Asia ready for kickoff

Asia is ready for one of its biggest sporting events. One month after the successfull Asian games,the continent is prepared for the coronation of its football Kings. Qatar is allset to host the 2011 AFC Asian Cup starting from 7th January. The joy of being selected as the host of 2022 world cup is still continuing in this small Arabian country. To that joy is the Asian cup arriving this winter. And this time to carry out a magic of the everlasting Arabian tales Indian football team is arriving after a gap of 26 years, to a place were millions of Indians had find their luck of life. A place were dreams came true for them. It is the right place to start a new era of Indian football.

After the arrival of Bob Houghton as the manager, Indian team has shown much progress comparing to the last few decades. Two Nehru cup winning and the winning of AFC Challenge cup which qualified the team for Asian cup had made the football fans of the country jubilant. Now they are eagerly waiting to see India at the biggest arena of Asian football. It is the dreams fulfilled for the players now. Baichung Bhutia, who is the face of Indian football for last 15 years is the most experienced player with the side. United States MLS team 'Kansas City Wizards' striker Sunil Chettri, is another attraction. Along with them is the best players of India lined up for the competition. They have being preparing for last one year at various places like Nou camp, Dubai, Portugal,etc., As Houghton said they are ready for a surprise among the giant opponents of 'C' group-Australia,South Korea and Bahrain.

Asian cup this time is aiming to showcase a worldclass performance. All the giants of Asian football are coming for an Arabian triumph. The thrilling performance of the continents teams at the South Africa world cup showed that the worth of Asian football had improved. This Asian cup is a step to many such great achievements. Even it dont have the best players of world football, Asian cup will feature all the best of the continent in Qatar. Manchester United player JS Park of S.Korea is the leading attraction. Along with him World cup star K.Honda,Nakamura(Japan), Tim cahill,Lukas Niel, Mark Schwarzer(Australia),Yazar Al Qatani(Saudi Arabia), Mehdi Mehdavikia(Iran),Last editions most valuable player Younus Mahmoud(Iraq) are the other leading stars of the event. Carrying over the dreams of decades, all 16 teams are well prepared for the battle. It raises the expectation of a close competition for the trophy and an everlasting memory filled tournament like the last edition.

Among the giants Indian team is like the Sindbads fleet in a vast ocean. They have to really show some magic for a good result. They dont carry big dreams like others since the teams standard is very low compared to the giants of Asia. Even diehard fans do not expect a second round. But the presence of the team at the event itself is a big victory. Whatever maybe the result in Qatar, it is a giant step to future. This is a path to bigger dreams for Indian team. After 12 years, when Qatar host the worldcup,India expect their team at event with the support from the millions of Indians there. This is only the first step,to recapture the crown of Asian football and to move to the world stage. Let it be. Come on Indiaa.....................

For a great step forward

After months of tension and controversies, CWG is all set to begin. The arrangements made for the games are now widely appreciated. Opening ceremony showcased the vivid culture of India colourfully. Now the arena is taken up by its people-the contingents. With over 6000 athletes from 71 countries, this Games is the biggest one in the history of Commonwealth games.

The games was struck with the withdrawal of several star athletes. But now along with a good number of international stars, Indian team is lining up a number of world class sportsperson. This time India is hoping more and is aiming for its best result so far in any of the International competitions.India finished fourth in the last edition (Melbourne 2006) and third in Manchester (2002). This time with the home advantage, with wide support of fans and mostly with the talented young competitors, India is hoping to finish second in the medals tally. Ahead of the Asian Games this November and the 2012 Olympics, this is a golden opportunity to take a step towards those bigger stages and bigger dreams.

One of the biggest hopes is in badminton. With world No.2 Saina Nehwal and world No.6, Diju-Jwala Gutta mixed-doubles pair, it is not just a dream. The Badminton event, without China, but with Malaysia, Singapore and England, is not lacking good competition. Indian should fight hard to keep the hopes live. Chetan Anand is also hopeful in men’s singles. Tennis is another event which India has taken as favorites. In this newly added event at CWG, Indians are top seeded. Paes-Bhupati doubles pair, Somdev Devvarman, Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza are India's main contingents. With their super performance recently, Indian team may dominate the Tennis.

Boxing and Wrestling are also events where India line-up some gold bidders. With five time World champion, Mary Kom, in women’s boxing and Olympic medal winner, Vijender Singh along with Akhil Kumar in men’s event, it is not a dream which never comes true. Wrestling team, headed by World Champion, Sushiel Kumar is also ready to pick a number of medals from the ring.

The events which India bagged a number of medals last time was shooting and weight lifting. This time in Shooting it is stronger team. Olympic Gold winner, Abhinav Bindra, Samresh Jung, Gagan Narang, etc, are aiming another gold hunt at home. Weight lifting team is also aiming the same.

In Table Tennis and Squash, it will be good competition. There also India has a good squad. Sharath Kamal, last time gold winner in TT is set for another this time. In Squash, Saurav Goshal, Joshna Chinnappa and Deepika are hoping to grab at least three medals. In Archery, India may be able to take medals with Dola Banerjee as the big name. In swimming events, where Australia and England dominates India's chances are rare.

In team events, the best hope is in Hockey. Men Hockey team, with their recent setbacks in World cup and Olympics qualifiers, will have to fight hard to grab a medal, in an event where big names like Australia, England, NZL, Pakistan and South Africa take part. In women section, India is a favorite for the medal.

At last, the most important event, Athletics. Here it is a good competition with a number of African, European and Caribbean athletes. India's main hopes are Tintu Luka, Mayookha Johnny, Ranjith and Krishna Puniya. As India's performance in track events is not much better in CWG, this time also it will be hard to grab gold from the track.

Indian team's dream of the second spot is not a milestone which cannot be achieved. India has the resource for it. With the wide support of home crowd, it can be achieved. And let it be a foundation and inspiration for the bigger events. For a better tomorrow, a great step forward. Good Luck India....

Commonwealth Games-Will the medals worth?

Organizing a mega sports event, is a chance for the host nations to showcase its tradition and culture and express their hospitality to the world. Moreover such events contribute to the development of sports in that country. But when it comes to India’s case it becomes just another chance for corruption, wastage and dirty politics. The 2010 Commonwealth Games is to be held in Delhi this October. With one month left to start the games Delhi is struggling to finish the works of the stadia and other infrastructure. Last month reports of wide scam in the works came out. Large amount of public money has been wasted by misuse and the expense shot up because of lack of proper management. Thousands of crores has been spent over various projects so far. Some venues which completed work, is reported for lack in quality. The main venue, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium was renovated at a cost of Rs.961 crore (It is to be noted that, the Gachibowli stadium was newly constructed for almost 21 crores, for the Afro-Asian games in 2003). Like this for almost every project, huge amount more than needed was spent, and is still struggling to finish before timeline and is lacking quality. The Organizers are also widely criticized for the eviction of thousands of poor people for making space.

Development of the country’s sports structure is the main task of mega events. And how far India is prepared to utilize the games in that way? CWG is participated by member countries of British Commonwealth. Here only some events are having world class quality in competition. The main attraction of a multi game event is athletics. At CWG it is having good quality. But India is very poor in athletics according to CWG level. India doesn’t have a world class athlete to show up as a torchbearer. When China hosted Olympic Games, they had world champion Liu Xiang, to showcase. India’s performance in previous CWG events was mainly in shooting and weight lifting. Both items are less competitive in this event compared to Asian Games and Olympics.Delhi games also miss star athletes like Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, etc. The unfinished stadia, games village and other infrastructures, wide corruption, blame game and the withdrawal of star athletes has put the game under shadow, before it starts. And if it fails to provide any development to the country’s sports structure, then the tax payers money is entirely wasted for a mock. In 2003, crores were spent for Afro-Asian games and it was an utter failure, both in competition and success. South Africa, Qatar, Japan, Korea, China all gained from the events they hosted. They were able to improve their sports structure and were able to carry over it to more big events.

This large sum of money, if efficiently utilized for the development of sports in the country will gain good results in the future. If there is a well planned program with this resources, India will surely become the giants in world sports. We are having talented youth. All they need is good support and good infrastructure. We just need efficient utilization of resources. For that, sports administrators should be sports lovers, rather than money loving politicians. Otherwise these events produce nothing and will be another burden over the poor tax payer.

Giant leap for Indian football

It is the time for Indian football to celebrate.Recently there was many occasions,which made the countries football fans jubilant and now it has come to a turning point-striker Sunil Chhetri has signed contract with US Major League Soccer(MLS) club Kansas City Wizards.

Chhetri has become the first Indian footballer to play first division league in another country and only the third Indian to play abroad,after Mohammed Salim,who played for Celtic in 1930's and Baichung Bhutia,current national captain,played for English club Bury.F.C during 1999-2002 period. Chhetri is considered as Bhutia s' successor ,as the 'face of Indian football'.He becomes the eighth Asian player in MLS and first in Kansas City Wizards.

When he wrote an article in a newspaper after signing the contract,Chhetri congratulated the Indian team,which had won the world cup for street children held in South Africa last week. Even though it is not a FIFA event,it was India s' first world championship in football.These achievements,may change the course of the game in world 's second largest populated country.National side has qualified for the continental championship after 1984 and Nehru cup twice in recent years.Age group teams are more successful,and clubs also had many overseas victory.

Indian football was waiting for a spark to ignite itself,and this can be it,which we waited for long. This may be a small move,but the game can revive itself,with good quality players,good coaches,etc., But lack of infrastructure is a main problem,which needs immediate attention.Chhetri 's success may attract many other players.Fans are
eagerly waiting for Indian teams next year Asian cup run and,now it is the time for football in India............
dreams are coming true,
and hopes are on full swing.......