A fresh international season for almost all sports are now well and truly underway, with the Olympic year now well and truly in the background. And by all accounts a huge dichotomy has probably taken firm roots as far as sports in India- the non-cricket version of it, is concerned.
Sports events are now national policy. Be it the excuse of the Khelo India scheme, mushrooming of myriad leagues, age-group tournaments across gender and inclusivity and of course regular domestic and international tournaments of all and any denomination.
It has come to a situation that on a 2-21/2 page sports spread in any leading daily newspaper, only 30% of sporting activities happening in the particular edition city can get covered. A part of the reason is also commercial but most of it is because there is actually no space or personnel to cover them.
Which is great the discerning neutral will say. India is playing a lot and therefore a sports culture is taking shape and therefore the results will come. Not quite that simple.
To organise and host sporting events is just a tiny piece of the jigsaw. While it is very helpful as they give athletes more opportunities to play and who can be against that, but is there a plan or is the plan something other than sport. Because if its not purely focussed on growing sport and establishing a sports culture, it is doomed to fail. For example if the intention is money laundering or generation and monopoly over entertainment content for example.
Establishing a sporting culture in the society at large which naturally draws a child to pick up one or many sports, has several other key elements besides event participation, hosting and organising, and most of it includes effective political Governance, outside the purview of this forum.
So even as we are flooded with sporting results of all kinds coming in from around the country and indeed the world- the sum total of all the noise and activities with our official 2036 Olympic bid at its heart, is not being reflected on the results that matter. In-fact I dare say that there has been a consistent decline all around save maybe a couple at max.
In Badminton, a sport that gave the most hope and joy to Indians in the millennium, given its long and natural association, connect and popularity with the urban society across India, our shuttlers don't not only win anything of note, they seemed to be exiting en masse within the first or second rounds. Its almost unbelievable that we were Thomas Cup champions just three years back.
While Badminton has seen the most shocking decline in standards and results given what it had already achieved, other hitherto profitable (from top medals perspective) sports of India like Boxing and Wrestling also see no hope in the horizon. The top news coming out of these sports nowadays are only political and administrative in nature, which is telling.
The idea at the moment, seems to be, we get 6-7 medals as it is in Olympics, let's add cricket, compound archery, squash and a few tweaks here and there by influencing IOC through our IOC members and get to double digits and go to town with it as huge achievement. However, sometimes when your intention is to cover the face, your butt might get exposed, so it's important to be aware of that.
The other problem is the league mania which seems to have gripped the nation. This year is looking at, at least three new franchise leagues in sports like Shooting, Archery, 3*3 Basketball, among others.
Not one league in India, whether commercially successful or not, has been able to throw up one single athlete of international stature, in now about two decades of their existence.
They have to still drag stars from previous generations into active play, to draw fans and revenue. Naturally, because new stars are not emerging. Naturally again, because stars emerge only when they perform exceptionally and not like clones of each other maintaining status quo.
Leagues are required in sport to develop and provide opportunities to young upcoming talent. They ensure depth of talent, increasing reach of the sport and become a pathway to the real deal which is international glory.
In India, Football, Kabaddi, Badminton, Volleyball, Table Tennis, Tennis and even Cricket, declined in international standing after the introduction of their leagues. The data is very clear. Therefore something is wrong and the approach and vision on leagues needs a major overhaul.
Rishabh Yadav and Jyothi Sureka did win the compound mixed team gold at the year's first Archery World Cup stage in Florida which did not see the participation of powerhouses Korea, right after it was announced as an Olympic sport. Sourav Kothari also became Billards World Champion for a second time. And of course a new teenaged star in Shooting has emerged with Suruchi winning unprecedented back to back World Cup stage golds showing true class.
It is also mandated policy nowadays to always be positive in the end and therefore I thought it apt to end with good news. Well we all are positive aren't we? Which is why we are here and all still trying. But what is required for Indian sports is not just positivity, but clarity, rationality and sanity
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