Who says we can not do it ? We have shown our potential and sporting talent at Tokyo both in normal games and the one meant for Para Athletes. To observe and celebrate 75 years of Freedom from the British, the country is working hard to bolster the spirit of Tiranga (Tricolour) for three days. Our sportspersons too chose to do it in a resounding manner at the Commonwealth Games at Birmingham by coming out with one of the best performances in recent times. Hearing and humming national anthem from the podium at an international event encourages and inspires to reach more dizzy heights. In the international arena.
With 22 Gold,16 Silver & 23 Bronze medals, Indians have secured 4th place. They may have got 5 medals less than 2018 Gold Coast CWG but 16 Indian shooters had a lion’s share in that but the event had been dropped from this year’s game.
It goes on to prove beyond doubt that a new scheme like Target Olympic Podium Scheme(TOPS) can make a difference and can reignite killer instinct especially among the players who have a struggling past and some of them after proper guidance defy age factor also. Has professionalism arrived ?
While once again women with 26 medals proved that they have become a force to reckon with ,the silver winning effort by Avinash Sable ,a farmer’s son from Beed ( Maharashtra), in 3000 meters steeple chase, an event completely
dominated by the Kenyans since 1998 Commonwealth games, has to be celebrated by one and all. Learning his skills at the heights of Siachen, he has created eight national records, one after another.
Three gold medals in Badminton were expected from “Shuttle supreme” Indians, namely P.V.Sandhu and Lakshya Sen, especially after India winning Thomas Cup recently. In Javelin throw , absence of Niraj Chopra, star performer at Tokyo was not missed much as now we have one more emerging star in men’s event and Annu Rani, a woman bronze medalist at Birmingham. Chopra, however, should take immediate note of gold medal win of Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan who hurled the Javelin to a mind boggling distance of 90.18 meters. Chopra being Olympic gold medalist, is yet to cross the 90 meter barrier.
In Triple Jump, grabbing of both gold and silver medals simply held our heads further high. Another Indian secured fourth position but all three completed full sets of six jumps each without a foul. The double delight in Triple Jump revived sweet memories of M.S.Gill, who won first medal ,a bronze ,in this tough event in CWG,1970.
This championship has proved that talent and dedication, if honed up at appropriate juncture, can show fantastic results from weightlifters and wrestlers who grabbed medals. Apart from their typical non sports background, their fathers did everything for their wards by selling Paan( Betel Nut) and tea, pulling Rickshaws or driving trucks.
Women Boxers, once again performed beyond expectations as proved by thunderous success of Nikhat Zareen and Nitu Ghanghas. Latter’s father not only had to proceed on leave without pay but he was also served with a show cause notice for being personally present at training sessions of his promising daughter.
India topped the medals tally in Wrestling, Weightlifting, Badminton, T.T. and Lawn Bowls. In the last named event ,relatively aged women with four different sports background learnt a new game and outclassed all of their opponents.
Patience and perseverance and relatively old age also should not dishearten a sportsperson. It was proved when Sharat Kamal went on to win three golds and one silver at the age of forty. Not only he won a singles gold after sixteen years, he played thirteen T.T. matches in four days and won twelve of them. In the same way, T. Shanker, High Jump Bronze medalist did not lose heart on being left out of selections and joined the games with more grit and determination by the strength of a Court order.
Such indomitable tales would not be complete unless we also praise marvellous spirit of Sushila Devi, who won Silver in Judo. She played with a few stitches on after a being out of action for seven months. Her hard work ultimately paid off.
Our performance has proved once again that sportspersons with prowess, belonging to poor households can do wonders if they are provided with world class exposure and training support. Even online coaching and posture correction can be effective as proved by the success story of two Indian Triple Jumpers.
Kudos to all !! Jai Hind !!
About the Author : Dr. Aaloc Srivastav, Ex CS , Sikkim is a Senior Retd Bureaucrat and passionate about writing on his favourite subjects . The views shared by the author are his personal.
