IN THE NEWS
Our own Muhammad Ali
Ravi Dhaliwal

Muhammad Ali Qamar is India’s best bet in boxing at the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Melbourne

HE is the namesake of a boxing legend. Muhammad Ali Qamar, who ranks among India’s best boxers, is inspiring scores of backstreet children in Kolkata to put on the gloves and enter the ring.

Qamar, who was at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Patiala for the national camp being held in preparation for the Commonwealth Games, is perceived to be India’s most talented pugilist since the likes of Dingko Singh and Gurcharan Singh.

Qamar first made his presence felt during the 1999 World Championship in Houston. In 2002, he created history by becoming the first Indian boxer to win a medal, and that too a gold, at the Manchester Commonwealth Games. Since then, the plucky Kolkatan has gone from strength to strength.

Harpreet Singh, a senior boxing coach of the Punjab Sports Department, who accompanied the squad as technical adviser at Houston, thinks that Ali’s strong point is his varied and intelligent combination of punches. "He mixes the right upper cut and the straight right-left hook to devastating effect. And this lethal combination makes him a difficult boxer to beat. Look out for him in the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. His aim is to attack and wear out his opponent. With his quick footwork and combination of punches, he may well win the title in the 51 kg class."

Qamar became hooked on boxing when was an eight-year-old kid in downtown Kolkata living in a two-room tenement amid squalor. Ever since his father took Qamar to Cheena Bhai, a boxing coach, at the Kidderpore School of Physical Education 14 years ago, the youngster has indeed come a long way.

At Manchester, in the title match, with just 43 seconds remaining, Qamar outlasted England’s Darren Langley after taking a standing count in the last round to give India its first boxing gold in the Commonwealth Games.

Incidentally, before leaving for Manchester, Qamar had lost in the quarterfinals of the President’s Cup to Suban Pannoam, a world-class Thai boxer and the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games champion. Stirred but not shaken by this defeat, he tasted victory in the Commonwealth Games.

In 1991, Qamar was crowned the inter-district champion at Howrah and he followed it up by winning sub-junior titles in the light flyweight class from 1992 to 1996.

With the flamboyant Dingko Singh sliding into oblivion, Muhammad Ali Qamar is India’s best bet in boxing at Melbourne. And with a name like that, the sky is the limit.

Lone ranger
Vikramdeep Johal

Luge athlete Shiva Keshavan has the distinction of being the only Indian to compete in three Winter Olympics

SHIVA Keshavan might not have come close to winning a medal at the Turin Winter Olympics, but his creditable 25th-place finish in the luge event and his outburst against Indian officials has brought into sharp focus the sport and its sorry state in India.

The Manali-based Keshavan was only about six seconds slower than Italy’s Zoeggeler Armin, who won the gold medal. But before that, he caused a stir of sorts by pulling out of the opening ceremony due to the "apathy and opportunism" of the officials, who allegedly divested him of the honour of carrying
the Tricolour.

His resentment was justified. This was his third Olympics in the luge (French for sled) singles competition, which is no mean feat considering that his sport is barely known, let alone played, in India. He was the only athlete to represent India at the last two Winter Games — Nagano (1998) and Salt Lake City (2002). In Turin, he was joined by three skiers.

He was at Lawrence School, Sanawar, when scouts from the International Luge Federation came looking for talent in India. Being familiar with skiing, Keshavan went to a selection camp and impressed the coaches with his run on an asphalt road. Consequently, he was chosen to attend a course in Austria.

With just four months of training, 16-year-old Keshavan finished 28th among 34 contestants in Nagano, 1998, and was only 10 seconds behind the winner. Four years later, in Salt Lake City, he was placed 33rd out of 50 competitors.

Keshavan, who has a Malayali father and an Italian mother, bagged his first international medals at the Asia Cup in Nagano in December last year. He won the bronze medal in the singles and then teamed up with Korea’s Kim Min Kyu to bag a silver in the doubles.

Funding for this sport has always been virtually non-existent in India. Against all odds, Keshavan has been competing with dignity at the highest level.

Giving recognition to the man and his sport is the least that the Indian authorities can do to improve the situation. After all, if Formula One racer Narain Karthikeyan can become a household name just by driving on the Formula One circuit, why not three-time Olympian Keshavan?

The full Monty
Kulwinder Singh

JESS’ father must have suffered racial abuse when he first came to England and was ridiculed by his cricket team for wearing a turban in Gurinder Chaddha’s Bend it Like Beckham, but Monty Panesar has already written a new chapter in the history of English cricket by becoming part of the team touring India.

A classical quality about his bowling action has done enough to impress the English selectors. Monty could find himself making his Test debut in Nagpur on March 1. It would be an uphill task bowling to the Indian batsmen, who are very good against spin.

Northamptonshire’s slow left-arm orthodox spinner Monty does not have any pretensions as a fashion model, but he has the potential to develop as a model for other left-arm orthodox spinners to follow. Born in Luton, Monty learned his cricket in Bedfordshire and then got a sports scholarship at Loughborough University. He has played for Northamptonshire, British Universities, ECB National Academy, Loughborough University and Centre of Cricketing Excellence.

After missing the flight to Pakistan a few months ago, Monty spent almost a month in Nanaksar farm near Edmonton in Canada to firm up his mental preparedness for cricket at the highest level. He turned to a guru of the Nanaksar sect of Sikhism to get a better perspective of life.

Just over six feet tall and loose-limbed, Panesar bowls mostly round the wicket, delivering traditional finger spin, a top-spinner and the one that goes on with the arm, and achieves further variation by using the width of the crease.

The early learning process had helped him feature in the England under-19 side twice and his rise to the top has not been so rapid.

Sixteen wickets in two matches, including nine as they beat Worcestershire in their first championship success of the season, have reminded everyone about a player who is still only 23.

Monty has quickly established himself as one of the next generation of spinners in English cricket and Northamptonshire have recently agreed a new two-year contract with Monty, though he would be available on a part-time basis, because of his university studies.

Panesar has been criticised in the past for not working hard enough on his batting and fielding. But he spent time before Christmas at Darren Lehmann’s academy in Adelaide working on those aspects of his game.