Jharkhand swimmers practicing without water for coming nationals

 

The 34^th national games are going to start from 11^th February 2011 at Ranchi. The Games were awarded to Jharkhand in 2003 and were originally scheduled for 2007. The dates were postponed six times for want of satisfactory infrastructure.

It’s quite contrite to see a full page colored advertisement of Jharkhand Sport Ministry in a premier English newspaper of our country exaggerating its achievement whereas an ironic dismal report presenting a grim picture of its player’s state of preparedness has also been published in another daily newspaper .

According to the news published in one of the leading daily news paper of Delhi “No one seems anymore interested in the games that have been postponed many times. The conditions in which players are practicing are diabolical. Swimmers mastering their butterfly strokes on dry ground, shooters taking aim without bullets, hockey teams never playing on Astro turf”.

Till some days ago, the swimmers were practicing inside a flat, where they would lie on the ground and thrash about as if in water! Not only that, more than half of the 40-member strong contingent haven't even seen a swimming pool in their lives. Having grown up swimming in lakes and ponds in their native villages, the sportspersons were unaware of the swimming pool.

“How are we supposed to do well if we are practicing on the ground and not on water?” asks Jharkhand swimmer Kriti Agarwal.

Trying to defend them self, jharkhand sport authority’s spokesperson says “the aquatic venue at Khel Gaon is ready. But the local swimmers cannot access it as it has to be kept in top shape until the games begin”.

The condition of state shooters is also distressful. Around 33 shooters selected for the National Games are practicing without bullets and other infrastructure. They are bind to target by only keeping their eyes on the bully that too a manual bully whereas in the National Games, they have to compete with players of other states who practice on electronic bully.' 

The condition of hockey is more or less the same. The men and women hockey teams for the National Games are yet to be selected. The training camps are to begin Feb 1.

We can have the notion of seriousness involved in organizing the National Games by merely visiting its official website as picture of none of the national player has been their on its homepage. What you will find there are the picture of our honorable ministers and diplomats trying to give their best cheese pose. 

It’s ignominious for a nation who has just successfully organized the 12^th commonwealth games for such a crappy condition of its country’s own national games. If this is the real scenario of sports in Jharkhand than we must applaud the state archer Deepika Kumari who has won 2 gold medals in the commonwealth respite of such a hell out situation.