August was a good month for sport in India. Neeraj Chopra won India’s first gold at the World Athletics Championships with a throw of 88.17m in Budapest; R. Praggnanandhaa emerged runner-up in the FIDE Chess World Cup in Baku; and the national hockey team won the Asian Champions Trophy in Chennai. The last of those was more relief than joy, at least for the fans who had, after the Tokyo Olympics bronze high, seen India crash out before reaching the World Cup quarterfinals at home this January. Tokyo, it seemed, was not a false dawn.
The next challenge is the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China (September 23-October 8). New India coach Craig Fulton, a South African who was assistant coach with the World Cup-winning Belgian team, said the other teams would hunt India, the top ranked Asian team.
Up for grabs in Hangzhou is direct qualification for Paris Olympics next year. The team is currently training at the Sports Authority of India campus in Bengaluru. The players spend more than 250 days a year at the centre, away from family and under a rigorous regimen.
On September 2, just before the searing noontime, THE WEEK met both Fulton and captain Harmanpreet Singh to know what was cooking in the camp. They spoke about a range of topics, including the focus on defence, improved fitness of the players, the importance of mental conditioning, chances at the Asian Games and the main threats, the proposed revival of the Hockey India League and the India-Pakistan rivalry. Edited excerpts from the interviews:
Q/ Where does India stand going into the Asian Games?
Esta historia es de la edición September 17, 2023 de THE WEEK India.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición September 17, 2023 de THE WEEK India.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
What Will It Take To Clean Up Delhi Air?
IT IS ASKED, year after year, why Delhi’s air remains unbreathable despite several interventions to reduce pollution.
Trump and the crisis of liberalism
Although Donald Trump's election to a non-consecutive second term to the US presidency is not unprecedented—Grover Cleveland had done it in 1893—it is nevertheless a watershed moment.
Men eye the woman's purse
A couple of months ago, I chanced upon a young 20-something man at my gym walking out with a women’s sling bag.
When trees hold hands
A filmmaker explores the human-nature connect through the living root bridges
Ms Gee & Gen Z
The vibrant Anuja Chauhan and her daughter Nayantara on the generational gap in romance writing
Vikram Seth-a suitable man
Our golden boy of literature was the star attraction at the recent Shillong Literary Festival in mysterious Meghalaya.
Superman bites the dust
When my granddaughter Kim was about three, I often took her to play in a nearby park.
OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Meet G. Govinda Menon, the 102-year-old engineer who had a key role in surveying the Vizhinjam coast in the 1940s, assessing its potential for an international port
Managing volatility: smarter equity choices in uncertain markets
THE INDIAN STOCK MARKET has delivered a strong 11 per cent CAGR over the past decade, with positive returns for eight straight years.
Investing in actively managed low-volatility portfolios keeps risks at bay
AFTER A ROARING bull market over the past year, equity markets in the recent months have gone into a correction mode as FIIs go on a selling spree. Volatility has risen and investment returns are hurt.
