The Hindu : Sport / Olympic Games : Malhotra wants recognition for Olympic sports

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 03, 2007
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Sport - Olympic Games

Malhotra wants recognition for Olympic sports

NEW DELHI: As the Indian sport basks in the glory of world achievements from varied disciplines, the usual governmental apathy towards Olympic sports has irked Prof. Vijay Kumar Malhotra, President, Archery Association of India, and Vice-President, Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

The Indian men’s archery team won the team gold medal at the Asian championship in China recently, but the splendid effort hardly received any appreciation either from the Central Government or the State governments.

“There is no denying the fact that the Indian cricket has made all of us proud by winning the ICC World Twenty20 tournament in South Africa and they do deserve the adulation and felicitation. But it was pathetic to note that achievements in other sports are being ignored,” Malhotra said in a statement here on Tuesday.

The archery team comprising Mangal Singh, Rahul Banerjee, Jayanta Talukdar and Adonda Raju helped India win the Asian team gold after a gap of 18 years, “but sadly it could not attract even a fraction of attention that the T20 team received,” rued Malhotra. Mangal’s excellent effort had also ensured one individual berth for India in the Beijing Olympics.

Malhotra said that it was unfair that Olympic sports were being ignored at the Government-level itself. — Principal Correspondent

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