Tuesday, Sep 23, 2003
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Table Tennis
By A. Joseph Antony
A close look at the present edition of the championship can be an eye-opener. The Bharath Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) squad has an average age of 45, with two of its players aged 56 and 58 years. Coal India Limited averages at 45, while in the All India Electricity Board squad, the average age is 35. The above `elders' may be the best in their respective PSUs or firms. The moment they are pitted against squads such as Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB), whose average age is 24 years and Railway Sports Promotion Board, averaging at 19 years, the contests become grotesquely one-sided and one can only feel sympathy for these `veterans.' In a sport where players over 28 years are considered past their prime, the above instances are hardly shining examples of competitive keenness. Reflexes are on the wane as are agility and endurance. Compounding the misery of these old-timers are even younger players from the Indian Bank scholarship scheme aged about 17 years. The face-offs between these two ends of the player spectrum thus verge on the farcical. Not to make light of these sporting `senior citizens,' the above observations make it obvious that sports recruitment is alive and active in PSPB and Railways, while such a reservation for sportspersons in other departments is on the decline. The tragedy of Indian sports is that no game, apart from cricket, can survive without state funding, says Uppuluri Krishna Murthy, Manager of the Indian Railway team. As a former national player and now Secretary to the General Manager, South Central Railway, he has been instrumental in enrolling paddlers into his organisation. That has largely been possible thanks to a climate, conducive to sports recruitment in Railways, a powerhouse in the field. State governments at best bestow incentives in the form of awards or housing sites, which while being beneficial, may not provide for the player's international travel and kit requirements on a long-term basis. Growing privatisation has hardly helped the cause, Krishna Murthy adds. A player of the calibre of Sharath Kamal longs for international exposure to break into the world's elite. His four trips abroad were funded by his employers and the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI). To gain in international renown and ranking, he needs to take part in not less than half a dozen Pro-Tour tourneys, which cries for corporate support. This, despite him being an Administrative and Welfare Officer with Indian Oil Corporation, Chennai, enjoying the backing of a Fortune 500 company and the PSPB. While international excellence could be the highest goal, mediocrity in domestic competitions such as the inter-institutionals, could mar prospects of the former. As a national coach pointed out, China enjoys an abundance of riches, because of a proliferation of paddlers. Such a phenomenon can come about with increased employment opportunities for sportspersons.
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