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Of spirit and skill
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The rare display of spirit and skill by Indian sportspersons at the Commonwealth Games should prompt the sports administrators to sustain the momentum and achieve further feats, says ABHIJIT SEN GUPTA.
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INDIA'S FINE showing at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester has come as a shot in the arm for the sports fraternity in the country. The results obtained by the sportspersons have been beyond the wildest dreams of all sports fans and administrators. The display of courage, determination and fighting spirit shown by our sportspersons has come as a welcome change from the usual story of failures, excuses, pretexts and official apathy.
As expected, weightlifting and shooting were the disciplines in which India bagged the maximum number of medals. The shooters reaped a rich haul, thanks to the prowess of Anjali Bhagwat, Jaspal Rana and others.
But special mention must be made of those performances, which were engineered against all odds. The ability to defeat superior opponents, overcome seemingly insurmountable hurdles and emerge triumphant at the end of it all, is not a common trait among Indian sportspersons and the fact that this has been done on several occasions during the course of this Commonwealth Games makes the event a landmark in the history of sports in India.
In the wrestling competitions one witnessed a laudable display of grit and determination from Ramesh Kumar in the 66 kgs final. Canada is one of the strongest nations in the discipline of wrestling within the Commonwealth. In the final, Ramesh was up against the gutsy Canadian grappler Neal Ewers. Boxer Mohammed Ali Qamar was another who put up a great performance while taking the gold in the light flyweight category by beating Darren Langley of England. The 22-year-old Qamar who despite his young age has had plenty of international experience recovered from a five-point deficit to get the better of his rival who received vociferous support from the home crowd. But Qamar, a two time Indian national champion turned out to be a tough nut to crack.
At the end of the first round it was seven all but by the end of the second round the English pugilist had forged ahead 14- 9. In the third round Qamar came back strongly and in the fourth it was even at 24-24 with only 40 seconds left on the clock. This was when Qamar pulled out all stops. Perhaps the picture of Gurcharan Singh losing the bronze at the last moment in the Sydney Olympics must have galvanised Qamar into action as he blasted his way to a 27-25 win silencing the huge crowd, which was rooting for the Englishman.
The Indian women's hockey team also gave a performance which was one of the most memorable ones in the recent times. After it seemed to be almost out of the running at one stage, the team fought back with commendable valour and fortitude to finally take the gold despite controversial umpiring decisions in the final against England. Not once did the girls lose their cool, not once did they falter as they played to a plan and ousted more fancied rivals on the way to the title triumph.
Overall it was a most welcome performance by the Indian contingent and it is now time for the sports administrators to do likewise by ensuring that the momentum is not lost, that the media and the sponsors keep their attention focussed on these sportspersons and their performances. The entire sports set up in the country has to now chip in and work systematically towards achieving similar feats in the coming years.
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