GUWAHATI: The brand new Polyton track looks like a red carpet well rolled out. And as much as one would have expected, all the swanky gadgets too are in place. But sadly, the key dramatis personae who could have provided the expected glitter to the athletic competitions of the 33rd National Games, set to commence at the Indira Gandhi stadium on Sunday, would be missing the action thus robbing the five-day event of some of its sheen.

Perhaps, it all could be due to the timing of these Games. A point that the IOA president Suresh Kalmadi himself conceded the other day. Asked to comment on the subject, the IOA president was quite categorical when he said: "Any timing is good timing, though I would say that this was not the ideal time for hosting the National Games."

This should provide an insight to the reason behind the absence of Anju Bobby George, Manjit Kaur, Pinky Paramanik, Soma Biswas, O.P. Jaisha and K.M. Binu to name a few. It is also a fact that these top athletes, even if they were present, would not have been able to push the competitions to a higher plan, given the tough schedules they had undergone during the run-up to the Doha Asian Games in December last. They also had very little time to prepare for these Games after their return from Doha.

The non-appearance of some of the top athletes could also have been due to the confusion on the actual date set by the Athletics Federation of India for the training-cum-exposure tour to South Africa, which it has been planning for a few athletes for sometime now.

Excellent chance

All the same, the meet should provide an excellent opportunity to the second string athletes (especially those who were part of the Indian contingent in Doha) to prove their mettle at a big stage.

Indian athletics, given the circumstances which led to the huge drop in its medal haul between the 2002 Busan Asian Games and the Doha event, undoubtedly needs new stars in its horizon to take the sport forward in the years to come.

Yet, it is hard to predict the athletes who could emerge as stars from the meet, inarguably the main attraction of these Games. The officials connected with its conduct were themselves in the dark on who all would be participating here, in the absence of a fool-proof list of entries even late into Saturday evening.

For sure, not a novelty anymore at these Games though the genial host are trying hard to overcome is relative inexperience at handling the conduct of such a big event and its attendant intricacies.

Interestingly, the shooting competitions which is also to commence on Sunday at the 4th A.P. Battalion ranges in Kahilipara too would miss the likes of Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Jaspal Rana, Anjali Vedpathak and Suma Shirur, who have opted out of the competition.

Some consolation

However, the presence of stars like Samresh Jung and Tejaswini Sawant should provide some consolation to the organisers who have worked hard to provide the best of facilities to the shooters.

Jung, the hero behind India' glorious campaign in last year's Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, could be the star of the show as he is expected to take part in all the pistol events barring the rapid fire event. Also to share the limelight could be Navanath Faratade, the World junior champion in 10m air rifle, Avneet Kaur Sidhu and Harveen Srao in their respective events.

The shooting competitions will conclude on February 16.

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