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SPORTS
Eternal India
encyclopedia
game received the necessary boost. An ardent follower of the
game, Mr. Adityan went out of the way in giving the Indian team the
necessary international exposure. The Indian men’s team got the
opportunity of playing teams from Japan, China, France and the
erstwhile USSR. The men’s team also came under the supervision
of a Cuban coach. The Indian teams were also trained by coaches
from the erstwhile East Germany and Russia.
Though India as a team has not made much of an impact in the
international scene, some Indian players have turned out as profes-
sionals for foreign club teams. Prominent among them were Jimmy
George, who played in Italy; Uday Kumar in Bahrain, Suresh Kumar
Mishra in Kuwait; and Sandeep Sharma, who has played and now
settled down in Spain.
Apart from the national championships including the Federation
Cup for men and women, and the youth nationals conducted on a na-
tional basis by the VFI, a number of volleyball tournaments at
various levels are conducted almost throughout the year in different
parts of the country. India also plays host to two international invi-
tational tournaments for the Allwyn Gold Cup and the Sivanti Adi-
tyan Gold Cup.
Arjuna Awards:
A. Palaniswamy, Nripjit Singh Bedi, Balwant
Singh Balu, Malini Reddy, Shyam Sundar Rao, Randhir Singh, K.C.
Ellemma, Jimmy George, A. Ramana Rao, Kutty Krishnan, Suresh
Kumar Mishra, G.E. Sridharan, R.K. Purohit, Sally Joseph, Cyril O.
Valloor, Abdul Basith, Daleel Singh and Uday Kumar.
Dronacharya
(for coaches) : A. Ramana Rao
WEIGHTLIFTING
One may reasonably surmise that our an-
cestors diverted themselves with tests of
strength by lifting rocks and boulders. There
is evidence that the Greeks competed with
each other in the sport of lifting stones. There
is also evidence that a similar kind of activity
was carried out in various parts of the world.
However, the more sophisticated form of weightlifting became
popular only in the later part of the 19th century. The sport got an
impetus only after it was introduced in the Olympic charter of
games. While the first weightlifting championships were held at
Cafe Monica in London in March 1891, an open category (super
heavyweight) event was included in the 1896 Olympics. The sport
became a regular feature from the 1920 Antwerp Olympics and at
the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Games, standardised weightlifting
with definite rules and procedures came to acquire its own place. It
has been a regular feature of the Asian Games since 1951, but for
the 1962 Asiad, when it was dropped due to unavoidable circum-
stances.
Zaw Weik was the first Indian participant in an Olympic
weightlifting event, when he took part in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Like most other sport, the Indian performance has been pretty
dismal except for a few silver linings. India's first international
medal was S.K. Ishwara Rao's silver in the 1951 Asiad at New
Delhi in the 90 kg category.
E. Karunakaran won a gold medal in the 53 kg category in the
1978 Commonwealth Games at Edmonton. Karunakaran also won
gold medals in the same category in the 1980 and 1981 Common-
wealth weightlifting championships held at Cardiff and Auckland
respectively.
The first medal in the Commonwealth Games was Mohan Lai
Ghosh's silver in the 1960 Kingston Commonwealth Games in the
60 kg category. India's brightest moment was when its lifters won
11 gold medals in the Commonwealth Games held at Auckland in
1990.
Karunakaran and B.K. Satpathy have also won bronze medals in
the 52 kg and 56 kg categories respectively in the 1981 Asian
weightlifting championships at Nagoya.
Arjuna Awards:
A.N. Ghosh, L.K. Dass, Kamni Ishwara Rao,
Balbir Singh Bhatia, Mohan Lai Ghosh, Savarimuthu, John Gabriel,
Arun Kumar Das, Shyam Lai Salwan, Anil Mukar Mandal, Vel-
laiswamy, Dalbir Singh, K.Balamuruganandam, M. Tamil Selvan,
E.Karunakaran, B.K. Satpathy, Tara Singh, V.K. Daroga, Mehar
Chand Bhasker, Jag Mohan Sapra, G. Devan and Jyotsana Dutta.
WRESTLING
The history of this natural
sport of hand-
to-hand combat between two
unarmed con-
testants dates back to the Sumerian dynasty,
over 5000 years ago. Wall paintings found in a
tomb at Beni Hasan, a village of middle Egypt,
show that nearly 5000 years ago the local
people virtually knew every wrestling hold
which is in Vogue today. Carved figures unearthed in India also au-
thenticate the wrestling practices of those times. The Greeks in-
troduced it as an event in the ancient Olympics in 704 B.C. There is
also reference to wrestling in the
Bible
(Genesis XXXII, 24)
wherein a manis mentioned to have been wrestling
with Jacob till
day break.
The Indian epics,
Ramayana
and
Mahabharata
abound in the
wrestling feats of Hanuman, Sugreev, Vaali, the Pandavas, the
Kauravas, Jarasandha and Balaram. In fact, some of the present
day holds such as Hanumanti, Jarasandhi and Bhimi are named after
some of the above mentioned legendary figures.
Though there are records of Mughal patronage to wrestling, the
sport once again became popular worldwide during the 18th century
and has been a part of the modern Olympic movement since 1896.
Modern wrestling is practised in two styles. The "Free-style" of
the American origin and the "Greco-Roman"; a French innovation
that came about in the 1860s.
The game in India was popularised by the princely rulers of Bar-
oda, Jodhpur, Kolhapur Cooch-Behar, Patiala and Jhargam. At that
time India produced great wrestlers like Karim Bux, Ghulam, Gobar,
Gama, Gunga, Imam Bux and Kikar Singh. In 1892 Karim Bux
defeated Tom Cannon of England for the world championship. Sub-
sequently Ghulam in 1900 and Gobar in 1921 won the world cham-
pionships respectively defeating Kader Ali of Turkey in Paris and
Adshanter in San Francisco.
Though India made its debut in the Olympic competition in 1920
at Antwerp, the Wrestling Federation of India was formed only in
1948 with N. Ahmed as the secretary. K.D. Jadhav won a bronze
medal in the bantam weight category in 1952 Helsinki Olympics.
Indian wrestlers have not been taking the world by storm, however
there have been a few silver linings here and there in the form of
medal victories at the Commonwealth and Asian Games. Some of
the best being the three gold, six silver and three bronze haul at the
1962 Jakarta Asiad and the four gold, five silver and one bronze
tally at the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games.