Butchers of Sopore and Birmingham

Nine years of calm before icy storm

Kashmir turns crimson with blood of Pandits

AN UN-ISLAMIC KIDNAPPING AND CHAOS IN THE VALLEY

The illusion of azaadi and Kashmir’s historic deception

How Pak's terror policy evolved in Kashmir

Birth of social media jihadists, death of Article-370

Operation Sindoor: When Indian missiles rained on Pak terror parade

<div class='ite_mg_banner ads__container'><div class='it_mg_bnrBox'><div class='ite_bnr_cont'><div class='ite_cont_dtl'> <h4>Subscribe to India Today Print + Digital. Your First Month Is On Us. <span class='bold_text'> ₹299/month</span> thereafter. Cancel anytime.</h4><a href='https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsubscriptions.intoday.in%2Findiatoday%3Futm_source%3Dtop-web-banner ' class='ite_subscribe_btn origin_conscent_url' target='_blank'>SUBSCRIBE</a></div></div></div></div>

US Election coverage

India

World

NewsMo

Fact Check

Programmes

Match Schedule

Teams

Player Stats

Match Report

LIVE SCORES

<div class="itg-mosimage"><amp-img src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Fmedia2%2Findiatoday%2Fimages%2Fstories%2F1998December%2Fwhat-a-fall-1_080712085130.gif" alt="" height="425" width="650" class="" layout="responsive"></amp-img><p>Every Asian games is replete with stories of sudden surprises. This time the Japanese, known to play second fiddle to the Chinese, took on the Asian giants and beat them in almost every possible event. At least in the first three days.</p><p>The Chinese, who like to establish their supremacy by winning every gold medal available, stood stunned.</p><p>But, of course, every Asian Games also breeds tales of familiarity. And for that one has to only glance at the Indian contingent where once again in the early stages "medal hopeful" after "medal hopeful" finished at the bottom.<br><br>Although star weightlifter Karnam Malleshwari won a silver later, India's final medal tally, it seemed, would fall far short of expectations.</p><p>The biggest disappointment early on was the diminutive weightlifter N. Kunjarani, regular winner of medals in international competitions and the winner of two bronzes in the 1990 and 1994 Asian Games.<br><br>This time she finished last in the 48 kg category with a total lift of 165 kg while China's Liu Xiuhua won the gold with 185 kg. It appeared that she had an off day as she failed to come close to her best in both the snatch and the clean and jerk. </p><p>"I just don't know what happened," she sobbed. Even her coach Pal Singh Sandhu didn't have soothing words: "Even if she had done her best she would not have figured among the medals this time."<br></p><div class="itemcenter"><amp-iframe height="62" title="" width="320" sandbox="allow-forms allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-top-navigation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" allowfullscreen src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Findiatoday%2Fbanner%2Fpreferred-source-new.html%3Fv%3D1.014%5Cu0026native%3D1" class="mrBt15 preferred-source-banner"> </amp-iframe></div><div class="itg-mosimage"><amp-img src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Fmedia2%2Findiatoday%2Fimages%2Fstories%2F1998December%2Fwhat-a-fall-2_080712085130.gif" alt="" height="425" width="650" class="" layout="responsive"></amp-img>DISMAL SHOW: Pratima Kumari comes a cropper in the 58 kg weightlifting category</div></p><p>But it seemed odd that Kunjarani who had lifted 72.5 kg in snatch last year a few months after a knee operation could only manage 70 kg in Bangkok.</p><p>Similarly, the girl who regularly did 105 kg in the clean and jerk in practice fell short by 10 kg in competition. Was it possible that she was not fully fit? In early 1997 Kunjarani's troublesome left knee was operated on by a Delhi-based doctor, A. Rajgopal. </p><p>She returned to practice after treatment under physiotherapist Bela Sethi. In May 1998 she complained again of pain, this time in her right knee. Rajgopal and Sethi prescribed therapy and she attended 10 sittings. Yet, when asked to return three weeks later for further therapy, she failed to turn up. </p><p>Did her trainers at the Asian Games camp believe they knew better than specialists? Says Sethi: "She may not have recovered in time and that could have been a big factor." Adds former selector P.K. Mahanand: "She has not lost, she has been made to lose."<br><br>Whatever, the point is that gifted weightlifters like Kunjarani fail to deliver because of the lack of a proper sports development system. This is the epitaph of Indian sports. Says Sandhu: "Look how smaller countries like Myanmar, Indonesia, Chinese Taipei and Thailand have shown improvement." </p><div class="itg-mosimage"><amp-img src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Fmedia2%2Findiatoday%2Fimages%2Fstories%2F1998December%2Fwhat-a-fall-3-s_080712085139.gif" alt="" height="425" width="650" class="" layout="responsive"></amp-img><div class="clicktoenlarge"><a href="#" target="_blank" rel="dofollow">Click here to Enlarge</a></div></div></p><p>India still has only a handful of women weightlifters while most other Asian countries have thousands in their ranks.</p><p>In fact, all those who bring glory to India - be it Leander Paes, P.T. Usha or Jaspal Rana - do it despite the system. Yes, the Sports Authority of India pays 25 foreign coaches above $1,500 (Rs 63,000) a month. </p><p>But the entire system is ridden with factions and politics and there is no proper method to weed out the inferior. "Even a bad plan is better than no plan," said George Gandy, once one of Britain's best-known long- and middle-distance runners. In Indian sport there is no system, no plan - and so no winners.<br><br>Check out Japan in contrast. Its system is well in place. Swimming head coach Koji Ueno, for instance, began by concentrating on school and university stars.</p><p>He designed a specific plan for each swimmer, monitored their training loads carefully and gave them exposure to the right levels of competition each year by making them swim against American and Australian swimmers.</p><p> In India they do it slightly differently. When swimmers training for Bangkok complained about the cold water (it was at the wrong temperature, resulting in swimmers falling ill) and greasy food, an official replied, "If you don't want to go to Bangkok, just say so."<br></p><div class="itg-mosimage"><amp-img src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Fmedia2%2Findiatoday%2Fimages%2Fstories%2F1998December%2Fwhat-a-fall-4_080712085130.gif" alt="" height="425" width="650" class="" layout="responsive"></amp-img>Kuhelee Ganguly fails to find the target in the Air Pistol shooting event</div></p><p>India's swimmers finished last in many events. The Japanese though boast of a handful of potential world-class swimmers.</p><p>In fact, since the Hiroshima Asian Games where the Chinese swimmers crushed the opposition, the Japanese have dominated the pool. In Bangkok, Japanese swimmers claimed six golds in the first four days. </p><p>On the track too, the Chinese marathon runner who was expected to win easily was shocked by Japanese runners who bagged the first and third spots.</p><p>So surprised were the Chinese that Lou Dapeng, a top China sports official, lashed out at his country's coaches for not keeping abreast of the latest methods and called them "outdated". </p><p>Lou believes the Japanese methods have the scientific edge. Though the Chinese took over the medal race, Lou exhorted the Chinese coaches to come up with a more disciplined system that would reinforce their supremacy in Asia.<br><br>Indian administrators alas were too busy still talking about their "medal hopefuls".</p><div id="tab-link-wrapper-plugin"><div class="authors__container"><div class="authors__by"><div class="authlable">Published By: </div><div class="authdetaisl">AtMigration </div></div><div class="published__on"><div class="authlable">Published On: </div><div class="authdetaisl">Dec 21, 1998</div></div></div><div class="sendros">--- ENDS ---</div></div></div>

sport

Sport

<div class="itg-mosimage"><div class="itgimage"><img  title=""  class="" alt="" src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Fmedia2%2Findiatoday%2Fimages%2Fstories%2F1998December%2Fwhat-a-fall-1_080712085130.gif" loading="lazy" /></div><p>Every Asian games is replete with stories of sudden surprises. This time the Japanese, known to play second fiddle to the Chinese, took on the Asian giants and beat them in almost every possible event. At least in the first three days.</p><p>The Chinese, who like to establish their supremacy by winning every gold medal available, stood stunned.</p><p>But, of course, every Asian Games also breeds tales of familiarity. And for that one has to only glance at the Indian contingent where once again in the early stages "medal hopeful" after "medal hopeful" finished at the bottom.<br><br>Although star weightlifter Karnam Malleshwari won a silver later, India's final medal tally, it seemed, would fall far short of expectations.</p><p>The biggest disappointment early on was the diminutive weightlifter N. Kunjarani, regular winner of medals in international competitions and the winner of two bronzes in the 1990 and 1994 Asian Games.<br><br>This time she finished last in the 48 kg category with a total lift of 165 kg while China's Liu Xiuhua won the gold with 185 kg. It appeared that she had an off day as she failed to come close to her best in both the snatch and the clean and jerk. </p><p>"I just don't know what happened," she sobbed. Even her coach Pal Singh Sandhu didn't have soothing words: "Even if she had done her best she would not have figured among the medals this time."<br></p><div class="itemcenter"><iframe scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="62" awidth="320" aheight="62" amplayout="fixed" src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Findiatoday%2Fbanner%2Fpreferred-source-new.html%3Fv%3D1.014" class="preferred-source-banner" loading="lazy"></iframe></div><style>.preferred-source-banner{  margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}</style><div class="itg-mosimage"><div class="itgimage"><img  title=""  class="" alt="" src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Fmedia2%2Findiatoday%2Fimages%2Fstories%2F1998December%2Fwhat-a-fall-2_080712085130.gif" loading="lazy" /></div>DISMAL SHOW: Pratima Kumari comes a cropper in the 58 kg weightlifting category</div></p><p>But it seemed odd that Kunjarani who had lifted 72.5 kg in snatch last year a few months after a knee operation could only manage 70 kg in Bangkok.</p><p>Similarly, the girl who regularly did 105 kg in the clean and jerk in practice fell short by 10 kg in competition. Was it possible that she was not fully fit? In early 1997 Kunjarani's troublesome left knee was operated on by a Delhi-based doctor, A. Rajgopal. </p><p>She returned to practice after treatment under physiotherapist Bela Sethi. In May 1998 she complained again of pain, this time in her right knee. Rajgopal and Sethi prescribed therapy and she attended 10 sittings. Yet, when asked to return three weeks later for further therapy, she failed to turn up. </p><p>Did her trainers at the Asian Games camp believe they knew better than specialists? Says Sethi: "She may not have recovered in time and that could have been a big factor." Adds former selector P.K. Mahanand: "She has not lost, she has been made to lose."<br><br>Whatever, the point is that gifted weightlifters like Kunjarani fail to deliver because of the lack of a proper sports development system. This is the epitaph of Indian sports. Says Sandhu: "Look how smaller countries like Myanmar, Indonesia, Chinese Taipei and Thailand have shown improvement." </p><div class="itg-mosimage"><div class="itgimage"><img  title=""  class="" alt="" src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Fmedia2%2Findiatoday%2Fimages%2Fstories%2F1998December%2Fwhat-a-fall-3-s_080712085139.gif" loading="lazy" /></div><div class="clicktoenlarge" style="width:130px;margin-right:15px text-align:center" valign="bottom"><a href="#" onclick="javascript:window.open('https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Fmedia2%2Findiatoday%2Fimages%2Fstories%2F1998December%2Fwhat-a-fall-3-l_080712085139.gif','window','status=no,resize=no,toolbar=no,scrollbars=no,width=200,height=429'); return false;" rel="dofollow">Click here to Enlarge</a></div></div></p><p>India still has only a handful of women weightlifters while most other Asian countries have thousands in their ranks.</p><p>In fact, all those who bring glory to India - be it Leander Paes, P.T. Usha or Jaspal Rana - do it despite the system. Yes, the Sports Authority of India pays 25 foreign coaches above $1,500 (Rs 63,000) a month. </p><p>But the entire system is ridden with factions and politics and there is no proper method to weed out the inferior. "Even a bad plan is better than no plan," said George Gandy, once one of Britain's best-known long- and middle-distance runners. In Indian sport there is no system, no plan - and so no winners.<br><br>Check out Japan in contrast. Its system is well in place. Swimming head coach Koji Ueno, for instance, began by concentrating on school and university stars.</p><p>He designed a specific plan for each swimmer, monitored their training loads carefully and gave them exposure to the right levels of competition each year by making them swim against American and Australian swimmers.</p><p> In India they do it slightly differently. When swimmers training for Bangkok complained about the cold water (it was at the wrong temperature, resulting in swimmers falling ill) and greasy food, an official replied, "If you don't want to go to Bangkok, just say so."<br></p><div class="itg-mosimage"><div class="itgimage"><img  title=""  class="" alt="" src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Fmedia2%2Findiatoday%2Fimages%2Fstories%2F1998December%2Fwhat-a-fall-4_080712085130.gif" loading="lazy" /></div>Kuhelee Ganguly fails to find the target in the Air Pistol shooting event</div></p><p>India's swimmers finished last in many events. The Japanese though boast of a handful of potential world-class swimmers.</p><p>In fact, since the Hiroshima Asian Games where the Chinese swimmers crushed the opposition, the Japanese have dominated the pool. In Bangkok, Japanese swimmers claimed six golds in the first four days. </p><p>On the track too, the Chinese marathon runner who was expected to win easily was shocked by Japanese runners who bagged the first and third spots.</p><p>So surprised were the Chinese that Lou Dapeng, a top China sports official, lashed out at his country's coaches for not keeping abreast of the latest methods and called them "outdated". </p><p>Lou believes the Japanese methods have the scientific edge. Though the Chinese took over the medal race, Lou exhorted the Chinese coaches to come up with a more disciplined system that would reinforce their supremacy in Asia.<br><br>Indian administrators alas were too busy still talking about their "medal hopefuls".</p><div id="tab-link-wrapper-plugin"><div class="authors__container"><div class="authors__by"><div class="authlable">Published By: </div><div class="authdetaisl">AtMigration </div></div><div class="published__on"><div class="authlable">Published On: </div><div class="authdetaisl">Dec 21, 1998</div></div></div><div class="sendros">--- ENDS ---</div></div></div>

One after the other medal hopefuls put up a pathetic display during the first few days exposing the inadequacies of the Indian sporting system.

India Today

What a fall - India Today

Asian Games: Medal hopefuls' poor display exposes inadequacies of Indian sporting system

TEAMS

What a fall

Eight Muslim-majority countries have agreed to join US President Donald Trump’s proposed Board of Peace. This move supports a US-led plan to end the Gaza conflict but faces resistance from some European nations.

Reuters US President Donald Trump speaks during a multilateral meeting with Arab and Muslim leaders. (Photo: Reuters)

Trump, Islamic nations

8 Islamic nations agree to join Trump’s Board of Peace while Europe drifts apart

IND vs NZ: India opener Abhishek Sharma joked at the end of the 1st T20I that he did not have enough shots in his arsenal. Sharma said that he only had a few, and he tried to execute them well.

Abhishek Sharma

Abhishek Sharma jokes after Nagpur carnage: I don't have a lot of shots

The Bangladesh government will take a call on T20 World Cup participation in a cabinet meeting on Thursday, January 22. The sports advisor will also meet the cricketers and take their opinion on participation in the World Cup.

Bangladesh T20 World Cup

Bangladesh to decide on T20 World Cup participation after meeting cricketers

In his over-an-hour-long speech, Trump mentioned Greenland 51 times - minus three occasions when he mistakenly referred to it as Iceland.

Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted that he would not settle for anything less than ownership of the territory. 

Trump said Greenland 48 times during his Davos speech

Goa government has signed an MoU with Starlink to provide high-speed satellite broadband in remote locations. This partnership aims to enhance digital access, emergency response, and smart governance in the state.

starlink

Goa signs memorandum with Starlink to provide internet at remote areas

Play Time!

Donald Trump

Greenland

Davos 2026

PM Modi

Border 2

T20 World Cup

Deepinder Goyal

Dhurandhar

Virat Kohli

JEE Main

Jana Nayagan

Jaipur Literature Festival

WPL 2026

AR Rahman

Budget

United States President Donald Trump, who addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos, said that he loves Europe, but it's not heading in the right direction.

I love Europe, but it's not heading in right direction: Trump at Davos

Gita Gopinath, Indian-American economist and Professor of Economics at Harvard University, shares her insights on Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's remarks on shifting global economic order during the World Economic Forum in Davos and dealing with tariffs. 

Gita

Movie isn't over: Gita Gopinath on Trump tariffs and Carney's speech

At World Economic Forum (WEF) Roundtable in Davos, India Today Group Vice-Chairperson and Executive Editor-in-Chief Kalli Purie moderated a session on India's growth story.

round

WEF Roundtable: Can India become the third-largest economy? Experts weigh in

In this Special Report, we focus on the retirement of veteran NASA astronaut Sunita Williams after an illustrious 27-year career. Speaking in New Delhi, Williams described her visit to India as a 'homecoming', reflecting on her deep personal ties to the country where her father was born. During an interactive session, she shared profound life lessons from her time aboard the International Space Station, noting, 'Every person I know is there. Every animal, every plant, everything we know is there, and we're all on this one planet.' Williams, who completed three missions and set multiple human spaceflight records, emphasized how viewing Earth from orbit changes one's perception of global differences. The retired astronaut also met with the family of late fellow astronaut Kalpana Chawla during her stay in the national capital. The programme highlights her historic contributions to space exploration and her reflections on humanity's shared home.

Sunita Williams: Being In India Is Homecoming

Sunita Williams retires from Nasa after 27 years, calls India visit a 'homecoming'

This report highlights a major embarrassment for Pakistan's Defence Minister, Khawaja Asif, who inaugurated an unauthorised Pizza Hut outlet in his constituency of Sialkot.

Download App

Subscribe to India Today Print + Digital. Your First Month Is On Us. ₹299/month thereafter. Cancel anytime.

Asian Games: Medal hopefuls' poor display exposes inadequacies of Indian sporting system

One after the other medal hopefuls put up a pathetic display during the first few days exposing the inadequacies of the Indian sporting system.

PUBLICATIONS

TELEVISION

EVENTS

RADIO

GAMING

USEFUL LINKS

PRINTING

WELFARE

DISTRIBUTION

SYNDICATIONS

WEBSITES

EDUCATION