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Olympics - India looks at sporting life beyond cricket

By Sanjay Rajan

MUMBAI, India (Reuters) - Cricket is not the only sport in India -- that is the message that Olympic officials in the country of 1.1 billion people are trying to get across.

Cricket became a national obsession following India's surprise victory in the 1983 World Cup while interest in other sports dwindled for lack of success in the international arena.

India has the largest global television cricket audience but, with the world's fastest growing major economy after China, is attracting interest from other spectator sports keen to tap into the market, including soccer, Formula One and golf.

Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi believes the time has come for India to move on from being a one-sport country and expects the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in two years' time to be the catalyst for the change.

The 2010 Games will be the first major, multi-discipline event that India has hosted since the Asian Games in 1982.

"This is a great incentive to promote Olympic sports in the country," Kalmadi said. "We want to change (corporate) mindset through the Commonwealth Games.

"Unfortunately (funding from) the industry all goes to cricket. If they get one gold medal for the country, the kind of mileage the company will get will be considerably more than what they get in cricket.

"Hopefully then the private sector will come in a big way to support Olympic sports in the future."


HOCKEY DECLINE

Kalmadi said money was the key to improving India's dismal showing at Olympic Games since the decline of the national hockey team in the 1980s, due in part to a switch to artificial turf which favoured power, speed and accuracy rather than deft stick-work.

This year, the eight-times Olympic hockey champions are in danger of missing the Games for the first time and need to win a qualifying tournament in Chile, which starts on Saturday, to get a ticket to Beijing.

Despite being the world's second most populous nation, India has won only four individual medals in Olympic history -- or six according to some record books.

Before a 1952 wrestling bronze, tennis bronze in 1996, weightlifting bronze in 2000 and a shooting silver four years ago, Norman Pritchard won two silvers on the athletics track in 1900.

Pritchard, born in Calcutta of English parents, is listed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as Indian but by many record books as English. His feat came 28 years before India officially competed in the Olympics.

Whichever way Indians look at it, the total is paltry for such a big nation.

"Every time after the Olympics, where we hardly get any medals, there is uproar in the parliament but after that pretty little is done," Kalmadi said.

"So it is not only the federations who are responsible...a whole lot of people need to be involved.

"The sports budget is less than one percent of the total budget of the country. That's nothing for a country of a billion. So you have to get in more money for sports."


BUSINESS DESTINATION

Kalmadi believes harnessing sport for economic and social growth is the way to overcome this challenge.

"We got votes in the Caribbean when we won the right to host the Commonwealth Games because many people said they were interested in coming to India because they see it as a business destination," Kalmadi said.

Rising disposable incomes among India's growing middle class make the country attractive to many sports looking to expand.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter dubbed India a "sleeping giant" crucial for the development of soccer in Asia, while IOC president Jacques Rogge was supportive of India's ambition to host its first Olympics in 2020, saying the country had "great potential" and that a successful Commonwealth Games would strengthen the bid.

India will stage its first Formula One grand prix in New Delhi in 2010 and last year Indian businessman Vijay Mallya became co-owner of the Spyker F1 team which was renamed Force India.

This was after Narain Karthikeyan became the country's first F1 driver in 2005, stoking ambitions in the fast lane among youngsters.

Britain will support India's bid to stage the 2020 Games, London mayor Ken Livingstone, whose city hosts the 2012 edition, said in November.

London Olympics chiefs have promised coaching and other expert assistance for India's Commonwealth Games, which Kalmadi said he was confident would be profitable and would pave the way for more such world-class, multi-discipline events in the country.

"Whatever money we get from the government, which is about 1,000 crore rupees ($354 million) for organising the Games, we will return that money, raising it through sponsorship, television rights, merchandising and ticketing," he said.
 
India capture under-19 World Cup

India lifted the under-19 World Cup for the second time after a 12-run victory over South Africa in Kuala Lumpur.
The 2000 winners were bowled out for just 159 after being put in by South African skipper Wayne Parnell, with Tanmay Srivastava's 46 the top score.

But Ajitesh Argal took two wickets as South Africa slumped to 22-4 in reply.

A rain interruption left them with a revised target of 116 from 25 overs, but despite 35 by Reeza Hendricks, they could only manage 103-8.

Ravindra Jadeja and Siddarth Kaul also picked up two wickets each, with Kaul having Parnell caught at square leg for 29 in the final over to seal victory.

India's win rounded off a triumphant day which also saw the senior national team beating Australia in the first match of the best-of-three CB Series final in Sydney.

And it also saw India coach Dav Whatmore complete a notable double, having guided Sri Lanka to victory in the 1996 World Cup.

"It was a great effort by the whole team. I would like to particularly thank our coach, who has been great with us and taught us to believe in ourselves.

"We may not have put up a big total but we knew it was not going to be easy for South Africa to chase under lights," India skipper Virat Kohli commented.

BBC SPORT | Cricket | India capture under-19 World Cup
 
What brought more happiness to me than the U19 World cup victory was India's perfect victory over Aus yesterday. beating Aus is always hard, but to get a decisive victory over them is almost impossible. in the past few years, they usually thrash opposing teams and when they do lose, they lose by a very small margin. yesterday was the first time in years that i have seen Australia lose badly.

and sachins first century in Aus rounded off everythin very nicely.
 
^^^Yep, Tendlya was brilliant.

This one was special, for all those suckers who say that he cannot chase.
 
^ Sri Lanka beating the Aussies was a surprise victory. It seems that Aussies are now done.
 
i hope india can beat Aus on tuesday. they are going to come out all guns blazing and if we can win, it'll be a real blow to them. it'll shatter the myth of overwhelming aussie superirority
 
i hope india can beat Aus on tuesday. they are going to come out all guns blazing and if we can win, it'll be a real blow to them. it'll shatter the myth of overwhelming aussie superirority

For once I am all for kicking Aussie NOSE UP THEIR B**TS. It will be poetic justice for not visiting Pakistan. I think more than security they are scared to loose.

Regards
 
For once I am all for kicking Aussie NOSE UP THEIR B**TS. It will be poetic justice for not visiting Pakistan. I think more than security they are scared to loose.

Regards

i dont think aus is refusing pak visit for the fear of losing. i think its coz of IPL
 
Lawson fears Australia will cancel tour

Cricinfo staff
March 4, 2008


Geoff Lawson, the Pakistan coach, fears Australia will pull out of their scheduled tour of Pakistan, due to start at the end of the month over safety concerns but feels it would be the wrong decision.

Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricketers' Association will meet foreign ministry officials in Canberra on Wednesday for the latest information on the security situation following a spate of bombings. CA is expected to send delegates to the nation in mid-March, although even that is now in doubt, and Lawson is already braced for a withdrawal.

"The (Pakistan Cricket Board) seems to be pretty negative about (the tour), only because the correspondence they've been receiving from Cricket Australia has been negative," Lawson told the Age. "Pretty much everything they've heard from CA has been a hedging of bets in case they decide not to come.

"The PCB have been pretty disappointed by the comments. Everyone here knows there would be no problem with the tour, yet the more likely scenario seems to be that it won't happen from what we're hearing."

Andrew Symonds has repeatedly said he is unlikely to make himself available if the tour went ahead. Lawson warned that cancelling the tour would have a disastrous effect on Pakistan cricket and create more ill feeling against the Australians. He also said the tour would offer average Pakistanis relief from the concerns of their daily lives.

He was particularly concerned that some Australian players were viewing a cancellation as an opportunity to grab some of the cash on offer in the Indian Premier League, which clashes with the tour.

"It would be a terrific coincidence," Lawson said. "You would like to think that wouldn't be what it was about, but the amounts of money being talked about are massive. To a certain degree, it's pretty embarrassing to be over here and hearing some of the stuff being said.

"When people here read what Symonds has had to say about touring Pakistan, there is a lot of shaking of the head. There is no knowledge behind those comments whatsoever. Australian players don't realise how important the game is to other countries. This decision is far bigger than just the fate of a few matches. It's the precedent it would set, it would give everybody an out from coming here because 'that's what Australia did'."
 
CONGRATS INDIA!!!! I don't remember the last time Australia lost the CB series.
 
For once I am all for kicking Aussie NOSE UP THEIR B**TS. It will be poetic justice for not visiting Pakistan. I think more than security they are scared to loose.

Regards

Really depends on what Pakistan has to offer. If Pakistan is going to have the squad that was for Zimbabwe and India. I think the series will be close, but not dominated. :lol:
 
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