India at London 2012: Tale of contrasting minds

When you are competing for glory, a thin line separates winners from losers. India’s biggest medal hope, Deepika Kumari literally blew away the chances of etching her name in the history books. Commentators in the newspapers today described her loss as a “rude shock”, while some others consoled the young archer saying “her time will come”. Her coach, Poornima Mahato blamed the media for “hyping” the archer as a medal prospect in the run up to the Olympics. It wasn’t the loss that shook the fans but it was the manner in which she capitulated under pressure. For an archer who is ranked number one in the world, it’s genuine on the part of fans and media to expect her to deliver and win herself the piece of the yellow metal. It was daylight robbery for fans who expected her to fight, and hoped for a medal from her.

Yes, she will learn, but four years is a long time. Sometimes as an athlete, you don’t get a second chance. The 18-year-old cannot be blamed, but then who to blame for our archers’ disappointing show — the federation, the sports ministry, media or us who were unrealistic with our expectations? If the Indian contingent improves on its Beijing performance, we will forgive our archers’ flop show for four years and if we are not able to do so, every stakeholder will blame each other for the mess we saw at London. If Deepika’s performance was an “utter disaster” for a top archer, Saina Nehwal showed the calmness and hunger for a top-athlete competing at this level. Pictures speak louder than words, and Saina’s calm endeavour showed on the badminton court, whereas in comparison Deepika’s grinning smile on sending bows wayward showed her fragile mindset that gave confidence to her British opponent.

In another instance, contrast the performance of Deepika with our young shuttler P. Kashyap, who barely made it to the Olympics by nudging out his compatriot Ajay Jayaram. Kashyap has not only played with a lot of heart but looks a man who belongs to the top league. Much credit needs to go to our Badminton support staff led by a great mind, P.Gopichand who looks in charge of a mission to make India one of the best badminton playing nations. Kashyap’s next opponent in the quarterfinals is world’s top ranked shuttler from Malaysia. Fans won’t be disappointed if he loses, Kashyap has already given them a lot to cheer about. Though he will know deep down his heart, he has now a real shot at something which can make him a sporting icon in this country. Yesterday also saw the exit of our men doubles pair of Leander Paes and Vishnu Vardhan in the second round. The duo fought gallantly and lost a close encounter against the number two seeds from France, Tsonga and Llodra. Young Vishnu will come back home with his head held high, knowing he did his best. His serve wasn’t broken in the match and he played excellent tennis combining with his senior pro to almost create an upset.

As we reach the mid-way through the games, the clock has started ticking for India’s medal chances at London 2012. With pockets of brilliance in shooting, badminton and boxing but an abundance of poor showings in archery (men’s and women’s), tennis (barring Paes/Vardhan) and hockey (slim chances of a medal with two losses in first two league matches), Indian sport is at crossroads, for now. Can we be still realistic about winning eight to ten medals, as predicted by pundits pre-London 2012? Or should we lower our already ‘low’ expectations to avoid further heartbreak?

(The author is Co-founder & Partner, Pro4Sport Solutions, a high-performance coaching firm that trains young athletes in the sport of Basketball, Cricket, Football and Table Tennis)