When 16-year-old Saurabh Choudhary struck gold for India in the 10m Air Pistol event, our third, there were millions of countrymen whose hearts lit up at this rare feat by a teenager. A star is born. Turn to another picture where two Goans representing India are gearing up with second-hand repaired equipment, making a gallant effort to bring home a medal at the RS:One Mixed Team sailing event.
It’s a crying shame that the team had to proceed with worn out equipment as Sports Authority of Goa has its established norms and protocol that needed time. There’s no denying that SAG has funded potential sportsmen for international exposure. The fact that the government has extended a special grant of Rs 23 lakh for an attempt to scale Mount Everest is encouraging.
The sports fraternity and the people of Goa would now be left wondering why the State would at all show interest in hosting the 26th National Games, when it cannot value talent competing at the highest level in Asia. For any State, this should have been a moment of pride, even for the sheer fact that two Goans qualified for an event that is held for the first time at the Games.
What Goa needs desperately are individuals at the helm with a strong sports portfolio, people who have represented the State at least at the national level. Sports managers and administrators with degrees in business, marketing and finance will not understand the grit and grime that goes into making a sportsman of international standards. People seated in comfy air-conditioned cabins will not understand the heat and humidity that has to be endured in high seas to prepare for events like these. Mind you, these Goans have been preparing for this event since 2015. We need people to understand the need of the hour and take decisions in the interest of the sport and the state. We don’t need sports administrators who cannot stand up to the occasion, and who prefer to take cover under our operose systems.
Our administrators are not solely to be blamed. Our sport segment is in ruins despite the tall assurances of promoting sports by Manohar Ajgoankar. Lest we forget, the sports minister even spoke of a corpus fund last year targeted at producing sportspersons of international repute. And what a contradiction we see here. Talking about funds, there’s no word till now about the infamous multi-crore financial scam in the sports department.
We are reminded of Bollywood’s epic flick Lagaan where gritty villagers beat Englishmen at their own game of cricket, that too playing barefoot and without proper cricket gear. Goans are facing a real-life Lagaan moment at the Asiad competing against the best in Asia, that too without proper equipment. And while they take sail in Indonesia, lakhs of sports loving people back home will spur them on with a hope of an Asian Games medal.
