No rewards for world champs

Akhil Kumar, a World cup bronze medallist in the Beijing Olympics 2008, did not get recognition from his current employers, Indian Railways. This is the sad plight of sportstars in India who bring pride and glory for the nation. After being with the Railways for nine long year, the leading boxer was working as a Group D technician, as he joined, after being promised a Group B job and a designation of assistant commercial manager (ACM). Nothing happened and Akhil Kumar decided to move to Haryana Police. Even, Akhil's colleague Jitender Kumar has also left Railways and joined Haryana Police.
If the administration doesn't promote achievers, they can't encourage youngsters to take to the sports.

After 26/11, Mumbai Marathon becomes a success

Sunday, Jan 18 was a great day for sports in India. The response to the sixth edition of the Mumbai Marathon showed the spirit of the people of Mumbai. The intentions of the terrorists to break the morale of the financial capital of India, Mumbai, has failed. The response from the foreign athletes who agreed to run in Mumbai after 26/11 attacks, also have to be commended.
The Mumbai Marathon is a part of The Greatest Race on Earth, an event sponsored by Standard Charetred Bank. The other three legs of this four-marathon race are the Singapore Marathon, the Nairobi Marathon and the Hong ong Marathon.

India finds the youngest rated chess player

In an attempt to popularise a relatively respected game, namely Chess, I felt tempted to put this piece of information here. Lately read a report about Harikrishnan, a seven-years, three-month old second standard student has become the youngest rated Chess player in the country. Claimed by the Tamil Nadu Chess Association, the record demand an acknowledgement by the World Chess Federation (FIDE). According to a Tamil Nadu Chess Association release, he has an Elo rating of 1519 in the January 2009 list. He is the TN state under-7 champion and is currently playing in the National under-7 chess championship.
Interestingly, records are available for the youngest GM, youngest World Champion, youngest woman to get GM title etc. The record-oriented Indian system, which is hyperactive in cricket, will probably push the world body (FIDE) to soon acknowledge and include the ‘youngest-rated’ players in the record books.

Once upon a time, there was a sports field

After a proposal by the sports minister MS Gill for the formation of the National Playing Fields Association, the dismal plight of the vanishing playing fields in the city vicinity still continues. The open spaces have been eaten into by structures like the Inter-State Bus Terminal (ISBT) and other commercial structures. Many other open spaces like the Delhi Gate and Mori Gate grounds have met the same fate. Not only in the national capital, open spaces in other cities are also deteriorating at the same pace. Children have an acute dearth of playing space that not only hampers the mental and physical development, but also the growth of sports in general. The ample greens of past have become wedding venues of today. In the times of Commonwealth Games 2010, wherein the whole world will witness the sports infrastructure and atmosphere of Delhi, the condition of sports in general for children still waits for a major facelift.

Not CRICKET, but foreign sports are threats to popularity of Indian sports

To start my blogging, I really feel that Cricket is commonly considered as the biggest threat to other Indian sports, but latest trends among the youngsters show that foreign sports are bigger threats. Cricket is a charm for youngsters and makes BCCI as the richest cricket board on the globe. Cricket has become synonyms with India and a frenzy for citizens. But a more drastic danger is with Formula 1, English Premier League (EPL) and Basketball. The elite youngsters of India are becoming passionate about these foreign sports. Such sports are no longer confined to America or Europe. Students in schools and colleges encounter more of basketball courts and football fields than akharas. Millions of Indians watch Formula One on television, often with the same passion they reserve for the country’s most popular sport — cricket.
To promote other sports, we as individuals and society at large should take and show keen interest in other sports than the popular ones, for example, cricket.