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Tokyo Olympics: Why Manipur and India need to strategise their sports

The way to improve sports is not by putting up huge billboards with huge faces of politicians for welcoming sportspersons.

ByRK Nimai

Updated 10 Aug 2021, 7:37 pm

(PHOTO: Twitter)
(PHOTO: Twitter)

India won maximum number of medals in any Olympics in Tokyo, seven in all - one Gold, two Silver and four Bronze.  As everyone knows, the gold came on the penultimate day from the massive throw of Neeraj Chopra in Javelin. On the first day, one silver was won by Mirabai in weightlifting and later another was won by Dahiya in wrestling. The bronze were won by PV Sindhu in Badminton, the men’s hockey team, Lovlina in Boxing (women) and Bajrang in Wrestling. The wrestling contingent can be said to be the most successful, winning two medals. India’s overall rank is 48.

Neeraj’s gold was a bit of a surprise as the pre-favourite Vetter of Germany who has consistently thrown above 90 m in 2021 could muster only 82.52. Once Vetter was not in the top 8, chances of Neeraj winning gold rose, and he did in style with two throws above 87 m.  Mirabai’s silver was expected as she was ranked two before the competition and has the will to overcome her setback in Rio. Dahiya’s silver was won by sheer commitment though he lost in the final to Zavur Uguev who had defeated him earlier once. India’s men’s hockey team was ranked number 4 in June and despite the heavy loss to Australia in the group match, they improved and brought a medal after 41 years proving their billing right. Lovlina ranked third, did well by winning a bronze. PV Sindhu was expected to win a medal though her world ranking was seven but she brought out the best to win a bronze.  More was expected from Bajrang as he was world number one and had won three medals in World Wrestling Championship. But he did manage to win a bronze. Neeraj’s is the first medal in field and track after Norman Pritchard’s two silver on 1900 Paris Olympics in 200 m flat and 200 m hurdles.

Some did not win medals but put in sterling performances. Aditi Ashok in women’s golf came up with an outstanding performance. Despite her world ranking of 200, she went shoulder to shoulder with some of the best names in women golf to place fourth by a stroke. What words can praise the women’s hockey team. With a world ranking of 10, they despite early hiccups came out strongly in the later phase of the group matches to qualify and they beat World No. 2 Australia in the quarters. They played their heart out against Great Britain in their last match which unfortunately they lost.  Another is Vinesh Phogat World number 1, who came out from a serious injury incurred in Rio Olympics and her loss in the second round to a former World champion was a heart breaking moment.

For India, the biggest disappointment came from the shooting team comprising 15 competitors many ranked in the top three. There were bickering after the Olympics between the players, Association and the coach. This is expected but such quality competitors not able to win a medal indicate something is wrong, especially perhaps in the psychological aspect. India needs a very competent sports psychologist to accompany the team. Another is the archery team, which could not pick up any medal despite having highly ranked player. In other disciplines medal was not expected and it is sad that TT player like Manika Batra who was ranked 63 threw star tantrums. Amit Panghal ranked number 1 in his weight category in boxing was expected a medal but that was not to be due to difficult draw.

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It was quite satisfying that five Manipuri are in the Indian team of 119 athletes participating in the Tokyo Olympics, excluding the alternate players and reserve goalkeepers of the two hockey teams. They were to compete in 18 disciplines. Manipuri players qualified in four disciplines - boxing, judo, wrestling and hockey. Mary Kom was ranked seventh but due to her experience and skill a medal was expected but age seems not on her side. Sushila Likmabam qualified from the continental quota and lost in the first match.

Except for Mary Kom and Sushila Likmabam who are based in Manipur, the other three are all based outside the state. The reason is not far to see as the facilities available here is limited and if they are in Manipur they may not have qualified for the Olympics. Out of the five, two have brought medals a very high percentage of success. There is also a need to encourage those who had not brought medals as even qualifying indicate they are among the best in the world and a medal is also a question of fortune. Haryana comes out as the top state producing maximum medal winners and perhaps their policy deserve a close look. The information that the PM intervened to get two athletes treated in USA indicates that the system is weak.

After any major sporting events, government announces many measures which are not followed up. To make Manipur a sporting nation requires much more than awards and promises. Countries like Kosovo which won two gold medals has less than half the size of Manipur and a population of around 18 lakh or Jamaica which is similar in size to Kosovo and a population of about 28 lakh won four Gold, one Silver and four Bronze. Or San Marino a landlocked speck of a nation with an area of 61 sq km and a population of less than 34,000 sending five athletes and three winning medals - one Silver and two Bronze. They are real sporting nations. Jamaica has been in the forefront in sprints and has continuously been producing world and Olympics champions.

The Union Government and the Indian Olympics Association sent the athletes outside the country for competition and training. This though, indicates lack of quality infrastructure in almost all disciplines not to speak of Manipur. India does not have a proper High Performance Lab as yet. From a reply to a Parliament question, it was learnt that 6 Universities and 5 Medical Institutions has been provided with funds to start Sports Science and Sports Medicine respectively. Perhaps RIMS was included but with COVID-19 nothing much was heard about it, except a HoD have been appointed. The department must be manned by qualified personnel and requisite equipments purchased so that it can help both aspiring and elite athletes while providing training to sports medicine specialists. Injury is part and parcel of sports and the need is to reduce recovery period. Systematic approach can prolong the playing life by avoiding injury.

India is a laggard in sports and to shine within India in a few disciplines is not difficult. The difficulty is in reaching world standard. To achieve this, Manipur need to scientifically identify a few disciplines which are suitable for the people and put emphasis on it. Manipuri because of their height disadvantage can never reach the top in say basketball or volleyball. Different games were included to cover all categories of people.

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Manipur and also India need to strategise their sports to be successful. With WADA coming down heavily on doping, athletes and coaches need to be aware of it and the food supplements must be ensured free from banned substances. In Manipur, most are still oblivious of the banned substances.  

The over emphasis on academics with kids going for tuition from 4 am till 8 pm ensures that youth are not exposed to sports. USA the top sporting country has very robust university sports system and so is Australia, Great Britain, etc.

For sports to succeed there must be a policy to look after the non-elite sportsperson. Out of thousands of players only a handful will become elite players who will become millionaires but the other’s future also need to be taken care off. Else there will be limited takers. These dedicated but not very successful players must be provided training to continue to be in the discipline, as masseurs, sports physiotherapists, trainers, coaches, sports dieticians, etc. They have the passion for the game and without passion nothing can be achieved in sports. 

Manipur may say that the budget in sports is increased, which is true but all the increase is on creation of infrastructure which involves contract, with the provision for promotion was slashed so much that even dues to some state associations pending since last two years is yet to be cleared. One can’t fathom the logic why Manipur announced a reward of one crore to Neeraj when he has no connection. Better use it for sports promotion in Manipur. MP announced award for Nilakanta as he is based in that state. So is in the case of Mirabai by Railways, her employer. The way to improve sports is not by putting up huge billboards with huge faces of politicians for welcoming sportspersons. It is nothing but cheap ambush publicity!

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Tags:

manipur athletesTokyo olympicsTokyo Olympic Gamemirabai chanuPV SindhuNeeraj chopralovlina

RK Nimai

RK Nimai

The author is a former bureaucrat, Imphal, Manipur

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