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| SPORTS TRIBUNE | Saturday, September 28, 2002, Chandigarh, India |
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Litmus test for India at
Busan Golden jubilee of the Asiad Manchester stars in
focus The emblem, mascot & official song
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Litmus test for India at
Busan The heady success achieved at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester has given great optimism to the Indian athletes to scale greater heights in the 14th edition of the Asian Games to be held at the South Korea port city of Busan from September 29 to October 14. Though the quality of competition at Manchester was not top class, compared to what the athletes would be encountering at Busan, the 69-medal haul by the Indian sportspersons was a remarkable achievement, by any yardstick. India would, however, face a litmus test at Busan as the contests would be keen and close, though Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Suresh Kalmadi held out the promise that India “would double their medals tally” of the 1998 Asian Games at Bangkok. There is a spring in Kalmadi’s strides as he feels that the 379-member Indian contingent has the potential to clinch close to 50-60 medals, including a large number of gold medals, compared to the 35 medals, including seven gold medals, won by the 352-member contingent at the Bangkok Asian Games four years ago. “Hopefully, all our athletes will get medals, and we will do better than last time”, Kalmadi said, tounge-in-cheek. But even if all of them do not win medals, India are pinning hopes — golden hopes, that is — on the athletes, hockey teams (both men and women), shooters, boxers, wrestlers, weightlifters, tennis players, billiards and snooker (pool and carrom too) teams, sailing stars, rowers and an assorted number of other sportspersons, to return with medals. At Bangkok, Jyotirmoy Sikdar’s golden double injected a lot of sheen to the performance of the athletes. And this time around, the mantle of leading India’s golden hopes in athletics has fallen on Beena Mol, who is also the torch-bearer of the Indian contingent. According to Amateur Athletic Federation of India secretary Lalit Kumar Bhanot, “Beena Mol, who will participate in the march-past during the opening ceremony as India’s torch-bearer, will go with her coach, and stay back to train”. But P.T. Usha, whose five-medal haul, including four gold and one silver medals, had bailed out India from an embarrassing and humiliating situation when Korea hosted the Asian Games 16 years ago in Seoul, sounded a note of caution when she observed that the contests in Busan will be a lot more tougher than India expect. She said the Indian athletes would have to peak at the right time to be in the medal bracket. Though the shooters had hit the bull’s eye several times at Manchester, the Asian Games would be a different game altogether as Korea, China and Japan would be fielding world class shooters. “Our shooters are capable of winning at least half a dozen medals”, commented IOA secretary-general Randhir Singh, who himself has been a former Asian Games medallist. Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi in tennis and Geet Sethi, Devender Joshi, Alok Kumar and Yashin Merchant in billiards and snooker are also considered gold medal prospects, though Ashok Sandhaliya, winner of two gold medals in the cue game at Bangkok, has been omitted from the team “due to poor form”. India’s gold-silver haul at the Commonwealth Games through Qamar Ali and Som Bahadur has infused fresh hopes in boxing. Farokh Tarapore and Vikas Kapila, world champions in the 420 class, have set their sights on the gold. India, in fact, expect three medals from sailing. Hockey, however, would be the game every Indian would be keenly observing. Indian men have the potential to retain the gold they won at Bangkok, after a gap of over three decades. India have selected the best possible combination, an aberration here and there notwithstanding, and after putting up a gutsy performance in the Champions Trophy at Colonge (Germany), the hockey team’s confidence level has shot up. Moreover, this would be the swan song Asiad for mercurial forward Dhanraj Pillay, who is determined to sign off from international hockey in style. Chief coach Rajinder Singh, whose “Indian style hockey” has fetched appreciable rewards, is confident that India will put forward their best foot at Busan. The coaching camp in Delhi, post-Champions Trophy, was a gainful experience for the Dilip Tirkey-led Indian team, as the thrust was to iron out the grey areas like “poor clearance, poor marking of opponents, penalty corner conversion, and the players’ inability to hold on to the ball in the crucial closing minutes of the match”, noticed at Colonge. The football team, which left for Busan without waiting for government clearanace, has had the dubious distinction, even before the start of the games, of one of their players testing positive for a banned substance. Fortunately, Arun Malhotra was tested positive in Delhi before the team left for Busan. His second sample, also tested by the SAI centre, revealed a “positive” result. India lifted the football gold in the inaugural games in Delhi (1951) and at Jakarta (1962). India have tasted no success ever since. As usual, the IOA has sent a “jumbo contingent” to Busan in a “please all vote bank” move. The creation of new States like Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Uttaranchal has only swelled the ranks of the freeloaders who all want to have a jolly good time in the Korean city, at the exchequer’s expense. India winning medals is least of their concern. |
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Golden jubilee of the Asiad Will the golden jubilee edition of the Asia Games bring India, the founder of the Games, a rich harvest? After a commendable performance in the last Commonwealth Games at Manchester where weightlifters (both men and woman), shooters (both men and women), wrestlers, boxers, athletes and the women’s hockey team gave a scintillating performance, hopes have risen and all eyes have been set on Busan where the 14th edition of the Games gets underway on Sunday. It was India, which in early 30s, had floated the idea of continental games. Prof Guru Dutt Sondhi, a dedicated follower of the Olympic movement, visualised Asiad, the brainchild of western Asiatic Games in 1930. Political upheavals in the continent brought a premature end to these Games in 1934. Though the inaugural Asian Games were originally scheduled for 1950, they had to be postponed for a few months and were held in 1951. Since then the Games have been held every four years. One interesting thing has been that Bangkok alone has staged the Games four times and on each occasion on the same dates, from December 9 to 20. If one looks back, the performance of India, with the exception of 1951 and 1982, when they were hosts, had seldom been up to the expectations. Only twice in the 51-year-old history of the Games, India has finished among top three the first time in 1951 in the inaugural Asian Games and then in 1962. In the last edition, India were placed ninth. If one scans the records, one discovers that Japan, which had dominated the Asian Games scenario till China and Korea appeared on the horizon, has been consistent with its medals tally. With the exception of 1990 Asian Games, they have never returned home with less than 50 gold medals. On the other hand, India’s gold medal tally entered double figures only four times — twice at home and twice outside. After China joined the Asian Games arena, its progress has been phenomenal - Starting with 25 gold medals and the overall third position in Teheran, they moved to the second spot in 1978 with 50 gold medals. Once they took the top spot in 1982, they never looked back. India’s domination in field events of athletics continued until 1974. But once the Chinese arrived, India’s domination in throw and jump events in men’s section and also in middle and long distance running ended. India does not boast of any more Gurdeeps, Bahadurs, Joginders, Parveens, Mohinders, Hari Chands, Shivnaths and Sri Ram Singhs. Initially, India had dominated even track events. Flying Sikh Milkha Singh, Ajmer Singh , Makhan Singh, Gurbachan Randhawa were all sprinters or hurdlers. We had a medal prospect in Manjit Walia, a hurdler, followed by Kamaljit Sandhu (quarter-miler) and then middle distance running queen in Geeta Zutshi. While PT Usha dominated the Asian Games scenario for more than a decade, women athletes have not only managed to hold on to their position but they have been consistently improving. Anju George , the fist women athlete to win a Commonwealth Games medal, is a medal hopeful this time. Then we have Neelam Jaswant Singh, a thrower. In the 1998 Asian Games, Jyotirmoyee Sikdar became the first woman athlete in 12 years to win a gold as she won both 800 metre and 1500 metre events. Again, athletics is a big bet where India hope to get a good harvest of medals, better than what it did at Manchester. Hopes have also been raised in women’s hockey after the gold medal triumph at Manchester. It is only the second time in 20 years that our women’s hockey team has won any FIH tournament. The last they won was the 1982 Asian Games gold at home. They will have a tough challenge from both hosts Korea and China besides Japan. It will be more prestigious to defend the gold in men’s hockey. The main challenge will be from both Pakistan and hosts Korea. The men’s team’s build-up for the Asiad has been satisfactory as it performed creditably in the last edition of the Champions Trophy at Cologne, where it had beaten Korea and had a 1-1 record against Pakistan. Besides 1998, the only other time India won the Asiad hockey gold was in 1966 when a brilliant goal by winger Balbir Singh (Railways) clinched the tie in extra time. In 1994, it was for the first time that Pakistan failed to make the final after winning the title in seven out of eight appearances in the final. Korea has emerged as a new force in Asian hockey, both in men and women’s sections. Malaysia in spite of hiring services of both Australian and German coaches, for the past several years, have made little impact at the top. Shooters with a rich haul of gold and silver medals at Manchester have raised hopes of a good performance . In 1994, Jaspal Rana was the lone individual gold medal winner. In 1998, India did not win any gold in shooting. Will 2002 bring luck to shooters. Tennis is another sport where Indian hopes are high.Last time we could not go beyond a couple of bronze medals in tennis. But focus will be on weightlifters. Last time we had a silver from Karnam Malleswari. It is the Manchester performance again that has raised hopes of the lifters, both men and women. But the competition in Asia is much tougher in weightlifting than what it was at Manchester. The same may be true in wrestling and boxing. Boxing is another sport where India, provided they get good draws, can hope for some medals. Last time we had a gold medalist in NG Dingko Singh and a bronze medallist in Gurcharan Singh. After his bronze medal performance, Gurcharan remained in a major controversy as he moved to the USA. This Ludhiana boy had tremendous potential . Wrestlers are also hopeful of a good performance at Busan. Good luck India! |
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Manchester stars in
focus After the classy Manchester act the question that springs forth is whether India will repeat the
performance at the Busan Asiad where the standards will be much higher and tougher. Indeed, the performance at the Commonwealth Games has raised a lot of hype and may be false hope. Everybody has started thinking that Indian sport seems to have finally found its feet. Dingko Singh, Jyotirmoyee Sikdar and Sunita Rani were among India’s most prominent individual medallists from the last Asian Games. Four years down the line, on the eve of another Asiad, one of the women has vanished, the other is still to light up the track after fighting a nagging injury prone, while the temperamental and injury Dingko is yet to get bout fit. That is what remains from the last edition of the Games. At Busan, the Manchester stars will be under pressure to vindicate the disproportionately high incentives handed out to them. If we scratch the surface a little, we will find that many medallists did not even have to beat their personal best to earn glory. Still, the nation went overboard in showering awards. The women’s weightlifting squad, which accounted for the majority of the medals, will be tested at Busan. Medals are sure to be at a premium because unlike at the Olympics and the Asian Games, where only the overall medal is awarded, the Commonwealth Games Federation awarded a medal for clean and jerk, snatch and the total. This led to a deluge of medals raising hopes of Indian lifters doing well at Busan too. The women’s hockey team is a superb blend of youth and experience. There are a lot of youngsters and nothing works like fresh blood to dispel the notion of indispensability. The juniors are pushing the seniors for a spot and again nothing works like competition to keep complacency at bay. The girls, particularly those from the tribal areas, have proved that they have come out of that old stick symphony of grass-field hockey syndrome and are now well versed with the vocabulary of modern hockey as played on the AstroTurf. Shooting is one discipline in which India is likely to excel. Whatever has been written about China and Korea being superior in rifle and pistol events is fine. The fact remains that Abhinav Bindra, Anjali Bhagwat and Jaspal Rana can deliver. And then there is RVS Rathore who is capable of exploding, notwithstanding the opposition. He shot 192/200 to win the double trap in Manchester. A week earlier, at the World Championships, the gold was won with 191/200. The boxers, in the absence of Gurcharan, will be slugging it out against the Koreans and the Thais, who are more skilled in middleweights. Moreover, the Koreans will have the advantage of home environs. Indian sport is a bit like a kid who devours cartoons and then, having grown accustomed to short bursts of action, can no longer bring himself to read a classic. And so the Indians will perform well in short bursts and give it all away when the body still exists on the ground but the mind has long wandered away. It will be at Busan where the Indians will get this chance to shred this image and prove that Manchester was no mirage. |
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The emblem, mascot & official song The emblem expresses the image of development and unity of the Asian people by describing the shape of the Great Absolute; two dynamic powers are swirling forming a wave on the ground. The mascot of the 14th Busan Asian Games is the shape of a sea gull, the city bird of Busan, with emphasis on its dynamic and pure image. Thick ink lines and the free expression symbolise Korean traditional culture as well as the image of hope and strong spirit of the Asian people for the 21st century. Duria also means “you and me together” in the Korean language, and expresses the ideal of the Games that promote unity and partnership among Asian countries. The words of the official song are as follows: Duria, they say the sea gull flies highest, sees the farthest, rush up from the blue wave, beat your wing and, fly to the shiny sun, for the beautiful today of my life. TNS |
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Hockey team for Asian Games balanced The IHF deserves accolades for selecting a balanced, superfit, youthful and experienced team for the Busan Asian Games. No wholesale changes have been made and the squad is almost the same that did duty in the Champions Trophy in Germany. All the players have the ability to deliver the goods. But the omission of Baljit Dhillon, who captained India in the World Cup, remains shrouded in mystery. He is a crack forward with many more years of hockey in him. He is being ignored because of India’s debacle in the World Cup. Earlier, Ramandeep was shown the door because under him India failed to make it to the semifinals in the Sydney Olympics. Instead of making the players scapegoats, the IHF should concentrate on removing the shortcomings in the team. In the Champions Trophy it was seen that India, despite leading comfortably against Pakistan, lost the match. They led against Holland but conceded the equaliser in the dying minutes. It is the area were the IHF’s think-tank should focus. Shunting out players, when they are at the peak of their form, is no solution. TARSEM S. BUMRAH,
Batala II Medals are won not by wishful thinking but by fighting tooth and nail. Let us pray for a good performance by the Dilip Tirkey-led Indian hockey team in the Asian Games. May Dhanraj Pillay play his pivotal role as he did in the Champions Trophy. SURJEET MANN,
Sangrur Dhanraj Pillay Should we not admit that the stamina was the only cause of the failure of our hockey team? Dhanraj Pillay should sit outside and guide the team. S.S. BAJWA,
Hoshiarpur Kaif an asset Mohammad Kaif is an asset to Indian cricket. After Lord’s (England) innings and another at Premdassa Stadium (Sri Lanka) he has proved that he possesses rare quality of playing under compelling circumstances. His strategy and approach at number seven position is different from other players. After consolidating the position of the team with singles and twos, he hits fours and sixes. His singles and twos never allow any bowler to settle effectively. In my opinion he will play more such innings in future. The nation needs him most. VIPUL KANSAL,
Ambala City |
The emblem of the 14th Busan Asian Games was embodied with the Great Absolute and blue sea wave that symbolises Korea and
Busan, respectively as a basic motive. 
The name of the mascot is “Duria”, a compound word of “Durative” and “Asia”.