Indian sports — international level?

NOVEMBER 2016 TOPIC: Bringing Indian sports to an international level. Your views.

Martial arts with its agile techniques of self-defence; kabaddi, that infuses courage and presence of mind; kho-kho, with its speed and stamina building approaches and chess, that sharpens the most important human organ, the brain; all of these enjoyable yet challenging sports have originated in India. Yet, factors like money, fame and public investments have disregarded the very remarkableness of these sports. “These games are not actual sports”, “Nobody has the time to watch them” and “It’s like watching gully cricket or gilli danda” these are the prevalent opinions of the youth about sports like kabaddi. To bring Indian sports to an international level, it is the perception that has to be changed immediately.
Krisha Shah
Mumbai

I feel what is to be done is first of all, games like kabaddi, kho-kho and other games we are good at, are to be given tremendous recognition. I want to thank the Star Sports team for making kabaddi reborn at a national level. After the launch of Pro Kabaddi, I learned a lot about the game and the immense talent our country has. I’m eagerly looking forward to the upcoming kabaddi world cup! India hi jeetega!
Milan Patel
Saranathan College of Engineering, Tiruchirappallli

The sports culture in India is mainly limited to cricket and it becomes difficult for other sports to flourish. There are very few recognized stadiums and training grounds for ‘other’ sports. In school, children should be motivated to think highly of all sports rather than treating sports as a negligible segment of the programme. A career in sports is looked down upon which often makes interested and willing persons give up such options.
Anushri Shukla
Allahabad

Every sport involves physical activities performed in a particular style and each of the sports has its specific name. There are many sports originated from ancient times. Hockey, our national game, is one of such. To ensure maximum participation of the children of our nation, sports events are organized at school level, district level, state level, national level and international level. Disappointing performances of Indian athletes at the international level points to the inadequate facilities provided to the athletes of our country. In spite of such insufficiencies, to bring Indian sports to the international level, Indian athletes have shown a lot of interest and courage at national and international sports events, and have won gold medals in Olympic Games.
Sayma Qureshi (18)
St Xavier’s College Autonomous Mumbai

Yes, it is a fact that sports in other countries have already come to an international level. A big example of this statement is cricket — a game originated in one country but played by a number of countries including India. Indian sports like kabaddi should be played on an international level and our country may be known by this game. Efforts made in this direction have resulted in the formation of Indian Pro Kabaddi League. Many countries including England, Australia, USA, etc. are showing interest in it and they have teams prepared for this league. This is a small step, just the beginning, to bring Indian sports to an international level.
Ananya Srivastava (14)
Jeevan Marg Sophia Sr. School, Deoria

India is a land of great culture and talents and so are the sports played in India. These sports are really interesting and rare but many of the traditional sports and games of India have remained limited to the areas where they are played and are not much known in other places. Like kabaddi, many traditional Indian sports can be brought to an international level just by little efforts made by the government as well as the citizens or players of various sports. These sports can be traced from their places of origin and promoted by the government as well as the people and players who know its importance and its rules and regulations. Likewise many new and interesting sports can be promoted to a worldwide arena.
Kanvika Sharma (15)
St Angela Sophia School, Jaipur

Sports have a peculiar quality to induce union that no other treaty can create. India, which is multicultural, manifests its diversity in its varied sports, too. It will be a great feat in the world of sports to see Indian sports on an international stage amid other internationally recognized events. It will bring to the notice of the world the richness our country possesses not in wealth but the verity of sports the citizens participate in. This will in turn be an encouragement to the youth of India to cherish the sports that has its birth in the country.
Ashley Noronha
Don Bosco, Goa

It would be significant accomplishment for the National Sports Commission of India if they can take Indian sports to an international level. It will encourage the young aspiring sportspersons to achieve bigger goals. This will open lots of opportunities to make their name at an international level. But there are problems like inefficient coaches and lack of infrastructure. Solving these problems can boost sports at the national level.
Harshita Sood
Delhi University

Many of you have heard the saying, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. Nowadays sports have gained a lot of significance in everyone’s life. Playing a sport inculcates qualities like team spirit, leadership skills, and high self-esteem. It also offers a lot of health benefits. In short, sports immensely contribute to human development. Indian sports like hockey, badminton, football, cricket, and chess have gained international recognition, and the players who are selected to an international platform get an opportunity to play with the best players in the world. It tremendously raises the level of one’s self-confidence. When our country wins an international game, it not only benefits the players but also instils confidence in those who are passionate about the game and look forward to achieve their goals in life. I believe it is very important that every Indian sport gets international recognition and many more would be encouraged to play sports so that one day India also may become a world champion.
Eashna Jain (18)
Mumbai

Ranking among the top twenty football teams of the world during the 1950s and 1960s, Milkha Singh winning the gold in the 1958 and 1962 Asian Games, P.T. Usha, Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Narain Karthikeyan, and the legendary Sachin Tendulkar and Mary Kom, India had glorious years of experiencing victory in many international events. But India is yet to develop as a nation, in terms of sports. For the past few years, India is finding it difficult to win medals. In my opinion, this is because we do not prepare our people for such events. We do not encourage them to pursue sports. Physical education is yet to become significant in our education system and people usually do not take it seriously. Even if people try to excel in such fields, they simply cannot, because of non-availability of suitable facilities to guide them through. Bringing Indian sports to an international level is becoming a challenge. We need the best sportspersons with the best possible mentors to reach such heights.
Aadya Bhardwaj (16)
St Francis De Sales School, New Delhi

It is time for India to wake up and realize that the country can be a key player in the international games. For India, the Commonwealth Games could be the beginning of many new success stories in the international sports arena. If we can keep alive the Commonwealth Games’ spirit, India can compete at the international level not only in cricket and field hockey but also in many other games, and can put up excellent performance at Olympics as well. As we know that the performance of Indian sportswomen at international level has raised the standard of Indian sports. Indian sportswomen can no longer be ignored in this national endeavour to take Indian sports to International rank.
Adya Singh (12)
St Anthony’s Junior College, Agra

Sports in India can reach international standards but the following requirements are to be fulfilled.
• A healthy and wholesome diet. (Including non-veg)
• Start training from an early age.
• Selection based on merit other than status or wealth.
I guess if these three points are taken care of, the day won’t be far when India will get at least a minimum of 30 Olympic medals. Other disadvantageous factors are; too much emphasis on cricket and an impatient tendency for quick success. It is not always possible to succeed. We also need to accept failure with a smile and work hard.
Infancio Pires
Don Bosco, Goa