India’s new alphabet, post a pleasantly surprising Olympics, will start with Abhinav, Bhiwani and Chhatrasal — the ABC of sport.
Rajyavardhan Rathore’s silver at Athens followed by Bindra’s gold in Beijing has placed shooting firmly as the sport in which India stands the best chance in the future as well. Now, wrestling and boxing are looking at 2012 for confirmation of their status.
National boxing coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu could reel off the checklist of what is required to build on the success of the Bhiwani Boys Vijender, Akhil and Jitender — boxing rings, headgear, gloves, shoes, supplements, the list could go on. “But the next step for boxing, now that we’ve got the medal, is to sustain it and broadbase the sport. To start with, extra coaches — qualified ones — for all centres,” he says, stressing on the requirement of dedicated men and not just machines that could be available to anyone in the world.
In hindsight, the Bhiwani phenomenon should have been discovered long before India woke up to the Haryana hub this August. Sandhu is hopeful that Imphal — another exciting centre for boxers — doesn’t take another four years before getting noticed. “Bhiwani has a strong history of boxing, with Hawa Singh and Raj Kumar Sangwan winning medals in Asian Games. Hundreds train there daily,” Sandhu says. Now Imphal needs the thrust.

There are still boxing centres across India with few or no coaches. “There are hordes graduating from Sports Authority of India (SAI) every year. They can be taken in on contract-basis,” says PK Muralidharan Raja, the secretary-general of the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation. A poor man’s sport, boxing now offers a new, accessible path to greatness.
Ditto for wrestling, where Sushil Kumar says he owes his win to the coaches the Chhatrasal Stadium. “The trust between the guru and the wrestler is very important, because a big part of a wrestler’s development involves controlling what he eats, when he sleeps, how he trains,” explains Satpal, the Dronacharya awardee who coached Sushil. The 6-litre milk, quarter-kg ghee, and badaam thandaai consumed daily by Sushil, and the pattern of cross-training (Sushil’s included running, sprint, sauna bath, basketball, handball) was a highly individual chart jotted down for the grappler.

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