Indians back early from zero-gain trip

The Indian Express had reported this weird ‘junket’, in an exclusive report in the second week of December. In all, the Indians went with their own coaches and trained by themselves, with help from neither foreign coaches nor equipment. AFI secretary Lalit Bhanot confirmed the Indians “did not take part in any domestic tournament there” either. The reason shown for this was that the “depth of talent” at those meets was not good.

And why did they rush back? Two reasons were made available. Bhanot said: “The AFI had made it mandatory for all athletes aspiring for the Melbourne Commonwealth Games to participate in the February 15 domestic meet. That’s why those training in South Africa wanted over a week of acclimatisation, before participating in the meet.”

Interestingly, when finalising its Long Term Development Plan (LTDP), the AFI hadn’t mentioned this acclimatisation point at all. In the proposal, approved by the Sports Ministry, the AFI had mentioned that top athletes in preparation for the Commonwealth Games, will train in Doha and South Africa from December 16 to February 12. The other reason cited was the rain. A thrower who was in the squad said: “Since it was raining regularly, it was decided to cut the trip short.”

Interestingly, some Algerians athletes are still there, competing in the domestic meet, rain or no rain. And if the return was for acclimatisation, then besides the February 15 meet, there are two more competitions — on February 19 at Patiala and the Federation Cup in New Delhi, from February 24. The last two competitions would have given the athletes ample time to get acclimatised.

The returns from the trip have been zilch. A few top European athletes were also training at Potchefstroom, but there wasn’t any interaction with the Indians. In Doha, facilities were ordinary and the Indians didn’t interact with top Qatari athletes either.

And what about Anju? Her husband coach Robert Bobby George’s view is “participating in some low key competition didn’t made any sense”.

All athletes will attend the ongoing National camp in Patiala.