The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Perpetuating permanence: is it good for TT?
by Ramu Sharma

A laudatory reference to the reelection of Mool Chand Chowan as Secretary General of the Table Tennis Federation of India in one of the leading newspapers of the country reveals that the genial gentleman has entered the third decade as chief executive of the TTFI. All very good and certainly a worthwhile achievement. But viewed in proper perspective is such a long and continuous reign by one person good for the game?

Mool Chand Chowan is a part of a system and cannot be faulted for sticking on to his position. And he is supposed to be good at paper work which contributes considerably to the smooth functioning of the federation. And his responsibilities are many. He is the secretary general of the Commonwealth Table Tennis Federation and a vice-president of the international body from the Asian continent. In addition he has built up a reputation of having conducted the World Championships and other major competitions in India. He has been in the federation for 40 odd years. And he is also not a young man any more. Thus it is difficult to believe that in all these years no one else, a younger man for instance, has shown any interest or ambition to take over the job.

This is not to question his commitment to the game or his organisation skill but one does grow old and it is not always easy to work at the same level day in and out and year after year without getting tired or even bored. It is not good for the person or the discipline he is controlling. Perpetuation could also lead to stagnation.

In this respect and whatever may be M. C. Chowan’s personal achievement, one can categorically state that the standard of the game in the country has hardly shown any improvement over the years. One sees the same players sweating it out for years altogether unlike in progressive countries like China where the top man or woman player has always got to be in the best of form since there are some 150 or more of near equal status ready to step into his or her shoes That sort of depth and standard does not exist in India where the top two or three players can take it easy for years to come. This is not fault of the Secretary General who religiously organises nationals and other tournaments with great care. But something is surely wrong for the standard in India to have virtually remained static.

Sometimes changes are good for the federations. New blood is always welcome and helps to reinvigorate the system. Chowan and others like him in quite a few federations should now step aside or take up an honorary and venerated positions and guide the younger and newer generation to learn and promote the game.

It is not in India alone that perpetuation of officials is accepted and taken for granted. These things happen at the international level also but there is one difference. The working agencies are younger and the load is shared. Thus in the International Olympic Committee most of the members are much advanced in age with the retirement fixed at 80 but those working are a younger crop. In India this does not seem to happen.

One can understand a senior and often aging politician taking up the job as a President of a federation if only to give it some status and also help in money collection. There were and there are federations where the post of the President is only nominal with the actual work being done by a younger secretary and his cronies.

But there are also federations and certain independent bodies which could do with a change of blood. It is still a mystery of sorts why the government which is prompt in forming guidelines chose to drop the most important one some years ago. That guideline restricted a person from holding on to a post to just two terms. Understandably not everyone was happy with this particular ruling and perhaps worked to have it done away with.

There is thus much to be said for some new blood for instance in the Jawaharlal Nehru Hockey Society, not at the members level but at the active organisational field where it is time a younger man did the running about and the current lot of people involved in the active running of the show convert to the role of advisors. The society which almost worked miracles when it started years ago needs to change its face. The tournaments conducted by the society contributed considerably to the national hockey scene and a number of internationals came out of these competitions. But now everything has changed. The tournament has no ground and the makeshift venue does not attract crowds. And also there is a considerable drop in the overall standard.

Something new and fresh is needed to revitalise the whole show and there are enough high profile personalities in the society who could bring about the changes needed. Nothing much drastic but something new and fresh in odd places. A little more effort could also be made to bring in the crowds. The Nehru Hockey Tournaments as they are held these days can be likened to formalities that need to be observed.

One could have perhaps understood the practice of people clinging to their posts in the various federations in the period immediately after independence. In fact the practice went on for quite some time till the government came out with the guidelines. But now with more and more people coming in and the system too quietly changing its pattern the time has come for people to realise that a new generation is waiting in the wings for a chance to serve. It is time that sports federations and other such conglomerates realise it and accept the need for changes.

There is no denying that old is gold but one cannot stop progress. One remembers a major athletic meet when one of the parents, on seeing some of the officials on duty remarked, that something never change. These officials were there in my father’s time and they still continue now in my son’s time.

Magic and mystery of Cuban boxing
by Ravi Dhaliwal

ALL the hype and hoopla surrounding the retirement of Cuban boxing icon Felix Savon has subsided. Now is the time to provide answers to some searching questions about the magic and mystery of Cuban boxing. Why is the tiny Caribbean nation regarded as the worlds boxing powerhouse? Why are Cuban boxers hot ?

Boxing is taught in innumerable clubs dotting the narrow alleys of Havana. There, every evening is the same. As the gentle light fades fast, a sweet chaos prevails. Soft strains of Mozart intrude.That is till the ring is invaded by nagging coaches, cloaked fighters, busy seconds. The gloves are checked, the air is punched and practice starts. Now the Mozart is replaced with a different music — boxing.

Yes, the world admits that Cubans are good boxers. In fact, not good but beautiful boxers. Beautiful as a panther who quietens an entire jungle in trepidation and respect when his sleek body rises for the hunt. And like panthers there is an earthly, deathly aura surrounding these boxers, too.

Evidence exists that Cuban’s initially took advantage of some East German expertise. Perhaps not directly in coaching, but in setting up comprehensive selection and training systems. Add to it the fact that children are initiated into the sport at a very early age. And we have a semblance of an answer.

There is much intellect to Cuban boxing. Each weight category demands a different blend of energy, caution, aggression and muscle and the Latin boys are archive material in this respect.

Modern sports science stresses greatly the virtue of cerebral advantage: talent is not sufficient, an athlete must have the ability to grasp, assimilate, and use tactics,information and advise. The Cubans are lightening quick to disassemble an opponent,sending electric signals from the brain to various parts of the body on what to do. They have their technique down pat, have set patterns but interspersed with variations.They understand boxing. Take legend Felix Savon who was virtually a Mohammad Ali reincarnate. At the peak of his prowess, Savon had superior hand speed, his sinewy arms flicked in and out like a snake’s tongue, and as lethal. And rarely was he hit - for he played the`invisible man’, courtesy his fleeting footwork. More the shame for his love for the cigar chomping Fidel Castro and his comrades meant he could not turn professional. Teofilo Stevenson was another Cuban legend whose sense of patriotism did not allow him to turn pro.

A final factor is stamina — the freshness of movement and commitment to dance that the Cubans display when the bell goes for the fifth round, is enough to destroy the already fragile psyche of their opponents. Some huff, some puff, some stumble, some duck in agonisingly slow motion -but the Cuban is shooting lefts faster than the first round. Yes, these Cubans can dance all night, under any moon, in any ring.

The question- why are Cuban boxers hot-still remains unanswered. The secret perhaps is the harmony within their souls. And that far no one can see.

Sometimes it is better just to sit and watch and marvel at their genius.And not to think, how it happens.

Volleyball takes a retrograde step
by M.S. Unnikrishnan

THE retrograde and perfunctory manner in which Indian sports functions was brought home tellingly when Delhi hosted the second National Volleyball League preliminary group matches at a non-descript venue at the far-flung Ashok Vihar area in Delhi from February 6 to 12. The League was bereft of the basics, but it’s to the credit of the players and the quietly efficient officials that they put up with every inconvenience and discomfort to make the League a success.

The National League was conceptualised by the Volleyball Federation of India (VFI) as a competition equal in importance only to the Senior National Championship. Yet, the VFI paid scant attention to the organisational part, and but for the enthusiasm shown by a motley band of dedicated officials, led by Delhi Volleyball Association (DVA) president Kuldip Vats, and his soft-spoken secretary-general, Gopi Nathan, it would not have been possible for Delhi to conduct the League (the other leg of the preliminary league was held in Renukoot, Uttar Pradesh).

First, the VFI got the timings wrong, when it decided to go ahead with the league, despite a massive earthquake devastating most parts of Gujarat. While the whole country was focussing its attention on the relief works in Gujarat, the VFI decided to play ball, by shifting the venue of the Super League from Baroda (the new venue, though, is yet to be announced and there is the possibility of the Super League being cancelled!) and went ahead with the preliminary league matches in Delhi and Renukoot. But the quake made things difficult for the DVA, as the League failed to attract a good sponsor, nor could it afford a proper venue to host the League matches, on its own. Mr Vats also blamed the Delhi Government and the Sports Authority of India for their “non-cooperative attitudes” to complicate matters for the DVA.

Consequently, an unused and encroached upon park in the Ashok Vihar shopping complex area, full of ditches and potholes, was levelled with mud, and readied for the competition overnight, as it were, though whenever a breeze swept past the court, it kicked up a maze of dust, making play difficult.

But the players bore with the conditions without complaining, and therefore, it came as nothing short of a minor quake, when the VFI Technical Committee “scratched” the Karnataka men’s team for “violating rules”, after they had completed their five-match preliminary league campaign, to finish second in the group, behind leaders Punjab. Karnataka’s fault was that they fielded four players, instead of the permitted limit of three, who had not figured in their playing squad for the Senior National Championship at Kozhikode a few weeks back. Karnataka were scratched following a complaint lodged by the Chandigarh team, who themselves had finished at the wooden spoon position, after getting battered at the hands of all other teams.

The purpose of starting the National League was to give the players more competitions at the national level, at par with the National Championship, and if Karnataka had fielded players who were not part of their National Championship squad, the VFI should have adopted a “more the merrier” attitude, instead of penalising them.

The purpose of the National League should be to broaden the talent base, instead of stifling talent growth. But the VFI seems to be following some skewed up rules which result only in killing talent, instead of fostering them. In fact, Karnataka were victimised for the fault of the VFI.

If the VFI was very particular in sticking to the rule book, it should have first set its own house in order, as its two Technical Committee members — V.K. Ojha, who is also the Joint-Secretary of the federation, and Stanley D. Levilland — had no clue which as to all teams had brought extra players who did not pass the muster. It was the duty of the VFI to supply its technical committee delegates with the lists of players who had participated in the National Championship a few weeks ago.

Karnataka coach Balaji Prabhu said he had intimated the technical committee delegates before the start of the League about the presence of the “extra” players in his team, and the VFI officials had not raised any objection then. He alleged that even hosts Delhi had fielded players who were not in the national team, though he could not pinpoint who all those players were, in the absence of a list of the players who had participated in the National Championship.

Kerala too had brought six players who were not part of the National Championship, but three of them were barred from playing in the very beginning, and therefore, the newest national champions did not have to face the fate of Karnataka.

Perhaps, there was some vested interest at play in keeping out Karnataka, as their exit promoted hosts Delhi to the second position on the league table, enabling them to have a match-up with Punjab in the final. Kerala, who would have bowed out had Karnataka not been penalised, finished third, to qualify for the Super League. Punjab, who maintained an unbeaten record, emerged the winners of the preliminary league in the men’s section, while Railways took the honours in the women’s section. In the six-team men’s league, Madhya Pradesh ended up fourth, after Karnataka’s exit, and Chandigarh finished at the bottom.

On the distaff side, Railways and Karnataka qualified for the Super League by finishing first and second in the preliminary league. Delhi and West Bengal failed to make the cut, finishing third and fourth, respectively.

After the Millennium Cup soccer farce, the volleyball fiasco has once again highlighted the lackadaisical way in which sport is run in the country, without any accountability. It’s easy to pass the buck, but very difficult to own up responsibility. And the Indian sportspersons, who are expected to bring laurels from international competitions, remain ever the best man, never the bridegroom. How can they ever bring glory to the country, after honing up their skills on mud courts?

Volleyball has always got a raw deal from the Government, and the best example of it was in 1986 when India, after a gap of 17 years, won the bronze medal in the Asian Games, when they finished third at the Seoul Asiad. But on return, chief coach Achutha Kurup found himself stripped of his job, and a few months later, the Government removed volleyball from the “priority list”. So much for fostering sports, Indian style!

SPORT MAIL

Punjab cricket

The Punjab cricket team deserves a pat on the back for performing magnificently in the north zone Ranji Trophy. They not only won all their Ranji matches by handsome margins (four by innings and one by 199 runs) but also won all their one-day matches. The cricket management of Punjab also deserves congratulations for grooming youngsters like Sodhi, Rickey and Yuvraj Singh. I feel these cricketers will serve not only Punjab for many years to come but will also serve Indian cricket in future. Punjab’s neighbour Haryana should learn a lesson to groom youngsters.

VED PRAKASH,
Kaithal

Arjuna Award

There is no logic at all in withdrawing the Arjuna Award from ‘tainted’ cricketers as the awards were given on the basis of their contributions, which were no doubt above board. The proposal can never be praiseworthy as the players, who are part and parcel of a corrupt system are being made scapegoats. Officials conerned are equally responsible. The players have been defamed, banned from playing and are being looked upon as villains by the public. They are not getting any offers from advertising agencies or film producers. The role of politicians is also under fire. My humble request to politicians is to stop all this and close the chapter as it has already left a permanent stain on the face of cricket, which at one time, was next to religion.

DARLING SAINBHY,
Faridkot

Ranatunga

Having gone through an article by S. Parvez Kaiser which appeared in The Tribune on December 23 providing information in respect of 24 world Test cricketers who achieved the distinction of playing in 100 Test matches in their career, I found Arjuna Ranatunga’s name missing. He, too, had achieved the rare feat of playing 100 Test matches. After including his name the number of players who were fortunate to play in 100 Test-matches rises to 25.

NATHA SINGH,
Ludhiana

Anand’s win

Hats off to Vishwanath Anand for hitting the jackpot at the FIDE World Chess Championship. Anand, hence became the first Indian to achieve this rare feat, through he already has a number of feathers in his cap. The 31-year-old has the unique ability to cross swords with his rivals. While Alexei Shirov was in a mess the confident looking Anand made headway promptly. By this victory he not only became richer by $ 6,60,000 but also realise his aim.

HARSUKH MANJEET,
Mandi Gobindgarh