Is the most popular sports of your country the national game too?

[arunima25]

Hockey is the national game of India. But the most popular sports of India is Cricket. It's not an exaggeration when we say that Cricket is like a religion that binds the nation together. Cricket has outshines other sports. And if any sport is considered as a lucrative career option here, it is Cricket. Indian hockey team is bouncing back to it's lost glory with recent spectacular performances. But it's still far behind the popularity of Cricket.
How about your country?

 

[Sanjeev]

Yes, our national sport is hockey but most of the people like cricket and that's the problem too. All the sports don't get recognition and we don't do well in the events like Olympics. I don't remember when we won a gold medal individually except in shooting and in the last olympics by Neeraj Chopra in Javelin throw. Our medal tally is very short in these sports event. Actually our government is biased too , authorities don't want to invest on other games. There are sports like gymnastics, swimming etc where we don't even compete. I wish if our government can do justice with the other sports too and may get people focused on them and ultimately get appreciation at the international level.

 

[arunima25]

@Sanjeev . You have made some valid points there. We have a huge population and we should have more talents. We just need the proper grooming and encouragement from government and society. We see some improvement in sports under this current regime in the last ten years. Medal tally is improving, events are held to promote local talents and sports on a general sphere. But having said this, it is not enough. More has to be done. And the most important thing is for sports authorities to be corruption free and unbiased.

 

[Sanjeev]

@Sanjeev . You have made some valid points there. We have a huge population and we should have more talents. We just need the proper grooming and encouragement from government and society. We see some improvement in sports under this current regime in the last ten years. Medal tally is improving, events are held to promote local talents and sports on a general sphere. But having said this, it is not enough. More has to be done. And the most important thing is for sports authorities to be corruption free and unbiased.

This has been highlighted before also but the government doesn't like to focus on the same. I remember a gymnast Dipa Karmakar who won bronze medal in common wealth . But I don't know what happened to her as I didn't see her in any other tournament. Gymnastics is not a popular sport in India but still she performed well. But the government didn't try to promote the sport and not a single player in this sport emerged after her.

 

[arunima25]

@Sanjeev . Deepa Karmakar had a spectacular performance in the previous Olympics, not the current one. She missed the bronze due to the slightest margin. But good that she got the due appreciation, media coverage,monetary reward and even awards on various platforms. That was a nice gesture. I am not sure but she has perhaps become a trainer for gymnastics for India. She got her due. But yes, there are stories of other Olympians who are living in poverty and did not get enough because they missed a medal. We have to take care of them too to encourage more youngsters to choose sports as a secured career. A lot needs to be done there

 

[Sanjeev]

@Sanjeev . Deepa Karmakar had a spectacular performance in the previous Olympics, not the current one. She missed the bronze due to the slightest margin. But good that she got the due appreciation, media coverage,monetary reward and even awards on various platforms. That was a nice gesture. I am not sure but she has perhaps become a trainer for gymnastics for India. She got her due. But yes, there are stories of other Olympians who are living in poverty and did not get enough because they missed a medal. We have to take care of them too to encourage more youngsters to choose sports as a secured career. A lot needs to be done there

PT Usha was the most successful sports person of our country who won lots of medals in the Asiad but could not win a single medal in Olympics. Maybe the training techniques, infrastructure, trainers are not good like they are in other countries. See no any Indian has ever reached to the SF of any grand slams of tennis in singles. This is irony that players from other sports don't get money and recognition. See how much the cricketers earn in IPL every year. Can you imagine other player earn half the money they earn? The situation of other sports is not at all good in India.