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Changing mindset
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India's ability to win an Olympic medal depends on having a more professional approach to sports, writes ABHIJIT SEN GUPTA
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Collage: K. Ramesh Babu
ALTHOUGH SEVERAL Indian sportspersons have achieved success at the international level, a theory persists that Indian sportspersons lack what is known as "the killer instinct". While it is true that in the Olympic games not many honours have been achieved, it cannot be denied that in sports such as cricket, badminton, hockey, athletics, shooting, chess and billiards India has produced players who have made it big at the international level.
Sportspersons such as Dhanraj Pillay, Sachin Tendulkar, P.T.Usha, Vishwanathan Anand, Geet Sethi, Prakash Padukone, P. Gopi Chand, Anjali Bhagwat, Anju George and several others have shown that they have the ability to be ranked among the best in their respective sports. Certainly when watching any of India's top international sportspersons one does not get the impression that they lag behind in any department.
According to A.S.V. Prasad, Technical Advisor on sports to the Government of AP, the "lack of killer instinct" theory does not have any scientific base.
"I do not believe that the failures of Indian sportspersons to win medals at Olympics can be attributed to the lack of a killer instinct. In this respect let me point out the example of Sriram Singh whose performance at the Montreal Olympic Games ranks as one of the most notable feats in Indian athletics till now," he says.
"Sriram Singh ran the best race of his life in the final. He was up against some of the world's most reputed runners including the Cuban Alberto Juantorena who eventually won the gold. Sriram who was an army man had little experience of running on a synthetic track and that too against a world-class field. But like a true soldier he was full of determination and it was that commitment and fighting spirit, which enabled him to qualify for the final."
"He even led the runners for a large part of the race. Surely he had no lack of killer instinct. Before him Milkha Singh also had achieved a lot through sheer hard work and dedication. Milkha even broke the record but it was his bad luck that prevented him from winning a medal. So I do not believe in this `lack of killer instinct' theory," says Prasad. "What Indian sportspersons lack is not any kind of instinct or spirit but adequate support systems. Nowadays thanks to the National Games, which are periodically conducted in various parts of the country, a lot of infrastructure has come up. At least in the state capitals there is no dearth of infrastructure. However, in some district areas there is still room for improvement. But overall now the stress has to be on conducting more events," says Prasad.
"From an young age children must be given a chance to take part in sports and those who have some talent have to be given more opportunity and more competition. As they grow older they have to be trained in a continuous and systematic manner and finally those players who have reached the international level must be given enough exposure to compete frequently against the world's best. Then only can they gain confidence and raise their performances to a level that can fetch medals at the Olympics or World championships."
"As for making sports an essential part of the daily lives of children, I feel that there has been some change in the attitudes of parents. I often see parents providing a lot of encouragement to their children, particularly in disciplines like swimming, cricket, badminton and tennis . However, in Andhra Pradesh the attitude is still conservative and the stress is mainly on academic achievements."
Speaking about his stint as a Director in the Indian Olympic Association he said that during that period he learnt a lot about the way sports were conducted throughout the world. He was all praise for the IOC and the work it has been doing to develop sports throughout the world. He says that the IOC goes about its work in a very systematic manner and provides funding, coaching, and training to players from underdeveloped countries. The IOC's efforts and schemes have enabled sports to progress in a systematic manner all over the world.
"Nowadays the standards of sports throughout the whole world are going up. At one time we were the world's best in hockey and among Asia's best in football. But we have fallen behind. We cannot afford to sit back and adopt a casual attitude towards sports as we are doing now. In order to succeed, we have to be more professional; we have to give more effort, time and commitment. Only then can we get medals," he says.
(This is the second and concluding part in the two-part series )
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