A moment of reckoning, renaissance for Indian sports

A wind of change has swept across the sporting landscape in India, making space for sports that were once ignored.

Three athletes from three different disciplines, competing in three different countries, made India proud by finishing on the podium of their respective world meets in the same week.

A lanky 18-year-old from Chennai made front-page headlines by storming into the final at the FIDE Chess World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, after defeating the World number 2 (Hikaru Nakamura) and World number 3 (Fabiano Caruana) along the way. Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa went toe-to-toe with World number 1 Magnus Carlsen for the title before losing in the tie-breaker to finish with a silver. In the process, Praggu qualified for the Candidates tournament, the winner of which will challenge reigning champion Ding Liren at the FIDE World Championships next year. 

Two days later, a 31-year-old shuttler from Thiruvananthapuram, with his left shoulder taped heavily, downed World number 1 Viktor Axelsen in a thrilling three-game quarterfinal to confirm a medal at the badminton World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark. H S Prannoy went on to lose the semifinal to World number 3, K Vitidsarn, but claimed a bronze to take India’s medal tally at the event to 14.

The cherry on the cake came last Sunday evening when a 25-year-old from Panipat, now an Olympic champ, extended his domination in the javelin throw by clinching the only gold missing from his cabinet. Neeraj Chopra, with a throw of 88.17 m, became the first Indian to win a gold at the athletics World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.  

These three events underlined that there is more to Indian sports now than just cricket. This is not another cricket-bashing copy, but a celebration of India's massive strides in other sports.   

Sure, there were the men’s hockey teams winning eight gold, one silver and two bronze medals at the Olympics and a few isolated wins and heroic defeats that made for glorious stories from the previous century. But to a large extent, the country rarely found sporting moments to rejoice about, apart from those on the cricket field.

Besides Chopra's gold at the athletics' Worlds, there was nothing unusual about Prannoy and Praggu's feats for they were not unprecedented. But what is different now is the consistency with which Indian athletes put themselves in contention for the highest accolades.      

Over the last decade or so, a wind of change has swept across the sporting landscape of India. All of a sudden, the barely-spoken about ‘other sports’ community has emerged from the shadows and has become the new unlikely hero in bringing the country's populace together.

Chess, badminton, athletics and an array of other disciplines have seen our athletes make a mark consistently in what is now being described as the beginning of a golden era for Indian sports. 

While the accolades and silverware accumulated by the ones at the top of the pyramid are a testimony to the growth of sports in recent times, its real measure is in the ripple effects such achievements have had, percolating right down to the base.

Just the other day, a group of autorickshaw drivers were found discussing the Indian men’s 4x400m relay squad that finished fifth in Budapest. “Innond churu fast aagi odbidtididre, medal hodibodhithu. Che! (if only they had run a bit faster, they could have won a medal),” rued one of them with a Kannada newspaper in hand. This “privilege” was the reserve of cricket not too long ago. 

Aiming big

“Belief among children has risen,” observes Aparna Popat, two-time Olympian and nine-time national women’s badminton champion. “You go to any academy and ask a kid about their goal — ‘an Olympic medal’ comes the reply. Thinking big completely changes the approach,” she says.

If the growing willingness to consider sport as a viable career option is a positive shift in the mindset of Indians, government initiatives, private sector backing and IPL-model franchise leagues across disciplines have further added to a healthy sporting ecosystem.  

The budget allocation for the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports shot up to Rs 3,397.32 crore this year. This was an 11% hike in comparison to the previous financial year. The Department of Sports received Rs 2,462.59 crore to support various schemes and organisations such as Khelo India, Sports Authority of India, Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan, National Sports Federations and National Service Scheme. The Target Olympic Podium Scheme, started in 2014 to provide holistic support to the best in the country, now has 103 athletes (including 40 para athletes) in the core group and 166 in the development group. 

“We never give any credit to the Sports Authority of India (SAI),” says Vimal Kumar, former international player and renowned badminton coach.  

“Even for badminton, the ministry spends over Rs 8 lakh per day for training of players which includes stay, food, foreign coaches salaries etc this is never highlighted. 

Unlike our time, things have really gotten better and many things are very good for elite athletes. Now, we need to focus on supporting the grassroots and improve State-run federations,” reckons Vimal. 

Talent scouting

The Khelo India Games (KIG), a national programme for developing sports, emphasises unearthing talent and organising competitions at all-India school and university levels. These tournaments have also become the hunting ground for talent scouts of various sporting leagues and national coaches. Karnataka’s javelin thrower, D P Manu, who finished fifth in Budapest, was spotted by army coach Kashinath Naik as an 18-year-old representing Alva’s College at the 2018 KIG. 

Experts believe hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2010 was the turning point for all sports besides cricket. “Just before the 2010 CWG games, around 2008, funds were injected into the system. And within two years we saw the results in Delhi. That impact carried on to the 2012 London Olympics where we won 6 medals,” says Aparna.

“We keep saying India has a lot of talent. In general, the problem was about not tapping the talent that was already existing and not matching the talent with good coaching and infrastructure facilities. That to a large extent changed only when funds started pouring in,” explains Aparna. 

Another major factor is the contribution of private sector players such as Reliance and JSW in building state-of-the-art facilities with foreign coaches, trainers and support staff, providing sponsorship. Not-for-profit groups like GoSports Foundation and Olympic Gold Quest who manage the overall development of an athlete played an important role too.

India’s journey from being a mere participant to emerging as a serious player at various events has taken a while but let us not kid ourselves into believing that India is one of the sporting superpowers now. In fact, we are far from it. Even within Asia, there are several smaller nations that are superior to India. 

The real assessment of improvement is always in the minor details. Striving for excellence from all those involved — government, corporates, coaches, players and parents — is the way forward. Working together is the biggest challenge now if the gains made in recent years have to be sustained.  

Some would call it a new lease on life. A few others would say that becoming a sport-loving/ playing nation is a means of attaining geopolitical relevance. Whatever may be the narrative, for those at the helm of this ‘new age’, there has never been a better time to be a part of the Indian sporting ecosystem.