Happy year for Indian athletics By Ramu Sharma TILL some six months ago the athletics scene afforded little scope for encouragement. The cupboard in fact had nothing new to offer. The older athletes were not getting younger and the new faces were still in an unsettled state. And the hopes of the Amateur Athletics Federation had received a severe setback after the poor performances in the Junior Asian Athletics the year before had been further devalued by the ensuing drug scandal.

Jyotirmoyee Sikdar

Football: shocks, surprises in abundance
By Amardeep Bhattal
IT was indeed an eventful year for football with shocks and surprises flowing in abundance. With France playing host to the World Cup in June/July, much was expected from traditional powerhouses like Germany, Argentina, Italy, England, Holland and Brazil. But as the world’s biggest sporting spectacle began to unfold, the favourites were upstaged by hitherto unknown teams like Croatia who incidentally sent the strong Germans packing in the quaterfinals.

Sampras retains top spot in tennis
By Harbans Singh Virdi
AS the curtain falls on 1998, Pete Sampras of the USA becomes the only player in tennis history who retains the world’s top spot for the sixth year in a row. Till last year Sampras had been sharing the spotlight with Jimmy Connors of the USA who had been the world’s No 1 player five times in a row.

by K. R. Wadhwaney
Golfers must have mental toughness
CHANDIGARH’s Harmeet Kahlon flattered to deceive in the Asian Games golf at Bangkok where competition was far from razor-sharp. He played two brilliant rounds and raised visions of a medal. But, as pressure mounted his game went into pieces. He muffed up the last two rounds.

Happy year for Indian athletics
By Ramu Sharma

TILL some six months ago the athletics scene afforded little scope for encouragement. The cupboard in fact had nothing new to offer. The older athletes were not getting younger and the new faces were still in an unsettled state. And the hopes of the Amateur Athletics Federation had received a severe setback after the poor performances in the Junior Asian Athletics the year before had been further devalued by the ensuing drug scandal.

Then suddenly dawned a new day as it were, with the Asian championships in Fukuoka (Japan). One of the major reasons for the freshly secreted hope was the resurgence of P.T. Usha, the second coming of her. She proved that she was still the best in the country in the sprints and could play a major role in the relays. Her comeback spurred the younger hopefuls into redoubled efforts and with Jyotirmoyee Sikdar proving to be a worthy successor to Shiny Abraham (Wilson) Indian athletics received an overdue shot in the arm.

The Indian performances in the competition at Fukuoka may not look very impressive if measured on the same scale with the achievements of China, Japan, Korea and a few other nations of the area. But judged purely from the Indian standpoint, it was a very creditable showing and more importantly augured well for the Bangkok Asian Games. The AAFI had already decided to keep away from the tougher competition in the Commonwealth Games to be held in Kuala Lumpur.

The most important aspect of the showing in Fukuoka was the manner in which the athletes approached their events. They had both confidence and the will to perform. This was a new trend and a welcome one. For too long in the past decade or so Indian athletes had not shown competitive spirit so necessary in major meets. They were all tuned to be coaching camp-fit or training-fit but very few of them were fit for competition. The championships in Fukuoka was the first one in which Indian athletes presented a more positive approach.

There was now no question of pre-race nerves for some of them and all of them were aware of the expectations from them and their own ability to achieve the grade. Thus they knew, most of them anyway, where they would stand even if they performed their best. Medals alone were not the be-all and end-all of an international competition. Thus, and contrary to earlier championships, most of the athletes performed as well and in some cases better than their rating at home.

Fukuoka was also where Jyotirmoyee Sikdar established herself in both the half miles and the metric mile, a bronze in each of the events with the bronze in the longer distance enriched to a gold, an unexpected one though, in the Asian Games where she clocked a personal best of 4: 12.82 but slower than the national mark of 14: 12.10 of Molly Chacko.

Jyotirmoyee’s success story continued well after the competition in Fukuoka. She built up her confidence beating Usha in the Railway meet where she was easily the outstanding athlete in the three day’s of competition. In many ways Jyotirmoyee, along with Rachita Mistry (need Pande) have come through as two of the most outstanding performers of the years, the latter earning a rare sprint medal in the Games, a bronze but a welcome one in 11.43 for the short sprint. Sunita Rani is another woman athlete who has come out with distinction, improving upon her 5,000 metres timings while at the same time acting as an effective cover runner for Jyotirmoyee, in the 1,500, an event in which she finished with a bronze in the Asian Games. And there is young Parmila, the fast improving heptathlete in addition to being a very talented sportsperson is also a very good competitor.

Neelam J. Singh has every reason to be happy with her form in the discus though she appears to hold back at crucial moments on the international arena, unable to match her records at home. An athlete with a plus 60 metre throw to her credit at home, she had to be content with a bronze medal worth 55 plus metres effort in the Asian Games. Neelam, like Shakti Singh in the men’s section, poses a problem for the coaches. Both are extremely talented but are unable to give themselves a free rein in the international arena. Shakti Singh had some ten throws over 19 metres on the domestic circuit and should have been on a gold hunt in the Asian Games. But he choked badly and stopped well before the 19 metres mark for a silver.

There was, however, a major gain in the form of Bahadur Singh in the shot put. His’ emergence as a potential challenger to Shakti Singh augurs well for Indian athletics. Shot put after all has been considered an Indian event in the Asian Games with the likes of Joginder, Irani, the Bahadur Singh of the earlier era, now a coach, and now a new Bahadur to add to Shakti Singh. With Bahaduria also in the fray the coming year is bound to give this event a new meaning. There is every possibility of achieving the magic candidate to achieve the target. This year of course has been very good for the short putters, at least on he domestic circuit.

The year 1998 will also be remembered as the year Milkha Singh’s deeds of 1960 were recalled of only for the fact that his record of 45.6 (46.73 as per electronic timing) was truly and finally submerged. The man who invoked Milkha’s name was Paramjit Singh, the star quarter-miler who served notice of the possibilities during the Fukuoka Championships and then on one fine afternoon in Calcutta, stunned the athletics world in India, with a 45.70 sec performance. Milkha Singh’s record was finally broken as timed electronically. Later it was known that even the hand timers had clocked Paramjit Singh to a faster timing than Milkha’s 45.6 sec as judged in Rome in 1960.

Milkha unfortunately took time to be convinced though he did congratulate Paramjit Singh for updating his mark. Paramjit Singh on the other hand set out to prove that the Calcutta performance was no flash in the pan. He ran a splendid sub-46 sec race for a bronze in the Asian Games where the top man, Tiliakratne ran another sub-45 sec race for the gold. Paramjit should be approaching 1999 with a degree of hope that he would, during the course of the year, be able to come below Milkha’s record more often. He has already done something the great Milkha did not. The “Flying Sikh” had only one sub-46 sec performance to his credit. Paramjit has done it three times and on one occasion faster than Milkha.

Thus 1998 was the year of Paramjit Singh, of Gulab Chand, the small statured athlete with a big heart, of Shakti Singh, Bahadur Singh, the women throwers, Neelam J. Singh, Harbans Kaur, Gurmeet Kaur, high jumper Bobby Aloysius and sprinter Rachna Mistry among others. It was also the year when Bahadur Prasad finally picked up his first medal in three Asian Games and Jyotirmoyee Sikdar proved that gold was not the monopoly of Chinese women athletes.

For the federation the year did not start well. For one, the drug scandal came as a major shock. And the early performances in the various meets were not very encouraging. But the success of the championships in Fukuoka changed all that. And the sustained improvement recorded in the various meets including the Open and Inter-State adding to the medals in the Asian Games, all made for a very happy year. It should provide the base for a quantum leap in quality the coming year.

Football: shocks, surprises in abundance
By Amardeep Bhattal

IT was indeed an eventful year for football with shocks and surprises flowing in abundance. With France playing host to the World Cup in June/July, much was expected from traditional powerhouses like Germany, Argentina, Italy, England, Holland and Brazil. But as the world’s biggest sporting spectacle began to unfold, the favourites were upstaged by hitherto unknown teams like Croatia who incidentally sent the strong Germans packing in the quaterfinals.

However, the biggest shock came in the final when hot favourites Brazil went down to hosts France by three goals. Projected as an outstanding player by the media much before the World Cup commenced, star Brazilian striker Ronaldo proved to be a big disappointment. In fact the controversy about his fitness in that fateful day in July is still raging.

The World Cup also saw the emergence of new stars like midfielder Zinedine Zidane and Emmanuel Petit of France, Marcelo Salas of Chile, German striker Ooiver Bierhoff, England’s Michael Owen, Holland’s Dennis Bergkamp, Argentina’s Gabriel Batistuta, and of course Croatia’s Davor Suker, who was crowned the best player of the tournament.

At the Asian level, Iran reaffirmed their superiority by emerging deserving champions in the 13th edition of the Asian Games at Bangkok. In the battle for the gold, the Iranians overcame Kuwait, who had incidentally cut short the dream of miracle team Thailand in the semifinals. Iran had fielded the same team which played in the World Cup where they had chalked out a memorable 2-1 win over the USA before bowing out of the competition. For Iran this was the second title win in the Asian Games after the memorable success in the 1990 edition when they had stunned the soccer world with a victory over North Korea in the final. Ali Daei, the Iranian skipper who also plays as a striker for Bayern Munich, scored seven goals till the final at Bangkok. The Iranians initially were off to a disastrous start, losing 2-4 to Oman but later came back to beat China 2-1 in the second round and again 1-0 in the semifinals.

On the domestic front, the year 1998 did not see any perceptible change. However, the effects of the National Football League are gradually showing up with more professional sides bursting on to the national scene. The Bengal-Mumbai Football club of Mumbai under the guidance of former Iranian star Jamshed Nassiri, who donned the red and gold jersey of Calcutta’s East Bengal in the early eighties, emerged as a major force by lifting the Rovers Cup.

Even in the Asian Games, the men’s team did not fare badly and entered the second round although the only victory for them came against Nepal. However, the Indians gave a good account of themselves in the matches against Japan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and North Korea.

However, the women’s team proved to be a big disappointment, conceding 36 goals in three matches.

The second edition of the Philips National Football League saw Calcutta giants Mohun Bagan putting their stamp of supremacy on their debut. They accumulated 34 points relegating arch rivals East Bengal to the second position. Defending champions JCT, Phagwara, struggling to find their feet after the exodus of star finished a poor seventh. Goa’s Churchill Brothers, who had finished runners-up in the inaugural edition, faced the ignominy of relegation to the ‘B’ division, finishing ninth in a field of 10 teams.

Mahindra and Mahindra, who were also relegated to the ‘B’ division having finished last in the league redeemed lost prestige by lifting the Durand Cup.

From the north, Punjab State Electricity Board and Border Security Force made an impact at the national level. In the Federation Cup, which was played on zonal basis, PSEB qualified for the main round after a play-off while JCT moved ahead by winning the north zone at Chandigarh. PSEB eventually gained entry into the last eight at the cost of the Phagwara outfit but that was as far as they could go.

Border Security Force capped the season with a title victory in Airlines Gold Cup beating Tollygunge Agragami 2-0 at Calcutta’s Salt Lake Stadium.

However, one event which went quite unnoticed was India’s title victory in the four-nation Bristol Freedom Cup at Colombo. India’s ‘B’ team comprising second-string players gave a marvellous account of themselves from day one. India surprised Malaysia 3-1 in the opening tie and then overpowered the Maldives 2-1. In the last league match, India playing with seven substitutes, held Sri Lanka to a 1-1 draw.

The Indian team comprised promising players drawn from professional outfits like Mahindra and Mahindra. FC Kochin, Air India and Indian Bank. Noel Wilson, James and Rajesh Pandey provided enough glimpses of the growing professionalism in Indian soccer.

As the year draws to a close, the Asian threat of a “World Cup boycott in 2002 caused considerable consternation in football circles. Will Asia’s demand for greater representation in the next World Cup being jointly hosted by Japan and South Korea be conceded? Only time will tell.

Sampras retains top spot in tennis
By Harbans Singh Virdi

AS the curtain falls on 1998, Pete Sampras of the USA becomes the only player in tennis history who retains the world’s top spot for the sixth year in a row.

Till last year Sampras had been sharing the spotlight with Jimmy Connors of the USA who had been the world’s No 1 player five times in a row.

It speaks volumes of his ability to stay at the top despite the fact that the American did not have a great season — neither the beginning of the year (Australian Open in January) nor the end (US Open in August). He struggled in the beginning and he kept struggling till the end of the year — such is the cut-throat competition in men’s tennis.

But the American player will draw satisfaction from the fact that despite the struggle he had to put up throughout the year he finishes as the No 1 player in the world. Though it must also be said at the same time that he did not want the year to end in the manner it ended. Sampras participated in the ATP Tour Championship at Hanover in November, the real year-ender. And Sampras did not finish on a winning note. It must also be remembered that at the time of taking part in the competition he was precariously placed. He was ahead of his nearest rival, Marcelo Rios of Chile, by only 33 points.

But Sampras was lucky in the sense that whereas the Chilean player lost the first match to British upstart Tim Henman, Sampras beat Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia. But Sampras did not have the smooth running even thereafter. Though he did manage to reach the semifinals, yet he failed to sustain the tempo and lost to Alex Corretja of Spain. This was the last match of Sampras in 1998. To say in simple terms here too he failed to make the final.

Now if we have an overview of the world tennis scene, we will find that no player, including Sampras, could dominate the world stage. In fact the top American player reached the final of only one grand slam tournament — the Wimbledon 98, and which he won by outclassing Goran Ivanisevic in a five-set struggle.

Now this did not surprise anyone since both the American and the Croatian had the type of game which is best suited to grass. So both reached the final of the Wimbledon. This was the only grand slam victory that Sampras had in his pocket. In all other grand slams he failed to show the kind of domination he once displayed.

In fact most top-class tournaments had surprise finalists. Start in the beginning, the Australian Open in January. The two finalists were Petr Korda of the Czech Republic and Marcelo Rios of Chile in which Korda first time came into his own to win the grand slam tournament.

If Rios failed at the last hurdle in the Australian Open Carlos Moya of Spain did not lose heart in the French Open and kept up the pressure. After all which other surface could suit a clay court specialist than the red clay of Roland Garros of Paris. The French Open provided the best forum for Moya who showed excellent form throughout the tournament. In fact it must also be said here that Spanish players almost stormed this year’s French Open and for the first time in a number of years it was an all-Spanish at the French Open. The man to test Moya in the final was Alex Corretja. But it was a day which belonged to Moya who took the better of his countryman to wear crown of the French Open. So the year’s first two grand slam tournaments had two different champions.

At this stage it looked the claycourt specialists might trouble the grasscourt players in the rest of the season. But Wimbledon is Wimbledon after all. As they say. Since the time of Sweden’s Bjorn Borg no other baseliner, in history has been able to leave a lasting mark on Wimbledon’s lush-green courts. Borg was the only exception who could switch so effortlessly from the red court clay of Roland Garros to the green grass at Wimbledon where the ball skips and keeps low — a real contrast to the clay bounce. So once again it were grass court specialists who dominated the scene at Wimbledon. The two big servers of the game — Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia and Pete Sampras of the USA — reached the final in which a titanic struggle ensued. But at the end of the day Sampras carried the trophy by falsifying Ivan Lendl’s statement that grass is only for cows. No, it suits some great players in tennis too, that was the message Sampras conveyed.

If Sampras thought that by his victory at Wimbledon he had reversed the trend of his fate, he was wrong, conceded that the US Open had been the happy hunting ground for most US players even in the past. Stan Smith, Jimmy Connors and lately John McEnroe had great runs during their respective times but surprisingly the tournament did not bring luck for Sampras. For the first time in many years the US Open saw two Australian players in the final. For Patrick Rafter it was a great moment since he had won the title last year. So it was a great chance for him to retain the title and take his ranking up the ATP ladder. The man at the other end of the net was Mark Philippoussis who was known for his thunder service in tennis. Initially, he had begun on a great note and it looked he had a great future in tennis. But did not perform up to expectations. As his career chart failed to impress he became more popular for his secret affair with Mary Pierce of France. Anyway, that kept him in the news. So it was after a long time that he had displayed the kind of game the people felt he possessed.

Anyway, that was as far as Philippoussis could go. Rafter cut short his further march to retain the US Open title. The US Open will also be known for the fact that on the women’s side US born Lindsay Davenport demolished the challenge of Swiss sensation Martina Hingis in the final to win the crown. Hingis had won the Australian Open title in January this year.

If one looks at the finalists in all grand slams this year, one would realise how stiff is the competition in men’s tennis. But of late women’s tennis is following in the footsteps of men’s tennis. A number of young players are emerging on the scene who are seriously threatening the old guard. This is a good sign. The scene has gone tougher with everyone challenging everyone. After the absence of Monica Seles due to the stabbing incident and Steffi Graf due to injury, the field looked open to harness. It appeared that Hingis might rule the women’s tennis world comfortably now since the top players were off the scene for one reason or the other. But that was not to be and Hingis did not have the great time as was expected of her. For instance Graf on the comeback trail beat her twice this year.

Graf who was making her comeback ends the season on a very satisfying note. She has been able to beat world’s four of the top six players. Besides beating Hingis Graf beat Lindsay Davenport once, Jana Novotna thrice and Seles six times. That reads nice. As Graf herself commented the last few weeks have been amazing, for her.

However, one thing is clear. Whether it is Hingis, Davenport, Graf, Seles or Graf, every player, at least a senior player, is going to have a tough job at hand, for a number of players of the young brigade are trying to break into the top bracket. It is not only the Williams sisters who are posing any threat to established players but players like Irina Spirlea of Romania, Dominique Van Roost of Belgium and Anna Kornikova are players who are constantly on the lookout for some prized scalps. So the scene is hot now with every player trying to make to the international scene as fast as possible.

by K. R. Wadhwaney
Golfers must have mental toughness

CHANDIGARH’s Harmeet Kahlon flattered to deceive in the Asian Games golf at Bangkok where competition was far from razor-sharp. He played two brilliant rounds and raised visions of a medal. But, as pressure mounted his game went into pieces. He muffed up the last two rounds.

Digvijay Singh, another promising player, played well in patches. But that was not enough for India to salvage a medal in either individual or team events. India finished fourth.

Needless high expectations were pinned on the women’s team, which was making a debut in the Asian Games contest. None of the three players could play to his potential. Maybe, the course was too long. Maybe, the surroundings were demanding.

The Indian men and women will have to learn to adjust their play according to course and weather. If they are unable to do so, they will always be dubbed as “tigers at home and lambs for slaughter abroad”.

Nonita Lal Qureshi’s contribution to Indian women’s golf has been tremendous. She has been one of the most dedicated players. She has won many laurels. But following marriage and a baby, she appears to be preoccupied with her domestic responsibilities and she is not the player she was. It would have been gracious on her part if she had stood down for a younger player to secure much needed experience.

Anjali Chopra was in and out of the Indian squad. She indeed is tiny and feeble. But she has been one of the most consistent players in the country. Maybe, she should have been sent. Shruti Khanna would have been an ideal choice to represent the country. But she found her form much after the team was finalised.

The Indian golf has been improving rapidly. But leading players, men and women, will have to develop mental toughness to leave a more lasting mark in international competitions than has been the case so far.

It is baffling as to why the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) was adhering two sets of rules in Asian Games disciplines under its umbrella. Professionals were allowed to take part in tennis and billiards/snooker, but golf was open only to amateurs. Why this disparity?

New board

With Prakash Bhandari as chairman, the Northern India Advisory Golf Board has been formed to guide/educate and build courses. There are many other aims and objects of the board.

There is, however, some unrest among golfers and golf followers that handful of them should have formed the board without inviting representatives from other centres, like Chandigarh, Noida, Army Golf Club, Classic Golf Resort, Lucknow and Kanpur.

Some golfers, who are considerably surprised at the formation of such a board, feel that they have no objection whatsoever if all office-bearers come from one unit but the inaugural meeting should have been fully representative of different clubs in northern India.

The observation has a lot validity and force. Maybe, a meeting is convened to provide the board a proper stature and status to be called as northern India body.

Vijay Kumar leads

Vijay Kumar, the Mahindra player of the year last season, broke through the eight-event monopoly of Shiv Prakash (Kanpur) as he moved on top after achieving victory in the last event of the PGA Indian tour at Pune. Vijay Kumar now leads with 197 points (Rs 6.9 lakh) followed by Shiv Prakash with 182.5 points (Rs 6.7 lakh). Ali Sher is third with 135 points (Rs 4.3 lakh).

The Mahindra golfer of the year will receive a cheque of Rs 5.76 lakh).