was not a question of any personal enmity of SAI against Monika. As far as I know there were some doubts about the test results of Monika and SAI must have thought it was better not to clear her instead of another dope shame for the country in Beijing.

Ace Indian woman shuttler Saina Nehwal struggled her way into the semifinals of the Yonex Chinese Taipei Open defeating Purantip {Whats up with the brf software? This Thai female's name has an unmentionable prefix in Anglais, and I get a **** when I type that. Sick, next forum software update should have some kind of machine learning encoded in .} Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand on Friday.

NEW DELHI: India dominated the South Asian Judo Championship held in Nepal, winning 11 golds and one silver during the four-day event, which concluded on Sunday.

All the Indian judokas -- men and women -- ended up on the podium. Sunubala Devi was the only Indian lose the finals when she settled for silver in the 70kg category.

In men's section, all the six judokas clinched gold in their respective categories.

Kuldeep Kumar won in 73kg category, while Yaima Singh clinched gold in 81kg. Other medalists being Veerbhan (55kg), Veer Bahadur Thapa (60kg), Manjeet Nandal (66kg) and Rajinder singh (90kg), the Judo Federation of India said in a statement.

Among the five women contenders, Bidyalaxmi Devi (44kg), Sangita Devi (48kg), Rohini B Patil (52kg), Kalpana Devi (57kg) and Garima Chaudhry (63kg) won golds.

MK Kaushik of ‘golden boot’ fame will be assisted by Ramandeep Singh, Harendera Singh and AB Subbaiah as his deputies. The junior team will be coached by A K Bansal and will be assisted by Rajesh Chauhan, Clarence Lobo and Romeo James.

India hosted the Senior Asia Cup around same time last year at Chennai. It has now come to the light the host, Tamil Nadu Hockey Association, incurred a loss to the tune of Rs. 2.7 lacs in orgqnizing the show. It is surprising because for a change, the then Indian Hockey Federations entrusted the whole business of running the competition to the state unit. The TNHA opened a new account and organized the whole operation under its banner.

The whole idea behind the strange move – ask a state unit to run the whole – was to maximize the benefits. But exactly the opposite has occurred. In the bogus meeting that the defunct and disgraced IHF is willing to organize to gasp a bit of oxygen for the last breath before the death, some sort of account has been submitted by the TNHA, which is still alive thanks to the generosity of K. Murugan, the TNOA Secretary General. He is adamant to call a TNHA election, despite vociferous demand, as he obviously fears his close friends’ {the close friend is jyothikumaran, the former treasurer of IHF caught in a sting, of course} fate will be sealed.

The accounts prepared by T. Nagar based Anand and Ponnappan Chartered Accountants indicate the heavy loss. Now the question of brasstacks.

Asia Cup is the Asian Hockey Federation’s baby. As such all the participating teams are expected to foot their boarding and lodging bill. It is therefore the hosts are expected to spend only for local transport and all expenses of technical officials like umpires, TD and others. Why then the organization of Asia Cup cost the TNHA a whoping Rs. 88 lac? Accordingly to the bogus accounts – bogus because the IHF of the recent past never cared to call AGM each year and hardly submitted accounts in proper manner and before time for the members to go through and suggest -- even the mementos, prizes etc alone cost Rs. 8.8 lac.

We all know what type of momentos were given out, and how cheap those were in the market. Ok well accepted. Now the cost of transports. It cost the organizers Rs. 17.11 lac. There were ten teams, stayed for about 10 days. Why the local transport should cost so much?

You and I cannot ask because the organizers were outgone president’s favourite buddies. Now we have one suggestion on how to compensate the TNHA the loss they incurred? The loss was 2.7 lac. Recenlty, a sting operation it we were told a TNHA official received Rs. 2 lac in cash.

I think it is a well thought out move. The official can retain this money so that his TNHA loss could be covered. A curiosity: Whether the ‘sting’ money shown under income in the accounts? A good question but the S2h does not want to waste time in investigating it. Interested parties may approach us; we are ready to part with data.

It can however be gainfully said that the major contributors for the event happened to be government agencies like Tamil Nadu Sports Development Authority and BSNL. Since the main sources are public money, we the public have a right to know how the money was spent. But, who cares?

Abhinav Bindra, Jaspal Rana are ungrateful’

New Delhi, September 18: National Rifle Association of India President Digvijay Singh on Thursday described India's first individual Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra and Asian gold medalist Jaspal Rana as "ungrateful" for not acknowledging the system's contribution to their success.

The NRAI President said the success of Bindra and Rana had been possible due to the system set up by the Indian shooting federation but it seems to have gone to their heads and their statements betray arrogance.

"The success of shooters like Abhinav Bindra and Jaspal Rana has been possible due to the system set up by the Indian shooting federation...If they do not acknowledge the fact then they are ungrateful... success seems to have gone to their heads," Singh told a television news channel.

Strongly reacting to the remarks of the NRAI Chairman, Asiad gold medallist Jaspal Rana said the present system could not produce champions.

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"Present system cannot produce champions... no one from the federation has even bothered to find out why I am not practising," he said.

Abhinav's father A S Bindra also lashed out at the governing body, saying shooters had to spend money from their pocket to buy ammunition and practise.

He also demanded that the NRAI reveal their accounts to show how the money is spent.

sum wrote:Link
Abhinav Bindra, Jaspal Rana are ungrateful’

MUMBAI: It's the dream of every Indian cricketer to beat the Aussies in their den. Similarly, every Indian shuttler wants to slay the Chinese in China. It's considered to be the ultimate challenge. The vociferous Chinese crowd can be quite intimidating. The refs are also notorious for ruling close line calls in the Chinese players' favour.

On Friday in Changzhou, Saina Nehwal battled all of that to pull off the biggest win of her career in open tournaments. The 12th-ranked Indian stunned world champion Zhu Lin 21-16, 21-23, 21-18 in a 56-minute keenly-contested quarter-final at the $250,000 China Masters Super Series.

Saina, seeded seventh, had come close to beating the top Chinese girls a few times in the past, but Friday's win over World No 6 and third seed shows the 18-year-old has really come of age. "It's a torture to be playing in front of the Chinese fans. They are mad about their players. Worse, I got a few bad calls, one on match point (in the second game). I would've won in straight games but I couldn't concentrate after that."

"I missed my coach (Gopi Chand) because you need someone around in crunch situations. But at the same time, it's good to know that you can beat the world champion by thinking on your own," an ecstatic Saina told TOI . Gopi, grounded in Hyderabad due to the court case on his academy, followed the match on the net. In his prime, the chief national coach had never beaten a Chinese player in China. He hailed his ward's win as a "special achievement".

"This is huge," beamed Gopi, adding, "Saina has surprised me. She's truly a class player. Had it been the early rounds it would've been okay, but a quarterfinal round on centre court with all the international media and a hostile crowd. I think it's a huge win. It speaks volumes of her grit and consistency," explained the former All England champion.

Saina opened a small lead at 8-6 in the first game and maintained it to go 1-0 up. The second game went neck-and-neck with Saina leading 15-12 at one stage. The Shanghai-born Zhu, 24, fought back to level the scores and at 19-all, Saina attacked her opponent's backhand to go match point up. A bad call dented the Indian's chances and while Saina had another chance to close out the match, it was Zhu who pocketed the game 23-21.

The decider was no different from the first two games with both players fighting tooth and nail for every point. At 17-all, it could've been anybody's game before Saina prevailed to book a semifinal berth.

The Hyderabadi will next face world No. 7 and sixth seed Zhou Mi.

In a major move, and also to stabilize hockey affairs, ad-hoc committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi today announced series of steps in a press meet today in New Delhi. It appears hockey has really taken off, and with the formalization of a few important committees, things look bright as of now.

Former Olympian and commetator Jagbir Singh has been named Director (Planning), his teammate Pargat Sigh Director (Projects) and commentator Anupam Gulati as Communication Director. Former international player and coach Harendra Singh has been put in charge of senior team coaching, though it is said a foreign coach might head the coaching team in the near future.

With former stars Jagbir and Pargat in the organizatinal set up, one can expect hockey affairs in the country to get the impetus overdue. The duo have been vocal in their views, and is expected to deliver with new responsibilities. In fact, these two now represents the GenNExt face of former hockey players community. If they deliver -- there is no doubt why they cannot -- that will do a lot to improve the image of former players.

Another youngster Rajeev Mehta of Uttarkhand is drafted in as co-convenor of the Ad-hoc Committee. He is also young in his 30s. Ghulati is a veteran hockey observer, informative, up to date with global hockey developments. Kalmadi also announced an advisory panel which includes the who is who of State Hockey Associations (SHA). Though the panel's exact role is not defined, and how frequently they will meet or advise, the move is an attempt to improve the relationship with the stakeholders, the SHAs.

The Advisory panel, in particular, includes JB Roy, president of the Bengal Hockey Association, Secretaries of powerful state associations such as Karnataka (Krishnamurthy), Mumbai (Kehar Singh), President of Chandigarh SHA (Chandrasekar) and JK SHA (NK Batra) among others. {Why is J&K SHA so powerful? What is their contribution to the national team?}

For long, there has been a genuine feeling the SHAs were not involved in the governance of hockey. This shortfall has now been addressed to some extent. Most of the personalities assigned specific jobs today are already functioning within the adhoc committee. Today's announcments ensure their role is constitutional. Long after coming into power, the ad-hoc committee made some genuine progress today. Now it is upto those who are entrusted the jobs to do justice to their posts.

My win in the Ornano International in Bordeaux, France, is the biggest PSA title win of my career. It is particularly satisfying because I beat three higher ranked players, including two from the top 30. I was quietly confident before the tournament started as I have been playing some good squash in the last couple of months. I took one match at a time and I am very happy I emerged victorious in the event!

I played Renan Lavigne (WR 27), a French player, in the quarterfinals. To be honest, the crowd was very knowledgeable and appreciated good squash. Thus, although they wanted the French player to win, they were not really hostile towards me.

I think I have improved immensely as a squash player since I went to England. My basic understanding of the game has gone up considerably, although there are still areas for improvement. My physical conditioning is much better now and that has helped immensely. I think the PSA circuit has made me mentally stronger.

Malcolm Willstrop and everyone at Pontefract Squash & Leisure Club have made me feel at home in England. It was difficult in the beginning because I was a touch homesick. However, I am thoroughly enjoying my squash in England. I feel like I am learning every day from James Willstrop and Lee Beachill and all the other players in the club. I could not have asked for a better training base.

I would like to thank my grandparents and my dad and mom for all their support. I appreciate the support from my sponsors, India Cements, Veedol and Prince. My past coaches Cyrus Poncha and Major Maniam helped me a great deal in my formative years. I am also extremely grateful to Malcolm Willstrop for all his help in the three years I have been with him. I hope to continue working with him.

Hopefully, my recent win will spur me on to greater things. I dream of winning a medal for India at the Commonwealth and Asian Games in 2010!

Old-timers never tire of recounting how the Wodeyar ruler Ranadheera Kanteerava Narasaraja Wodeyar I (1638-1659) defeated an arrogant wrestler at Tiruchi. First promoted by Raja Wodeyar in the 16th century, the popularity of Naada Kusti reached its peak during the rule of Krishnaraja Wodeyar in the first half of the 20th century.

Book Review: Gloom to Glory (9/30/2008) -- K.Arumugam

Mr Ranjan Negi, the much humiliated goalkeeper of the ill-fated 1982 Asian Games – he was widely condemned for conceding 7 goals against Pakistan in the final - has recently come out with his personal account of his hockey career: ‘Mir Ranjan Negi Gloom to Glory’. Normally, as ‘disgraced player’ as Negi would not have ventured into book writing, that too, 26 years after those tumultuous days. He was emboldened in this, after the success of blockbuster Chak De India, in which he gave hockey training to the girls.

As only expected, therefore, the book in essence dwells at length on his role in the making of Chak De India and the sequence that led to India’s rout at Delhi Asiad. Was India hypnotized on that fateful day? Who is Iqbal trailing Indian team not only at the Asiad but also during the Asia Cup in Karachi a year ago? How could otherwise India have missed 3 penalty strokes in the Asia Cup final against Pakistan?

The Iqbal mystery is a sidelight to the centerpiece in the Negi’s reasoning of Delhi disaster. Balbir Sr., in charge of hockey, comes in for heavy criticism for changing playing eleven at the eleventh hour, and for failing to substitute the off-form goalkeeper, Negi himself. He mentions that even Prime Minister Indira Gandhi wanted Negi to be substituted. Negi introduces himself as Garwali, son of an atheist, who somewhere lost himself at Bhopal in the company of bad elements. Hockey retrieves him, he joins the national camp at Patiala whence his career changes for better. His selection for the Junior World Cup and subsequent trips lands him a decent job in Mumbai Customs.

Life goes on well till one day an untimely interview spoilt his Moscow Olympic trip, thus missing out on a sure Olympic gold. His portrayal of Europe trips, how the fight between IHF and Dutch Hockey Association came to haunt them at the Bombay World Cup a few months later are all interesting stuff any hockey lover, nay sports lover, would like to savour in Gloom to Glory. Negi fondly recollects how Jothikumaran, former IHF Secretary, resurrected him with an offer to coach the 1998 Asian Games team that would later ensure Gold after 36 years. Negi, being the goalkeeper-coach, prides himself for selecting Ashish Ballal for the crucial tie-break in the final.

Negi does not approve of coach MK Kaushik’s outburst against the IHF then, though spares none for dropping six players from that team. His subsequent forays into men’s teams are mentioned, but the centerpiece thereafter moves to women’s domain. He mentions the climax in the Chak De film -- where the goalkeeper follows the sign of coach to stop rival team’s strokes -- is exactly what he did in the final of the 2003 Afro-Asian Games with Helen Mary.

In all, Negi attempts to equate his hockey career to that of Kabir Khan’s. He observes: 'Sometimes I get confused, this film runs so closely parallel to my life, the triumph of Kabir Khan seems to be mine'. Negi now is a celebrity. He dabbles in dancing and acting. He has enough offers to keep him away from the memories of sad demise of his elder son, Abhi. Negi says the proceeds of the book will go to Abhi Foundation, which he set up towards the cause of hockey.

The book is written nicely, has ample anecdotes unknown hitherto. One also gets a fair idea of hockey as it existed in the late 70s and early 80s. This work is aimed at larger audience in particular the glamour world. This is a terrain our hockey is desperate to traverse but hardly ever able to -- to extend its sphere of influence. Negi has done that exactly.

After a successful Asian sojourn, Saina Nehwal, the country's best ever woman badminton player, arrived to a grand welcome at the Shamshabad international airport on Monday. The world no. 12 lived up to the expectations of her fans by winning the Chinese Taipei Open Grand Prix Gold and reaching the semi-finals of the China Masters Super Series. The reigning national champion and the first Indian to reach the quarter-finals of Olympics spoke to TOI about her recent run.

Excerpts:
On the just concluded Asian tour
It was great. I rate it as the best so far in my career. Winning the Chinese Taipei Open GP Gold was simply amazing. The Philippines Open has its own place because that was my first international title and I had beaten several top ranked players to win the tournament. But Taipei Open was a Gold event. Moreover the win established me as an accomplished player.

Her best match in the three tournaments
Of course, the win against World champion Zhu Lin in the quarter-finals of China Masters Super Series. I couldn't believe what I had done. It took some time for the feeling to sink in. This victory will do a world of good to my confidence.

But you lost the very next match
I didn't know what happened in that match. Nothing went right that day. But we cannot win all the matches. It was one bad day on court, but it was an enriching experience. I learned a lot from that loss.

Do you think you are playing the best badminton of your career?
Yeah, I think so. In the last few months I have defeated several top players. And in the matches I lost, the margin was very close. I am consistently doing well and I believe I have the game to beat any player in the world. The real challenge for me is to maintain this fitness and keep working hard.

Any plans of hiring a touring coach?
If I am an international star today, it is only because of our chief coach (P Gopichand). With him around, I don't have to think about other coaches. Due to some problems he was not able to accompany me this time.

What's your reaction to your coach's academy being in trouble?
I was shocked when I heard about the incident. How can they do this at a time when the players from this academy are doing so well? The government has announced a reward of Rs 20 lakh for me. While receiving that I will request the government to reconsider their decision on the academy land. I think some people are misleading the government.

On training abroad
I am one player who is dead against training in other countries. We have all the facilities here and get better training time in India. I don't find any need to train abroad.

Your next target
To break into the top 10 of world rankings. I am ranked 12 now and I want to be in top 10 by year end.

On the forthcoming tournaments
I am playing in the Commonwealth Youth Games and the Junior World Championship. Both the events are in Pune and I know people will be expecting me to win those two titles.

In its continuing exercise of finalising long-term training plans for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the Union Sports Ministry has decided to provide support to 30 squash players. The plan will include exposure to select players in international tournaments abroad. The ministry has so far approved 26 players, after consultations with the Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI).

In an official release on Monday, the ministry stated that it had also approved one foreign and four Indian coaches for the preparations of the Indian teams. Malaysian Subramaniam Singaraveloo will be the foreign coach. The SRFI informed the Steering Committee constituted by the Government that the ICL Academy in Chennai had been identified as the centre for imparting training to the core group of squash players. The SRFI had been told to prepare the annual calendar of training and competitions in consultations with the SAI.

In Chennai, the Secretary-General of the Squash Rackets Federation of India, N. Ramachandran has said that “any government funding is more than welcome.” However, he said the SRFI has appealed to the Sports Ministry to reconsider the plan to provide ‘75 days of international training’ for the selected players because this was not sufficient. “We have sought that this should be increased to 180 days and the Ministry has agreed to look into this case,” he said.

The probables: Men: Ritwik Bhattacharya, Sidharth Suchde, Saurav Ghosal, Gaurav Nadrajog, Harinder Pal Singh, Naresh Kumar, Parth Sharma, Vikram Malhotra, Sandeep Jangra, Vikas Jangra, Aditya Jagtap, Ravi Dixit, Ramit Tandon and Karan Malik.
Women: Joshna Chinappa, Dipika Pallikal, Anwesh Reddy, Surbhi Mishra, Anana Alankamony, Harita Om Prakash, Dheeya Somaiya, Saumya Karki, Ankita Sharma, Shria Khatri, Sachika Balvani and Aparajitha Balamurukan.

A busy schedule awaits hockey fans. Now, for once, we can all think about hockey and forget all the rumblings in the power corridors. For, coming months onwards a lot of field action await hockey fans. As expected, the junior programmes, both men and women, gets into gear.

Junior women will be going to Australia in the second week of October. In a couple of days, Junior Boys camp will commence in Sonepat most probably. The junior boys will be going to Pakistan first before getting ready for an overseas tour, probably Argentina or Australia. {I hope they all return safe from this wretched bakiland trip.} There is also a likelihood that the Indian colts will make an European trip.

Meanwhile, while the domestic season is on, the camp for senior team is also likely to commence. This is going to create controversy because whoever is in charge of the national team will choose between tournaments, and the favouritsm is expected to rise its ugly head. We knew well such scenes marked when National Championship was held in 2006 simultaneously with Asiad camp in Rourkela. Airlines then was the beneficiary.

Early next year, two 4-Nation competitions in India, each at Chandigarh and Jalandhar, will be followed by Sultan Azlan Shah competition in Malaysia. In May, the Junior World Cup starts in Malaysia/Singapore. As the next World Cup is in India, many leading countries evince interest to visit and engage India. A lot of hockey action is expected.

Ambassador Pallava Hotel demands Rs.11, 81, 379 from Jothikumaran.

The management of the Chennai city’s landmark, hotel Ambassador Pallava, had demanded about Rs. 11 lac from K. Jothikumaran, former IHF Secretary.

According to the four page letter addressed to the former Secretary, the management has threatened to take legal action if the amount, due since 8 months after India played a test series against Belgium, is not paid within 15 days from the letter issued. The letter was issued on 23rd September. A perusal of the letter -- the news was broken by Shailesh Chaturvedi in Sahara Samay television channel – proves that the Secretary has paid Rs.7 lac in demand draft against the bill amount of 18,81,379. The demand draft was dated 24th January.

The copy of the letter has been endorsed to KPS Gill, former IHF manager CS Narain, adhoc committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi and Ajit Pal Singh, Chairman, Selection Committee. The letter also quotes one Sudharkar Selwin as the man who interacted with the hotel management in this affair. It has been the history of the previous IHF regime to default on payment. {Only to beg GoI to pay their debts, I am sure.} Only a couple of days ago, Delhi based Hindustan Times exposed another scandal – how a hockey supporter in Perth Australia had to pay to the tune of Rs. 8 lac to rescue Indian team, which did not pay for the team’s hotel stay and others.

SPIEGEL: Mr Anand, in two weeks you will be defending your title as World Champion against the Russian Grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik in Bonn [Germany]. Two weeks ago you finished last in the Masters Tournament in Bilbao. Is that a psychological handicap?

Anand: Thank you very much for bringing that up. It reminds me of John Cleese from Monty Python. In Fawlty Towers a group of Germans visits his hotel, and he admonishes his staff not to mention the war to them – while he himself can talk about nothing else. So please: don't mention Bilbao.

SPIEGEL: Okay, then on to Bonn. The World Championship goes over eight games, with a possible tiebreak. You have known Kramnik for nineteen years. Can he still surprise you?

Anand: We have been playing in the same events since 1993. But there is a difference if you know someone and if you understand him. In the past twenty years Kramnik has played a few thousand games, and if you show me a position from one of them, in 90 percent of the time I will be able to tell you which game it is from. But one cannot conclude from that that I can see through him. In fact I expect him to surprise me. And vice versa, logically.

SPIEGEL: How did you prepare for the World Championship?

Anand: I have been studying Kramnik since the end of April, up to ten hours a day, here at home in my cellar, where I have my office. I have a database and construct game plans. I try to neutralise positions in which Kramnik is strong. He is doing the same thing with my game, which I must of course take into consideration. Let me put it this way: I must remember that he is thinking about what I am thinking about him. In any case one is working for months with the computer, trying to find new paths.

SPIEGEL: Computers are becoming more and more important. Has chess become a preparation game – whoever is better prepared wins?

Anand: That was always the case. Today we analyse our games with the computer, in the 16th century people did it with a board. That is only a gradual difference. Preparation for a world championship was always an arms race, in previous times with books, then with seconds, today with computers. The computer is an excellent training partner. It helps me to improve my game.

SPIEGEL: But if chess becomes a computer game and every move is calculated by the machine, then isn't the human being simply moving the pieces, and won't every game end in a draw?

Anand: No. Actually I was always pessimistic. Ten years ago I said that 2010 would be the end, chess would be exhausted. But it is not true, chess will not die so quickly. There are still many rooms in the building which we have not yet entered. Will it happen in 2015? I don't think so. For every door the computers have closed they have opened a new one.

SPIEGEL: What do you mean by that?

Anand: Twenty years ago we were doing things that don't work today because of computers. We used to bluff our way through games, but today our opponents analyse them with a computer and recognize in a split second what we were up to. Computers do not fall for tricks. On the other hand we can undertake more complex preparation. In the past years there have been spectacular games that would not have been possible without computers. The possibility of playing certain moves would never have occurred to us. It is similar to astrophysics: their work may not be as romantic as in previous times, but they would never have progressed so far with paper and pencil.

SPIEGEL: One keeps hearing rumours of players secretly using computers during their games. That is cheating. Are the genies out of the bottle?

Anand: It is a threat that we have to live with. I have got used to being checked with metal detectors before playing a game. In the beginning it was a shock for me, since I grew up during an innocent age in sports. But technology develops very quickly. Somebody can be sitting at a remote place, following a game with a computer and sending information to the player. Receivers are becoming smaller, and the number of cheaters is growing. We need to take measures. We have a rule that says that if a mobile phone rings during a game you lose. It is tough, but it has to be enforced. The alternative would be to permit the use of computers during the game.

SPIEGEL: That would be like legalising doping.

Anand: I think it is not doping, it is a different form of the game. But chess should remain a contest of strength between two human beings.

SPIEGEL: What is the role of emotions?

Anand: They are decisive. The moment in which you realise that you have made a mistake is the most unsettling you can imagine. You have to try to keep control of your emotions. Chess is a form of acting. If your opponent senses your insecurity or your annoyance or your dejection, then you are bolstering his courage. He will take advantage of your weakness. Confidence is very important – even pretending to be confident. If you make a mistake but do not let your opponent see what you are thinking then he may overlook the mistake.

SPIEGEL: Are you good at reading the faces of your opponents?

Anand: Usually their faces are completely calm and dispassionate. The exception was Garry Kasparov, against whom I played a World Championship in New York in 1995. He was an open book. What I tend to do is to listen to their breathing.

SPIEGEL: You listen to your opponent breathing?

Anand: If the breathing is deep or shallow, fast or slow – that reveals a lot about the degree of his agitation. In a match that lasts a month even a clearing of the throat can be quite important. Incidental facts are also important: did your opponent have a fight with his wife? If he is occupied with private matters he may not be as focussed as usual.

SPIEGEL: Do you work with psychological tricks?

Anand: No.

SPIEGEL: What do you find most disturbing?

Anand: When my opponent turns the game around. Sometimes it is almost liberating when you finally lose. I think to myself, okay, the point is gone, tomorrow you are going to play better. During a world championship you have to be careful not to panic. It occupies your mind when you see your opponent at breakfast. Is he relaxed? Tense? One is in a strange way obsessed. Kramnik and I will be staying in the same hotel in Bonn, but in opposite wings. Actually we like each other, but it will take quite some time before we exchange any words.

SPIEGEL: Can you switch off in the evening during such tournaments?

Anand: It is difficult to relax without having feelings of guilt. I keep asking myself: shouldn't you be working? But you have to relax, otherwise you cannot play well. Experience helps you to find the right balance. I like to watch old Hitchcock films in order to give my brain a rest.

SPIEGEL: Your nickname is the "Tiger of Madras". But you are not considered to be a predator on the chessboard. Some experts say you are missing the killer instinct. Are they right?

Anand: The thing with the tiger was an invention by some journalist who probably could not think of any other Indian animal. Normally I avoid conflict, and I am indeed not a killer like Kasparov. That is not my style. I am used to moving around in peaceful surroundings. I grew up in a family where values were very important.

SPIEGEL: You are a Brahmin and belong to the highest Hindu cast. You learnt to play chess from your mother, when you were six years old. Unlike the Russian prodigies you were not systematically trained. Would you have liked to go to a special chess school?

Anand: No, that would not have helped me a lot. I would have missed the fun. I had to earn permission to play chess by producing good results in school. Sometime I could not play for a month, and after that I was dying to get back to it and very happy when I could play in a tournament again. That had a great influence on me. After high school I studied business economics, because I was afraid of becoming a chess nut.

SPIEGEL: The American Bobby Fischer, who died at the beginning of the year, was chess crazy, paranoid, misanthropic. You met this chess genius two and a half years ago in Iceland, where he was living in exile. How did that happen?

Anand: I played in a tournament in Reykjavik and the Icelandic grandmaster Helgi Olafsson asked me if I would be interested in meeting Bobby Fischer. Olafsson picked him up from his flat, while I waited in the car. Fischer probably wanted to avoid my knowing which apartment was his.

SPIEGEL: What did you talk to him about?

Anand: Fischer told me how he sometimes rode around Reykjavik with the bus, in order to see the city. He complained that he could not get Indian balm [Amrutanjan] in Iceland. Suddenly he wanted to go to McDonalds. So there he was, this legend of the chess world, asking me if I took ketchup.

SPIEGEL: Did you talk about chess?

Anand: Of course. We were standing in a park and Bobby pulled out an old pocket chess set and we analysed a couple of games between Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi in 1974. He wanted to prove that all world championship games after his victory were prearranged. He did not convince me.

SPIEGEL: Why did Fischer specifically want to meet you?

Anand: Perhaps he felt an affinity. We are both from countries in which chess was not popular until we came along. I am not Russian and Fischer felt persecuted by the Soviets in the past. And there is evidence to suggest that Soviet grandmasters actually ganged up against him.

SPIEGEL: Fischer proposed a new variation of the game, which is called Fischer Random Chess. He wanted the pieces in the starting position to me shuffled before every game. Would that not be a more creative form of chess?

Anand: I do not think much of a random placement of the pieces. That is perhaps something for people who were previously active and now have very little time. They don't want to study openings theory. But the opening systems are part of chess.

SPIEGEL: Some top players have gone mad during their careers, like the Austrian Wilhelm Steinitz, the first generally recognised world champion. Is that a professional risk?

Anand: You need to have a life apart from chess, then there is no danger. You have to have other interests. But there weren't that many who became seriously deranged. Only they became known to a wide public. I am sure there are just as many crazy doctors or bus drivers.

SPIEGEL: You are now 38 years old, which means that as a chess professional you are close to retirement. How long are you going to keep playing?

Anand: As long as I can play at the top. At the moment I feel great, my best years were the last three. But it is clear that chess players are becoming younger and younger.

SPIEGEL: In recent times the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen has been in the headlines. He is seventeen and at the beginning of the month he was, for five days, the number one in the unofficial world rankings. How good is he?

Anand: He will sooner or later become World Champion. I like him, he is a Monty Python fan, just like me.

SPIEGEL: There are rumours that he is your second for the World Championship against Kramnik.

Anand: That's a rumour I have heard as well. Perhaps there is some truth in it. Perhaps not. Let Kramnik figure it out, let him occupy his mind with this question. That is part of the psychological game before this kind of match. When you know who is part of your opponent's team you can imagine what he is planning. So I will not reveal anything.

SPIEGEL: Mr Anand, we thank you for this interview.

The five-match hockey series between Pakistan and India will be held here in mid November, Secretary Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Asif Bajwa said on Tuesday. The PHF Secretary, who is due to leave for Hamburg on Wednesday (today) to witness the 4-nation Hockey Tournament there, will also hold meetings with official European nations.

He said the senior Indo-Pakistan series will resume after a lapse of nearly three years when Pakistan will undertake the tour of neighboring country by the end of December and later the Indians will be visiting Pakistan. Bajwa said the Pakistan senior team will also feature in the 4-nation hockey tournament to be held in Jalandhar (India) from January 29. Germany, the Netherlands and hosts India will be other teams taking part in the event.

He said he will also be extending an invitation to some European teams for the proposed four to eight nation hockey event PHF planning to stage some time in 2009. {That will mean Indian team will be heading there too.}

The silver jubilee edition of the Surjit Hockey Tournament would be held at the local Olympian Surjit Astroturf Hockey Stadium, Burlton Park, from October 18 to 25, according to deputy commissioner, Jalandhar, Ajeet Singh Pannu who is also the president of the Surjit Hockey Society.

He said this time three Pakistani teams - Javed Hockey Club, Gojra, Crescent Hockey Club, Sialkot, and Independent Hockey Club, Sargodha, would participate in the tournament. The names of the Pakistani teams have been recommended by the Pakistan Hockey Federation. All three teams would be directly placed into the quarterfinal league stage. {WTF?}

The silver jubilee edition of the tournament would be played on knock-out-cum-league basis. According to Iqbal Singh Sandhu, organising secretary of the tournament, last year’s runners-up and star-studded Indian Airlines, Delhi, will now play under the banner of Air India, Mumbai, as Indian Airlines has merged with Air India.

It might be the most tempestuous of times for Indian hockey. Battered and bruised, it is in dire need of a direction. Newly-appointed Indian ‘coach-in-charge’ Harender Singh’s days at helm will be numbered even before he assumes the office. The sooner the ad-hoc committee stumbles upon a foreign coach, the earlier he will be confined to the second fiddle’s garb. But irrespective of the roles, Harender is upbeat of carving a quality side.

For someone who has been in the coaching circuit for more than a decade, Harender has established a creditable rapport with most players. “Having been in the domestic circuit for close to 10 years, I have been watching most players right from the junior circuit. I know most players inside out, their strengths and their weaknesses. That half the Indian side comprise Air India players makes it easier. But I can assure you that there won’t be any sort of favouritism to players from my club,” he said.

Though he is aware that the challenge he confronts is mountainous, Harender reckons that India can develop into a quality side in the near future. “We definitely have the talent. But we have to channelise and utilise it in a systematic manner. A lot of effort and time ought to be spent on it. While it is not possible to be world-beaters overnight, we should work steadily and realistically in achieving our goals. If we start planning and working from now, there is no reason why we shouldn’t reach the World Cup semifinal,” he said.

One of the four coaches sent to the Beijing Olympics to observe the top nations, Harender opines that India is as skilful as the best sides in the world. “Unfortunately, skill alone won’t win matches. We have to improve in terms of stamina, fitness, planning and coordination. We are quite a few notches behind them in these aspects,” pointed out Harender. On the sidelines, accusations are rife that he secured the job only due to his personal bond with the ad-hoc committee selectors, especially Dhanraj Pillay . His detractors were quick to point out his dismal stints as the assistant coach with the senior side in the 2000 Sydney Olympics (finished seventh), the 2006 World Cup (finished 11th) and the Asian Games (finished fifth). Under him, the Indian colts, as defending champions, finished only fourth in the Junior World Cup in Rotterdam. {But the senior team also won the silver at Azlan recently, did these guys mention in the same breath?}

India’s domestic hockey is in itself a distinct model. Unlike most other countries in the West, Oceania and the Pan America, the domestic activity is driven by charity. Charity in the form of tournament organizers. Various sports-interested groups form Societies or Clubs, invite teams, organize tournaments, managing their own resources. They are backbone of Indian hockey, they take hockey to towns and villages – to the heart of fans. In rare cases, a City Municipal Corporation here and a State Hockey Association there, too pitch in and organize tournaments.

As it always happens when things come this way, normally there should not be any onus on these Societies or Clubs to conduct tournaments. But surprisingly, it has not been the case. These Societies and Clubs are well managed, almost run on professional lines. The teams for these annual tournaments come from another form of Charity – the government and quasi government sources. Leading government organization like Services and Railways, Public Sectors especially airlines, banking and Oil Sectors recruit players under Sports Quota Provisions and have good hockey teams on their rolls. These two forms of charities have been running the Indian hockey so far. So far so good.

Now the season for the domestic tournaments starting, the things look a bit of disturbing. Within a month’s time, three Grade I tournaments (The Indian Hockey Federation categorize these tournaments and those held in metros, and some know hockey centres, called Grade I) have taken place. Normally six or seven teams used to be in the reckoning. They include Services, Air India, Indian Airlines, Punjab Police, Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum, Indian Railways, Punjab & Sind Bank (PSB) etc.

Very unfortunately Services and Railways, which have wide spectrum of sports teams under their patronage list, do not field teams in these major Grade I tournaments. Nobody took their casualness seriously. The decay has not been arrested in the last decade – so much so nowadays nobody bothers if these two teams don’t figure in any tournament. This season we found two others powerful teams, Punjab Police and Punjab & Sindh banks gave a go bye to three tournaments held so far in the season. The non-participation of PSB team is incomprehensible because the bank has only one sport on its board, hockey, yet kept away. {Check my explanation above}

Without services, Railways, PSB and Punjab Police, the domestic honours are left to just three teams – Air India, Indian Airlines and Indian Oil. Since the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines, their teams also merged. Nowadays Air India is the team which is a mix of both Air India and former Indian Airlines teams. {This is bad, we had two good teams and many folks being chucked out. At least AI and IA could have had two separate hockey teams. That aint too costly, I hope. Bad shit} Now the choice has still narrowed down. That is, just two teams in the domestic circuit – Air India and Indian Oil.

That these two teams figured in the finals of all three Majors so far prove how the domestic scene is thinning out. It is like India winning the Olympic gold at Moscow – without major teams in the fray. Societies like Jalandhar based Surjit Singh Memorial, tried to overcome the monopoly with teams from Pakistan, but most other organizers can’t afford this extravaganza. {Now this explains why they were fielded straight into the quarterfinals of the event. Check item before this. Its a lure for the baki teams.}

Now, we were reliably told hockey is run by Players (read selectors), the adhoc committee having given them full freedom. It is wished they take note of the disturbing trend and do the needful. At least they can try to know why PSB and Punjab Police are not fielding their teams so that the Selectors can help them sort out the problem. {Cmon, this is so obvious as to why PSB is skipping this year, assuming one watches the news carefully. For a seasoned hockey journalist, acting like its not clear as to whats going on is a cop out.}

Note: Domestic tournament organizations are noramlly interested in leading teams only to attract crowd, and sometimes whimsical in choosing teams. The parent body, Indian Hockey Federation, is therefore expected to plug the hole. The National Championship, the IHF's constitutional duty, was devised to address the problem and accomodate teams from every State and Associate Institutions. However, the past IHF regime did not conduct the annual Nationals, thereby a vital link in the chain was lost, leading to system collapse.

The domestic season (2008-'09) has just started. Three tournaments were successfuly organized, each almost 1000 km apart. The season opener was MCC Murugappa Gold Cup tournament in Chennai. PR Sreejesh, representing Indian Overseas Bank, won the Best Goalkeeper Award there. Winning an award of this magnitude at home must have endeared him a lot. The second tournament was GTB Cup at Mumbai, where his team did not take part. The third was at Chandigarh's SN Vohra-Gurmit Memorial Cup. Sreejesh won the Best Goalkeeper Award here also. So, two acclaims in two tournaments gives him the covted This Month Hero to the Chennai star.

Game is Booked

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news ... ed/368711/

His life resembles the reels of Chak De! India, but former India hockey coach Mir Ranjan Negi now reveals it all in a book

When Kabir Khan’s motley team of girls won the imaginary World Championships in Chak De! India, there was a collective sigh of relief in the cinemas. But for one viewer, Mir Ranjan Negi, it was as though a moment of his life was blown up on the screen. Negi did not share Kabir Khan’s sexy bearded looks, but somewhere the pain matched. “Shah Rukh Khan acted exceptionally well, but I had actually lived out those sentiments,” says Negi.

There have been endless discussions on whether or not Negi’s life inspired the blockbuster, but this time he has decided to do the talking. The 50-year-old former goalkeeper and coach is ready with his autobiography, From Gloom to Glory (Popular Prakshan). The origin of gloom is in the 1982 Asian Games. Negi was the goalkeeper of the Indian hockey team which was badgered 1-7 by Pakistan. The country wept — and then fumed against Negi for conceding the goals. Almost ostracised, Negi slunk away — but not quite. He redeemed his destiny 16 years later — when the men’s hockey team he coached won the gold in the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games. Four years later, the women’s team trained by him won the gold at the Commonwealth Games.

“I have no complaints about hockey. It gave me the worst days of my life but it also made me redeem my fate,” says Negi, going on to reminisce the two moments of agony and ecstasy. “I feel I could have done things differently. For instance, while stepping on the field for the match against Pakistan in 1982, froth was spilling from my mouth. I shouldn’t have played that day. Also, I had chances of slyly injuring the main Pakistani player, but hesitated. This might have cost us the game. I did not speak much after our loss against Pakistan since I was stopped by the hockey federation,” says Negi, “I felt vindicated only when the men’s hockey team won the gold at Bangkok.”

From Gloom to Glory comprises a series of anecdotes and Negi’s diary entries after the 1982 games, but the book doesn’t begin there. It starts with a personal loss — the death of his eldest son Abhi in a motorcycle accident three years ago. And then he goes on to his brief Bollywood days when he became associated with the making of Chak De! India. “I was offered the project of Chak De! days after my son’s demise. I was in a dilemma whether to accept the offer or not. But after a little convincing I accepted it,” says Negi, who had finished the book well before Chak De! India happened. The draft was later tweaked to include the experience of working on the film. He writes: “Chak De! turned my life on its head. From relative anonymity I came under the arc lights.”

Negi has hung up the boots though he put on the dancing shoes for a while for a season of Jhalak Dikhla Ja. The distress has returned, though, after watching the Olympics where India did not even qualify. “I wish glamour would come back to hockey, something like Twenty20.”

Karnataka weightlifter Satheesha Rai, who was earlier let off by the Indian Weighlifting Federation (IWF) despite his second dope offence, has now been handed a life ban, apparently under WADA pressure. Rai first tested positive for stimulant strychnine at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and then caught for using steroid stanozolol at the National Games in Guwahati in February last year.

Instead of handing him life ban after his second dope offence, the IWF in July had let off Rai without any punishment on the condition that he has retired from the sport. But now, apparently on the intervention from WADA on the issue, the IWF reopened the case and handed life ban on Rai. Days after Rai was let off, WADA had sought a copy of the full decision of Indian Weightlifting Federation from the International Weightlifting Federation to review the reasons for the decision.

IWF chief Harbhajan Singh told PTI Rai had been handed life ban. "Satheesha has been handed life ban by the Federation," Harbhajan told PTI from Lucknow, but refused to be drawn into why the weightlifter's case was reopened after the Federation had let him off earlier.

Meanwhile, junior woman lifter and Pune Commonwealth Youth Games medal prospect B Prameelavalli has been handed life ban for a second dope offence during the Junior National Championship in Noida last month. "Prameelavalli's 'B' sample had also returned positive and she now faces automatic life ban," Harbhajan said. Prameelavalli flunked an out of competition dope test by WADA before the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. She came out of two-year ban in March this year but tested positive for a steroid in the Noida meet again.

In Noida, she won three gold medals in 63kg category besides smashing three junior national records -- snatch (87 kg), clean and jerk (116 kg) and aggregate (203 kg). The 'B' samples of two other lifters from Uttar Pradesh who took part in the Noida championship -- Pramod Goswami (56kg) and Manjit Singh (77kg) -- had also returned positive and they will face two-year ban.

The IWF has also decided to suspend Uttar Pradesh Weightlifting Association for one year besides slapping a fine of Rs 20,000 for two of its lifters returning positive in a calendar year.

Tanaji wrote:It is unlikely that these weight lifters were doping up on their own. They must have been introduced to it by the IWF coaches. So the coaches go scott free and the weight lifter gets a life ban?

Ameet wrote:
http://www.hindu.com/2008/09/30/stories ... 152100.htm

New Delhi: A 23-member Indian football squad will leave for Tashkent on Wednesday to take part in the final round of the AFC Under-16 football championship, starting October 4. India, which has been clubbed in Group B, faces South Korea on October 4, Syria two days later and Indonesia on October 8.

The squad: Goalkeepers: Abhishek Das, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Jayanta Paul. Defenders: Ajit Dhurva Bhoir, Vikas Guila, Asish Chhetri, Deepak Devrani, Sumit Rawat, Tonmoy Ghosh, R. Vishal Kumar.

Midfielders: Akshay Mall, Harpreet Bedi, Bikramjit Singh, Shilton D’Silva, O Lalrindika, Sunny, Tirthankar Sarkar, Ongnam Milan Singh. Forwards: Manandeep, Abhishek Das, Malsawmfela, Prem Kumar, Vivek Kumar. Chief coach: Colin Toal. — PTI