India’s standard in sports has been on a constant decline over the years. We need to have a sound strategy to perform well in the 2020 Olympics
Although a trillion dollar economy and the fastest growing economy in the world, India lags behind in the field of sports. The performance in the Olympics shows a country's true national character, level of discipline, commitment, strength, stamina and skill. Over decades, India's performance has deteriorated. India was the first Asian team to reach 1956 Olympic semi-final in football. The Indian football team was the champion in the 1951 Asian games. In the 1962 Asian game, it beat beating South Korea 2-1. The football team ranked second in the AFC Asian cup in 1964. Today, Indian football’s performance has reached rock bottom, as the team lost to Turkmenistan 1-2 in these 2018 World Cup football qualifier.
The team has not qualified for the Olympic game since 1956. Similarly, the Indian hockey team, which reigned supreme in the Olympic game by winning eight Olympic gold medals from 1928 to 1956, has not reached the semi-final stage in the last 37 years. It ranked eighth th in the Rio Olympic game. A nation of 130 crore people has won only 28 Olympic medals in the 97 years of Olympic history. Scores of small and poor nations are above India in the medal tally. Tiny nations like Vietnam, Kosovo, Fiji, Singpore, Puerto Rico, Bahrain, Jordan, Tajikistan and Ivory Coast walked away with their first Olympic gold in the Rio Olympics. India was pushed to the 67th position, with a lone silver and a bronze medal.
Deep-rooted corruption in sports administration, mismanagement, chronic lethargy, regional bias, lack of commitment, lack of social security for sportsmen, lack of employment opportunity, lack of inclusive opportunity, lack of discipline, excess focus on cricket and badminton, lack of a strong sense of patriotism, monetisation of sports activities and lack of vision has failed India to excel in Olympic games.
Urban centres, which once encouraged sport, have lost 80 per cent of its open space in the last three decades. Public playgrounds help nurture natural talents. People make film on child prodigy, Budhia Singh, who is a long distant runner of Odisha. Nobody bothers to save hundreds of Budhia Singhs withering in the bud due to poverty and lack of opportunity. Budhia's mother sold Budhia to a coach for Rs500 due to acute poverty. Economic growth has no meaning unless there is physical and mental growth of our youth.
There should be a dedicated national sport policy with state-of-the-art monitoring and audit mechanism. In the 70s, the Barabati Stadium was one of the best in the world. It had won the praise of West Indian cricket captain, Clive lloyd. For about two decades, the stadium was misused for marriage and political meetings, which damaged its natural grass surface. Many needless constructions were made inside the stadium for non-sports activities. Similarly, the Balewadi sports complex in Baner of Pune has been used for political functions a number of times. Indian politicians should mend their way to sports complex.
In view of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic, India should focus on about 10 to 15 sports where the prospect of winning a medal is bright. In badminton, hockey, gymnastic, archery, shooting, athletic and tennis, India has chance to win medals. In the next three years, the players as well as the coaches should work hard. Patriotic slogans alone cannot win medals in Olympic. The effort should be backed by concrete planning, dedicated monitoring, audit, supervision, quality training, single-willed devotion, motivation and commitment. Ensuring cleanliness and purity in food is a must do action for the Government.
Indians make films like Chak De! India, Dangal, Pan Singh Tomar and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, seem to have had little impact on our politicians and the sport administration. The film on Mahendra Singh Dhoni has exposed the bureaucratic hurdles in the games.
It’s high time that the Indian political class converged on one objective: Ensuring that India wins a minimum of 10 medals in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games A nation of 130 crore people should figure in the top 10 countries in the Olympic medal list. If India cannot afford to promote expensive games, it can at least encourage low-cost games like walkathon, marathon, track and field events, volleyball, beach volley ball, handball, javelin throw, high jump, long jump, shot-put throw, wrestling, boxing and similar others. Incidentally, we have good prospects in these disciplines, along with badminton, archery, shooting etc.
(The writer is a freelance commentator)