The light behind Indian sport

The light behind Indian sport
Shona Manco

Gurgaon, March 19: It was de ja vu at the Classic Golf Resort today. As Sammy Daniels burnt up the course to take the lead at sixteen under par with two holes to go, it seemed that justice had been done. After three putting on the final hole of the Hero Honda to lose to Jyoti Randhawa, he had come through to stake his claim to another title. Around the 16th, his fellow competitors could be heard joking that the APGA should get immigration papers ready for this South African who finds his touch in India. However, after hitting it out of bounds on the par five 18th on the second play-off hole and losing to Jyoti yet again, one does not know whether Sammy will remember his last two tournaments in the country with joy or sorrow.

On the other hand, Jyoti Randhawa has retained the Indian Open trophy and continued where Arjun Atwal left off. Not only is it his fourth successive win on the Indian tour, but he has also climbed to second place on the APGA tour rankings.

However, while Jyoti takes time out to celebrate, its time for the organisers -- IMG, IGU, APGA and ITC to pack up and prepare to desert the Classic Golf Resort for a while. But as the spectators applaud the efforts of all the players and some of the winners, one often overlooks the sponsors without whom such events would not have been possible. The Wills title is synonymous with cricket, tennis, racing, badminton and snooker. Established in 1964, the company has been associated with sport due to its large advertising budget that makes it possible.

According to ITC's golf consultant, Brandon D'Souza, ``ITC's commitment has always been long term. They got involved in sponsorship of golf but wanted to streamline it, so in '91 they became title sponsors of the Indian tour.'' And this commitment has taken Indian golf a long way, with four regional events on the PGA of India's tour, the Rs 20 lakh Wills Masters and the $300,000 Wills Indian Open played in the country each year.

For Calcutta golfers, the home of this brand, the ITC has always been forthcoming with Pro-Am events held on weekends for club members and top executives of various companies. The Wills Cup and the Tolly Cup are a few of these successful events. Earlier this year, they played the Millennium Cup played with 160 teams. ``No one had imagined it would become so big,'' says Brandon. ``The city had almost 200 visitors and people fixed appointments and meetings for that time so that they could come out and play.'' Then they had the Wills Favourite Foursome with 60 teams. There was a Pre Qualifying; a regional, which then culminated into a grand final played alongside the Tolly Cup.

``We have seen a value to it,'' explains Brandon. ``And even though the company is not into individual sponsorship at the moment, they have been funding courses, like the Wills Sport KGA in Bangalore. The course has received funding and other facilities to help it on its way.''This is the 11th year in succession that the Wills Indian Open has been held. And this year it was at their very own golf course, the CGR. Even though it is far from the city, to say the least, they feel that it is a first class resort and worth the drive. ``However, to make it fun it has to have fun inputs. We have to allure people out here, maybe have a carnival, a clinic or just increase merchandising opportunities. But it's a first class resort and membership is still available,'' he says with a smile.

So whether it's the cricket team, the Indian golf tour or the tennis, the motivating force behind them all is a tobacco brand. It may be banned from advertising its product, but remains motivated towards making sport in India a success.