Fans disenchanted with India’s performance

Add as a preferred source on Google

New Delhi: India's poor show at the Sydney Olympics has left sports lovers and administrators thoroughly disappointed and disenchanted. Weigthlifter Karnam Malleswari prevented a total Indian rout by winning the bronze medal in the 69-kg class.

India sent 70-odd athletes to the Games a host of officials, but besides Malleswari, only boxer Gurcharan Singh (81-kg) and the hockey team came anywhere near the medal bracket, falling just a step short of at least a bronze medal.

"There is no denying the fact that our performance has been dismal," Shiv Kumar Verma, secretary of the Nehru Hockey Society (NHS) and veteran hockey player, said. "In hockey we should have reached the semi-finals but we failed to hold on to the lead against Poland in the last preliminary league match and crashed out."

India needed a win over Poland in their last league match to qualify for the last four stage but were eventually held 1-1 to end up at the third position. The first two teams from both Groups qualified for the semi-finals. "A lot of hard work needs to be done. There is enough talent in the country but it needs to be tapped and groomed properly," Verma said.

Sports Authority of India (SAI) secretary Amrit Mathur agreed that India's performance was disappointing. "In hockey, particularly, we were expecting better results because the team had trained really hard," he said.

"They were given all the facilities that were required. They were given good training, good equipment and infrastructure and good competitive exposure. In that sense the it was a genuine disappointment."

Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) vice-president Ashok Gangopadhyay felt that the boxers put up a "good" show but overall the Indians should have done better. "Personally, I am not disappointed because I was not expecting much from our athletes," Gangopadhyay, who is also a former secretary-general of IABF, quipped.

"I was expecting a medal in boxing and hockey and thought India had an outside chance in tennis. Our overall preparation has been good, but mentally we have to be more robust. Moreover, I think only the medal prospects should go for the Olympics because it is not the forum for exposure as some claim; it is an athlete's final test. You give exposure in other international competitions."

Even those who do not follow sports regularly and college students all were sad that a country with one billion population could manage just a bronze. "It was indeed a bad show. Even much smaller countries than ours are winning medals," Adil Usmani, a MA (final) student of social work at the Jamia Millia Islamia, said.

"We do not have the killer instinct to win at the international level. For we Indians, the materialistic needs of life are more important than sports. We do not treat sports as a profession; it is secondary thing in our society. And there was no need to send as big a contingent as we did this time."

A trainer with a multi national Deepti Goswami remembered only Malleswari's name from the contingent that represented the country in Sydney, and blamed all those who worked in preparing teams for the Games. "We have lost because we lack commitment and determination," 25-year-old said.

"We have not worked hard. I think that for a five-minute show on the field, it needs at least a year's preparation. The players are not taking it as their responsibility to win medals for the country. Our players also lack killer instinct."

Goswami blames the "entire chain" of people assigned the task of preparing the teams for the pathetic performance in Sydney. "They are not giving proper justification. They think on the lines of 'what has happened has happened'. Those who provide the diet, those who coach and look after players' fitness - effectively the entire chain that works behind the scenes -are responsible for our mediocre showing."

India Abroad News Service