The flying fairies have done it again. So did the boxers. And Rowers. And Swimmers. And Wrestlers. And Shooters.
Indian sports men did a commendable job at Asiad with a total of 64 medals including 14 golds (till the time this post was written). The best thing in this show was that the Indian teams have shown consistency. In the past there have been sparkles here and there in various sports arenas but to make our mark on the sports scene, we need consistency.
The 4 x 400 girls team which set the nation on fire during their performance in the Common Wealth Games, gave a repeat treat at the Asian Games too. The Kabaddi team won a record sixth Gold to remind the world of their dominance. So did the women kabaddi team.
The icing on the cake was track events where till now, since my birth, besides Milkha Singh and PT Usha, I have not heard another name. The trail blazing act by Joseph Abrahem and Ashwini left me spell bound.
These girls and boys have shown that our oft-repeated excuse of “Indians don’t have strength and stamina” is a mere excuse. Give them facilities, they will definitely win for us. That these athletes are winning even the absence of facilities is even a bigged feat. Bajrang, the gold medalist in rowing told in an interview after winning the medal how the rowers were put in cramped sheds and had to bear with not-so-good food during their training camp in Hyderabad.
Now, its the onus of our politicians (most sports bodies are controlled by politicians, that too for decades), that they spend less time in devising ways of creating scams and scandals and provide proper facilities to sports persons so that we put up a face-saving show in Olympics.
