Train Harder

WITH exactly one month to go from today for the South Asia Federation Games, uncertainty about how many athletes are actually going to participate in the forthcoming South Asian Federation Games is finally over with the National Sports Council Board of Directors deciding on Friday to send a team of 157 players to Islamabad. Joining the team to the Pakistan meet, from October 7 to 15, would be an additional 49 jury members, referees, coaches and officials as well as some 10 journalists. The discussions about the composition and size of the squad had gone on for too long, affecting the preparations of the athletes for the meet. The indecision on the squad size meant that the hopefuls could only put in half-hearted energy into training. It is easy to imagine the psychological impact it has on athletes when the issue on the eventual composition of the squad remains hanging with the major meet right at the doorsteps. For the last Games held in Kathmandu, athletes had trained in closed camps for nine months. This time they got much less as selection itself was done only a couple of months ago on account of the uncertainty over budgetary outlay for participation and preparation. Be that as it may, now that the squad size is clear, it is extremely important that no time is lost to put the athletes under rigorous training. Without working extra hard from now onwards, it will be unlikely that Nepal could fetch a reasonable number of medals.

What are Nepal’s chances in Islamabad meet? During the last Games, held in Kathmandu, Nepal figured second in the overall medal tally with 33 gold to its credit, the largest-ever haul of Nepal in any international sports meet. Though Nepal will be taking part in 14 out of the 15 disciplines included in the SAF Games, its medal collection primarily hinges on players’ performance in three individual games—karate, taekwondo and boxing. Nepal’s high tally at the Kathmandu meet, apart from the advantage of a home turf, had much to do with its good performance in the martial arts. The plan to send karate players to Iran, taekwondoists to Thailand and boxers to Pakistan for further training next week is necessary to psyche up the players.

At the same time, the closed camps here in other disciplines must see sustained, methodical training over the coming weeks so that athletes have a better chance of having a serious go at the medals on offer in Islamabad. Sports officials and athletes must work harder.

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