On your mark, shoot
M. S. Unnikrishnan

India are looking at wrestling and archery, both new events, to fetch them bulk of the medals in the Commonwealth Games

Archery will return to the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games (CWG) as a competitive event after a gap of 28 years, and India expect to make a killing at the medal sweepstake. Archery was first introduced in the 1982 Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Australia, where India fielded a lone archer—Krishna Ghatak Das. Since then, this sport was kept out of the games, but the Archery Association of India (AAI) made out a strong case for its inclusion in the Delhi CWG as it’s a simple, inexpensive sport, which does not need much monetary investment.

Over the years, archery has emerged as a major sporting event in the Asian Games, where the standard of the competition is very high, with China, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines etc having formidable teams.

Though around 30 countries affiliated to world archery body FITA are expected to compete in the 2010 CWG, India will encounter tough competition only from Canada (very good in compound and recurve events), Australia (gold medallists in recurve at the 2008 Beijing Olympics), New Zealand, Malaysia and Bangladesh.

“We expect to win medals in all eight categories of the CWG archery event, including 4-5 golds”, says AAI president, Prof Vijay Kumar Malhotra.

There will be four golds each up for grabs in the recurve and compound categories (two each for men and women), and India have a chance in team recurve.

India, Canada, Malaysia and England are the major contenders for medals in men’s recurve; India, Australia, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore and England in women’s recurve; India, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and Canada in men’s compound; South Africa, Canada, India, Australia and New Zealand in women’s compound.

In fact, India are looking at wrestling (21 medals) and archery, both new events, to fetch them the bulk of the medals.

Archery is an inexpensive sport, which does not need big stadiums, only expansive grounds. The CWG archery events up to the quarter-final stage will be held at the Yamuna Sports Complex in the trans-Yamuna area, while the semi-finals and finals will be held at the India Gate lawns, making it a great spectacle.

“FITA wanted to hold the semi-finals near some important monuments, and in Delhi, two venues were shortlisted—the Red Fort and India Gate. India Gate was finally chosen for its strategic location and the vast space it affords to accommodate spectators”, Prof Malhotra informs.

Sixtyfour Indian archery probables — 16 in each category — had been undergoing regular camps since August, 2008, at the Sports Authority of India centre at Kolkata, and the number has been pruned to 32 (8 in each category) as the final leg of the preparation gets under way under the guidance of 10 coaches, including two foreigners. Malhotra says the Indian recurve archers do not need the services of a foreign coach. However, two Korean coaches—Chea Woong Lim and Lee Wang Ho—have been imparting training to the archers at the Army Sports Institute (Pune) and the Mittal Champions Trust (Bengaluru).

The preparation of the hosts will get a big boost when the test events are held from March 7 to 13 at the Yamuna Sports Complex to assess the progress the archers have made, and the facilities on offer for the CWG. Nearly 107 archers and 33 officials from 10 countries, including the UK, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Jersey, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, India, Bangladesh and Singapore, are expected to participate in the test events.

But, the AAI president says, there was an immediate need to import archery equipment for the campers to replace the defective or broken equipment. “Till now, no equipment has been provided to the campers by the SAI in spite of numerous reminders,” Malhotra adds.

Beware of refined flour
Amar Chandel

Certain food items clog our digestive system for a very long time. You should try to banish them from your diet. If you can do so forever, it will be a great service to your body. But even if you decide to do so for just six months, you will be able to regain much of your health. Once you are back to normal, it will not harm you all that much even if you commit some dietary excesses, once in a while.

One of the biggest enemies of health is maida, or refined flour. In a way, I would count it as a bigger enemy than even alcohol, because at least when you drink, you are aware of the consequences. But we eat maida indiscriminately, day in and day out. So, it ends up doing much more harm. Since almost everyone eats it, the total damage it causes is nothing less than catastrophic.

It clings to the entrails, virtually like cement, and it is next to impossible to get rid of it. Because of its longer-than-usual stay in the digestive system, it rots and causes all sorts of complications.

Most people prefer it to simple whole-wheat atta (flour) for two reasons. One, the items made out of maida are whiter in colour, and two, they have a smoother texture. What they forget is that the looks are deceptive and hide a dangerous property that gives you everything from indigestion to constipation (due to removal of bran or roughage) to malnutrition to even diabetes and cancer. It is also a contributing factor in ischemic heart disease, diverticular disease, hiatus hernia, gallstones, polyps of the colon, cancer of colon and rectum, varicose veins, obesity and haemorrhoids.

What needs to be underlined is that we have no objection to atta as such. Some people in their ignorance keep off carbohydrates strictly. There is no need to do so. The real villain is the maida that has the tendency to clog the system.

Whole-wheat flour has enough fibre to ensure that it is slowly and effectively digested. Maida, on the other hand, has characteristics quite opposed to that of atta and feeds numerous diseases. The removal of the outer husk transforms it into a dangerous substance, but we eat it in abundance due to its taste.

As you know water (H20) is made up of hydrogen and oxygen. When these two are together in a water molecule, they retard fire. But hydrogen and oxygen atoms separately aid fire. In the same way, atta from wheat is Mr Good, while maida is Mr Bad.

So, what are the items made out of maida? Here is a small list to get you started. I am sure you can add many more popular items to the list:

1.Naan 2.Bhatura 3.Papri/Golgappe 4.Matthi 5.Chinese food (noodles etc) 6.Pasta 7.Macaroni 8.Bread 9.Cake 10. Pastry 11.Biscuits 12.Gulab jamun 13.Burgers 14.Sewian 15.Samosa 16.Patties 17.Spring rolls 18.Puri 19.Bread pakora 20.Balushahi 21.Parantha 22.Pizza 23.Hot dogs 24.Kulcha 25.Gujia 26.Ghevar 27.Jalebi 28.Momos 29. Swiss rolls

As you can see, it is a staple of most sweets and savouries and is used extensively in baking. The time has come to say it a firm goodbye, at least, till you have sufficiently recovered your health.

Wherever possible, replace maida with atta. As you must have noticed, after spoiling the health of the country for many decades, the makers of noodles have now started shifting to whole-wheat noodles. We have to force them to do that with each and every item. But then there are some foods which just cannot be made out of atta. In their case, just banish them from your menu for the time being. Your system will be thankful to you for this small mercy.

A word of caution here — some people think that brown bread is made out of atta. This many not be true in all cases. Some unscrupulous bakers have been only adding brown colour to the bread made out of maida as a propaganda ploy. You have to go in for actual whole-wheat bread.

Maida also rules because items made from it have a longer shelf life. But you should focus more on your own life than on the life of the food items. Even if you think that such items are part of your lifestyle, please remember that you will be able to follow a lifestyle only if you have life. Take my word. Maida is one of the most ruthless public enemies, and the sooner you push it out of your house, the better.

Excerpted with permission from the writer’s book, “Perfect Health in 20 weeks”. Konark Publishers

Masseurs wanted
Mayank Aggarwal

Professional masseurs are in high demand to cater to sportspersons during the CWG

SPORTS BODY: masseurs are being arranged from treatment centres in West Bengal and Kerala

Facing a major shortage of professional masseurs to cater to sportspersons during the Commonwealth Games (CWG) scheduled for October in New Delhi, the authorities are now looking for foreign experts and also trying to bring in masseurs from other states.

"I don't have the exact number, but around 400 masseurs are needed for the games. We are trying to arrange them from other states like Kerala," Delhi's health secretary J.P Singh said while admitting the shortage of masseurs for the event. The 2010 CWG, the 19th edition of the games, will be held from October 3 to 14. Thousands of athletes are expected to take part in the event. "We need properly trained and well-qualified masseurs to provide support to sportspersons taking part in the games. But there is a serious shortage of them," said an official of the Delhi government's health department.

"We are in the process of identifying and shortlisting masseurs. Once that is done, further training would be imparted to them by experts," the official added.

"It is a little difficult to find well-trained masseurs as a lot of them are employed with private massage parlours. A number of them may be busy serving tourists during that period and this has led to an increase in their demand," he added.

The CWG Organising Committee spokesperson, Lalit Bhanot, also said: "Yes, there is a shortage of masseurs. We are trying to arrange masseurs from treatment centres in West Bengal and Kerala.

"We are also trying to bring in foreign experts. They will be in the city during the games and would train the selected masseurs in the Capital," Bhanot said.

Officials said: "The health department is considering training the masseurs in foot massage, ayurvedic massage, panchakarma, oil massage and other types of treatments. The health department, along with the Games organising committee, is likely to jointly bear the expenditure of their training".

The health department official refused to say by when the masseurs would be trained or ready or how they would be recruited. Experts believe massage also helps in stress management.

Explaining the importance of masseurs in any sports event, Alakananda Banerjee, head of the physiotherapy department at Max Hospital in Saket, said: "They are a very important aspect of the training of sportspersons and are required in all sports like hockey, football and others. Masseurs are required before, during and after any sporting event."When sportspersons play, their muscles get tightened, which can lower their performance. A massage helps in blood circulation, ultimately helping the sportspersons. The Commonwealth Games will definitely require the services of lots of masseurs".

Banerjee said she had been approached by the games authorities to help in identifying well-trained masseurs and had recommended some names. Besides the professionally trained masseurs, the city and the nearby areas have a number of traditional masseurs, who are generally untrained, but quite popular among tourists.

But experts have warned against employing any untrained masseurs. "No traditional masseur can be taken just like this. Masseurs need to be very technically sound and they need to understand the human anatomy well. They need to be professionally trained as a wrong massage can even lead to injuries," Banerjee added. — IANS

Spa-cial effects

To ensure better standards in the wellness services, gymnasiums, spas and other such centres running in the Capital will soon be rated on the basis of their quality ahead of the Commonwealth Games.

The National Accreditation Board For Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH), a constituent board of the Quality Council of India, has started the process of bringing fitness centres under the grading system.

According to NABH, all gymnasiums, spas, skincare centres, cosmetic care centres, fitness centres and immunisation centres are eligible to get accreditation.

"All wellness centres can fill application forms and our specially constituted committee subjected to satisfactory inspection of the facility will give them a certificate of quality services," Girdhar J. Gyani, secretary general, Quality Council of India, said recently. He said in view of the lack of guidelines and standards in the field and mushrooming of unorganised players, accreditation of wellness centres would be a guiding light for the industry in improving the quality of care provided to the public. — PTI