Swimming needs more attention
By Ramu Sharma
The Asia-Pacific Swimming and Diving Championships which was held in Delhi recently once again highlighted the need for more attention to be paid to this very important discipline. India did pick up a few medals here but these were in the nature of gifts rather than earned. Nothing wrong with the medal winners but it certainly was a reflection on the importance given to the participating countries, most of whom sent second or third stage swimmers. Clearly these countries were using this meet to build up future teams.

Better keeper-batsman needed
By Gopal Sharma
There is no room for complacency in international cricket. In the age of cut throat competition and in the game where there the margin of error is becoming thinner and thinner teams are too keen to identify the grey areas and take the remedial measures.

Sport Mail

How Dhyan Chand became ‘wizard’
By S. Rifaquat Ali

Candidly, there cannot be a more befitting tribute to the late Dhyan Chand — known the world over as the ‘hockey wizard’ — on his birth anniversary than the very idea to officially call it a Sports Day throughout the country.

Dhyan Chand was more than a genius, a Messiah, in field hockey, literally speaking. In the 1939 Berlin Olympics, he, along with the Black American called Jesse Owens, an incredible sprinter, forced the German Fuhrer to eat humble pie by way of displaying sporting skills which the whites could not match. India defeated the Germans 8-1 in the hockey Olympic final, while Owens emerged as the fastest man in the world. Hitler could not believe his eyes and had to bite the dust since he firmly held to his conviction that the whites were a superior race than the blacks. Dhyan Chand wielded his hockey stick as a magic wand and mesmerised the Germans to the awe and delight of a large number of spectators, so much so that the blonde German girls, captivatingly sexy-looking, approached him for an autograph after the Olympic final, and that a couple of them went to his room and hugged the hero after the match for “the dazzle and brilliance” he had displayed. “The girls wanted to kiss me, but I shrugged them with a scowl,” he told this wrath in an informal discussion one fine evening at the picturesque National Institute of Sports in Patiala.

Short and stockily-built, Dhyan Chand symbolised a figure cut in ebony. He was born on August 29, 1905, in Allahabad, but lived in Jhansi almost all his life after taking up a job as a sepoy in the Brahmin Regiment which he joined in 1922. Like Dhyan Chand, Hitler, born in Austria, too was a soldier, and both shared one thing in common: world reputation. Hitler conquered most of Europe during World War II; Dhyan Chand was not lagging behind: he conquered half the hockey world with his magical wooden stick. Hitler was so much enamoured by the craftsmanship par excellence of the Indian ace that he invited the entire Indian hockey team to dinner and offered the ‘hockey wizard’ the title of Field Marshal if he migrated to Germany. Dhyan Chand was a true patriot; a man who loved his country from the core of his heart. Apparently, he turned down Hitler’s offer.

It is interesting to recall how Dhyan Chand earned the appellation of ‘wizard.’ In 1924, the final of the Panjab Infantry Hockey Tournament was being played in Jhelum. Dhyan Chand’s team was losing by two goals’ four minutes were left for the final whistle when the Commanding Officer cried out: ‘Come on Dyan! We are two goals down, do something about it.’ In a flash, the mercurial Dhyan Chand scored three goals and led his side to a resounding victory. The spectators applauded his incredible feat by the chant. ‘He is a wizard, he is a wizard.’ Ever since he was called a hockey wizard.

In the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, Dhyan Chand scored eight goals and India won by 24-1 goals, still an Olympic record. His younger brother, cast almost in the wizard’s mould, Roop Singh, who played inside-left, scored ten goals. One of the press reports had this to say about the match: “All the colour, glamour and pageantry of Rudyard Kipling’s India might well have found its incarnation in the personnel of the Indian team, which is to represent the land of Mahatma Gandhi. So agile are the members of the team that they can run the full length of the hockey field, juggling a small wooden ball on the flat of the hockey stick.”

In 1974, Roop Singh visited me almost every alternate day in Gwalior where I was working as Publication-cum-Extension Services Officer. We discussed for long hours the rise and fall of Indian hockey. “Today, the Indian players lack perfection, because they do not work hard. We had so much passion for hockey that I used to play with my brother (Dhyan Chand) at night on the terrace of our house in moon-light. My brother’s skill was baffling; it was like magic which no one in the world could emulate.”

Dhyan Chand was pretty modest amiable, frank and forthright. He frequently took time off to play billiards at the National Institute of Sports where he was a coach in 1962 along with foreign coaches in various sports disciplines. Before he retired from the NIS, Dhyan Chand has passed on his knowledge of the game to his understudy, Balkrishan Singh, coach of the victorious Indian team to the Moscow Olympics. Says Balkrishan Singh, who now lives in Patiala and a passionate golfer, of his master and mentor: “He was great in every respect. A great human being, and a great hockey player. The world has not seen the likes of Dhyan Chand on the hockey field till date.” Prof Gursewak Singh, who played with Dhyan Chand in Patiala and is associated with hockey for about half a century, says: “Dhyan Chand was amiable, extrovert and social as a person; as a hockey player, he was very cool on the field and displayed lightning speed near the striking circle; he would never pick up a loose ball. The only man close to Dhyan Chand in scoring goals was Balbir Singh of Punjab, author of The Golden Hattrick; while outside right Olympian Joginder Singh and the late Idris Ahmad of Allahabad were close to him in dribbling the ball.”

In a flowing tribute to the man who served the NIS as coach with great dedication, Col B.S. Ahluwalia, Executive Director of the Institute, succinctly observed: “We are mortals; Dhyan Chand is immortal.” A comment that conjures up visions of a champion warrior undefeated in the battlefields.

by K. R. Wadhwaney
Age no bar on enthusiasm

More than 200 golfers of different sizes, shapes and ages provided ample evidence of their prowess in the inaugural tournament for 55 years and above, sponsored by PLS Group at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC) recently.

A few among them were around 80 but they were able to hit a long ball which flew like an arrow to the target. They were equally precise in their short game. Their style of play was so impressive that the players, 15-20 years younger than them, had nothing but words of praise for them.

While the enthusiasm of all participants, including women, was infectious, their moods changed on each hole. When they fired in accordance to their handicaps, they wore a big grin. But when they landed wayward and had to battle hard to retrieve from a bunker or a hazard, their faces wore such rapt concentration that they would have done credit to even Tiger Woods!

The atmosphere at the course was conducive. The players were relaxed and jovial after their round of 18 holes or nine holes. This was in sharp contrast when they made a tee-shot on the first hole.

After a day’s rigorous play in humid and sultry weather, it was immaterial who won or who lost. “We all had a great fun playing in this competition”, was the unanimous opinion of all participants, adding: “We sanguinely hope that the sponsors will stick to their word and conduct the tournament regularly”.

The prizes at the glittering get-together were indeed meagre in value but they were of immense importance to the winners and runners-up as they felt proud in winning them and accepting them from renowned personalities who had played a pivotal role in making what DGC is today.

Raj Bhargava, a ‘brain’ behind the competition, spoke a few words but he was precise in saying that he and his team of organisers and sponsors had been overwhelmed by the response from the member-golfers.

There were a few who held this competition as a prelude to election campaign. But the competitors were least bothered about its saying that they had a bagful of enjoyment in playing it.

NEW SEASON

The New calendar of Wills Golf has already unfolded with three competitions in the southern part of this country. Gaurav Ghei, Sanjay Kumar and Shiv Prakash among other India’s top-notch players will be seen in action at Chennai and Bangalore. Most of the professionals are said to be in good nick as they had devoted their spare time in reducing shortcomings in their game. While some had coaching from experts, others had an introspection about their game. “We have to improve our short game”, said some while some had devoted their time in learning to play a long ball. “The quicker we reach near the pin, the greater are our chances of achieving a par or a birdie or an eagle”, said a few others. Many other professionals are said to have devoted their time in sharpening their mind which is indeed the key to success.

Ghei has won the Cosmo Hindu Open thrice in four years. Will he win it again on September 5? Will Sanjay Kumar defend his title of Color Plus Open on September 12? Will Shiv Prakash make a hattrick of titles at Bangalore will be known on September 18?

Swimming needs more attention
By Ramu Sharma

The Asia-Pacific Swimming and Diving Championships which was held in Delhi recently once again highlighted the need for more attention to be paid to this very important discipline. India did pick up a few medals here but these were in the nature of gifts rather than earned. Nothing wrong with the medal winners but it certainly was a reflection on the importance given to the participating countries, most of whom sent second or third stage swimmers. Clearly these countries were using this meet to build up future teams.

For the records India won 49 medals of which four were gold. But how many of them were indicative of the genuine standards of the medal winners? Nisha Millet, the country’s most gifted swimmer won three silver and a bronze and could be said to have truly merited the honours. But the expectation from her was much more but even she would admit that she was not in the same class as the swimmers from the other countries. And these swimmers, mind you, were not the best in their own land.

The meet in New Delhi was not given much importance by some of the countries who chose to go instead to the Pan-Pacific meet which was held in Sydney. Australia has never really taken part in the earlier meets held in Delhi and this time it had a genuine excuse for staying away. Japan as usual skipped Delhi while Chinese Taipei, the eventual champions, Thailand and Hong Kong did not fill the pool in all the age groups. The Indians thus grabbed all the residual spots for what appeared to be an impressive final tally.

Medals at the Asia-Pacific level, the SAF Games and what used to be the popular Indo-Sri Lanka competitions is one thing but to make an impression in the Asian Games and Asian Championships is quite another thing. There is no question of India participating in the Commonwealth and Olympic Games though there have been occasions when the country has flirted with the idea of sending swimmers for these meets. But success at SAF Games and Asia Pacific level tend to give a wrong picture of the standard of swimming in the country. Frankly India as a swimming nation is a non-starter, having yet to learn the first strokes of the discipline. It is not as if people do not like to swim here but taking part in a competition is not the same thing.

When we talk of competitive swimming we mean pool swimming, not swimming the English Channel, a course covered by few Indians with more in tow. Swimming is essentially an urban exercise and necessarily a discipline more in vogue with the economically better off families who can afford to send their children to schools with pools. For the common man, swimming is a costly exercise though the administration in the various cities has made available pools with coaches drawn from the Sports Authority of India. But these pools do not churn out competition-fit swimmers. Here the main idea is to learn to swim and enjoy it .

In the 50s and for a period well into the 70s boys and girls from Mumbai and Calcutta dominated the pool in domestic meets if only for the facilities provided by the administration in the two metropolis. Later on Bangalore took over and today Karnataka is a major force in Indian swimming but only at the domestic level.

In the open section the Services generally had the main say, again because of the physical fitness of their swimmers. Most of their competitors had taken to the pool only after joining the Services where swimming like running was a part of their training schedule. But swimming as a tradition or culture has never taken on a competitive turn, not at the level beyond the nationals.

It is not only the responsibility of the Swimming Federation but other agencies to step in to make swimming a mass movement. It is perhaps not known that the first movements of a new born baby is swimming movements, the flailing of arms and legs is all part of swimming, not walking. Walking is something that comes much later. It is not an uncommon practice in developed countries and China to throw babies into puddle pools to give them a head start in water. In India and some of the other South Asian countries it takes a boy or a girl a long time to get rid of the fear of water. Then only comes the next phase of learning how to swim. And by the time the boy or girl gain some proficiency, they are too old for competitive swimming. The body just does not respond to pressure of competitive swimming after a particular age. One rarely sees a woman over 20 and a man over 25 in Olympic Games swimming competitions. But Indian swimmers are known to continue well into the 30s. That is because they have started so late.

If India has to make a mark in competitive swimming, it must first stress on the importance of swimming particularly for children. And pools must be made available to everyone wanting to swim. Something on the lines of Calcutta and Mumbai. Unfortunately the two cities have grown out of proportion and the existing facilities are not sufficient to meet the demands of the growing population. Delhi too has a number of pools run by the administration but needs many more. Bangalore however appears to have realised the importance of swimming and has developed the infrastructure. But that city too is facing a population boom and needs to expand the available facilities.

Swimming, athletics and gymnastics are often described as the basic disciplines. Of these athletics is the most popular and Indian athletes do figure at the Asian games level. Gymnastics and swimming however need to be made popular. In fact these two disciplines, particularly swimming should be made compulsory in schools. Then only can India think of competitive swimming.

Better keeper-batsman needed
By Gopal Sharma

There is no room for complacency in international cricket. In the age of cut throat competition and in the game where there the margin of error is becoming thinner and thinner teams are too keen to identify the grey areas and take the remedial measures. After the lacklustre performance of the Sri Lankan team in the World Cup Australian Trever Chappell was summoned to work on the fitness level and fielding of the team and the results were there for all to see. During their first league match against India in the just-concluded AIWA Cup, Sri Lankan fielding looked very sharp — almost as good as that of Australia — and accounted for four run out dismissals, including those of Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly.

Then, there are countries like South Africa and Australia where the domestic cricket circuit is so tough and well defined that there is never a dearth of quality players with the result that the performance of the team does not dip drastically in the case of injuries even to key players. If the latter has the likes of Jason Gillespie, Michael Kasprowicz and Adam Dale to play in place of regulars like Glenn McGrath and Damien Fleming, the former has Steve Elworthy and Allan Dawson to fill in for an injured Allan Donald or Shaun Pollock.

Unfortunately, Indian cricket is not that blessed. For the Indian team to do well certain key performers are always expected to play a dominant role. And if such players fail to deliver the team, more often than not, suffers humiliation.

Certain shortcomings have been plaguing the team for so long for which nothing has been done.

One of the major problems the team suffers from is the absence of a sound wicketkeeper batsman for one-dayers. Stumpers of almost all the regular teams have the ability to get a berth in team solely on the basis of their batting skills. Alec Steward (England), Adm Gilchrist (Australia), Romesh Kaluwitharana (Sri Lanka) and Rindley Jacobs (West Indies) are all successful openers capable of changing the course of play on the basis of their batting alone.

Gilchrist replaced the illustrious Ian Healy in the one-day squad not long back. He already has a couple of blistering match-winning knocks to his credit. He is already the highest one-day scorer for Australia and Shane Warne rates him among the most destructive batsmen in contemporary cricket.

Pakistan’s Moin Khan is a solid middle order batsman capable of using the long handle effectively in the slog overs. He has played in the team purely as a batsman under the captaincy of former stumper Rashid Latif. No wonder then that Wasim Akram, just before the World Cup, stated that Moin was the best wicketkeeper batsman in the business and Moin more than justified the faith reposed in him by his skipper by whipping the best of bowling attacks during the biggest cricketing extravaganza.

Andy Flower of Zimbabwe forms part of the batting nucleus of the team along with Grant Flower, skipper Alistair Campbell and Murray Goodwin, while Adam Parore of New Zealand and Kennedy Otieno of Kenya are no minnows with the bat.

Stewart has two centuries and 19 half centuries, Andy Flower one century and 28 half centuries, Adam Parore one century and 13 half centuries and Adam Gilchrist five centuries and ten half centuries in one-day matches. Contrast this with Nayan Mongia, who has just two half centuries during his entire one-day career.

Mongia who came in to bat at No 7 in the World Cup Super League match against Australia was a bundle of nerves. He pushed and prodded in the company of Ajay Jadeja for nine deliveries before he was run out by Michael Bevan after he had made two runs as the team was bundled out for 205 in 48.2 overs. A victory at that stage was virtually out of bounds for the Indian team. But Mongia having vast experience of playing at this level did not deem it fit to at stay put at the wicket and play out the full quota of the allotted 50 overs which would have resulted in some crucial runs accruing to the total and the net run rate going up — so important in the final analysis.

The Bob Woolmer-Hansie Cronje combine has shown what can be achieved through scientific training, innovativeness, common sense and, of course, the inherent talent. Despite the absence of any batting super star like Tendulkar, Lara, the WPaugh twins or Jayasuriya in their ranks they have emerged the most consistent side in one-dayers and Tests.

Sport Mail

India’s defeatist attitude deplorable
The lacklustre performance of the Indian cricket team in the AIWA Cup has once again exposed the defeatist attitude of our national team. We may boast of world class players but real world class performance is a rarity with our team. Of course, we cannot expect any team to win all the games but at least we can expect a genuine competition from our cricketing heroes. Our team’s inefficiency to effectively tackle a tough situation during the game is irritating. Any other team, faced with the similar circumstances, may have a hundred reasons to fight it out till the end but, our players tend to lose heart after a few quick wickets or after a couple of roughed up overs. Seldom are they able to come to grips with the situation.

Even the body language of our players is seldom inspiring. The defeatist attitude of our team is deplorable.

SUNIL KUMAR
Mohali

II

In the recent AIWA Cup triangular series the Indian cricket team fumbled both in bowling and batting. The Indian fielding was also poor and running between wickets proved suicidal. Against Australia, there were four run-outs. The middle-order batsmen failed miserably. The Indian tail has become longer.

Y. L. CHOPRA
Bathinda

Hockey tourneys

Rituals are the bane of the Indian Hockey Federation. Whenever tournaments are conducted they have a set pattern. Most of the department or professional teams participate. Fund collection is no problem as these associations are headed by senior officials. These professional teams enjoying the hospitality of the organisers, collect cash, gifts and dish out most mediocre hockey. The result is the dwindling crowds. These players are seldom satisfied with the facilities, crib constantly about poor umpiring and don’t hesitate to insult and humiliate the organisers. One such tournament is held every year in Chandigarh in the memory of Gurmit Singh. The organisers do their best to please everyone. They get a step-motherly treatment from the officialdom. They have to pay for ground rent and room rent for lodging teams. What a way to improve and encourage sports!

I.S. KHURANA
Mohali

Exposure needed

The Indian men’s senior hockey team toured South Africa to play five Tests but failed miserably. South Africa won the series. The Indian women’s hockey team also failed miserably during the foreign tour recently. Then came the turn of the Indian junior hockey team, which toured Germany and participated in the eight nation hockey tournament. In the final against South Korea at Berlin, India lost in sudden death. It has been seen that whenever Indian teams go on foreign tours, they do take the lead but never maintain it. We need more exposure at regular intervals.

B.M. SINGH NARANG
Chandigarh