Fast forward

S KannanIt has truly been a spectacular summer of 2021 for Indian sports in every sense. Rewind to the summer of 2020, there was despondency, dejection, uncertainty and a voyage into the unknown as Coronavirus wrecked most sporting plans.

How times change

In less than a year, Indian sport has bounced back like a yo-yo, providing joy and jubilation. It is not that just the hardcore sports fans are celebrating the success of Indian athletes at the Tokyo Olympics, followed by the Paralympics, but the entire nation has found a reason to do so.

For the nation which had got sucked into a vortex because of negativity resulting from the waves of the pandemic, sport has proved to be a soothing balm for frayed nerves.

To top this sense of feeling good and positive, the Indian cricketers showed they were capable of beating the top Test teams in the world — first Australia and then England — in away tours.

Cricket continues to hold thrall due to the Indian Premier League, which has now resumed in the United Arab Emirates.

To be sure, resumption of sports at big platforms, success and winning medals represents just one part. The larger picture is that of sport resuming at the local level, national level and even club level. If Kolkata is buzzing with the Durand Cup football, other cities are also sports-active.

A city like Warangal is hosting the Open National Athletics meet and, in other parts of India, some championship or the other is taking place, including a small town in Karnataka which is hosting a major boxing event.

First things first. There was massive uncertainty about what the Indian athletes would achieve in Tokyo. Led by Neeraj Chopra's historic javelin hurl for a gold medal, the mood was one of optimism.

Conditions in Tokyo were tough. The weather was hot and humid and the Bio Bubble created for dealing with the pandemic was very strict. Being tested daily for the Coronavirus was very stressful. Yet, the athletes did not mind it. They had been vaccinated and, by staying safe and practising good habits, they ensured there was no faux pas. If Neeraj's gold lifted the mood of the nation, Mirabai Chanu's silver in weightlifting was also ecstatic.

Each one of the medal winners in Tokyo provided unadulterated joy, which was defined by strong showings from Lovlina Borgohain in the boxing ring, PV Sindhu in the badminton arena and also the wrestlers — Ravi Dahiya and Bajrang Punia.

The flop show, so to say, came in shooting and archery. But then, the Indian hockey teams showed they were ready for the big fight. The men's team winning a historic bronze medal after 41 years brought tears to everyone's eyes and so did the women's team finishing fourth. Today, as popular as Neeraj Chopra, are the hockey captains Manpreet Singh and Rani Rampal.

Para athletes then took over. By winning a whopping 17 medals, Indian athletes showed there is nothing called "handicapped". Names like Avani Lekhara and Sumit Antil are now well known. At the same time, tried and tested performers like Devendra Jhajharia and Mariyappa Thangavelu showed their longevity was intact, irrespective of which latitude and longitude they were competing in. To be winning medals in Rio in 2016, and then succeeding in Tokyo five years later, was soul-stirring.

The beauty of success is that it has a cascading effect. Tokyo celebrations have ended and Indian athletes have already begun training for the Asian Games, 2022 — to be held in Hangzhou, China. National camps are on, and the race against time is on. Not only is the Asian Games less than 12 months away, but the Paris Olympics will too be held in 2024.

As Abhinav Bindra has said many times, preparing for the Olympics is not preparing once in four years. The Olympics maybe four years away but the athlete has to train every single day in that direction. The 2008 Beijing Olympics air rifle gold medallist has seen every success in Tokyo on television and feels India has truly made a mark in sports.

Is this enough?

Certainly not. To prepare elite athletes for the biggest sporting events means one has to start at the grassroots. Hockey and football, two popular team sports, are now being played in cities and towns. National events and state championships are providing much-needed positivity to Indians, which is such a far cry from reading, watching and experiencing ill health resulting from the Covid-19 waves.

A state like Kerala, while still battling an extended Covid wave, is not in sleep mode in sports. PT Usha's athletics academy is active and the next champion may come from there. After all, few had expected a silver medal from young long jumper Shaili Singh — a protege of Anju Bobby George and Amit Khatri — in the world junior athletics championship in August.

In sport, there has to be a feeder system. Quite often in the past, Indian sport has seen an over-reliance on the same star athletes. That trend is changing, thanks to the large-hearted efforts from the Central government and several states.

Odisha has led the way by building infrastructure for Indian hockey and being a team sponsor. Uttar Pradesh has embraced wrestling recently. Haryana remains a big state that supports sports. There is hope that even a city like Delhi can throw up more talent which can win medals in the future, as a sports university has been conceived.

At the lowest level, what sport has done is kill the fear of the virus. It is not like 2020 when a kid was afraid of stepping out of the home. Local parks are buzzing with sporting activities. It may be volleyball, football, cricket or badminton. The key aspect is that resumption of sports has killed many fears.

If you thought only the bigger sporting disciplines were doing well, here is more good news. India will soon see the resumption of the kabaddi league, a brand-new handball league as well as a volleyball league. These sporting leagues will provide much-needed impetus to youngsters and professionals. Most importantly, in today's economy, where there is job loss and wage cuts, sport is providing an opportunity to earn a livelihood.

Looking ahead, the resumption of sports in schools, colleges and universities is also very important. One can complete the academic syllabus through Zoom and other online platforms. Sport has to be played in the fields. There is hope in these times of positivity, normalcy can return.

Today, sport in India is not limping but galloping towards becoming much more vibrant. So much for the positivity and impetus which has been provided by good results in major competitions abroad.

Views expressed are personal