FACE THE NATION
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FTN: Cricket-crazy India shuns other sports
Published on Sat, Aug 23, 2008 at 07:28, Updated on Sat, Aug 23, 2008 at 13:33 in India section
Tags: Face The Nation, Olympics
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Olympic Games — the world's biggest sporting spectacle — has thrown up new heroes before the Indian nation. India now has its own Rocky. On Friday, Indian boxer Vijender Singh went down fighting a semi-final bout at the Beijing Olympics. Across the country people stayed glued to watch the Bhiwani lad take on the Cuban boxer. And though he did not win the bout, the day will be remembered for the birth of a new interest - in any sports other than cricket.
One gold, courtesy shooter Abhinav Bindra, two bronzes, courtesy a boxer and a wrestler who came out of the blue - can sports other than cricket finally get recognition in India?
CNN-IBN asked that question on its show Face the Nation. On the panel, to debate the question were former Billiards champion and Padmabhushan awardee, Michael Ferreira; Lokesh Kumar, Managing Director, 21st Century Media Ltd and well-known columnist, Debraj Mookerjee.
Michael Ferreira said that he would like to see everyone get real. He highlighted that the entire nation watched the event not because we are a sporty or sporting nation or in love with wrestling and boxing per se. We watched because we were desperately angling for the elusive Olympic gold.
“We do not have a nationwide interest in any other sport apart from cricket, and this is where we have to change,” said the former Billiards champion.
Olympians, Anyone?
Sports, at the end of the day, is a brand. Why can’t we have these names sold like a Dhoni or a Yuvraj?
Lokesh Kumar, complained that it is a real shame that we compare all the top class winners like (Olympians Abhinav Bindra, Sushil Kumar or Vijender Kumar) to even fringe cricketers.
“Let cricket do its own thing,” said Lokesh Kumar on the back foot. “For the first time we had a belief that we could go for it and win. That is the thing that is going to trigger a huge revolution in the country,” he argued.
Sports must to cut across social barriers. Wrestling is not an elitist sport and its players will be people from a certain section of society and cannot be converted into commercial commodities. Is that why these wrestling or boxing lads do not getting grabbed or mobbed like the players of the gentlemen’s game?
How does one generate interest in these sports?
“In sports, a spectacle is what you watch on television, while a sport is what you go and watch on a field. Sport is the best way to mobilize people into something constructive which is actually what happened in Bhiwani,” countered Debraj Mookerjee.
A Flash In The Pan Or Here To Stay
So were these wins only fluke ones or is it going to change something on the ground? Would someone now sponsor, for instance, an ‘akhara’ that trains these kids.
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URBANEYE
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I am of the humble opinion that mighty India is soon going to win many more medals in the near
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I feel Media is only about marketing and Selling. The reason cricket is so loved is the fact that we
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One sure way to popularise other sport is for the visual media to enlighten the viewers on the nuances of
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cricket craze!who created it?the media.by the way what is the govenment doing?why should it not first have good palygrounds.many schools
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