All hail Indian Football, Indian Boxing and Indian Chess

This one is all about celebration. So please leave your skepticism at home. Forget what we had been doing as a nation of 1.2 billion. Just enjoy what we have done in the last one week.

Just when the heady feeling of basking in the feats of Jeev Milkha Singh, Abhinav Bindra and Saina Nehwal was wearing off, there was more sporting joy in store.

First the much maligned national football team capped off a memorable AFC Challenge Cup by routing the Tajiks in the final. Its probably Indian football's finest moment since I was born - and after years of joy with my favourite club side ( Man Utd) , I have reason to cheer for my national team. All the credit has been rightly bestowed upon coach Houghton - Indian football joins the bandwagon of sports which have benefited from having a top quality foreign coach and increased international exposure.

The same could have been said of Indian Hockey but alas. Rick Charlesworth who wasn't considered good enough to coach Indian will soon become coach of the Australian men's side - replacing Barry Dancer, a highly successful coach who won the Olympic gold and the Champions Trophy with Australia. So its fitting that Indian Football's high has coincided with Indian hockey's lowest point.

Then there was a landmark achievement in Chess. Dronavalli Harika and Abhijeet Gupta gave India the unique distinction of becoming the first nation to win both the women's and the men's individual title at the Junior World Championship. This is something which even the mighty Soviet Union could never manage. If only Chess could become part of the Olympics - we would become a permanent fixture in the medals tally.

And finally the most adrenalin rushing event happened in boxing. Three Indians and three super victories. Akhil Kumar set the tone by toppling a world champion and then Jitender and Vijender followed with comprehensive wins. And the best part is that these guys were bursting with confidence before the bouts and are setting their sights on nothing less than gold. The chances of a second medal are extremely high and I am keeping my fingers crossed. Like these boxers I also want gold.

While all this was going on there was a setback in tennis - the much heralded pair of Paes and Bhupathi failed in what was probably their last attempt at an Olympic medal together. But it hardly mattered to me. These guys only have themselves and their super inflated egos to blame for it. Their coming together , their success and their break-up will forever remain one of the biggest 'what ifs' of Indian sport.

We will talk about the 'what ifs' on some other day. This day is to celebrate the new stars of Indian sport. Forget cricket, tennis and hockey. Lets raise a toast to football, chess and boxing

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Farewell Ric Charlesworth – We will never know what a top-class international coach could do with all the hockey talent in India

Long ago, legendary German hockey coach Paul Lissek had commented that, with the kind of natural talent available in Indian hockey, any top-notch international coach including Lissek himself, would give an arm and a leg to coach the Indian National team. Modern hockey calls for high levels of fitness, preparation and tactical manoeuvring and Indian teams and their home-grown coaches have always been found lacking. According to Lissek, a top coach could change all that and roll back the glory years.

Like a true sporting romantic, I was in total agreement with Lissek. I really hoped that his words would come true and India would be an all-conquering hockey nation once again. I had read a lot about our glorious past and yearned for a magnificent future under the tutelage of someone like Lissek. The fact that Lissek himself was ready to take up the job, if offered by the IHF was further proof that he really meant every word that he said.

Unfortunately for Indian hockey and sadly for fans like me, the IHF was not interested in what Paul Lissek had to say. They continued to hire and fire ‘desi’ coaches and Indian hockey continued its downward spiral.

Usually, former hockey greats are extremely critical of the IHF but they were fully supportive of the federation’s policy of not hiring a top international coach. They behave as if a foreign coach is like the second coming of British rule and are totally oblivious of the short comings of Indian coaches. I really hate them for that. It’s nothing but false jingoism.

Then Gerhard Rach happened.

One fine day the IHF went ahead and appointed an unknown German, Gerhard Rach as the Indian Coach. They claimed that they had pursued Paul Lissek but he was too expensive for them. So they got another German coach instead. The IHF’s logic was flawed and their explanation pathetic. Rach was not even worthy of being called a poor man’s Lissek. He was probably an impoverished, malnourished, critically ill man’s Lissek.

The move was a horrible blunder from day one and ended in acrimony- Rach was sacked unceremoniously and accused the IHF of not paying his full wages. Forget Lissek, the IHF could not even afford the third –grade German coach.

The Olympians were delighted though. They had been vindicated. A foreign coach had failed miserably. Nobody cared for the fact that he was a hopeless coach in the first place and then a foreigner

It’s interesting to note that around the same, Pakistan managed to hire a world-class coach in Dutchman Roelant Oltmans and found great success with him.

Indian hockey fell a few more notches and then Els van Breda Vriesman happened.

For years the FIH has been accused of systematically trying to kill the Asian style of hockey with constant rule changes in favour of the more physical Europeans. But that changed when Dutch woman Els van Breda Vriesman took charge. She took a personal initiative to help Indian hockey. India was awarded the 2010 Hockey World Cup. It is hoped that this mega event would revive interest in the sport in India. But more importantly she made my wish come true. She ensured that India would finally have a high-calibre coach. At least that is what I thought

Australian Ric Charlesworth arrived in India to take charge of Indian hockey. Thankfully, he was funded by the IHF and the IHF didn’t have to bother. His role however was not clear. He was called a consultant by the IHF and entrusted with the task of working at the grass roots. Ric wanted a more active role with the national side. I hoped that sooner or later the IHF would see the fault in their ways and make Ric the national coach. And then Ric would do what Lissek had prophesized long back. For once we would get a chance to see what a top –coach could do with all the natural talent that India has. I kept waiting and hoping as the IHF and Ric continued to tussle.

Then the Australian finally threw in the towel and resigned. The IHF called him names and abhorred him for his unprofessional behaviour. The Olympians rejoiced and some went to the extent of calling all former Australian greats turned coaches as money hungry mercenaries. The obvious reference was to Greg Chappell. Not that it mattered. What mattered to me was that my dream was over - After having come tantalizingly close to seeing the light of day. This was the closest we would ever get to having a world class coach. Lissek claims would forever remain a theoritical hypothesis. We would never get a chance to see the marriage of Indian talent and foreign coaching. Let the assembly line of desi coaches be set in motion again.

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