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Lacklustre sports show
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While the Federation Cup athletic championships held recently at Gachibowli had its moments of records and feats, overall, the event did not attract people. ABHIJIT SEN GUPTA reports.
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RIGHT STUFF: Arun D'Souza
MOST OF the top stars of Indian athletics were missing from the fray during the Mihira 9th Federation Cup athletic championships, which were held in Gachibowli. This provided the host State's athletes a chance to lift some of the medals, which were up for grabs.
One of the best performances for A.P. came from J.J. Shobha who picked up two individual gold medals and then added two more in the relays. With Anju George absent from the long jump competition (because she is training abroad), the Federation Cup was Shobha's best chance to pick up a gold in this event and she made sure that it did not elude her by leaping 6.23 metres. Later, Shobha also won the heptathlon with a total of 5,758 points. This was a little below her target of 5,800 points. But, it was enough to give her the gold, thanks to the dropout by her arch rival Soma Biswas.
Golden girl S. Geetha lived up to expectations by winning the women's 400 metres. However, it was a disappointment that the talented Kalpana Reddy could not finish within the medal bracket. She later blamed it on the wrong guidance that she received.
P. Shankar, who is one of the most gifted athletes that A.P. has produced in recent times, ran a superb race in the men's 400 metre hurdles but narrowly failed to win the gold. He was leading till the last hurdle but in the final stretch was overtaken by Prasad Reddy of the Army.
Two more golds came to A.P. from I.A. Shivanand (10,000 mts) and Arun D'Souza (3,000 mts steeplechase). Incidentally, these two athletes who are both from Karnataka but preferred to represent A.P. in the National Games last year, have continued to be loyal to A.P. despite the fact that the promised prize money has not yet been given to them. Both had won medals in the National Games last year, and at the time the A.P. government had promised handsome prize money to all those who won medals for the host State. But, this has so far not materialised.
Naturally, at the Federation Cup there was a noticeable drop in the number of outsiders representing the State. Many of those who had represented A.P. earlier were not there. Was it because the A.P. government had not kept its promise? None of the athletes was willing to directly answer this question but the absence of internationals such as Vinitha Tripathi, Anand Menezes, Gulab Chand and Chaitali Pal said it all. Discuss thrower Hridayanand Singh preferred to represent U.P. All these athletes had won medals for A.P. in the National Games. It looks like the A.P. Government's image within the athletics fraternity has been tarnished. It is time for the government to rectify the situation by carrying out its promise.
Another aspect that should be considered by the organisers is that the Federation Cup attracted almost no spectators. This was one of the prestigious meets in the country and one of the most important events on the athletics calendar in India. One of the reasons why there were no spectators could be the fact that the venue was far away from the city, and transport facilities were inadequate.
During the National Games there had been a good number of spectators thronging the venue. But perhaps, it was due to the novelty of the thing. Now that seems to have worn off and people are just not interested in going all the way there to watch sports events. It may be recalled that even during the National basketball championship held there earlier, the spectator presence was nil.
Now the authorities are planning to set up two astro turf hockey grounds also at Gachibowli to conduct the Afro-Asian Games. There is a strong likelihood that those international hockey matches will also be played before empty stands. But it would be a pity if, for example, a clash between the Asian giants India and Pakistan takes place with not a single spectator to watch the action and cheer the teams! Those in charge of selection of the venues should do well to consider these aspects and be aware of the latest trends.
If Gachibowli is to become one of the prime sports venues in the country, as the government is planning to do, then it will have to develop better transport arrangements to the venue from different parts of the twin cities.
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