Indians hope to keep pride afloat

NEW DELHI, AUG 21: Even as the country's swimmers hope to keep themselves afloat -- thanks to occasional splashes made by a select few --...

NEW DELHI, AUG 21: Even as the country’s swimmers hope to keep themselves afloat — thanks to occasional splashes made by a select few — they are faced with stark realities as the curtain go up for the 13th edition of the Nutrine Asia-Pacific Swimming and Diving Championship at the Talkatora Pool, here, tomorrow.

The presence of major world powers apart, the prospects of Indians reaping a rich haul here looks bleak. Their hopes rest on a few — the Delhi-based Kailash Nath and Elvis Ali Hazarika (both of CRPF) in the men’s and Nisha Millet, runaway leader in the domestic circuit, in the women’s.

Teams like South Korea, Hong Kong, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan all eye this meet as a prelude to Sydney Games for their aspiring juniors. If they come closer to the qualifying mark here, they will be able to join the seniors for the big event. Though most of their “first teams” are already in Sydney for the Pan-Pacific Swimming, the coaches assert that the strength of their teams here are equallygood.

Yet, Indian coaches are hopeful. Chief Coach KV Sharma was confident of a better show. He felt India would do particularly well in men’s and women’s Open section, boys Group I and girls Group I and II.

His best bet seems to be 17-year-old Nisha Millet. In fact, she is overdue for medals in this meet as she missed out narrowly in Kuala Lumpur. Elvis Hazarika is another prospect but the Assam swimmer is yet to perform to potential. According to his coach Tapan Panigrahi, the freestyle sprinter has been returning good timings. The absence of India’s best swimmer, Sebastian Xavier — he was asked to choose between Asia-Pacific and SAF Games — should help Hazarika.

India can also expect some medals in diving. Unlike the swimming coaches, diving coach Ashok Sharma was brave enough to hazard a guess. He expects eight medals from the 15-member contingent. He is banking on Bhau Sahib Dhige, Umesh Prasad, Yogesh Watve, Sachin Tripathi and Ishani Gosh to provide the spark. While Ishani is considered good onhigh board, Shruti Shrivastav is a bright prospect in springboard.

But looking at the preparations of the other nations, India have a long way to go to catch up with them. They can, at best, hope to add a couple of more to the 11 four silver and seven bronze medals they won last year in Kuala Lumpur.