Athletes call for better govt support from sub-junior level

Hyderabad: Champion sportspersons Sunil Chetri, Mithali Raj, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa on Wednesday lamented that Indians were not able to score over their opponents from China, South Korea and others because of a dearth of training facilities, quality coaches and less than adequate infrastructural support.

This was made worse by the absence of a government-supported system whereby young talents could be nurtured to blossom in the international arena. They were airing their opinions during a discussion on ‘India’s Potential as a Sporting Nation’ that was organised by Young FICCI Ladies Organisation here.

The current national football champion, Chetri, reasoned that although everyone talks of a shortage of Olympic gold medallists, none looks at the other side of the coin-shortage of professionalism, which is one of the reasons why the country is unable to produce child prodigies.

Jwala urged the policy makers to be more forthwith in their support to sportspersons from all disciplines. This can be ensured if they come to the aid of those who show promise even at the sub-junior level, she contended. She pointed out that the government was funding players who are in the Indian team whereas they should focus on the sub-junior athletes and help them climb the success ladder.

Rekha Rani, Vice-Chancellor and Managing Director, Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh called for inclusion of sports in the school curriculum which was the case in several States like Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Samia Alam Khan, Chairperson of Young FICCI Ladies Organisation, while stating that only cricket cannot make a sports nation, said that equal attention ought to be accorded to all non-cricketing disciplines, particularly those where talents were bursting at the seams.

Indian women cricket team captain, Mithali Raj and shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa also participated in the discussion that was moderated by former first-class cricketer Vijay Mohan Raj.