Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

SPORTS

The first medal in the Commonwealth Games was Mohan Lai Ghosh's silver in the 1960 Kingston Commonwealth Games in the 60 kg category. India's brightest moment was when its lifters won 11 gold medals in the Commonwealth Games held at Auckland in 1990. Karunakaran and B.K. Satpathy have also won bronze medals in the 52 kg and 56 kg categories respectively in the 1981 Asian weightlifting championships at Nagoya. Arjuna Awards: A.N. Ghosh, L.K. Dass, Kamni Ishwara Rao, Balbir Singh Bhatia, Mohan Lai Ghosh, Savarimuthu, John Gabriel, Arun Kumar Das, Shyam Lai Salwan, Anil Mukar Mandal, Vel- laiswamy, Dalbir Singh, K.Balamuruganandam, M. Tamil Selvan, E.Karunakaran, B.K. Satpathy, Tara Singh, V.K. Daroga, Mehar Chand Bhasker, Jag Mohan Sapra, G. Devan and Jyotsana Dutta.

game received the necessary boost. An ardent follower of the game, Mr. Adityan went out of the way in giving the Indian team the necessary international exposure. The Indian men’s team got the opportunity of playing teams from Japan, China, France and the erstwhile USSR. The men’s team also came under the supervision of a Cuban coach. The Indian teams were also trained by coaches from the erstwhile East Germany and Russia. Though India as a team has not made much of an impact in the international scene, some Indian players have turned out as profes- sionals for foreign club teams. Prominent among them were Jimmy George, who played in Italy; Uday Kumar in Bahrain, Suresh Kumar Mishra in Kuwait; and Sandeep Sharma, who has played and now settled down in Spain. Apart from the national championships including the Federation Cup for men and women, and the youth nationals conducted on a na- tional basis by the VFI, a number of volleyball tournaments at various levels are conducted almost throughout the year in different parts of the country. India also plays host to two international invi- tational tournaments for the Allwyn Gold Cup and the Sivanti Adi- tyan Gold Cup. Arjuna Awards: A. Palaniswamy, Nripjit Singh Bedi, Balwant Singh Balu, Malini Reddy, Shyam Sundar Rao, Randhir Singh, K.C. Ellemma, Jimmy George, A. Ramana Rao, Kutty Krishnan, Suresh Kumar Mishra, G.E. Sridharan, R.K. Purohit, Sally Joseph, Cyril O. Valloor, Abdul Basith, Daleel Singh and Uday Kumar. Dronacharya (for coaches) : A. Ramana Rao However, the more sophisticated form of weightlifting became popular only in the later part of the 19th century. The sport got an impetus only after it was introduced in the Olympic charter of games. While the first weightlifting championships were held at Cafe Monica in London in March 1891, an open category (super heavyweight) event was included in the 1896 Olympics. The sport became a regular feature from the 1920 Antwerp Olympics and at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Games, standardised weightlifting with definite rules and procedures came to acquire its own place. It has been a regular feature of the Asian Games since 1951, but for the 1962 Asiad, when it was dropped due to unavoidable circum- stances. Zaw Weik was the first Indian participant in an Olympic weightlifting event, when he took part in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Like most other sport, the Indian performance has been pretty dismal except for a few silver linings. India's first international medal was S.K. Ishwara Rao's silver in the 1951 Asiad at New Delhi in the 90 kg category. E. Karunakaran won a gold medal in the 53 kg category in the 1978 Commonwealth Games at Edmonton. Karunakaran also won gold medals in the same category in the 1980 and 1981 Common- wealth weightlifting championships held at Cardiff and Auckland respectively. WEIGHTLIFTING One may reasonably surmise that our an- cestors diverted themselves with tests of strength by lifting rocks and boulders. There is evidence that the Greeks competed with each other in the sport of lifting stones. There is also evidence that a similar kind of activity was carried out in various parts of the world.

WRESTLING

The history of this natural

sport of hand-

to-hand combat between two unarmed con- testants dates back to the Sumerian dynasty, over 5000 years ago. Wall paintings found in a tomb at Beni Hasan, a village of middle Egypt, show that nearly 5000 years ago the local people virtually knew every wrestling hold

which is in Vogue today. Carved figures unearthed in India also au- thenticate the wrestling practices of those times. The Greeks in- troduced it as an event in the ancient Olympics in 704 B.C. There is also reference to wrestling in the Bible (Genesis XXXII, 24) wherein a manis mentioned to have been wrestling with Jacob till day break. The Indian epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata abound in the wrestling feats of Hanuman, Sugreev, Vaali, the Pandavas, the Kauravas, Jarasandha and Balaram. In fact, some of the present day holds such as Hanumanti, Jarasandhi and Bhimi are named after some of the above mentioned legendary figures. Though there are records of Mughal patronage to wrestling, the sport once again became popular worldwide during the 18th century and has been a part of the modern Olympic movement since 1896. Modern wrestling is practised in two styles. The "Free-style" of the American origin and the "Greco-Roman"; a French innovation that came about in the 1860s. The game in India was popularised by the princely rulers of Bar- oda, Jodhpur, Kolhapur Cooch-Behar, Patiala and Jhargam. At that time India produced great wrestlers like Karim Bux, Ghulam, Gobar, Gama, Gunga, Imam Bux and Kikar Singh. In 1892 Karim Bux defeated Tom Cannon of England for the world championship. Sub- sequently Ghulam in 1900 and Gobar in 1921 won the world cham- pionships respectively defeating Kader Ali of Turkey in Paris and Adshanter in San Francisco. Though India made its debut in the Olympic competition in 1920 at Antwerp, the Wrestling Federation of India was formed only in 1948 with N. Ahmed as the secretary. K.D. Jadhav won a bronze medal in the bantam weight category in 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Indian wrestlers have not been taking the world by storm, however there have been a few silver linings here and there in the form of medal victories at the Commonwealth and Asian Games. Some of the best being the three gold, six silver and three bronze haul at the 1962 Jakarta Asiad and the four gold, five silver and one bronze tally at the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games.