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LONDON OLYMPICS

India needs infrastructure to become a global sports power

The fact remains though 1.2 billion plus nation can be justifiably proud of its performance in the XXX London Summer Olympics, the third largest emerging economy in the world is far behind its immediate neighbour China, the USA,the Great Britain and several other countries in providing proper infrastructure for the development of sports and encouragement of the youngsters engaged in various sporting events.

After the six dedicated young men and women some of whom are  from humble origins by dint of hard  work for years braving numerous  hardship have been able to finish on the podium ,central and state governments as well as various organizations are competing with one another to shower largesse on them. Compliments and incentives are necessary for their appreciation .But question can be asked about their contribution to their success. Pullela Gopinath Chand ,the Coach for  India?s badminton face Saina Newhal, has gone on record regretting that he had to spend from his pocket for almost everything including purchase of shuttle cocks for her and other trainees being coached by him. It is hoped that the Badminton Federation of India will take note of the regret expressed by the former All England Badminton Champion turned coach for doing the needful at the earliest.

Anyway, the London Olympics has convinced Indian political class as well as the media that our boys and girls are capable of doing better in multi national sporting events provided they are given the basic structure for developing their potential and proper training. What is the need of the hour is that all those whose performance is worthwhile and are dedicated  to the games in the just concluded Olympics should be provided all encouragement and facilities for the 2014 Commonwealth Games to be held in Glasgow and Asian Games to be held in South Korea as well as the XXXI Summer Olympics to be held in Rio de Janeiro four years later. President Pranab Mukherjee has rightly advised them to be focused on the next Olympiad. Besides the six medal winners, there are some other Indian athletes who have finished among the top ten. Among them are Joydeep  Karmakar from Bengal, who was adjudged first a bronze medal  winner but shortly after he was declared fourth in a controversial decision taken by the umpire and Krishna Punia who came seventh in the discus throw. Their performance should be taken into consideration.

For several years, India had relied on Limba Ram as the lone medal hopeful in multi- national archery competition. Several talented Indian archers have emerged boosting India?s chances on the world stage. Limba Ram is no longer in his prime and young Indian archers including, Rahul Banerjee,Dola Banerjee, Deepika Kumari ,Tarundeep Rai and Jayant Talukdar have taken upon themselves the task to lift Indian archery to new heights. Introduction of modern and sophisticated equipments has proved to be a boon for the uplift of the sport in India. Other countries are not far behind and have improved in the sports in which India specialized from time immemorial.

These include archery, hockey, kabaddi, equestrian, rowing, polo and wrestling. The performance of the Indian archers has dismayed the nation. Since most of   them are youngsters, it is hoped that they will leave no stone unturned to introspect on their failures to avoid these in the coming international competitions in the Asian and the Commonwealth Games to be held two years from now.They should study videos on the games and should update their training.

The Indian hockey team has performed the worst among the Indian participants. An in-depth study should be conducted to find out the malaise afflicting the country?s national game and for taking remedial measures as early as possible. Though no one had expected the Indian hockey team to bag a medal, none of their compatriots expected them to be drubbed in all the matches they played and ranked 12th  among the 12th participating countries.

The Indian Olympic Association deputed 83 athletes to compete in 13 sports making it the largest contingent India has ever sent to an Olympic Games.

The Indian effort to prepare for the games consisted of funds provided by the Government to the tune of $48.1 million and an additional $11 million in private sponsorships. Sushil  Kumar from Haryana was the flag bearer in the opening ceremony and MC Mary Kom from Manipur was the flag bearer at the closing ceremony.

India has won 6 medals including 2 silver and 4 bronze which is by far the best performance by India in terms of number  from Rajasthan. Saina Nehwal,22, from Haryana but settled in Hyderabad has won a bronze medal in women?s singles in badminton. She has become the first Indian to win a medal in badminton at the Olympics. She is also the second Indian woman to win an individual medal after Karnam Malleswari?s bronze medal in Weightlifting in 2000.

Diminutive Mary Kom aged 29 and mother of two children has bagged for India its fourth medal in the games by winning a Bronze in the Women?s Flyweight category in Boxing. She is the third Indian woman to clinch the precious medal at the Olympics.

Yogeshwar Dutt aged 29 from Haryana has made the nation proud by winning a bronze in the 60 kg Freestyle Wrestling. He has won for India the fourth bronze and the fifth medal overall. This is the third individual medal in wrestling after bronze medals lifted by Sushil Kumar in 2008 Beijing Olympics and  K D Jadhav in 1952. The Haryana lad has won the Silver medal in 66 Kg Free Style wrestling stunning the spectators.

Sushil Kumar (29) is the first Indian to win an individual medal in back to back Olympics. He had won a bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the same category.

The London Olympics in which 205 countries with close to 10,500 participants competed is considered the best for India so far as the medal tally?s is concerned. But we should not remain content by emerging 55th among the 74 nations who have finished on the podium in the world?s biggest ever sporting event held so far.

It is heartening that the President has stressed the need for creating a strong sporting nation with sound infrastructure if the nation intends to play its role in international sports. The onus for this purpose should not be left to our sportspersons. The sports authorities at the Centre and in the states as well as the corporate sector should come forward to create such a congenial atmosphere for the athletes. We badly need a sporting culture in the country for the promotion of sports as he has rightly said while felicitating the medal winners in the historic Rashtrapati Bhawan.