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Kings of the ring Can the
Wall stand tall? Poet on
the field Klitschko
battles on
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Kings of the ring
FOUR bronze medals in the AIBA (International Boxing Association) World Cup in Moscow has brought up the stock of Indian boxing, but that familiar streak of falling at the first big hurdle reined in the Indian pugilists from going beyond the tested frontiers. That all the four Indians crashed in the semifinals at the Megasport Palace was nothing unusual—too near yet too far syndrome—though Akhil Kumar, Jitender Kumar, Anthresh Kumar Lakra and Dinesh Kumar could have brought home medals of better hues, had they shown the killer instinct when it came to push for shoves. The Indians fell to pugilists from Cuba and Russia with superior footwork, body feints, punching techniques and an ability to ward off the blows of their rivals, at the crunch. The World Cup experience should, however, stand the Indian boxers in good stead, to work on the grey areas, to iron out the familiar mistakes and to imbibe that extra bit of aggression which separates the champions from the lessor ones. Vijender’s bronze from the Beijing Olympic Games has given Indian boxing a new, definite identity. Though Vijender is basking in his Olympic glory to reap the rewards to the hilt, he has set a bench mark for the others to emulate. The lure of the lucre is too irresistible and the pugilist know that one big international medal can change their lives and the lives of their dear ones for the better, forever.
Akhil Kumar (54kg) was the pick of the lot among the Indians but luck failed him after tying 4-4 against his Cuban rival Yankiel Leon Alarcon on countback of the individual scores of the five judges. Alarcon was a superior player, being the silver medallist at the Beijing Olympic Games. But Akhil ran him close, and the verdict could have gone either way. That Akhil fell short of that extra bit eventually sealed his feat, though it was a good sign that he was not disheartened by the verdict of the jury. "I gave my best", Akhil said after the bout. And he feels that he has still enough time to make up for lost opportunities. This was India’s biggest medal haul in the World Cup after they picked up one medal each in the 1990 and 1994 editions. "It’s good for Indian boxing as we will be now looking for a good show in the World Championship in Milan (next year) and the Asian Games", Akhil said on arrival from Moscow. Akhil has shown determination and resilience to fight the odds after undergoing two wrist surgeries. His resolve to do better should get him the reward he’s hoping to reap as he had displayed that he had the talent to score big wins when he downed Morcel Schneider of Germany 15-6 in the quarterfinal. More importantly, he has managed to tip the scales at 54kg for the past five years, which is a difficult task, both physically and mentally, to excel in his favourite weight category. Lakra too gave a good account of himself in the 57kg against 22-year-old Cuban Idel Torriente before losing by 3-6. Lakra’s inconsistency did him in, and he must have learnt an important lesson from this outing, in view of the fact that he had received a first-round bye. Jitender Kumar (51) failed to maintain the initial momentum when he led 4-2 in the first round and ran out of steam to lose to his Cuban opponent Andris Laffita Hernandez by a huge margin of 6-14. He fought well in patches, but such efforts were not enough to get his punches across to the Cuban, who was a silver medallist in Beijing. Dinesh Kumar (81kg), who downed Algerian Abdelhafid Denchabla 17-11 in his first bout, could find no effective counter to the flurry of punches unleashed by his Russian opponent Artur Beterbiev and threw in the towel after trailing 1-10 in the second round. This happened after Dinesh stood upto the challenge of his rival in the first round which ended 2-1 in favour of the Russian, who was the 2006 European champion and silver medallist in the World Championship last year. Dinesh perhaps erred in exhausting his steam in the first round itself as he had little stamina to stand upto the incessant attacks of the Russian in the second round. Post-World Cup, the Indian boxers have taken a deep, incisive look at the way they performed in Moscow to find out where they went wrong, instead of finding faults elsewhere. This is a welcome change as holding a mirror to their own faults will harden the Indians’ resolve to do better the next time. They talk to experts, coaches, watch videos of their bouts to identify the faults and rectify them. "Akhil could have done better if he had kept his guard well. Enthusiasm, energy, talking to the media are all very fine, but open boxing is not good, and he’s losing bouts due to over confidence", noted former national coach Om Prakash Bhardwaj. He pointed out Akhil’s observation that his Cuban rival’s "covering was good" and wondered why Akhil himself failed to come up with such a tactic. He said Sikkim was a storehouse of boxing talent, and if the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation hunted for talent there, it would find a goldmine, which would be great for the sport, and Sikkim in particular, as presently only football is the most popular sport in the Himalayan Kingdom. Bhardwaj said the World Cup had become a rather easy game now, as only the best eight boxers competed in it, not full teams. A win will push a boxer into the semis. Now the media-savvy, well-groomed,
fashion-conscious pugilists have minds of their own, though more
comforts and communication facilities are distracting the boxers from
their chosen pursuit. Though physiotherapist Heath Mathews of South
Africa has played a big role in the turn-around of the Indian boxers
with his fit-like-a-fiddle regimen, there is an urgent need to keep the
punchers focussed instead of getting distracted with media interviews,
dining out et al, as there is no shortcut to success on the big stage,
save hard work. |
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Can the Wall
stand tall?
For far too long Dravid, known as Mr Dependable or The Wall, has not come good with the bat and with so many talented cricketers waiting in the wings the national selectors might find it difficult to keep him in the playing eleven for too long if the runs do not come quickly. Dravid’s decline has come as a surprise to many followers of the game. Ordinarily well organised batsmen last longer than those who rely on eye and touch. After all sight may fade but technique endures. If figures could speak then Dravid is indeed in the dumps, with a string of poor scores, inning after innings. His last century, an effort of 111 runs spread over 396 minutes, had come against the visiting South African team in Chennai in March this year and since then in 20 innings he has just two 50 plus scores, 68 against Sri Lanka at Colombo and 51 against Australia at his home ground of Bangalore in early October. Since then he has struggled for reasons difficult to fathom and has been on a never-ending downhill roll. It is not that that the Indian think tank has given up hope that Dravid would come good sooner than later. Even prior to the commencement of the Chennai Test, skipper Dhoni went on record to say that Dravid had the class to come good and the team was expecting him to come good at the earliest. The same was the sentiment of former teammate Sourav Ganguly, who bid goodbye to international cricket after the end of the home series against Australia, when it seemed that the southpaw had a lot of cricket still left in him. If that be so, why is Dravid struggling with the bat? Cricket, as somebody once said, is played between the two ears and it is here where Dravid is found wanting. He seems to be as fit as ever and never misses the exercise routine of the squad. Given his frame it is doubtful whether he has slowed just that fraction of a minute making the task of the opposite bowler that much easier to claim his wicket. His footwork and reflexes ought to be unchanged from his early days. Then why are the runs not coming? In the past he made bowlers come to him, played the game on his own terms. Now they know they can prey on his nerves as he potters around looking for the delivery from which he can score. Curiously his strokes seem to have lost power. Accordingly, it has become harder for him to beat the field. Previously it was enough to occupy the crease and runs came along. Now he has to search for them. Otherwise how can one explain the scores of 4, 3, 3, 0, 11, 11 in his last six innings, two innings against England and four against Australia. But even now everything is still not lost.
Dravid is an intelligent man and has been playing cricket at the highest levels
for fifteen years. Throughout he has occupied the toughest position in the order
and he knows the pressures of the job. He also knows that the team is looking up
to him. And he only can fight the demon within because over all these 15 years
Rahul Dravid has made the art of batting look very easy. |
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Poet on the field
THE first phrase the legend-Diego Maradona- uttered when this correspondent met him in the lobby of hotel Radisson Edwardian in London in mid November "We in Argentina do not play football. We always write poetry on the field." Hordes of British journalists too were present as the new Argentinean manager readied himself to take on excited reporters at an impromptu press conference. The language of Diego Maradona, who indeed has the mind of a poet and the hardness of a rock, has always been deemed difficult to decode but there was no such trickery in the lobby of the posh hotel in London, as he projected himself as a man without artifice – and, to the profound dismay of the British press, utterly without contrition. A Maradona press conference is invariably a theatrical event, his emotional range rivalling that of the most inspired actors. The first thing everyone noticed was the fact that he wore two watches, one of them set to the time back home. Once he strode in the lobby and made himself comfortable in front of the flashbulbs, the football Icon indeed delivered a performance of effortless flair. Whether on his mission as national team manager or on the capability of his players, he was never less than compelling. Plus there was one exquisite moment in which he punctured delusions of English grandeur just as emphatically as he did in 1986. Let it not be forgotten that
during the press conference Maradona – who was to travel to Glasgow for a
friendly against Scotland at Hampden Park the next morning - reveled in
references to the ‘Hand of "England won the World Cup with a goal that never crossed the line," he countered. `A0The atmosphere in the room crackled. The debate over whether Geoff Hurst’s second goal in the 1966 final against Germany did or did not creep over the line had become monotonous. However, with Maradona picking up a ghost it again assumed the most extreme urgency. Old enmities between England and Argentina, with Maradona the most enduring symbol, resurfaced at a single utterance. But there was more. "The ball was that far short of a line," he said, with an expansive hand gesture to express great distance. "It’s not fair that you should judge me when things like that went on." The words were said with a twinkle in his eye but the damage was done – the British national pride had been affronted as if in deadly seriousness. The Scots loved it, naturally. English scorn towards Maradona is matched by Scottish appreciation and his portrayals in the local newspapers, anticipating Maradona’s arrival in Glasgow for his first match in charge of Argentina, had been akin to declaring him as someone holy. "God comes to Hampden" read one
banner headline; "Give a hand to Maradona" read another. So inspiring
a figure he had become that the mutterings from the Scotland camp have seemed
meaningless. None more so than those of Terry Butcher, Scotland’s assistant
manager and, far more pertinently, the most hapless victim of Maradona’s `hand
of god’ goal in the 1986 world cup. |
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Klitschko battles
on
Ukraine’s Wladimir Klitschko retained his WBO, IBF and IBO world heavyweight titles with a technical knockout of Hasim Rahman in round seven. The referee stopped the fight after Klitschko, 32, landed a series of punches to Rahman’s head and the American retreated to the ropes, barely able to stand. The Ukrainian had already knocked him down in round six. "I thought I could land some punches earlier but it wasn’t worth it because Hasim Rahman knew he was up against the best and he was really focused, you could see that," said Klitschko. "He really hung in there and it wasn’t easy," he added after improving his record to 52 wins and three defeats. Rahman was unable to get past Klitschko’s
left jab to land the kind of big punch that saw him beat world champion Lennox
Lewis in 2001, when he knocked out the Briton with a right hook to record one of
the biggest upsets in boxing history. — Reuters |
HE
might have been retained in Grade A in the new contracts finalised by the BCCI,
but the form of Rahul Dravid must be giving quite a few problems to the Indian
thinktank even as the team got past England in commanding fashion in the Chennai
Test. His retention in Grade A gives ample insight into the thinking of the BCCI,
that Dravid still has some cricket left in him. But is not the hour glass
running too quickly?
