Haryana girls rock the Glasgow show

By Norris Pritam

A brilliant show by Indian women at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games is not just a flash in the pan. It is the result of the trend set by Kamaljit Sandhu, Geeta Zutshi, P T Usha, Karnam Malleswari and more recently by Mary Kom, Saina Nehwal and Sakshi Malik among others. At Glasgow, India finished at the fourth spot in the medal tally with a total of 39 medals, including 13 gold. In terms of number, it may have been less than the last Games at Birmingham in 2022 where Indian sportspersons had garnered 61 medals with 22 gold. But then at the truncated Glasgow Games, hockey, badminton, wrestling and cricket were not included which are traditionally strong disciplines for India.

In a sign of resurgence of stronger women power in sport, Indian women accounted for eight gold medals with seven in boxing alone at the Glasgow Games. Bhiwani in Haryana is once again in the news for producing most medal winners. In fact, most winners were from smaller towns indicating sport as a catalyst for social upliftment and equality. Saina, from Hisar but now domiciled in Hyderabad, also has roots in Haryana. Same with Manu Bhakar, a native of Jhajjar in Haryana.

Jharkhand has also produced top women hockey players. In fact, the Indian women’s team largely depends on the State. But Jharkhand needs to learn from states like Haryana. There is no dearth of talent and determination in Jharkhand. The need is to channelize it through better facilities and incentives to produce women champions.

In the sixties, women’s sport was confined mainly to Maharashtra where Anglo Indian and Goan women ruled. D’Souza, Fernandes, Sequeira were the names that hogged the limelight in the sports arena. This was mainly because of the slightly liberated structure of the community. While women athletes from these states were comfortable wearing skirts, and shorts too, girls in most other states hesitated. In some old pictures one can still see many girls playing badminton, table tennis etc in salwar kameez!  But slowly the trend changed. Due to a better basic education system, Kerala and some other southern states began producing girl athletes from their school-sport programme. Sprint Queen P T Usha, now president of the Indian Olympic Association, was a classic example. M D Valsamma, Shiny Wilson, Angel Mary, Mercy Mathews and others from that era, dominated the sports scene in the country. Manjit Walia was an outstanding hurdler from Punjab, but Kamaljit Sandhu brought the state into limelight, winning gold medal in 400 metres at the Bangkok Asian Games in 1970.

After Kamaljit’s success, it was Geeta Zutshi who announced the arrival of Haryana by winning the gold in 800m in the 1978 Asian Games in Bangkok. Geeta was awarded both the Arjuna Award and Padma Shri. Unfortunately, it was still an analogue era and she was not made a star on social media.

After Usha narrowly missed a medal at Los Angeles, the real transformation came in 2000 when weightlifter Karnam Malleswari reached the Olympic podium in Sydney and secured a bronze to become the first Indian women Olympic medallist. And it was not an easy journey for the Andhra girl from Srikakulam. She and her sister shifted to Delhi and roughed it out at the Railway Stadium so that they could train with men weightlifters with reasonable facilities. Malleswari’s medal was a pioneering effort. It instilled confidence among women athletes. It was an assurance that Indian women could also win medals at the global stage like the Olympics.

After Saina Nehwal and Mary Kom in London, Indian women got medals in the subsequent games–P V Sindhu and Sakshi Malik in Rio, Mirabai Chanu and Lovelina Boroghain in Tokyo and Manu Bhakar in Paris.

No doubt the government in recent years has spent a huge amount on sports, but states like Haryana and Punjab have added much more to encourage sports. Girls in these states are now encouraged to go to school and college where they hone their skill in sport. And once they excel, they get huge financial rewards and attractive government jobs. Wrestler Geeta Phogat won gold in the Delhi Commonwealth Games and later became the first Indian woman wrestler to take part in the Olympic Games. Her younger sibling Babita and cousin Vinesh kept the family and Haryana flag flying. Geeta was made a senior police officer in the state. Similarly in Punjab, several women athletes like Manjeet Kaur and shooter Avneet Kaur Sidhu are at the top posts in the State Police.

Besides Government jobs and incentives, corporate houses like Reliance, JSW, GoSports Foundation and IOS Sports & Entertainment have contributed a great deal in the development of women’s sports.

Party in Glasgow is over. Now there will be a fight to be in the same frame or rush for a selfie moment at celebratory events. But it has to be in judicious proportion. Bigger challenge awaits Indian athletes in next month’s Asian Games in Japan.

(The author is a highly respected and prominent New Delhi-based veteran sports journalist, author and former long-distance runner. Over a career spanning more than four decades, he has established himself as one of India’s most respected track and field experts, extensively reporting on systemic issues and historic moments in Indian sports.)