PANAJI
After years of false starts and missing the bus, Goa is finally in sight of the day it will host the National Games, even if it is the 37th instead of the 34th edition it was originally preparing to host back in 2016.
Touted the mecca of sports in India, the National Games are the country's biggest multi-discipline sporting extravaganza and is styled on the lines of the Olympics where participation is governed by minimum qualification standards – a State has to be in the top eight in the respective discipline's senior national championship.
Goa was first chosen to host the National Games back in 2009 and this feather in the cap eluded the State simply because it was not ready with the necessary infrastructure. Playing arenas in the sports complexes picked to host the Games were simply not up to the mark and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on multiple occasions nearly cancelled the signed deal for Goa to be the hosts. It even levied a Rs 10-lakh fine on the Goa Olympic Association (GoA) at one stage for reneging on its part of the deal – readying infrastructure to play the games.
But that is the past. Now, as the start of the 37th National Games are just 10 days away, all the playing arenas have been readied for the competition. As chief minister Pramod Sawant declared on Friday, they (stadiums and playing arenas) are "99 per cent ready".
So what is the 1 per-cent that is yet to be finished? It's the game-specific playing and judging equipment, ground markings and such other which are all highly technical in nature and is the responsibility of the technical teams of the IOA and the respective discipline's national Federation or Association.
The Goan paid visits to almost every venue because official claims notwithstanding, seeing is believing. And, on our visits and interactions with Sports Authority of Goa (SAG) officials there, there was no reason to doubt the Chief Minister's claim that all the venues are 99 per cent ready and will be handed over to the Games Organising Committee six days before competition starts.
Campal multipurpose indoor stadium
In Panaji, the multi-purpose indoor stadium at Campal, which will host netball, table tennis and kabaddi is ready and fit for handover to the organising committee.
The adjoining Campal swimming complex which will host aquatics competitions – swimming, diving and water polo – was a bit of a worry a couple of days ago as the retiling of the diving pool was completed but a portion of the finishing was left.
However, one official from the swimming pool complex's maintenance team said that they are fully ready and will handover the complex to the organising committee in two days’ time.
"The diving pool's tiling has been re-done fully. It is complete. The process of filling water is on and taking some time as we have to use standard quality water and is being done through the PWD," said the senior SAG official who did not want to be identified as he is not authorised to speak to the media.
SPM indoor stadium, Bambolim
Same is the case with the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee stadium at the Taleigao plateau which is almost ready with minor work on the facade of the stadium still in progress but slated to be completed by Sunday.
This stadium which was the star from among the venues of the Lusofonia Games Goa hosted in 2014, was a case of pathetic management and maintenance by the SAG over the last nearly one decade, forcing the need for major repairs and a virtual re-laying of the entire flooring surface.
Primarily built for basketball and volleyball, the poor condition of the flooring forced the technical teams of the IOA to shift basketball competition to the Manohar Parrikar indoor stadium in Navelim.
"The last commercial event held at the stadium destroyed a part of the flooring. There was a fire and it was burnt," one SAG official told The Goan.
However, the flooring has been redone with different material which is not conducive for basketball that requires even bounce. The SP Mukherjee stadium, nonetheless, will host the volleyball, badminton and fencing competitions of the National Games.
Bambolim athletic stadium
Again a jewel in the State's sports infrastructure crown since the Lusofonia Games in 2014, the athletic stadium at Bambolim has had a better record of maintenance by the authorities, perhaps because it was more frequently utilised for sporting events rather than commercial and other use.
The stadium will host all the athletic disciplines and additionally also the rugby competition of the National Games.
Other venues around Panaji
The organisers are coming up with temporary structures using props and other techniques to set up the 'Campal Sports Village' on the SAG's open ground adjoining the swimming complex at Campal.
The 'Campal Sports Village' and the open grounds are where most of the cultural events will be held besides hosting the several demonstration sports and competition in weightlifting, wushu, judo, pencak silat and wrestling.
Additionally, the famed 'Hawaii beach' in Dona Paula will host competition in rowing (coastal/tidal) and yachting, while Miramar beach will host beach handball, beach volleyball and mini-golf.
Also the triathlon will be held along the Caranzalem-Miramar road.
State game football not in list of Goa’s medal prospects
PANAJI: Goa, as host of the 37th edition of the National Games, is permitted to participate in all the 43 disciplines but it will field teams in 36 and is making a genuine effort to net some medals, even resorting to large scale import of athletes and top players from other states in several disciplines.
Strangely football, which is close to the heart of almost every Goan and made the ‘State Game’ back in 2012, is not among the disciplines where it is expected to finish in the top three.
“If Goa does win (a medal in football) it will be a miracle,” a top football administrator commented.
Meanwhile, Goa Olympic Association (GOA) secretary, Gurudutta Bhakta, named US-based Gayle Miranda as a near certain medal prospect for Goa.
According to Bhakta, Goa has “good chances” of winning medals in several other disciplines notably in taekwondo, kabbadi, aquatics (swimming and diving) and also some team sport where the respective associations have ‘accommodated’ star players from other states on their rosters.
Goa isn’t quite the power house in any of the sports disciplines and winning at the national level has been a rare occurrence for decades. However, it’s not that the State has drawn a blank at past editions of National Games.
For instance, at the Games held in Gujarat last year, Goa had bagged five bronze medals and Goan athletes have even won gold in past editions of the prestigious games.
For instance, back in 1994, Margao-based Angela Naik won the gold medal in taekwondo. And later in the 2015 edition held at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, P Anand won gold for Goa in the same edition.
At this 37th edition which begins from October 26, as Bhakta says tongue-in-cheek “will be the best ever showing” by Goa.
NADA to keep eye on doping
PANAJI: Goa may be one of those destinations where drug abuse is common if not rampant and ‘smoking up’ or doping is a common occurrence in Goa’s tourism landscape. But in the field of sports, the term ‘doping’ takes quite another serious connotation.
The international anti-doping agency in sports (NADA) will be prying on the 10,000-plus athletes that Goa will host for the upcoming National Games.
The agency has been allocated space at each and every of the 28 venues across Goa. It is an independent agency and is charged with the responsibility of policing sports for cheating by doping across the globe.
It will make its presence felt at the National Games in Goa as well.
