Tag: Sports In Covid-19 Times

Tokyo Is Ready, Indian Athletes Aren’t

By S Kannan

In many ways, the countdown for the postponed Tokyo Olympics have begun. The Summer Games will be held from July 23, to August 8, 2021. With each passing day, there is more reassurance from the stakeholders the Games will be held.

Going by official statements emanating from the International Olympic Committee, headed by President Thomas Bach, and the local Tokyo Organising Committee, efforts to stage the Olympics in a new environment are being made in a huge way.

When the Olympics were first postponed in 2020 after the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in summer, there was an overall sense of despondency. For the organisers, participating nations, competing athletes and everyone associated with the world’s biggest sporting spectacle, it was a sinking feeling. At that time, the pandemic had wrecked the confidence of all, especially the athletes who were hoping to peak in July 2020.

Today, the general feeling is if there is one country which can host the Olympics, it has to be Japan. Known as a country for its clockwork precision, discipline and being genteel, the host city is leaving no stone unturned to ensure the Olympics are staged in the best way.

From the spectators point of view as well, there is good news. The Games will happen, though the protocols will be very different and stringent. When over 30 per cent of the tickets for various events were returned, it offered another chance for the same tickets to be sold again.

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To expect full houses at blue-riband events like athletics, swimming and gymnastics may be tough but with the race for a Corona virus vaccine now at peak, it is assumed Japan will be fully ready.

From the IOC’s point of view, the Summer Games is top priority and the frontline workers who will be working with the event will be given the first vaccine. The best part is that the host city is leaving nothing to chance and athletes will obviously be accorded top priority vis a vis health measures. The same goes for support staff and thousands of frontline workers who will be associated with the Games.

As of today, the world is still battling the Corona virus and also trying to ensure sporting activity resumes slowly. Europe has seen the resumption of many sporting activities and so have other parts of the world. Leagues in football and other sport have come back to life, Formula One is back with a bang, what with Lewis Hamilton winning a record-equalling seventh world title. Pro golf action is also picking up.

Cricket first resumed with two bilateral series in England, followed  by the Indian Premier League in the United Arab Emirates. At present, there are another two bilateral cricket series on with T20 leagues in Sri Lanka and the women’s Big Bash also taking place Down Under.

The message is clear, sport will resume and the Olympics will be staged.

So, where does that leave countries which seek Olympic glory? Everyone knows, Wuhan, the city which is officially recognised as the first place in China where the first Covid-19 case broke out over a year is now normal. Flights are operational, tourists are visiting Wuhan and glad the bad memories are being erased.

Just as China has battled the Corona virus bravely, their athletes aspiring for Olympic glory are training full steam. Of course, it is too early to talk of who will win what in Tokyo and perhaps Olympic test events in 2021 and more qualifiers in the New Year will provide indicators.

The world has never known how Chinese athletes train and where. There is secrecy in it for sure and 100 per cent dedication. So, China, hosts Japan and the other powerhouses of sport like USA and Britain are  providing their athletes the facilities to train for Tokyo.

That brings us to India, a country which craves for Olympic medals and has never been able to win big. To be sure, the Covid-19 pandemic has wrecked India’s preparations. Lockdown did a lot of a damage though the elite athletes were lucky they got full support from the Indian government.

Camps in the Sports Authority of India campuses in Bengaluru, Patiala and a few cities in the North have resumed. But there is a big catch, while athletes are training and competing among themselves, one is not sure about their preparedness in the toughest sense.

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Going to the Olympics is not a party like before. In the old days, Indian athletes went to the Summer Games just to participate. The narrative has changed in the last 24 years since the time Leander Paes won a bronze medal at the Atlanta Olympics. Of course, the peak was Abhinav Bindra winning gold in Beijing in 2008.

Indian athletes today have themselves been laid low by Covid-19. From hockey players to wrestlers like VInesh Phogat and Narsingh Yadav, many have tested positive for Corona virus. When the hockey camps resumed in the end of July, four players tested positive and had to be admitted to hospital. No research has been done as to what extent these athletes have dealt with post-Covid complications.

The badminton camp in Hyderabad is in shambles. PV Sindhu is now training in England and Saina Nehwal is over the hill. So, if you are talking of a medal again from badminton, Sindhu still offers hope, though the next crop of players are nowhere to be seen.

Preparing champions for the Olympics is serious business. The Indian government is spending big bucks on athletes and foreign coaches. However, the postponement of the Olympics does give an impression now the Indian athletes are so scared of Covid-19, his or her preparation for July 2021 may be inadequate.

Shooting is one sport where India have done well since 2004. However, zero medals from the 2016 Rio Olympics was a shocker. Maybe, had the Games been held in 2020, Indian shooters would have been sure medal prospects.

As of today, even the most ardent admirer and fan of Indian sport is sceptical about what will happen in 2021 in Tokyo. Covid-19 cannot be an excuse. Bio bubbles have been created for the Indian athletes as well in various cities.

The big step forward is to compete and win in 2021 before the Olympics, including the Olympic qualifiers, which will be the litmus test. Covid-19 fear has to be conquered what with the vaccine now a certainty in 2021. If the normal man has resumed life despite the pandemic, it is about time the Indian athletes also show the same purpose and poise.

Covid-19 Has Maimed Sports Fraternity

By S Kannan

If you thought Covid-19 has played havoc only with daily activities in India since this March, spare a thought for those whose life revolves around sport. The last six months have been one of turmoil for athletes, be it those competing at the international level, national level or local level in various cities, big and small.

The resumption of sporting activity, which has been permitted by the Ministry of Home Affairs since June-July, is only for the elite athletes training for the postponed Tokyo Olympics. Even those in the development group are facing immense problems in training, as several stadia and sports complexes remain shut. In the case of venues which are open, coaching has not been allowed, which is quite baffling.

It is easy to blame the number of rising Covid-19 cases in the country for sporting activities to come to a screeching halt. However, where the government has wanted to help, it has done so with a large heart, with permission being granted for conducting the Indian Premier League in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.

To be sure, when one talks of sport in India, one immediately thinks of cricket. Yes, cricket remains the No. 1 sport but to stifle other sport at all levels is something grossly unfair.

On social media, we see Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju singing paeans day in and day out about Fit India Movement and how a fit nation is a healthy nation. All this is nothing more than lip service, as playing sport has become impossible.

A common grouse among sport lovers is, if so much planning can be done by the government for the IPL, why ignore all other sporting activity. Sports minister Kiren Rijiju would do well to answer it.

Lakhs of coaches, assistant coaches, sports venue administrators, ground staff and related personnel have been made to suffer immense financial losses in India today. Not only have they been unable to ply their trade, minus coaching schemes in place, their revenue and reserves have dried up.

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LokMarg spoke to some coaches, and the reactions from coaches who have helped produce national champions was one of huge distress. Surinder Khanna, former India wicket-keeper batsman, who lives in South Delhi, and former Test cricketer Madan Lal said that shutting cricket academies so long was painful.

“I have cricket academies, and with no permission to run coaching programmes, the financial impact is huge. How long can one pay coaches and groundsmen? There is no revenue model for sustaining the academies and I do not know how long this will continue. An entire season has been wiped out and so many young cricketers with talent have been hit,” said Khanna. Madan Lal echoed the sentiment: “Parents are reluctant to send children, so cricket academies are in a state of inertia.”

In Delhi alone and the neighbouring NCR region, there are thousands of academies in cricket, football, tennis, badminton, table tennis and other sport. “I have my coaching centres in DDA complexes and we have not been allowed to impart coaching. When every activity has been opened up, it is baffling why academies should not function,” said senior tennis coach Vinod Kumar.

Badminton coach Malvinder Dhillon was more emphatic in his observations. “Summers are the best time for young kids to learn the sport. Covid-19 has done immense damage to the entire season. Still, there is no answer as to why coaching should not be allowed. We are ready to follow the guidelines but there is huge confusion, as a result of which, academies cannot function,” said Dhillon.

The worst hit are the swimmers. While permission has been given for pubs, gyms, malls and Metros to run, swimming pools have been shut for over six months. If the fear is of contamination in the pool, then the authorities need to realise that a higher chlorine content in water does help in providing a safer atmosphere. Abroad, in Europe and the United States of America, swimming pools were never shut even during the peak onset of Coronavirus.

At the school, college and university level, sporting activity has ceased. It has killed an entire year and many budding sportspersons have no idea how they can make up for a lost year. The worst hit will be students who hope to do well in sport and then hope to find small jobs.

This year, admission to universities is expected to take place without any seats being allotted to sports quota aspirants. If at all admissions take place under sports quota, it will be only on the basis of national certificates the students hold and no open trials. The advantage with trials is it gives a chance to weed out dubious certificate holders. However, this time, no thought has been given to this aspect.

With respect to the elite athletes in India, from athletics to boxing, and hockey to weightlifting, national camps have sprung to life slowly but suffered due to increasing cases of COVID-19. From National Institute of Sports (NIS) Patiala to the elite Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Bengaluru, camps have not been able to build up intensity due to the pandemic.

Athletes who are supposed to be physically stronger, with better immunity, are struggling to hit peak form. In athletics, the parent federation (AFI) has kept the athletes in Patiala under close watch under a sort of bio bubble. With a bit of luck, once normal train services resume, Patiala could host a few national events.

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The same could be tried out in Bengaluru as well as for the men’s and women’s hockey teams training for the Tokyo Olympics. They need match practice and sharpness. Nobody knows how this will take shape, as Covid-19 continues to rage.

All talk of a bio-bubble is good but it does not mean an athlete or coach will never be affected by the virus. It is a matter of chance, despite best efforts, that you could still contract the deadly virus. The bottom line is that preparations must go on, SOPs (standard operating procedures) followed, and hope one day there will eventually be herd immunity in India.

At local level, players without competition and coaches drawing small salaries have virtually quit. Some have turned into vegetable sellers in Delhi and others have chosen to drive e-rickshaws or autos. They are doing this out of compulsion and do not want to be identified out of shame.

What is appalling in a place like Delhi is that the central government and the state government has done nothing for sportsmen and coaches. Each day, more athletes are losing hope as survival has become so tough.

For many, sport was a dream to become a champion like Virat Kohli or PV Sindhu. Sadly, Covid-19 has not only ruined their dreams but even leading a normal life filled with sporting activity has become impossible. It is anybody’s guess how long this trend will continue.

At the school level, almost all kids attend Zoom classes and so on. But the time lost, when they should have been on the playgrounds, can never be recovered. It would not be a bad idea to encourage children to play a sport in their own neighbourhood so that they do not become couch potatoes. This is something which schools need to plan for in Zoom meetings.