Sunday Snippets
By Venkatesh Raghavan
Indian Olympic team seems to be in good form with day one of the Olympic tournament in Japan fetching a silver medal in an individual event, namely weight lifting. There is anticipation of more good tidings coming our way as the games proceed. The strength of our Olympic team stands at 83 and more and more of the contingent is expected to get into its act.
In the previous version of the tournament, India had to wait till PV Sindhu managed to clinch a silver medal, bettering the record of her predecessor Saina Nehwal in badminton. There were times, when India had to wait till the very end to clinch a sole bronze. It’s reminiscent of when Leander Paes managed to snatch a bronze medal in the run up to the men’s singles tennis contest.
Interestingly, there appear to be two phases in India’s medal winning pattern at the Olympics. The first phase witnessed us dominating Olympic Hockey unchallenged for over two decades. The second phase began after a drought of nearly two decades in the mid-nineties when Indian sports persons started garnering medals in individual events.
Ironically, India looks nowhere near gaining even a shred of its supremacy it enjoyed in hockey during the pre and immediate post independence era of Olympic tournaments. Some blame it on the lack of popularization of the game. Still worse, they also point out how shabbily our hockey heroes get dealt with post retirement, some of them having been forced to sell their medals to buy food. For India to be active in any team sport other than cricket it will take two things. Firstly, they have to ensure a comfortable career graph and facilities for the playing team. Secondly, young players should feel inspired to compete and join the final eleven of the Indian team as is happening with cricket right now.
The reasons behind this setback faced by our hockey team also have to do with the shift in playing surfaces and strategies used by the competing teams like Australia and Germany. They are very good at playing on Astroturf and also have a combination of forwards and defenders that is in tune with the modern form of the game. In cricket, we used to bemoan the lack of pace wickets in our country that can make our batsmen perform well on seaming wickets overseas. The same logic applies to our hockey players. They need sufficient training and exposure to perform on Astroturf surfaces. As of now keen watchers of Indian hockey team’s fortunes in various tournaments have spelt it out that the team runs out of steam after it begins in full gusto in the first half of the match. In short we are unable to produce players who can endure a full 90 minute stay on the field and come out exhilarating. In short, this team event, in addition to lacking facilities and promotional events, is receiving step-motherly treatment from the sports ministry.
However, Indian sportspersons gaining ground on individual events like boxing, shooting, weightlifting, and badminton by winning Olympic medals is a healthy sign, indicating that participation in sports is on the rise and corporate sponsorships that are increasing can ensure the Indian Olympic contingent our moment in the sun.
