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| SPORTS TRIBUNE | Saturday, April 13, 2002, Chandigarh, India |
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What has happened to Punjab football? Old classics take to the road The coach who never came back |
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What has happened to Punjab football? The National Football League is virtually over and the one team not in contention for the title is JCT Mills, Phagwara, the combination which won the competition in its inaugural year. Now along with Punjab Police it is one of the teams facing the axe, a demotion to the second division. Times have indeed changed. What has happened to JCT, easily one of the most popular outfits, not only in northern India but all over the country? It was the one team which travelled the most, a team which organisers of every tournament in the country wanted . JCT Mills has long been synonymous with football in Punjab and northern India. It came into being after the disbandment of Leader’s Club of Jalandhar, a team which was responsible for giving a fresh life to football in the north. In fact its owner Dwarka Das Sehgal could well be said to be the pioneer of football in Punjab. He encouraged the game, employed players and even built a stadium where entry was free. He wanted to make the game popular in Punjab. And he saw a dream fulfilled when Punjab won the Nationals for the first time when it hosted it Jalandhar in the 60s. Since then the mantle has been taken over by JCT, Phagwara, whose owners, the Thapars, apart from being big business tycoons, are also keen followers of the game. In fact, Samir Thapar takes active interest in the administration of the game and even stood for the post of President. It was a pity that he could not make it. Between Leaders and JCT Mills Punjab has given India a number of stars, quite a few national captains too with the first one being Jarnail Singh. Though he joined JCT late, he had already established himself as one of the finest footballers in the continent, having honed his skills on the battlefield of Kolkata. And now when one speaks of Punjab football, it means Inder Singh, another India captain, Parminder Singh, also an India captain, Manjit Singh, Kashmira, Gurdev (India captain), Harjinder, Manjit Singh, the inimitable Bhatia and others. The list of the stars is an endless one. But it is not JCT Mills alone which has boosted Punjab football. Contributions in large measures have come from the two institutional teams, Border Security Force and Punjab Police. Border Security Force has done even better than JCT in a tournament like the DCM. And in earlier days one remembers Ambala Heroes and the evergreen Pawan Kumar. To this list one can also add Gurkripal and his band of Sikh Regimental Centre, based in Meerut, who made the game so lively and enjoyable. With so many heroes and so many people helping out one wonders what has gone wrong with football in Punjab? First and foremost the teams from Punjab and North in general do not have an opening to express themselves. The DCM Football Tournament was the one competition where these teams could excel. To the organisers of the DCM goes the credit of giving a big boost to football in the north and also the country in general. This was a tournament which introduced new teams in India, also the only tournament in the beginning to open its doors to teams from abroad. Leaders Club, JCT Mills, RAC Bikaner and Sikh Regimental Centre from Meerut owe as much to the DCM Football Tournament as Taj Club from Iran and the many teams form North Korea and elsewhere. Unfortunately the DCM tournament has been virtually ‘Killed’ as it were, unable to find a place in the expanding calendar of the All-India Football Federation. Then there is the changing face of Indian football with foreign nationals brought in to give gloss to the prevalent dull surface of the game. The difference between JCT and Punjab Police and the rest of the teams is the foreign inputs. If JCT and Punjab Police were to play in the league where no foreign players were allowed, the two Punjab combinations may not win the title but they will certainly be able to put up a commendable show. Remember when JCT won the title the first time it had, apart from a couple of Nigerian stars, the Kerala kings of the game, Vijayan, Carlton Chapman and others. There was also Baichung Bhutia. JCT, the first Indian club to have a foreign coach, can still win the title if it hires outsiders but then it would not be fair to its youngsters. In any case JCT and other clubs in Punjab face the same problem as the rest of the county, the fall in the standard of the game. For the time being, however, an effort must be made to start a tournament on the lines of the DCM and make the game popular again. There is plenty of talent in Punjab but it needs to be harnessed.
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Old classics take to the road
Winter and springtime is usually a rallying season for vintage and classic automobiles. But it’s hard to recollect a rally of such vehicles covering a distance of 600 km on the National Highway from Delhi to Jaipur and back. For the newly-formed HMCI (Heritage Motoring Club of India) in Delhi, the Titus & Co Heritage Motoring Rally (March 16 and 17) was a major feat as only one bike out of 35 cars and 11 bikes could not finish the event. The rally’s philosophy was that these heritage relics on wheels are reminders of man’s genius. The time, effort and money spent on restoring them would not be justifiable if they become merely objects of vanity. They have become objects with intrinsic value because their wheels were driven by pioneering engineering skills of a bygone era. With Vijay Mallaya, C.K. Birla and Ratan Tata as patrons, HMCI boasts experienced veteran restorers, aficionado and young zealots who bring with them illustrious marquees like Hispano-Suiza, Bugati, Maybach, Diamler, Mercedes, Rolls-Royce, Lagonda, Packards, Graham Paige, Rileys, Citroens, Opel, Austin’s and post-war classics in Jaguars, MGs, Cadilacs, Fords, Buicks, Studebakers. These cars competed with the likes of Henderson, AJS, Indian Chiefs, Harleys, Ducati, Gilera, Norton, Ariel, BMW and BSAs among bikes. Competing for 25 trophies, the vehicles had started from Delhi early morning and slowly adjusted themselves to trucks, carriers and typical weekend’s traffic of cars towards Jaipur. These classics not only delighted those who saw them, but also provided a wonderful counterpoint to the monotonous clones of cars on the highway. Virtually all the participants reached their destination well before sunset. The classic performance came from the meek 1928 700cc Austin of Gyan Sharma against the mighty 1928 8-cylinder 6600cc Minerva of Ranjit Malik which consumed a litre of fuel per kilometre. If Minerva outpaced all the other cars, then the Baby Austin set a standard of smooth and fast running and took on rough terrain very naturally to bypass heavy trucks on toll gate. In fact it was a small star but shown brilliantly on the highway for everyone. HMCI’s rally was greeted by Rajmata Gayatri Devi of Jaipur who said Rajiv Kehr’s 1950 XK 120 Jaguar was a lovely vehicle. The next day, early in the morning, Col. Bhawani Singh flagged off the first few cars and bikes. Apart from sporting, the rally provided some glimpses of styling and engineering of 1930s. The 9.9 hp 1934 Riley Lynx is a picture of true blue blood sports car of its era. It has a top speed of about 100 mph. With H frame chassis it has wooden floor and frame for the body with aluminium panelling and steel fender. Cables for the brakes passes through a dozen of pulleys and are adjusted by two levers each on either side of the gearbox. The 1500cc Citroen of 1938 made by Andre Citroen is another classic. It was the first front-wheel-drive production car and was known as Citroen ‘Traction Avant’. Having a monocoque body it has its gearbox ahead of the engine and its lever on the dashboard. Andre died in bankruptcy while developing ‘Traction Avant’. Then it was bought over by Michelin and had roaring success as a path-breaking machine. Both Citroen and Riley are owned by Mr. R.K. Sharma. Among the bikes 1926 Henderson is a 1300cc machine with four cylinders and reverse gear. Though heavy, it’s a fast bike and was used for catching criminals in New York. Owned by Ranjit Malik in Henderson Blue colour the bike was fully restored and driven by young Gurumukh Singh who now runs restoration workshop for bikes in Delhi. Apart from a drive for membership, newsletters and periodicals, the club plans to encourage the acquisition, restoration, preservation, exhibition and maintenance of these vehicles. To keep the vehicles revved up there will be driving jaunts during temperate climates. A drive to Shimla is already being thought of with an overnight halt at Chandigarh.
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The coach who never came back He went to prepare their team for the Olympics but he never came back as he was killed in a war that was not his. Afghanistan, who were to participate in the Moscow Olympics, and wanted their hockey team to perform creditably. India offered to assist them. Chain Singh, their brightest coach at the NIS, Patiala, was therefore deputed to train the Afghan hockey team. Hockey, like other sporting disciplines, stood depleted with the impending boycott by the western countries and their allies. Chain Singh was a good choice. Totally devoted to hockey, he put himself to the highest standard of discipline to inspire his trainees. He had fair success as the coach of the Indian juniors, as Zafar Iqbal and many others would vouchsafe. He had also played an important role in finetuning the skills of adivasi boys from what is now Jharkhand, who were fleet-footed and evasive in the field, yet failed to convert their superiority into goals. He could never fathom the reason for it, and would often go to the extent of making them perform front rolls endlessly, to drill that ultimate when in ‘D’, the ball has to be put in the opponent’s goal! India could not have sent on deputation a better person, and by all accounts, he too seemed to be enjoying the challenge, when tragedy struck. The Soviet invasion set in motion a chain of events which did not interest Chain Singh, but which had a terrible bearing on his fate. Mujahideens started ambushing the Soviet and the government forces. The Russian war veterans can testify to the deadly and mortifying effect of such ambushes. Chain Singh along with the whole team and back up personnel, become victims of one such ambush. Waylaid, they were kept alive for a fairly long period. A few among them managed to either escape, or to bargain for their freedom. Not Chain Singh. His wife remained in Afghanistan for a long time, nursing hope to see Chain Singh again. The Najibullah government took care of the family. But finally the truth had to be accepted. The Russians withdrew and what later happened to Afghanistan is known in detail to the world. What is known to the family of Chain Singh and his friends is that he was one victim of the Afghan war who had so much to do at home, and the one who never came back. Hockey was his passion even as a student. In fact, it was a passion too with his elder brother Ranbir Singh, who is even today better known in Gurdapsur as ‘Pehlwan’, a title he earned more because of his aggressive looks and the manner in which to be defended in the field, rather than any deeds performed in an ‘akhara’, and his younger brother Partap Singh. Partap was the first to bring glory to the family when he played a vital role during the bombing of the Gurdaspur railway yard during the 1965 war. Decorated with the highest award to a citizen during war, he became the darling of the family. Unfortunately, he was to waste his life and himself soon after. Devotion of the brothers to sport would anger their father no end as he believed that they were wasting their time while others were studying. A few times he even broke their sticks, but instead of being deterred, they continued playing and come home without their sticks, making their father believe that they had finally given up playing hockey. Thus dodging his father, Chain Singh went on to play for Panjab University. He was also chosen as a probable for India. Though he did not make it to the big league, yet one thing led to another and finally it was hockey which landed him a job in Patiala. The job brought a turnaround in the attitude of his father. Sports no longer aroused his ire. Ironically, except for Chain Singh’s son, all his other grandchildren found their careers through sports, one of Ranbir Singh’s son represented India Juniors in hockey. For his part, Ranbir took up the family profession of farming, and successfully at that. It was what his father always wanted him to be. But he and his sister know that their children have been given the option of alternate careers by none other than their brother Chain Singh. |
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Hockey is alive; encourage the team There is much hue and cry over the Indian hockey team’s performance in the World Cup. Some people have used unparliamentary language while expressing concern over the defeat of the team. Using such language serves no purpose. Both senior and junior teams won two international tournaments in the recent past. So hockey is not actually dead. Every sportsperson having some knowledge of hockey knows that about a dozen teams in the world are almost of the same standard and all compete for victory. Losing by low margins is not shameful or discouraging. The team must be encouraged for future engagements. Regarding the role of the Indian Hockey Federation, everyone knows about the team’s preparations, coaching camps, international exposure and other positive steps. This much was never spent on teams. H.S. RANDHAWA,
Ludhiana Paes-Bhupathi split It was really disheartening to know that the tennis team that brought India’s name on the international scene has split. Although Leander holds an edge over Mahesh as far as individual ratings are concerned, they have to accept the fact that they won’t get the same attention and success individually as they got as a team. Both players combine well as a team and will fall a way playing individually. GAGANDEEP HANSPAL,
Gurdaspur Courtney Walsh On April 19 last year Courtney Walsh announced his retirement from cricket. Today the Indian team is in the Caribbean and on each day, in some way or the other, bowling legends like Walsh and Ambrose are remembered. Some people genuinely miss them like the present West Indies team, and some people like Dravid and Ganguly, say that the pace attack of the West Indians won’t be strong in the absence of Walsh and Ambrose. Probably they feel happy that they won’t have to face these dangerous men. Walsh had himself mentioned that the batsmen would be happy with his retirement and it seems that his prophecy is coming true. Hanny Gandhi,
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