Old game, new rules?

Are we seeing the rise of a new Indian sportsperson who’s got what it takes to win?

The day after Jai Bhagwan, the boxer from Haryana, was assured of a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games 2010 and, consequently, entry into next month’s Asian Games in Guangzhou, he was asked: “Are you happy at qualifying for the Asian Games?” The Asian Games were not his aim, Bhagwan replied, what he wanted most was to win the gold medal at this tournament. National coach G S Sandhu, in contrast, was content that Bhagwan had got a bronze medal.

The difference between the young man not willing to rest on his laurels and the older, more easily satisfied, is interesting. It could be explained away as a generation gap, but there’s no denying that the Indian sportsperson today is more competitive and aggressive, compared to his predecessors.

Take Saina Nehwal’s statement after becoming the world number three in badminton: “I’m not bothered about rankings. Even if I become world number 20, that’s okay. I just want to...be at my best, physically and mentally.” Vijender Singh has been insisting loudly and angrily that the referee’s incompetence robbed him of the gold in Delhi, more evidence of this current crop’s sporting character. Sushil Kumar will skip the Asian Games because he wants to prepare for the Olympics. Of course, he is tired and wants to recover from injuries, but the Asian Games was not long ago the pinnacle for most Indian athletes. How many of an earlier generation would have missed it for uncertain pickings at the Olympics? What has brought about this change?

Citizens of ‘India Shining’
Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that this is a generation that was born and grew up after the 1990s, in post-economic liberalisation India, when the country posted average growth rates of over 7 per cent. “Economic growth and the rise in spending power have rubbed off on sports as well,” says Viren Rasquinha, former Indian hockey captain and COO of Olympic Gold Quest.

Haryana, the state that won India 15 of its 38 gold medals, has done even better. The Economic Survey 2009-10 shows an 18.06 per cent annual growth in net state domestic product in 2007-08 — the second highest among all states. “Based on the wealth index, the state of Haryana is wealthier than the nation as a whole,” says the National Family Health Survey-3 (NFHS).

No wonder Haryana eats better. As much as 87.8 per cent of its men consume milk or curd once a week, 97.7 per cent have pulses or beans, 95.3 per cent have green leafy vegetables and 63.2 per cent eat fruits, elaborates the 2005-06 NHFS report. The national mean is far lower — 67.2 per cent for milk and curd, 90.7 per cent for pulses or beans, 93.6 per cent for green leafy vegetables, and 47.4 per cent for fruits.

It may be a simplistic argument, but wrestling coach Jasbir Singh sees a connection between economic growth-improved diet and sporting achievement. “The income of the middle classes has increased in the last 20 years which is why they are able to invest in diet and training to further their children’s sporting careers.”

Wrestling and boxing are traditional sports in Haryana, where many villages and even homes (such as that of Geeta Devi, who won gold in 55-kg freestyle wrestling) have akharas. Many, especially in the rural and semi-urban areas, keep goats or cows, so they have a ready supply of milk.

Even so, Haryana might not have got as far as it did in the medal count without the state government programmes to incentivise sporting achievement. The Sports and Physical Aptitude Test, conducted in schools every year, selects promising athletes and provides them a monthly allowance of Rs 1,500-2,000.

Winning habit
“Nothing succeeds like success,” says Manisha Malhotra, administrator of the Mittal Champions Trust. The fear factor must be instilled in the mind of the opposition, feels Satpal Singh, Sushil Kumar’s coach, and that comes only from winning. “If we were facing a Cuban wrestler back then, most of us would have been intimidated before the bout began,” recalls Singh, who won a gold medal in the 1982 Asiad.

The theory that the CWG has thrown up a new crop of winners has its doubters, such as Boria Majumdar, a sports commentator. “Confidence or aggression are a matter of nature. The problem is that Vijender Singh and Sushil Kumar’s version of aggression appeals to the popular imagination.”

Small-town hunger
The other thing about this aggressive new Indian sportsperson is that s/he mostly comes from small-town India. Vijender is from a village in Haryana; wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, another gold medal winner, is from Sonepat and M C Mary Kom is from a village in Manipur. The groundswell is evident to anyone who visits the Bhim Singh Stadium in Bhiwani, which is packed most hours of the day with youngsters. The Shivaji Stadium in Panipat town, in contrast, remains mostly empty.

Says Vishnu Bhagwan, boxing coach at the Bhim Singh stadium and the man who has trained Akhil Kumar, Paramjeet Samota and many others: “Boxing is a game for the lower middle classes. You need nothing more than a boxing glove. Unlike the rich, these boys and girls put in a lot of hard work and sweat.”

We are family
The other decisive change has been that parents in small towns too are encouraging their children to take up sports professionally, says Satpal Singh. Gold medal-winning wrestler Anita, who lived alone in Bhiwani for years in order to be close to her coach, had milk delivered to her every day by her uncle from Dhani-Mahu, their native village 20-25 km away.

Many have sacrificed their own careers. Shuttler Jwala Gutta's father, a clerk with the Reserve Bank of India in Hyderabad, did not take the officers' grade exams because a promotion would have meant a transfer to another city, which would have hampered his daughter’s training.

With the boxing boom in Haryana, Vishnu Bhagwan has found that a number of parents are even borrowing money for their children’s training.

Clearly, the rules of the game are changing.

(With inputs from Gargi Gupta and K Rajani Kanth)