CHANDIGARH: Olympics in psyche of Indians has always been synonymous with hockey . It should be, as the Indian team ruled the hockey field and made the sport its own, winning eight gold, including six in a row.
But, sadly, the Indian hockey team has missed the bus to Beijing this time and the sport, in which the country had chances of winning a medal, has passed the baton of Indian hopes to other sports like shooting and to a lesser extent boxing and tennis.
So what chance do our sportspersons have to land a medal in the most competitively intensive sporting event the world has ever seen?
For the answer, what better person to ask than three-time Olympian Pargat Singh and now director (sports), Punjab . For the record, Pargat is one of the best players to have ever held a hockey stick. He participated in the 1988, 1992 and 1996 Olympics, leading the team in ’92 and ’96.
“I would say that at we can realistically hope for a medal in shooting. I am saying this because the shooters have maintained the momentum set by Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore when he won silver at Athens four years back. Since then, our shooters have given superlative performances in many meets. Let’s hope they maintain their form at Beijing and don’t succumb to pressure or nerves.”
Pargat was also all praise for badminton player Saina Nehwal, currently ranked 15th in the world.
“Recently I spoke to her coach Pullela Gopichand and he was very confident that Saina will be able to set the cat among pigeons in the badminton draw. Her recent good outings in tournaments clearly show that she is a medal prospect. Whether she justifies this tag will entirely depend on her because she has the game to unsettle the best,” said Pargat.
When asked about the prospects of the boxing squad, which is being touted as best boxing team India has ever sent to Olympics, Pargat said, “In boxing everything depends on the draw. If our boxers get easy opponents in the initial rounds then making the semifinals and winning a bronze will be ensured. But in Olympics the boxing competition is usually tough as every boxer worth his salt is pumped up and performs to the limit as if his life depends on it. If our boxers are that passionate then they will not disgrace the country.”
Of the remaining events like athletics and tennis, Pargat said our chances are bleak.
“Traditionally we have never been in a position of winning a medal in athletics barring very few instances like when Milkha Singh and PT Usha were in their prime. There was a gap of more than 20 years since they took part in Olympics and 24 years have gone by since Usha came so agonizingly close to winning a bronze at Los Angeles in 1984. Between Milkha Singh and Usha, we never had a contender for a medal in athletics and the same since Usha. So there is no hope this time too,” he said.
On the prospects of tennis players, he said, “The pairing of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are past their prime and Sania Mirza’s fortunes are on a downward spiral. Winning a tennis medal will be very tough if not impossible.”