Cup of Joy
M. S. Unnikrishnan

WHO’S ON TOP: India’s N.P Pradeep(left) and Syria’s Feras Ismail jump for the ball during the Nehru Cup final match. Photos PTI

The Indian soccer team and the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi seem to have become synonymous with success. India won two back-to-back Nehru Cup International Soccer Tournament titles and achieved the qualification for the Asian Championship final, after a gap of 24 years, on this ground, within the span of two years.

The advent of British coach Bob Houghton at the helm of the Indian team has witnessed a dramatic turnaround in the fortunes of the team.

That India beat a powerful team like Syria, ranked below 100, in the finals both in 2007 and 2009 prove that Houghton has applied his Midas’ touch again.

Before the Englishman took over as the chief coach two years ago, the Indian team was in tatters — a disjointed, directionless team beset with internal problems.

Houghton fought the demon on his own terms, enforced some order in the team, brought in a sensible approach in the selection process, to pick only those players who fitted into his scheme of things.

Indian captain Baichung Bhutia, who has completed over 100 international appearances, has high praise for the methods, tactics and strategies of Houghton, to mould the team into a winning combination.

Houghton, who has held various international assignments, including a stint with the Chinese national team, has not minced words while taking on the powers that be, whether it’s the All India Football Federation, the Union Sports Ministry or the powerful clubs, to streamline the soccer setup, clean up the Augean stable.

Houghton has not held back his punches, for the larger good of Indian soccer, and his achievements have spoken up for him, loud and clear, to make the authorities sit up, and take note of the issues he often brings up.

The chief coach has been against the national players doing duty for their clubs and states, playing in championships like the Santosh Trophy, the Federation Cup and the IFA Shield. He was even reluctant to release the players for the prestigious I-League. His contention is that the national players should be kept fit and ready for national commitments only.

And he was proved right when some key players like Sunil Chetri, Sameer Naik, Climax Lawrence etc picked up injuries during the Santosh Trophy, and carried them to the Nehru Cup.

Houghton had a tough time in picking the playing 11 for the Nehru Cup. The 45-day tour of Dubai and Barcelona (Spain) helped the Indian team fine-tune itself for the Nehru Cup, though they got off to an unsettling start, losing to Lebanon by a lone goal. The hosts, however, rallied back to beat a fighting Sri Lanka 3-2 and Kyrgyzstan 2-1 to log six points to put themselves in line for a berth in the final.

But India lost once again in the league, when Syria surprised them with a 1-0 victory, though the match was termed as inconsequential as India had already qualified for the final. It would have been a difficult task for India to retain the Cup, but for the towering display by goalkeeper Subrata Paul. His three stunning saves during the tiebreaker shootout in the final against Syria have now become part of soccer legend. Perhaps, India would not have gone as far as the final, but for his brilliant stopping of a penalty kick by Kyrgyzstan, which helped India win the crucial tie 2-1.

The Nehru Cup display has once again highlighted the grey areas in the team, which Houghton has been pointing out time and again. Firstly, there is as yet no substitute for the ageing, vintage striker Baichung Bhutia. Bhutia’s signature touch was impressed in all the goals scored by India in the Nehru Cup. But at 32 years, Bhutia is no spring chicken, and the player has given himself time till the Asian Championships at Doha in 2011, to make his final call. In fact, there are very few who can step into the shoes of the senior players, who will fade out in the next five years.

Houghton has been insisting that unless a well thought out grass-root level training programme is put in place, the talent supply source would soon dry up. And he has also been harping on the issue of lack of height of the Indian players. He says unless the players are over 1.70 plus in height, they would fall much short of international standards.

And this theory of his was quite evident in the Nehru Cup when Bhutia and Chhetri were easily bottled up, outsmarted and out-thought by the taller defenders and forwards from Lebanon, Kyrgyzstan and Syria. Indians were found wanting in marshalling the ground balls and in aerial duels. A team with taller players holds a decisive advantage in every department of the game, be it attack or defence and it’s time India launched a concerted talented hunt to rope in taller players.

For the present, however, India will have to depend on Bhutia, Chhetri, Surkumar Singh, Sushil Kumar etc — all from the North-East belt — to act as the fulcrum of the national team. But for how long? Perhaps, Houghton would provide an answer before he demits office on a successful note.

The winning volley
K. Datta

Pune was, and still regrettably is, in the news as the place the H1N1 flu caused the first deaths in India. But it was also in the place where India’s under-21 volleyball team gave a performance, which came as a breath of fresh air. Not in their wildest dreams had those who had worked so hard in preparing the team for the Under-21 World Cup hoped for anything better than the No. 8 spot. But India’s youngsters exceeded all expectations by taking the number four position.

For all its low profile, volleyball can be an exciting sport to watch. It has a following that can be the envy of some of the other highly hyped team games. Thousands of fans in Pune, some of them in protective surgical masks, at the Balewadi indoor stadium, must have inspired the young unsung Indian volleyballers, mostly from the northern states of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, to give of their best.

In fact, so high did the Indian lads raise the standard of the game that they even raised hopes of presenting the country an Independence Day gift of a medal when they met defending champions Brazil in the semi-final. That, however, was not to be. In spite of an outstanding display by Chandigarh’s Gurinder Singh, who was India’s highest scorer in the tournament with over 400 points, the Indian team went down to the highly rated Brazilians in a exciting three-setter.

The Brazilian coach would break the Indian team’s tempo with clever time-outs. The following day, Gurinder and co, unable to recover fully from the strain of the two-hour marathon, were not the same team in thematch for the third spot against Argentina.

The fourth place finish of India’s under-21 team has earned some much-needed international respect for Indian volleyball, which for all its popularity, has, regrettably, not been able to attract corporate sponsorship. If only some of our big industrial or business houses offer to come forward with funds, Indian volleyball will be a force to reckon with. Volleyball is a tall man’s game, so it’s not surprising that most of the players of this under-21 national team come from the north where people are genetically taller.

Balwinder Singh, Mandeep Singh, Navjit Singh are a few others besides Gurinder who form the nucleus of the current under-21 Indian team. It would only be appropriate if a training academy and a modern indoor facility for volleyball is set up in one of the northern cities, although the volleyball federation’s plans to set up academies in Guntur and Trichundur are also welcome. "It would do Indian volleyball good if an academy or two come up in the north where the people are physically better endowed, but for that we need the support in the shape of corporate sponsorship and also support from state governments," says K. Murugan, secretary of the Volleyball Federation of India.

The house of Tata’s, for one, has earned the respect of the Indian sports fans for the way they have run its soccer and archery academies. Telecom giant Bharti has reportedly shown interest in investing in soccer, a game in which the public sector ONGC has also been investing. Any corporate house putting its money in volleyball will be doing both itself and the game much good. India’s world ranking is 40 in a game that is played by as many as 218 countries, which is not bad at all. With help from the corporate world, Indian volleyball has the potential of raising its status.

Already the under-21 players have raised India’s status in the eyes of a very competitive volleyball world. When they are not required to be on national duty, Indian volleyball players offer their services to clubs mostly in the Gulf countries. No one will grudge them the money they earn there. But it would be better if they can make their way to leagues in Europe where the standards are higher. That way they will help raise the standard of the national team. Organising a domestic league on the lines of football I-League is an idea that the volleyball federation should seriously explore. It’s an age of marketing, after all, and new ideas are needed.

Fit Zone
Mitigate migraine
Bharat Thakur

There is nothing worse than having a migraine attack. It is one the most painful experiences as one is completely helpless and no doctor can help once the attack is on. Even normal painkillers like Ibuprofen have no effect on the body and strong painkillers just numb the pain for some time before it returns. A migraine attack brings one’s life to a complete halt.

To solve the problem of migraine one needs to understand a few things. According to yoga, every disease and dysfunction in the body is psychosomatic.

By this we mean that every problem in the body somewhere has its roots in mind. It may sound crazy to believe that even a common cold is nothing but the result of one’s mental state. But just think about it — when you are stressed or disturbed, it affects your sleep and appetite, and this in turn affects your immune system. When the immune system is down one becomes an easy target for viruses and bacteria. And this is exactly what happens. The same is the case with many other diseases.

Migraine usually indicates that one is worried about a problem and may not want to face or accept it. Remember that a problem or a worry which you don’t want to face or look at has worse effects on the body than a situation where you are dealing with the problem. You may not even have a solution to it, but the awareness of the problem will itself ensure that it doesn’t turn into a serious health problem.

People usually push their problems under the carpet thinking that these will disappear. They are afraid to look at a problem because of the action they may have to take. In this manner, we weaken our immune system as we are constantly drained of our natural energy.

Yoga stops this draining of energy and channelises it in a positive direction. We can do this with the help of the body, the mind or the breath.

When we do it with the body we call it asana. When we use the breath, we call it pranayama. And when we use our mind, we call it dhyan or meditation.

To reach a state where one is free of worries and unnecessary thoughts, one needs to practice meditation. Initially it will bring up more thoughts as you have swept many things under your carpet. After that it is a process of cleansing your entire system to make yourself a clear, happy and energetic person.

Yoga is sometimes easy, and sometimes difficult but you will be proud of yourself when you reach the end and see yourself standing at the top of the mountain peak. Here are a few techniques that you should practice to ensure that migraine doesn’t attack you. But in case you are already in a migraine attack, the only thing you should practice is Sahaj Pranayama or sitting quietly with your eyes closed and doing nothing. Just become aware of your pain and all your thoughts present inside you. Once you know your mental problem, the solution is not hard to find.