<!--QuoteBegin-vasu+May 10 2004, 12:56 AM-->QUOTE(vasu @ May 10 2004, 12:56 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin--> What do these countries have to be successful in world sports that we dont have? One would be the extreme incompetence of the officials and gargantuan indifference of the bloody netas, but anything else?
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Lack of public support. The perpetual fascination with a useless sport lke Cricket, leaving aside ALL other local sports en masse. Apart from horse-polo and chess, I dont even know of many sports that originated in India.
While Yoga (philosophy & hatha yoga excercises) originated in India, there is no inclination to even learn the basics in India. When the world raves about it, many Indians speak as if they were the ones that Invented Yoga...
When this attitude changes, the latent talents of India will emerge. (Personally, I do not know three things about Cricket - viz, watching, playing & commenting.)
<!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+May 10 2004, 01:36 AM-->QUOTE(Mudy @ May 10 2004, 01:36 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin--> >>>sports that originated in India Chess, Karate, Kung fu, Kabadi, KhoKho, Dam khal <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Karate Factoid : Kung Fu, I know was taken to China by BodhiDharma (of Kanchipuram?)
Bodhidharma is also attributed with bringing Tea to China.
The 28th patriarch of Indian Buddhism, Bodhidharma was the first patriarch of Chinese "Zen" Buddhism..
Now that I think of the smaller sports, gilli-danda was a famous one. Wonder if anyone still plays it <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<b>Jallikkattu:</b> is a sport of Tamil Nadu, where men literally take the bull by the horns. Unlike the spanish matador, the bull is not killed with weapons in a cowardly manner, but traditionally wrestled with.
Gilli danda is still popular in ahmedabad.. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
While growing up we used to have many other interesting (some embarrasing) games..
1. kochamni - usually played during monsoon when rains softens up the ground - an iron rod is thrown and must stick in the ground. sorry forgot the rules now..
2. movie photos - many interesting games with this - vaguely remember that in one of the versions we used to have an arbitrator - different parties would submit different photos and the photo with the best action will win - the winner gets all photos - followed by a heated discussion on how one particular abeetaabacchan with kicking-shtyle is better then the dharmendra punching.. <!--emo&:felx--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/flex.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='flex.gif' /><!--endemo-->
3. Even matchbox covers would be used to invent games.
4. all time favorites - marbles.. <!--emo&:thumbsup--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbup.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='thumbup.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:cool--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/specool.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='specool.gif' /><!--endemo-->
I agree Sunder. Lack of public enthusiasm more than anything else seem to be inflicting the heaviest blow to Indian sports.
This is a democracy, for God's sake! We decide!
but unfortunately, its all <!--emo&:flush--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The controversy over the exclusion of Dhanraj Pillay from pre-Olympic build-ups on Tuesday blew over with the Indian Hockey Federation announcing that the star forward would be asked to attend a conditioning camp for the Athens Games in Germany.
IHF president KPS Gill, under attack from various quarters for ignoring the 35-year-old striker, however, denied that the latest move was a stand-down on its part and refused to confirm whether Pillay was a certainty for the Olympics, beginning in Athens in August.
The other players who would be going to Germany for the first phase of training are Baljit Singh Dhillon, Dilip Tirkey, Gagan Ajit Singh, Deepak Thakur, Prabhjot Singh, Sandeep Singh, Jatinder Pal Singh and Devesh Chauhan.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Excellent. We need Dhanraj, Baljit, Dilip, Gagan Ajit, Jugraj and all the other capped blue shirts.
Seriously, I am hopeful of a better medal haul this Olympics, not just hockey, but other disciplines as well.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Indian boxers secured two more Olympic berths when Diwakar Prasad and Vijender reached the finals in the third Asian Qualifying event for the Athens Olympics in Karachi today.
In the bantamweight category, Diwakar Prasad outpunched his Jordanian opponent while Vijender defeated his counterpart from Iran in the light welterweight semi-final, according to a press release by the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation here.
<!--QuoteBegin-rajesh_g+May 9 2004, 04:51 PM-->QUOTE(rajesh_g @ May 9 2004, 04:51 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin--> 1. kochamni - usually played during monsoon when rains softens up the ground - an iron rod is thrown and must stick in the ground. sorry forgot the rules now..
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We used to do it with a metal sticks from the inside of those old style umbrellas (non-folding ones).
Another favorite during mosoons was throwing flat rocks across ponds - one with maximum leaps wins (there's a Carona beer commercial where the guy on vacation at the beach picks up his ringing cellphone and chucks it over the water)
<!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+May 9 2004, 04:06 PM-->QUOTE(Mudy @ May 9 2004, 04:06 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin--> >>>sports that originated in India Chess, Karate, Kung fu, Kabadi, KhoKho, Dam khal <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Wasn't kite flying from India too?
There's this another from Kerala where guys would fight with belt like swords - forget the name.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The first Indian athlete to win a World Championship medal has launched a strongly-worded attack on the authorities back home for neglecting sports, warning their ââattitude could lead to another disappointing show at the Olympicsâ.
George, who is hoping to win Indiaâs first medal in athletics at the Olympics was furious that not much was being done in India to encourage athletes, saying Indian sports fans were in for another disappointment at this years Games in Athens. ââIt will not be just the athletes who will be forced to endure the humiliation but also every Indian who dreams of an Olympic medal,ââ she warned. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Anju who is currently ranked seventh in the world, said she was now tired of approaching the government for help and focusing only on her preparations for the Olympics. She finished fourth in the Osaka Grand Prix last week, will be taking part in the Qatar Super Grand Prix here tomorrow in the run-up to Athens. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Going corporate seems to be the only way to go for Indian sports. Babus cant be expected to work towards the betterment of sports.
And that is the only way to save our traditional sports as well. The government can be expected to neither have the money for them nor the inclination.
Anju strikes gold
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Paris World Championship bronze medallist won the gold in the event at the Qatar Super Grand Prix in Doha with a jump of 6.82 metres â<b> her best mark so far and a new National record.</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The vault from No. 6 to 4 was a result of her victory at the Doha Grand Prix last week. Anjuâs wind-aided 6.82 metres did not qualify for the top lists nor did it expunge her national record of 6.74 metres. But the win saw her becoming the first Indian to win an IAAF event. Last year Anju, who now has a sponsor in Shobha Developers, had won a silver at the DT Galan Meet in Stockholm .
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Asian Games gold medallist Bahadur Singh has qualified for the Athens Olympics in men's shot put when he won the Sinitskoha Memorial Athletic Meet in Konchzaspa near Ukranian capital Kiev.
Bahadur is the 12th Indian athlete to make the Olympic grade.
The elite list reads Anju Bobby George (long jump), J J Sobha (heptathlon), Manjit Kaur, Rajwinder Kaur and S Geetha (all 400m), Neelam Jaswant Singh, Seema Antil and Harwant Kaur (all discus throw) in the women's section while K M Binu (400m), Amritpal Singh (long jump) and Vikas Gowda (discus throw) are the other three men to achieve the Olympic grade.
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A galaxy of Olympic legends, led by sprinter Michael Johnson and gymnast Nadia Comaneci, have joined hands to help India grow into a sporting superpower, it was announced on Thursday.
The duo, along with other greats like hurdlers Edwin Moses and Nawal El Moutawakel and decathlete Daley Thomson, were inducted as directors of a $60-million sports academy to be set up by an Indian business group in the western state of Maharashtra.
The ambitious project will have coaching schools for hockey, football, cricket, athletics, badminton, table tennis, volleyball, swimming, basketball, golf and squash, a Sahara release said.
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more awareness, and a lot more corporate money, and we should take flight.
<b>Former athlete and BSF inspector Avtar Singh was killed in a road mishap on Monday while chasing smugglers in a motorcycle at Swarupnagar along India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal's North 24-parganas district</b>. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<b>DIG (PSO)of BSF SK Mitra told PTI here that Singh's bike skidded and hit a tree while giving a hot-chase to some smugglers in the border area in the early hours of Monday</b>.
He was spotted by BSF jawans later and rushed to Basirhat sub-divisional hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
Singh, posted as an Inspector of the 106 battalion at Tarali camp of the BSF, <b>represented India in several international sports events, including an international sports meet in Islamabad in 1989</b>.
Credited with many laurels, Avtar Singh was BSF coach in athletics.
Mitra said that Singh's family in Amritsar was being contacted.
Lining up alongside some top sports personalities and<b> corporate leaders were film stars Aamir Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Vivek Oberoi - all Bollywood heartthrobs of the movie-passionate nation.</b> <!--emo&:thumbdown--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Meanwhile the organisers are being criticised for favouring glamour over athletics in choosing the line-up of torch bearers. <b>"The organizers have trivialized the event in an ill-advised attempt to glamorize it,'' said Ajitpal Singh, captain of the Indian team that won the 1975 field hockey World Cup title. "The Olympic movement isn't dependent on movie stars or fashion models for glamour.'' </b>
Reminds me of the 1996 Olympics, which I attended (India vs Pak in Hockey- Any guys here from UNC Chapel Hill remember that trip??!!!) - anyway I digress....
The most memorable part was when a lame US reporter asks the Russian gold medalist swimmer (forgot his name) ... "Who is your favorite American movie star?", to which the Russian replied condesendingly "Movie star?! Lady I am the real thing not an actor". <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Substance over style, the Indian new generation is forgetting this.... <!--emo&:argue--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/argue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='argue.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> I canât wait for the Commonwealth Games of 2010 to begin. I donât know if Bipasha Basu, Rani Mukherjee or Aishwarya Rai will be the flavour of the season then but I am sure their successors will proudly lead the Indian team, maybe even step forward and receive medals on behalf of the winners. Modern-day Aamir Khans and Vivek Oberois will be the flag-bearers and will take the oath on behalf of the athletes.
The new PT Usha will win the 400 metres and be whisked away through the tunnels and straight to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium â which, in utter disrespect to the leader it is named after, will continue to leak from various corners and from under various doors.
The hands that bore the Olympic torch on Thursday belonged to people who were accomplished but whose faces sold dreams. The strength of their arms and the fleetness of their foot mattered little. This is not to belittle their achievements but they were in the wrong place; just as a weightlifter might be on Karan Joharâs sets or an athlete might in a staged romance. We got it wrong, dreadfully wrong. We blew our chance to celebrate sport.
True, Anjali Bhagwat and Karnam Malleswari were there. But couldnât we have checked if Norman Pritchard has a survivor? Doesnât Khashba Jadhav? Wasnât this the moment to applaud Milkha Singh and Gurbachan Singh Randhawa? Sriram Singh and PT Usha? And all those hockey Olympians who won medals for us?
Couldnât we have announced to India when Ashok Kumar took the torch that this was the legacy of the great Dhyan Chand, the memory of that 1936 team that did more than just win an Olympic medal? And how many did we have there from the last Indian team to win gold? Shouldnât we have relived the 1980 Olympics with Vasudevan Bhaskaran?
We donât have a great sporting history and we donât have too many world-beaters. And so we must celebrate what we have, remember those that went beyond the ordinary, whose hearts still beat with the intensity of competition and the desire to achieve. Unless we remind ourselves of their story, how can another Olympian emerge?
What a pity that in our obsession with glamour we forgot some of our own sportsmen. So can we get Mallika Sherawat to recite Tagore? Ishaa Koppikar to remind us of our Param Vir Chakra awardees? Bipasha Basu to stand up for CV Raman? Shahid Kapoor to administer the oath of office to Manmohan Singh? Why not? <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
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