There?s little doubt that India?s CWG success will not get repeated at the Asian Games. The competition, and more than anything else, the presence of the Chinese will ensure the medal haul for India is considerably less than the 101 we won at CWG 2010 in Delhi. However, that doesn?t make the CWG performance a fluke and the modest success at the Asian Games cannot once again result in a debate on ?why India failed?? at the national level. The foundation has, indeed, been laid at the CWG, and the Asian Games, albeit in a modest way, will help build a superstructure to having a sports culture in the country.
Interestingly, the sports in which our athletes excelled at Delhi are also the ones where the Chinese have dominated the world since Beijing 2008. What this draws attention to is the fact that a medal at Guangzhou is no less than a medal at Olympic stage, especially in some disciplines. So while we lament the relative failure to win medals in China, we should also celebrate achievement that much more, given the far higher and tougher level of competition. Any gold at the Asiad deserves a collective national celebration and even a bronze needs to be revered and cherished. For, each medal will bring in its wake a sense of fulfillment and a growth in confidence that will come in handy when India competes in London come the Olympics in 2012.
This piece isn?t meant to be a caveat. Nor it is trying to prepare my readers for a modest Asian Games. Rather, it seeks to make the point that athletic achievement at world stage will never come easy and a drop in the medal count cannot eat into the euphoria the country has seen post CWG.
Coming to our hopefuls, there?s little doubt that the country expects much from its flag bearer, Gagan Narang. Gagan has won almost every conceivable medal in the last two years and needs to now win at the Asian Games and the Olympics to propel himself to being recognised as India?s best shooter of all time. And the important thing for India is, he is not alone. India already had an Abhinav Bindra, but now we have a slew of shooters who can make the world stage their own. Ranjan Sodhi and Manavjit Sandhu may not have had the best CWG, but they are both recognised world beaters in their respective events?double trap and trap shooting. Others like Omkar Singh, winner of three gold medals at the CWG, or Heena Sidhu, are shooters who have come of age in recent months, making India a shooting powerhouse to reckon with.
If shooting is currently India?s number one Olympic sport, wrestling and boxing aren?t lagging behind either. Three gold medals in boxing with a bad decision preventing the favourite Vijender Singh from adding to the tally in the 75-kg category, India now has a crop of boxers who can make the Asian Games podium their own. In wrestling, the Indian challenge is no longer limited to Sushil Kumar, currently recuperating from injury. In Yogeshwar Dutt, we have a real medal prospect, one, who is gradually developing a cult following of his own.
Despite knowing that the competition will be stiff, the nation is just pinning its hopes on Saina Nehwal. From three super-series wins in June-July 2010 to a gold at the Commonwealth Games, she is justly India?s sportswoman of the year. By winning the last gold at the Games and catapulting India to second spot, Saina Nehwal in 2010 can do no wrong. And in winning these titles and challenging the Chinese, she is continuously making a statement to the world?that Indian Olympic sport is at crossroads and she is here to make a huge difference. A medal at the Asian Games, and this belief will be strengthened further.
For the first time in Indian sporting history, the media appropriated the accomplishments at CWG in a manner associated commonly with cricket. All of a sudden, CWG stars were flooded with interview requests and offers that had long since been reserved for over-pampered cricket stars alone. Multiple polls on news channels revealed that the national religion of cricket had slid on the popularity charts. According to one survey, 60% of sports fans in Delhi were glued to the Commonwealth Games. In contrast, 31% watched the Indian cricket team in action against the Australians. Needless to say, it is a historic moment and also perhaps a mark of our times that India is moving beyond its singular obsession for cricket and embracing Olympic sport as well. One can only hope the Asian Games will consolidate this development, even if we win a few less medals.
?The writer is a sports historian