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Mahesh Bhupathi: Run with your mind
“After a certain distance, you run with your mind, not with your legs.”
—Mahesh Bhupathi.
Sanjay Manjrekar: Cribbing
“The world changes for the better when we all crib—cribbing is good.”
—Sanjay Manjrekar.
Sanjay Manjrekar: Lack of customers
“If Test cricket was a shop, it would have been shut down a long time ago for lack of customers.”
—Sanjay Manjrekar.
Is Shobhha De completely out of kilter? Not really!
Shobhha De’s series of ‘well-timed’ tweets deploring Indian athletes’ performances at the Olympics was roundly castigated by the Twitteratti with Abhinav Bindra and Sachin Tendulkar joining the discordant chorus.
Sachin Tendulkar:
“The athletes give their best in their efforts to win a medal. All the Indian athletes in Rio 2016 have my support. They work for years and years but when you miss out narrowly, you obviously feel bad.
When the results don’t go your way, that is when you need to support them.
The first half didn’t go our way but you have to support them when the chips are down.”
But there can’t be smoke without fire (not unless it’s dry ice, of course).
Five days into the Games and the medals tally still shows nought against India’s listing.
The shooters have disappointed sorely with only Abhinav Bindra coming close to a bronze and Dipa Karmakar making the vault final in gymnastics.
The archers continue to keep Indians back home waiting for their maiden medal despite years of selection and training to promote this ancient art and its modern avatar.
The London Olympics saw India claim six medals—two in shooting, two in wrestling and one each in badminton and boxing.
The expectations were that the Indian contingent of 119 would clinch at least seven this time.
That’s less than a six per cent chance of a medal for our sports-persons.
Is that what’s to be expected from our competitors—that 94 per cent of them are to be no-hopers and just make up the numbers and soak in the sights?
Admittedly, the qualification marks have been made stiffer in recent times and for most Indian athletes from sports other than cricket, a chance to participate in the Olympics is the highlight of their low-storied careers.
But surely we can and should demand more from them. Surely at least 25% of them should be realistic medal contenders and the rest should be earmarked as talents for the future sent to assimilate the ethos and pressure of the Games so that they are not overcome with stage fright the next time around.
The qualification marks too could be made a lot more stringent than the minimum needed.
Yes, De’s remarks were ill-advised and probably nothing more than a publicity stunt. It’s a wonder whether our Indian athletes would worry too much about a socialite columnist otherwise.
Perhaps, it’s time Ms. De penned a novella on the state of Indian sport and its heroes (and heroines) rather than her much-beloved Bollywood which conversely draws significant inspiration (and box-office success) from the annals of Indian sport in recent times.
Related articles
Indians Immune to Olympic Fever(newsweekpakistan.com)
All eyes on Rio as India aim for record medals tally(freepressjournal.in)
Nita Ambani is now India’s only active individual member at the IOC
Nita Ambani, sports promoter and founder chairperson of Reliance Foundation, is now an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member.
Firstpost—a Reliance group publication—termed Ms. Ambani’s election as “carrying forward the country’s flag in the Olympic Movement.”
The first lady of the Reliance group was voted in as an individual member in Rio on Thursday polling 92.2% valid votes among eight candidates.
The seat of the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
What does being an individual member entail?
The Olympic website states:
“The IOC members, natural persons, are representatives of the IOC in their respective countries, and not their country’s delegate within the IOC. As stated in the Olympic Charter: ‘Members of the IOC represent and promote the interests of the IOC and of the Olympic Movement in their countries and in the organisations of the Olympic Movement in which they serve.’”
So it’s not really a victory for the nation per se—if one wants to nitpick—but actually a shrewd move both by Nita Ambani and the Olympic Committee.
Evidently the committee considers India to be an important cog in its scheme of matters in years to come.
And Nita Ambani gains some legitimacy in the eyes of her numerous detractors and critics who consider her a privileged interloper in the world of Indian sport—not that she cares.
She said:
“I am truly humbled and overwhelmed to be elected by the IOC. This is a recognition of the growing importance of India in the world stage and a recognition for Indian women.
I have always believed in the power of sport to shape our youth. I believe that sports brings together communities, cultures, and generations has the power to unify and unite people. I look forward to spreading the spirit of Olympics and sports across our nation.
I’m working really with multi-sports in India. We want to encourage many other games besides cricket in India like football and basketball and let children be exposed to all kinds of games. So I’m looking forward to building a movement in sports for children in India.’’
She is the only current active Indian member in the IOC and the first Indian woman.
Former Indian Olympic Association Secretary General, Randhir Singh, is an honorary member.
The IOC has 90 members, 36 honorary members and 1 honour member.
Honorary members are usually former members.
Dr. Henry Kissinger is the only honour member of the Committee.
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WADA in the crosshairs, as IOC members fume at late response(dailystar.com.lb)
IOC session supports decision not to ban Russian athletes from Rio(tass.ru)
Fast Facts and Stats: A Selection of Olympic Research and Reference Resources(infodocket.com)
IOC pays tribute to Israeli victims of 1972 Munich attack(herald-review.com)
International Olympic Committee clears all 11 Russian boxers to compete in Rio(onenewspage.us)
Olympics: IOC chief urges total review of world anti-doping system(channelnewsasia.com)
IOC members bash world anti-doping body over Russia scandal(wistv.com)
Russian Boxing Team Cleared To Compete In Rio(rferl.org)
Maria Toorpakai Wazir: Religion and sports
“Love for religion should come from within and stay there. My faith is between me and my God. I think the more we keep religion out of education, sports and politics, the better.”
—Maria Toorpakai Wazir, Pakistan’s No. 1 woman squash player.
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Looking to the Future(newsweekpakistan.com)
Little Hope for Pakistan at Rio(newsweekpakistan.com)
Narsingh Pancham Yadav found innocent by NADA disciplinary panel: Is he home free?
Narsingh Pancham Yadav can consider himself very, very fortunate.
Few expected National Anti-Doping Agency’s (NADA) disciplinary panel to be lenient with the grappler from Mumbai.
But NADA have been benevolent in ruling in favour of the 26-year-old wrestler exonerating him—giving him the benefit of the doubt— by accepting his version of sabotage by a fellow competitor.
Section 10.4 of NADA’s Anti-Doping Rules (2015) states:
10.4 Elimination of the Period of Ineligibility where there is No Fault or
Negligence
If an Athlete or other Person establishes in an individual case that he or she bears No Fault or Negligence, then the otherwise applicable period of Ineligibility shall be eliminated.
[Comment to Article 10.4: This Article and Article 10.5.2 apply only to the imposition of sanctions; they are not applicable to the determination of whether an anti-doping rule violation has occurred. They will only apply in exceptional circumstances, for example where an Athlete could prove that, despite all due care, he or she was sabotaged by a competitor.
Conversely, No Fault or Negligence would not apply in the following circumstances: (a) a positive test resulting from a mislabelled or contaminated vitamin or nutritional supplement
(Athletes are responsible for what they ingest (Article 2.1.1) and have been warned against the possibility of supplement contamination); (b) the Administration of a Prohibited Substance by the Athlete’s personal physician or trainer without disclosure to the Athlete
(Athletes are responsible for their choice of medical personnel and for advising medical personnel that they cannot be given any Prohibited Substance); and (c) sabotage of the Athlete’s food or drink by a spouse, coach or other Person within the Athlete’s circle of associates (Athletes are responsible for what they ingest and for the conduct of those Persons to whom they entrust access to their food and drink). However, depending on the unique facts of a particular case, any of the referenced illustrations could result in a reduced sanction under Article 10.5 based on No Significant Fault or Negligence.]
Had Yadav been found guilty, he would have been banned for the full period of four years.
Yadav and his fellow wrestlers celebrated by partaking of sweets outside the agency’s office.
But it’s not all clear for Rio as yet.
Chander Shekhar Luthra of DNA writes:
“…World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has so far refused to bow down to allegations of ‘sabotage’, keeping in mind that such a decision could well cause an irreparable loss to the ‘battle against doping’ at the international level.”
A retired Nada official said:
“What if the entire Russia stand together and say there was a deep conspiracy against their 100 athletes? What if Maria Sharapova now cites the ‘conspiracy’ angle by her opponents in her case that is being heard by Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS)?”
NADA’s rules state that appeals can be filed to both CAS and the National Anti-Doping Appeal Panel within a period of 21 days.
The latter’s unlikely—it would be tantamount to NADA challenging its own decision—but appeals can be made to CAS by WADA, the international Wrestling Federation United World Wrestling and the IOC; there exists no other apparent affected party in the above proceedings.
NADA lawyer Gaurang Kanth complained “he was not allowed to cross-examine Narsingh on the sabotage angle”.
Yadav had tested positive for the anabolic steroid — methandienone — in both his A and B samples.
NADA DG Naveen Agarwal read out the panel’s verdict:
“We kept in mind that in the past, till June 2, none of his samples were positive. It was inconceivable that one-time ingestion would be of benefit. Therefore the panel is of the view that the one-time ingestion was not intentional.”
Sushil Kumar, World champion (2010) and Beijing Olympics bronze medalist Indian wrestler, attending annual sports meet of GGSIPU, Delhi as a chief guest. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Jitesh Kumar,the 17-year-old accused of spiking Yadav’s drinks is a trainee at Delhi’s Chhatrasal Stadium. Two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar supervises the wrestlers there. An FIR has already been filed by Yadav at the Rai police station in Haryana.
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Societe Generale and Puma to sponsor rugby in India
Is rugby the next sport set to take off in India?
One would hope so given that French financial services major Societe Generale announced a long-term partnership with Rugby India to promote the game in the country.
SG will not just be a financial partner but also the title sponsor for the Indian National Rugby Sevens Team’ across all categories — senior, junior and women.
Societe Generale will also support World Rugby’s ‘Get Into Rugby’, an initiative to teach the game in schools and introduce children to the sport.
Puma have joined the bandwagon as well providing kits to the men’s and women’s teams.
All this went down at the Bombay Gymkhana on Thursday the 28th of July, 2016.
Flag of Bombay Gymkhana, a popular club in Mumbai (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Bombay Gymkhana main corridor (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The deal is initially for a period of three years.
Rugby is being reinstated at the Rio Olympics this year after a gap of 92 years.
And Japan is set to be the first Asian country to host the World Cup in 2019.
India is currently ranked 12th among 32 Asian countries who take part.
Aga Hussain, VP of Asia Rugby, believes that India can break into the top five in the next five years.
Solar Energy company PROINSO have also signed a sponsorship deal with the Indian Rugby Football Union (IRFU).
Rugby has over 44,000 registered players in the country.
The game was first played in India in 1871.
Europeans playing rugby football in Calcutta. Note – lack of Indian people, round (rather than oval) ball, unusual clothing and goal posts. Several of the players appear to be Welsh (hence the dragon) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The national team, however, was not formed until 1998. Their first game was against Singapore.
They were inducted into the International Rugby Board only in 2001.
India have never qualified for the Rugby World Cup.
If rugby in India has a profile, it’s mostly due to Bollywood star, Rahul Bose, who represented India for almost 25 years.
Bose played 20 international matches but hung up his boots in 2008.
On his retirement, Bose said:
“Preparing and playing international rugby takes around two months which I don’t have on me now. I have to travel for film festivals, give lectures, I’m on the board of six NGOs and besides I also have my films. Rugby doesn’t pay you well and besides, the youngest player in the team is 18. I must have played with their fathers in school. I’m 40 now, so the signs are loud and clear that I should quit before I start playing with my friends’ children on the team.”
On what he gained from playing the sport:
“Like how to lose gradually and enjoy the score, not the result; to be a team player, because by nature I am an individualist; if you try to play alone, you are bound to get hurt; and, to have a hot heart and keep a cool head. Today we rank 81st among 110 countries and 50 years later, we will rank in the top 20 position. We will be part of the CommonWealth Games, too, but I will be a grandfather by then.”
Bose, of course, was present at the press conference announcing the tie-up with Societe General and Puma India as evidenced by the post below.
Bose need no longer be pessimistic about the state of Indian rugby.
Things are looking up for sport in India and rugby in particular.
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U.S. draws same group as Fiji for Olympic rugby(espn.go.com)
Draw made for 1st Olympic rugby in 92 years(sandiegouniontribune.com)
South Africa in the News on 29 June 2016(myza.co.za)
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Narsingh Yadav: Culpable or not?
The entire sorry episode of Narsingh Yadav’s failed dope test and his subsequent disqualification this year’s Rio Olympics reads like a really bad Dick Francis thriller .
Yadav claims that he is the victim of a conspiracy, that his food and supplements were spiked by mischievous elements. An investigation by India Today appears to bear out his version. There are reports of an intruder mixing an unidentified white, powdery substance in his food portions.
Suspicion is rife given that his roommate Sandeep Tulsi Yadav too has tested positive for steroids. Were they made patsies by unscrupulous persons?
Yadav is reportedly shattered by the turn of events and is said to have contemplated killing himself.
It all seems tragically anti-climactic given the court drama pursuant to the non-selection of Sushil Kumar and Yadav’s ‘meritorious‘ showing.
Accusations and counter-accusations will continue to fly over the next few days—at least, until Indian athletes reach Rio.
Is Yadav being victimised by powerful parties within the SAI? Or is he simply unwilling to admit any wrongdoing?
Surely, the Indian public deserves to know.
Should Russia be disbarred from Rio?
The Court for Arbitration in Sports (CAS) has pronounced its verdict.
The seat of the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The IAAF-imposed ban on the Russian Athletics Federation stays.
No Russian track-and-field athlete will be competing in Rio—at least, not under their national flag.
The International Olympic Committee will decide the fate of the Russian contingent when it meets today.
IOC headquarters (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: Lausanne, Switzerland – IOC seat Česky: Lausanne, Švýcarsko – sídlo MOV (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The CAS judgment is non-binding on the Committee.
WADA and predominantly western nations’ Olympic Committees are vocally in favour of a blanket ban on the rogue nation given clear and damning evidence of state-sponsored collusion in doping. They feel that the IOC must exhibit ‘zero–tolerance‘ towards systematic doping by any state.
Olympic Games 1896, Athens. The International Olympic Committee. From Left to right, standing: Gebhardt (Germany), Guth-Jarkovsky (Bohemia), Kemeny (Hungary), Balck (Sweden); seated : Coubertin (France), Vikelas (Greece & chairman), Butovsky (Russia) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
National Olympic Committees have been banned before—simply not for drug-related scandals.
Collective responsibility should not come at the cost of individual justice—the IOC is seeking a balance.
The Russian public believes that their country is being discriminated against by the Western world. They cannot accept that all their athletes are drugged.
A sanction against all Russian competitors would be unfair to those abiding by the rule book.
While the IOC has several options before arriving at a final decision, a simple solution would be to allow the Russians to participate—both under their national banner and the Olympic one but have each one of their athletes subjected to both in-competition and out-of-competition testing.
This would allow clean athletes to breathe freely and hopefully deter sportspersons who are doping.
This would also send a strong message to errant national sports federations everywhere that unless they clean up their act, their athletes and their fellow countrymen will be treated like Caesar’s wife—not above suspicion.
Simply leaving the decision to international sports federations burdens them further and not all of them are fully equipped to make an informed decision on the matter.
Whatever the IOC’s decision, there will be no pleasing everyone.
That’s a given.
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Make Time For Sports. 