“I’m confident in the abilities of my boys,” Koevermans stressed. “The practice sessions have been good. It’s nice to see the boys pushing each other,” he added.
The final list of 20 also includes two India U-22 boys – Alwyn George and Manandeep Singh, who did duty at the AFC U-22 Championship in Muscat. “It’s a dream come true for me,” Alwyn maintained. “The Camp sessions have been an education for me and I’m maturing fast as a player,” he added.
Manandeep who had made his Senior India debut earlier this year said” “This is a new challenge for me. As a player, one needs to flexible to adjust yourself in different situations. I’m trying my best and learning at every step.”
Defending Champions India take on Syria in the opening match of the Tournament on August 22 at 7 pm. The 20-member list stays as follows: Goalkeepers: Subrata Pal, Subhasish Roychowdhury, Karanjeet Singh. Defenders: Nirmal Chhetri, Denzil Franco, Gourmangi Singh, Gurwinder Singh, Raju Gaikwad, Syed Rahim Nabi. Midfielders: Lenny Rodrigues, Mehtab Hossain, Jewel Raja, Francis Fernandes, Alwyn George, Anthony Pereira, Sanju Pradhan, Clifford Miranda. Forwards: Robin Singh, Sunil Chhetri, Manandeep Singh.
"The state government is willing to sponsor the cost of international training to Mayookha Johnny, Tintu Luka and K.T. Irfan. They can do their training in any country they desire," said Kerala Sports Minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar.
Kumar arrived from London after witnessing a few events in which the Kerala athletes took part.
"The athletes, their coaches and their family have to take a decision. We have made our stand clear and we wish to hear what they have to say to our offer," Kumar said.
Johnny did not get past the heats in the triple jump, while Luka went out in the 800 metres semi-final and Irfan finished 10th in the 20km walk.
"Once they agree to our proposal, we will set up an experts committee to decide upon the country that our athletes should go to," added Kumar.
Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna have entered the finals of the ATP Cincinnati Masters after defeating Croatia's Ivan Dodig and Brazil's Marcelo Melo 6-4, 6-3.
The Indian pair with a straight set win is just one step away from winning the $2,825,280 hard court event. Both Bhupathi and Bopanna looked in complete control and never gave their opponent a chance to come back into the match.
They will now face the fourth seeded pair of Sweden’s Robert Lindstedt and Romania's Horia Tecau.
It will be the Indian pair’s second ATP win if they manage to win the tournament.
Expressing disappointment over the dismal performance of the Indian hockey team in London Olympics, BJP leader LK Advani today suggested a time-bound approach to project the country as a sporting superpower.
In an interaction with the London Olympics medallists here, the BJP leader praised the efforts of the six sportsperson who won two silver and four bronze medals for the country.
"It fills us with pride to see the performance of our sportsperson in this Olympic... But the present performance of the hockey team is disheartening and we could not win even a single match," he said.
Recalling the golden era of Indian hockey during the captaincy of Major Dhyanchand, Advani said, "I fondly recall the 1936 Berlin Olympics which was the era of Major Dhyanchand and India excelled in hockey. We won golds during that period and no one could score even single goal against us."
There should be a time bound approach and efforts should be made to restore our glory in the game of hockey, he said.
Olympic silver medallists shooter Vijay Singh and wrestler Sushil Kumar along with bronze medallists shuttler Saina Nehwal, boxer M C Mary Kom, shooter Gagan Narang and wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt were present during the felicitation ceremony.
Praising boxer Mary Kom, he said, "It is a moment of pride for us that a mother of two children brought glory to the country with her immense determination and focus."
He specially congratulated Sushil Kumar who won medals in two consecutive Olympics and hoped that the wrestler will bring more accolades for the country.
"India is advancing in all direction, but sports has always been an elusive field for us. But with the performance of these sportsperson, even we can dream of being a great sporting nation," Advani said.
Sports Minister Ajay Maken and acting president of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) VK Malhotra were also present during the occasion.
Another exercise of chasing a chimera is on. The dismay over the deplorable show by the hockey team in the Olympics is being deflected for the umpteenth time to a committee that is expected to solve the tangle of governance.
The Indian Olympic Association, which authored this mess in 2008, now comes up with a three-member commission to determine who among the claimants — Hockey India or Indian Hockey Federation — will administer the sport.
Painful exercise
To go back to the genesis of the crisis is a painful exercise. If K.P.S. Gill and his associates were guilty of failure in India not retaining its Olympic spot and deserved to be replaced, the scenario now is no less different.
The IOA, then under the command of Suresh Kalmadi, invoked the vague clause “disrepute to the game,” and disaffiliated the IHF. It constituted an ad hoc body, and then created Hockey India, fully aware of its legal and constitutional infirmities. The IOA hoped it would brazen it out with the opposition that cried foul of ignoring the canons of democracy. The Delhi High Court ruled against the disaffiliation.
It is difficult to imagine that the IOA, which has a slew of problems to solve, will disband Hockey India for the inglorious London campaign. Such recourse will receive spontaneous approbation. Hockey India’s record of administration is nothing to speak of with any degree of eloquence.
Tragically perhaps the International Hockey Federation, misled and misinformed, acted in haste.
Cover-up mode
Unable to retract, it ventured into a cover-up mode, raising various issues with the IHF over the failure of the merger from 2000 but continued dealing with the same office-bearers till 2008. How the three-member commission will untangle the imbroglio is a million-dollar question. All previous efforts, including that by the Sports Ministry, met with a dead-end after generating hopes of an accord.
What probably prompts the FIH to direct the IOA for a final decision could be related to India’s commitment to hosting the World Series League. If the FIH believes that a solution will be on the table on August 31, it is hovering in illusions.
A quick-fix remedy to a problem that has eaten away the vitals of Indian hockey for four years is unlikely to be found on one day (August 21).
The three-member commission may have no option but to recommend another ad hoc panel. If pushed to that edge, the IOA-team should keep the officials from both factions out of such a panel. The IOA can even think of forming an advisory committee enlisting members from outside its ambit, inviting senior lawyers and industrialists who share a love for hockey, to end this endemic national malaise. IOA’s urgency underlines a hint of desperation. Is it not time for the factions to realise the damage they have done to the national sport? They will earn the gratitude of all if a formula, embracing the frame-work of democracy, is framed and implemented quickly to extinguish the flames of acrimony, mistrust and egoism.
On how happy he is with his achievement, Vijay said, “I am very happy, I just can’t explain what I am feeling right now. It is a dream of every sportsperson to do well at the Olympics. It is a biggest stage and to win a silver medal there is a huge thing. I am really happy with my performance.”
Vijay Kumar was not in the limelight when the Indian contingent left for the Olympics, but Vijay himself was very confident about his chances, he said, “I have been in the game from 2003 and I was pretty confident that I will do well. Realistically speaking, my main target was to reach the finals. When I reached the finals I was competing with five other men, than I thought that if I shoot well I can make the top three and I did that. When I was in the top three, I thought that I can beat the Chinese to get up to number two and I did that as well.”
There has been an ongoing dispute between him and the Indian Army, recently Vijay was promoted to Subedar Major, though he is not very happy with it, “I won’t say that I am delighted with the promotion, my promotion was pending. It is still not a commissioned rank or an officer rank and I think I deserve it because winning a silver medal at the Olympics is a big thing. Indian Army has told me that in the coming 5-6 months they will promote me, let’s see what happens.”
But Vijay said that he is not unhappy with the Indian army, he said, “I won’t say that I am unhappy, I am here because of the support that I have got from the Army. But I am not asking what I don’t deserve. If Indian army can give esteemed positions to some other players, why can’t they do that to one of their own.”
The event in which Vijay won the medal is considered to be one of the most difficult events in shooting, Vijay on that said, “Yes, 25m Rapid Fire Pistol is very difficult as one has to shoot five shots in four seconds, but when I started with this I felt confident and that is what matters. No one else in my family was into shooting but when I started it I knew that this is what I want to do in future.”
There has been a lot of change in Vijay’s life after his triumphs at London, “The most important change is that I am getting so much attention these days. Everyone wants to celebrate my success and wants to talk to me, but I know that this will not last, it is only for 10-15 days and then everything will go back to where it was. I will start my training and people will forget me, they will only care about the next IPL then”, said Vijay
Vijay believes that the government and the shooting federation has played a major role in where he is now. “The support has been very good from both the government and the federation and I want to thank them for their support. Shooting is an expensive sport and one does need a lot of support. More corporate houses are coming into shooting and things are changing for the good.”
