Few ready to take to the field of sports medicine

A few Indian sportspersons may be finally carving a niche for themselves in the international sports arena but sports medicine as a profession still lags behind as compared to international standards.

According to Bakhtiar Choudhary, director (sports medicine and rehabilitation), Apollo College of Physiotherapy (Hyderabad), the Indian sports medicine sector is seriously disorganised. "Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports too, that provides training in sports medicine, churns out only 6-10 professionals every year," he added.

"Most of the students who undertake the course also focus only on treating sportspersons and not training them," he added. That is one of the reasons why most of the top Indian sportspersons undergo training under foreign coaches, he said.

"In that case, Indian coaches should also be sent abroad so that their quality is on par with international standards," Choudhary said, adding that faculty is also an issue in this sector. Choudhary was speaking on the sidelines of a press conference held to showcase an exclusive preview of 'The Science of Lance Armstrong' to be aired on Discovery Channel.

Discovery Channel will be airing the one-hour programme on July 24 at 8 pm, coinciding with Lance Armstrong's seventh and final Tour de France.

It will focus on the research undertaken and techniques developed by Armstrong's team to improve his performance and chronicle the cyclist's evolution from being a cancer-survivor to a six-time Tour de France winner.

Rajiv Bakshi, manager(corporate communications) Discovery Networks India, said, "The channel has chosen Hyderabad for its exclusive preview because the city has become important in terms of sports. Besides, Hyderabad is among the top cities in terms of viewership for our channel," he added.

The channel, according to Bakshi, has a viewership among 32 million households in India, with programmes in history, science and mystery being the most popular.