Thaindian News

New Delhi, Aug 28 (IANS) Fresh from the success at the Youth Olympics in Singapore, India’s medal winners asked the government and the sports federations to organise regular foreign trips and hire better coaches for improving their performance at the highest level.
India won nine medals at the first edition of the Youth Olympics and were 58th in the medal’s tally. India won medals in athletics, badminton, judo, tennis and wrestling.

The medal winners complained that they play very few international tournaments in a calender year, in comparison to their foreign counterparts.

Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Suresh Kalmadi said he has directed the federation to look after the needs of their athletes.

“We will make sure these young athletes get proper training. The IOA will be writing to chief ministers of the respective states to provide the winners with whatever they ask for,” said Kalmadi.

Shiva Thapa, 17-year-old boxer who won a silver, has played in five international tournaments since picking up the gloves five years back.

“We hardly get to play outside. If we play 100 bouts in a year, a boxer in Cuba plays 200 bouts. The more exposure we get the better it is for us. I hope it will start happening after our good performance at the Youth Olympics,” Thapa told IANS.

The lanky boxer from Guwahati is based in Army Sports Institute, Pune. Thapa is now eying a gold medal in the Commonwealth Youth Games and the Asian Youth Games in 2011.

Discus thrower Arjun won a silver and got the first medal for India in athletics. Arjun said he gets to play only the state championships and a one-off tournament annually, leave aside competing outside India.

“Whatever I achieved is because of my coach. The federation has not done much for me. The athletes around the world participate in events every week. We need to do the same so that we perform well at the senior level.”

Arjun took up discuss throw in 2006 under the guidance of coach Suresh Yadav. He stays and practices in Delhi.

Not very far from the national capital, wrestler Pooja Dhanda has been training at her hometown of Hissar. She feels the younger coaches with good technical skills are the need of the hour.

“We need younger and skilled coaches who point our mistakes. We need better technology, so that we can improve our performances and our mistakes are rectified instantaneously. The SAI centre here in Hissar is not up to the mark,” said Dhanda.

Dhanda won a silver in Singapore and has been wrestling since 2003.