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Waiting in the wings

India's sporting scene enters into 2022 with a hope to perform well in closely scheduled Birmingham Commonwealth Games and Hangzhou Asian Games, apart from the ICC World T20

Waiting in the wings
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Just as the break of dawn gives rise to fresh hope, Indian sport will hope to make big gains from two big multi-disciplinary sporting events in 2022. The beauty about sport is that it continues virtually non-stop. There are off-season breaks but the return to competition is very quick.

Usually, the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games are sandwiched between the middle of two Olympic cycles. With the pandemic resulting in postponement of the Tokyo Olympics to July-August 2021, the new cycle has become much quicker.

Thus, Indian athletes will be going full tilt at cornering glory in the forthcoming Birmingham Commonwealth Games this July and August. The break between the Games in Europe and the Asian Games in Hangzhou (September) will be just over a month. This, really, tests not just the athletes but all those who are involved in planning and execution.

It seems like just yesterday Indian sporting fans were celebrating the success of their athletes in Tokyo — Olympics as well as the Paralympics. Memories continue but with the entire sporting world now plunged headlong into the next Olympic cycle, what India can harvest in the form of medals at the CWG and Asian Games is very important.

One has tended to look at CWG with a certain amount of pessimism. Reason for it is an immature belief that it is easier to win medals in these Games. When India competed in the last CWG in 2018, the medal tally aggregate was 66. To expect such a tally this time is wrong as shooting has been dropped from the CWG programme by the host city due to budget constraints.

There was brouhaha after the Commonwealth Games Federation dropped shooting from its programme after the 2018 edition. There were protests at home from the National Rifle Association of India, as well as from the Indian Olympic Association. Parleys continued for almost three years, before it became clear shooting would be out. Though at one stage, an impression had been created that events in two disciplines — shooting and archery — would be held in India. It appeared a great move, at first, that a Games being held in Britain would see certain events being hosted in India. However, that turned out to be hogwash.

The CWG is remembered by many in India for the wrong reasons, even today. New Delhi was the host of the CWG in 2010. Even though Indian sports gained from those Games, won medals, and it led to a better performance in the Guangzhou Asian Games a few months later, the controversies which followed were paramount.

This time around as well, there is a different controversy, as Hockey India did not want to send its teams to the CWG. However, the Indian government put its foot down and made its stand clear, boycott of any form was a decision which the government alone could take. As of today, India will be competing in the CWG, though it is now up to the national sports federations to decide which athletes they want to send, as peaking at two back-to-back Games will not be easy.

For those not well-versed with the CWG and Asiad, the latter has greater importance as it's tougher, and in many disciplines, there are quota places to be secured for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Someone like Neeraj Chopra had a fantastic run in 2018, as he won a historic gold in the CWG in Gold Coast as well as in the Asian Games in Jakarta.

Track and field is truly a blue riband event at the CWG and the standard of athletes competing in it, as well as the records in it, are good. The 2022 CWG is a chance not just for Neeraj Chopra or PV Sindhu but many more Indian athletes. Indian sport has gone through a process where the same set of athletes have been flogged non-stop. Not only is it unreasonable to expect the same superstars to deliver each time, there also is a crying need for the nation to see fresh champions emerge.

For its part, the Sports Ministry has been providing all support it can for the athletes to train for the two important events. National camps are on, the TOPS (Target Olympic Podium Scheme) has identified the elite athletes who need to be funded, and coaches have been provided.

One sport which has plummeted to abysmal depths is shooting. Having failed twice in succession to win a medal at the Rio and Tokyo Olympics, Indian shooters have to produce good results in the Hangzhou Asian Games. When the shooting events were held in Palembang, Indonesia, in 2018, the results were below par. Luckily for the sport, there is no dearth of fresh talent, and someone as young as Manu Bhaker (19) is ready to compete in her second Asian Games, much better prepared this time. In an interview with Millennium Post, Manu spoke of how she is more mature today. She talked of being smarter in many ways in her training, fitness and mental approach. Above all, she has placed huge emphasis on her physical training and conditioning, where the role of physiotherapy is being prioritized.

There are many more shooters who will be keen to do well in the Asian Games as they can clinch quota places for the Tokyo Olympics. However, the challenge will be very hard as Asian countries have been getting better in every sport, with the Chinese, Japanese and Korean athletes a class apart. Add to it the variety which athletes from the Middle East provide. The Asian Games is a big event today to win medals in. The key is to win gold, as in 2018, India won far too many bronze medals (30) in a tally of 69 medals.

To be sure, there is a huge variety of sporting disciplines where Indian athletes can showcase their talent. From boxing to badminton and wrestling to weightlifting, the CWG and Asian Games are very important. Likewise, in power sports as well as certain martial arts and equestrian, the Asian Games become important.

Hockey is one sport which will continue to grab attention. India failed to win gold in 2018, and in the aftermath of that campaign, heads did roll. To have won bronze in Tokyo is fine, but the acid test will be the Asian Games for both the men's and women's teams. The men's team is undergoing restructuring after a few retirements, so how the boys shape up will be watched with bated breath. After all, if you can secure the Olympic berths two years in advance, then it gives ample time for preparation.

All this sounds very easy, on paper. In every discipline, the bests have to peak at the Asian Games. Sindhu has already said that she will pick and choose her events in 2022, with greater importance to be placed on further improving her fitness and skills.

Sports like swimming, fencing, archery, table tennis and tennis also need to peak at the Guangzhou Asian Games. The key, again, will be right preparation, even as the world continues to deal with the pandemic on account of Omicron playing havoc. To think that the new virus strain will spare athletes would be stupid. Football leagues in Europe and even the I-league in India have seen bio bubbles being breached.

Even as Asian giants and Commonwealth countries brace for the Omicron wave, sports will continue. Tokyo showed athletes were ready to come up with brilliant stuff despite spectators not being allowed. Hopefully, the CWG and Asian Games will see fans being allowed in attendance.

No sporting season can be complete without a mention of cricket. 2022 is important for Indian cricket as the next edition of the ICC World T20 will be held in Australia. New white ball captain Rohit Sharma knows he will be facing pressure like his predecessor.

Views expressed are personal

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