As Indian kabaddi loses its golden sheen, the stage is now set for wider popularity of the sport
THE IRANIANS SLAPPED their thighs in victory, but it felt like a slap on India’s face. For the first time in 28 years, ever since kabaddi was introduced at the Asian Games, the Indian men’s team had failed to make the final. Iran, which has replaced Pakistan as India’s rival in the sport, had been snapping at the champions’ heels for the past few years and, on August 23, finally caught up, announcing its golden ambition in the semifinal at the Theatre Garuda in Jakarta.
The Iranians had gathered past losses in their minds, but played as if they had forgotten, as if it was they who had dominated the sport for decades. The match ended 27-18, and the Indians wept. The women had a slightly better campaign, reaching the final. However, they, too, fell to Iran, 24-27. And they, too, wept.
In the aftermath, as everyone reeled from the shock, there were claims that it was an inside job. No, not the controversial selection decisions, though they could have played a part. This was about the two coaches who plotted to fell India.
A few days before the semifinal against Iran, the men’s team was handed its first defeat in Asian Games history, a close 23-24 loss, by the South Koreans in the group stage. Korea’s coach Ashan Kumar Sang-wan, incidentally, was the man who captained India to gold in 1990, when the sport was introduced at the Asian Games. “For us [as Indians], this was the worst that could have happened,” Sangwan told THE WEEK. “We had been winning like tigers. [But, this result means] there is some weakness. The team is good, the players are good. But, the way they were told to play was wrong.”
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 09, 2018 من THE WEEK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 09, 2018 من THE WEEK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
William Dalrymple goes further back
Indian readers have long known William Dalrymple as the chronicler nonpareil of India in the early years of the British raj. His latest book, The Golden Road, is a striking departure, since it takes him to a period from about the third century BC to the 12th-13th centuries CE.
The bleat from the street
What with all the apps delivering straight to one’s doorstep, the supermarkets, the food halls and even the occasional (super-expensive) pop-up thela (cart) offering the woke from field-to-fork option, the good old veggie-market/mandi has fallen off my regular beat.
Courage and conviction
Justice A.M. Ahmadi's biography by his granddaughter brings out behind-the-scenes tension in the Supreme Court as it dealt with the Babri Masjid demolition case
EPIC ENTERPRISE
Gowri Ramnarayan's translation of Ponniyin Selvan brings a fresh perspective to her grandfather's magnum opus
Upgrade your jeans
If you don’t live in the top four-five northern states of India, winter means little else than a pair of jeans. I live in Mumbai, where only mad people wear jeans throughout the year. High temperatures and extreme levels of humidity ensure we go to work in mulmul salwars, cotton pants, or, if you are lucky like me, wear shorts every day.
Garden by the sea
When Kozhikode beach became a fertile ground for ideas with Manorama Hortus
RECRUITERS SPEAK
Industry requirements and selection criteria of management graduates
MORAL COMPASS
The need to infuse ethics into India's MBA landscape
B-SCHOOLS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT INDIAN ECONOMY IS GOING TO WITNESS A TREMENDOUS GROWTH
INTERVIEW - Prof DEBASHIS CHATTERJEE, director, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode
COURSE CORRECTION
India's best b-schools are navigating tumultuous times. Hurdles include lower salaries offered to their graduates and students misusing AI