Can England overhaul India in medals table?
Maybe it's the second-week blues, perhaps it's because my only direct comparison for the Commonwealth Games is with the Olympics but it seems hard to shake the idea that the home nations are not going to finish in Delhi on a high.
As of Monday morning, there were still 79 nine gold medals to be decided, out of a total of 272 spread across the four remaining days.
There is still plenty of scope to change the medal tally but I'm not sure that England are going to keep their almost-traditional second placing, behind runaway leaders Australia.
The Aussies have competed in every edition of the Commonwealths, going back to Hamilton in 1930, and have finished top of the standings in each Games since 1986 in Edinburgh.
At home in Melbourne in 2006, they finished with a total of 221 medals, 84 of them gold. By my shaky maths they have to win another 20 or so golds to maintain their performance of four years ago.
The most improved prize by some margin goes to hosts India. They have never finished in the top three in a Commonwealth medal table and I'm increasingly sure they will finish second here.
Their previous best was 30 golds in Manchester in 2002. That is a total they're likely to pass with days to spare and I'm sure they can get more than 100 medals in total which even taking into account the usual host nation effect is extraordinary.
There was a theory that many of the Indian's strongest sports took place in the first week but, with two more full days of shooting, both hockey competitions and boxing entering the medal rounds, I can't see them slowing down any time before the closing ceremony.
On the face of it England have slipped back in performance but the numbers are not all bad. In 2006, they won 110 medals in all - a number sure to be exceeded.
But the ratio of gold to silver does not make such good reading. In 2006 England won 36 golds and 40 silvers, compared to 54 golds and 52 second-places in 2002. Here in Delhi, the silver tally seems big already but the number of winners is going to be well down.
It's not hard to find superficial answers. England had some high profile withdrawals, some of whom were nailed on shots at winning Commonwealth titles.
In cycling, all the home nations have used Delhi as a chance to blood a new crop of talent, primarily because Olympic qualification has changed, making competing in Delhi risky for the likes of Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton.
Scotland have had a great couple of days, pulling themselves back up the table but are unlikely to get to the 11 gold level they set in Melbourne. Chances remain for them in bowls and medals are assured in the boxing - colours to be decided.
Wales and Northern Ireland are at about level pegging with their performances in previous editions of the Commonwealths but, with relatively low numbers, one big performance can change a whole lot.
Wales are hoping that Nicole Cooke can do something special in Wednesday's cycling time trial and have boxers in the mix at the Talkatora Stadium.
The real story remains with India - from the boxing hall to the shooting, archery to wrestling they've been a new force. I've seen some of their performances live and each and every one of those has made the hairs on my arms stand up - the perfect combination of massive home support and massive talent.
I hope one of the real legacies of the Commonwealths is that India shake off the reputation as perennial under-performers.
Too often questions have to be asked as to why India doesn't do better. Poverty, lack of funding and lack of school sport are all pointed out. India's Olympic record - hockey aside - remains abject. Abhinav Bhindra remains the nation's only individual gold medallist in Olympic history - that's something that has to change come London 2012.
I for one hope that come the supporters chanting "India, India!" in Delhi are doing so again in 2012.
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~50~RS~)
In a previous life I won four gold medals at the Olympics between 1992 and 2004 and I now work at the BBC. Whilst I was part of the Beijing team for the BBC in the summer of 2008, my primary role is as reporter for 
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Is this still going on? I thought it had slipped away into oblivion.
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Nice article!
I second your views about India performing well in CWG and 2012 Olympics.They have massive talent, all they need is to get the talent flowing in the right direction. England might still be ahead in the medal tally but India will def put up a good competition.
May the best teams win!
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It does seem to have turned out to be a good games for India, both as hosts and competitors. I likewise hope that India and all Commonwealth Nations have found the 2010 Games worthwhile. As mentioned in a previous comment we took a stab at creating a more equitable comparison of performance between nations with a GDP Adjusted Medals Ranking and that has generated some very interesting results. Without getting too technical, merely dividing by GDP isn't the right adjustment as it tends to overcompensate smaller nations - our method creates something far more competitive.
Our ranking has shown Nauru on top for many days courtesy of their one gold medal, which is exceptional for such a small nation. However, on day 7 they were just overtaken by Samoa, a larger small nation winning an even more impressive 3 golds. In any given year small nations might be expected to take the honours with a one off performance. Currently third in our ranking is Australia and there can be no denying their continued ability to succeed as a relatively modest population of 23 million people. Fourth in our ranking is Kenya as their GDP adjusted haul of 6 golds etc. scores well. Then comes India almost neck and neck with England and I agree with you that this looks like it will go down to the wire. India do deserve congratulations for upping their game at the 2010 Games while England should indeed rue missing several opportunities to clinch a gold instead of a silver.
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I second your views about India performing well in CWG and 2012 Olympics.They have massive talent, all they need is to get the talent flowing in the right direction.
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seconded.
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A tight race indeed for the second spot. I strongly believe India deserve that spot this time, after loads of media negativity on games preparations. Well done and keep up the good show Delhi!
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interesting article but I'm not sure why its argued that the reasons cited for home nations not finishing higher in medals table are 'superficial'.
If one analyses Australia's medal totals in depth one finds that their gold medals come predominantly from three sports:aquatics, Cycling and gymnastics.
In the case of cycling and gymnastics -in which Australia won over 30 of its gold medals-it is certainly the case that these medals were won in the absence of leading English/British competitors.
It should also be remembered that Britain finished above Australia in 2009 world gymnastics table and at the 2010 cycling world championships Britain finished top of the table in terms of Olympic races.
Britain has also finished above Australia in the 2009 world athletics championships and indoor chamionships in 2010.
What the present Commonwealth games show is that Australia is currently better than Britain at swimming-though by a decreasing margin
Finally,after the 2006 games in Melbourne Britain finished above Australia in the Beijing 2008 olympics.
I dont think that the explanations cited for the fact that home nations competitors have not finished higher up the table are superficial at all;furthermore, what about the fact that olympic sports in which Britain does well are not included in the Commonwealth Games schedule?
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A lot of British athletes decided not to go to India. I hope that none of these athletes is claiming funding. Why should we pay for athletes that then refuse to go to perform on the big stage? Can the BBC make public the names of all competitors that claim funding but refused to go to the games?
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I still think it's nip & tuck between India & England and home nations seem to be doing well in the Boxing semi finals. It will be interesting to see how India performs in the 2012 games but they only won 1 Gold in Beijing so whilst they may improve they won't be challenging Australia or GB in the 2012 medals table.
I am confident we will at least maintain our 4th place position come 2012 and at a push could even get 3rd.
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As always the hosts put in an exceptional performance. Have to admit that England have been rather weak, and that we are missing a host of top athelets, all be it at the end of a long season, with WC and Euros etc, clashing. Of course illness has restrained the England effort, disapointing but not a huge disaster, still feel that we can sneak India
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Poverty is one of the greatest sources of Olympic sport champions in India! Some of our best medal winners in the categories come from the poorest of families in the poorest of villages! Its a sad fact that the middle class do not contribute to our Olympic strength as much as they do. Sports like shooting and tennis are the the ones where the rich provide champions while in wrestling and other similar sports the poor do. While the HUGE middle class are not interested!
On the topic of India emerging as a sporting nation, Deepika Kumari, what a champion of not just archery but of very real odds of poverty. Sushil Kumar standing in the ring, oozing confidence and belligerence from his expressionless face and massive frame. Watching him on TV standing next to his opponent makes the hair stand on end and decide before the match starts that the other one is in serious trouble. And all the other gold, silver and bronze medals (GYMNASTICS?!?!?!) (dont forget prasanta karmakar who took bronze in the elite swimming event), Not only have they won a medal and put India in the eyes of the international sporting community, but they have put India in the spotlight of India itself! Hopefully this will have a strong regenerative effect and we will see lots of new talent in a few years as a direct consequence of hosting and doing well in these CWG.
Great fight with England going down to the wire though!
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#5 India will deserve it if they win more Gold medals than England - its got nothing to do with "media negativity".
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#10 The thing is that the Indian middle class never looks at Sports as a career option. Sports is always seen as a leisure activity, and while there is not much wrong with that, i don't know how many talented athletes the World has lost because of the sheer family pressure in the Indian middle class. Although one can argue that with the general apathy shown towards the sports by the Indian public doesn't exactly make it a smart career choice.
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Surreybloke123 wrote -
#5 India will deserve it if they win more Gold medals than England - its got nothing to do with "media negativity".
No it's to do with the better athletes and cyclists from the UK not wanting to go. Why can't we be like the Aussies and fully commit to these games, their top cyclists for example wiped the board. Every time there are excuses from prime athletes who are gold medal propects. I know it's the end of the season for most, but surely in the name of comradeship and 'good' competition make an effort to take part. Why oh why change Olympic qualification in cycling why not use this to prove their worth for the olympics?
This is like Man Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea putting out their reserves in the League Cup. We do not take the games serious enough, come the olympics it will be a different story they will all be fit. I agree with No 7 Graham B if they don't go take away their lottery funding.
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Taletn has never been a problem for India, it's lack of funding for preperation, travel and support that has hindered them.
It's no surprise that traditionally they have competed well in those events where other nations also lack investment (shooting and wrestling being prime examples) and fared far less well in those that other nations invest heavily in.
As much as I'd like to think that this will be a change in India's attitude to sport I would be highly surprised if after these games those athletes who have been supported properly for the first time in a generation are not simply cast aside again. For those who made their mark here they have options, private sponsorship, moving to US/Europe college systems etc. But without any internal support the next generation simply wont be there to replace them.
The after effects of Dehli will see them produce their best ever Olympic display in 2012 but it will tail off very poorly after that, the will simply is not there for continued success. And it's exactly the same pattern we will see with the British in London as well.
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A lot of British athletes decided not to go to India. I hope that none of these athletes is claiming funding. Why should we pay for athletes that then refuse to go to perform on the big stage? Can the BBC make public the names of all competitors that claim funding but refused to go to the games?
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The majority who chose not to go did so with the full support of the UK authorities for their sport as the event did not fit in with their schedule which is geared towards more important events such the the world championhsip (Gymnasts, Athletes) or Olympic games (Cyclists).
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what if we were competing as GB in the medals table
Austrailia are not down as queensland, nn.s.wales etc and India not as punjab,kerala etc
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This is certainly a thought provoking article. As is well known, with the exception of Cricket, other sports have never been promoted seriously by the Government. This time though, the government invested heavily in some area including shooting and hence perhaps the success.
I hope the trend continues.
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Hey!! I went to Delhi 3 months back. They have a spanking new Metro rail (built in 6 years), over 70 new spanking fly-overs and now a considerable improvement in their sports performance. If at the end of the Commonwealth games, that is all India gets, then the games have been worth it.
A local told me that India had spent over Rs 15,000 crores ($3 Billion) on these games yet an audit found only work accountable for Rs 2,500 crores ($ 500 Million). If they can deliver such decent quality games for just $ 500 Million, imagine what they could have done if the whole $ 3 Billion had been spent properly.
This is clearly a feel-good story for the Indians. The rest is just bonus.
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# 16. This is ironic. The commonwealth games are games of the commonwealth nations (i.e. UK and their erstwhile colonies). Yet we ourselves chose not to send many top athletes to these games.
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#14: Why can't we be like the Aussies and fully commit to these games, their top cyclists for example wiped the board.
Their cyclists don't have to go to the EUROPEAN championships to help them qualify for the Olympics. The qualification process is not set by the UK team, its on an international level, so they have little choice.
The league cup analogy is quite appropriate here too - the competition, barring australia, isn't very strong, a win in the Europeans is a better indication of ability. Nobody thinks Man Utd are better than Chelsea if the former wins the League Cup and the latter the Premier League.
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At the end of the day, certain sports were England would do well have been deprived. Gymnastics it's the WC this week or something stupid. Cycling Euro champs count to the Olympics CWG don't. And then we've got a host of injuries and tired bodies as this is right at the end of the season. These games are not a fair reflection on where England or Australia are due to the clashes and the fact for most it's at the end of the season. Plus it doesn't help when Dehli belly was going around in the pool.
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More negativity from Pinsent. all he has done throughout these Games is look for the bad news story. I don't care how many people have or have not been there, or what the toilets are like.
The sporting action has been superb, and those who did not go for whatever reason have missed out.
It has been a chance for the next rung of athletes to taste a major championship and the likes of Purdue, Twell, Child, Jackson, England, Oyepitan and co will be the better for it.
I don't understand how the BBC view Pinsent as being so qualified to comment on all these events anyway.
Well done to all English, Scottish, Northern Irish, Welsh and Isle on Man medallists. Ignore the negativity of Pinsent and co, and feel proud of your efforts.
The BBC should be ashamed of their attempts to constantly belittle India's achievements on and off the fields of play.
And don't get me started on Claire Balding's constant moaning about Jerusalem. She should be prosecuted for treason.
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Where is Sabu?
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The early media driven stories have not held up... the athletes are quite pleased with their village, especially as it includes (for the first time) extended training facilities. The opening ceremony was spectacular, as universally declared by the media, and this changed the mood. The first day of the competition, India was in second place for gold medals. The momentum picked up as India continued to remain in second place day after day.
Its inevitable that a country of size and diversity of India will produce more athletic talent as time goes on, as long as due attention is paid to training facilities and national sports infrastructure. We are seeing early moves in this direction. No doubt, this is a coming out party for India, and I think most would agree that its been great for the hosts so far.
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Nothing negative about 4 gold medals however, and Steve Redgraves 5 gold medals all in consecutive Olympics. As a former Rower I always remember the training , Those who strive for perfection and rise above the limits of human endurance , are in different category than others who are good losers.
They are good losers because of plenty of practise.
These games hopefully will assist India realising its potential to be leaders and competitors in next Olympics , clearly the talent is in there waiting for conditions to allow it to succeed.
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Just want to say well done India on putting on a great games. Also well done for your Athletes performances. Like all host nations there athletes come good and i am hoping for the same in 2012. Ok some of our athletes did not appear but those who turned up and done well total No of medals have surpassed those from 2006 with 4 days still to go with interests in Boxing,Athletics,diving,Badmington,Squash,Bowls,Hockey,Rugby 7'sTable Tennis at the moment 27 golds we could surpass melborne in the next 4 days lets wait and see, but in the meantime lets celebrate a good games put on by India and of course our athlete's what turned up
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Thanks Alan, yours is the first positive comment about the games I have read from a non-Indian on this website. Even if the games haven't been perfect, it would have been nicer if a few more people saw the positive side to the games.
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It is not right that England do not send their strongest team...i dont think the Queen should be allowed to open CWG if her country cant be bothered to commit their strongest team.
Whats the point of a host country spending so much money on the games when the top athletes are not bothered to attend. There should be a big penalty system for such countries.
It was also disappointing that Mr Bolt did not bother to show up...he could have atleast showed up as a spectator...
India have been strong and have shown in both sports and hospitality that they can recover from the shocks & negativity...well done. The media should be ashamed for spreading such negativity and putting off the crowds in the first week...the media can commit no wrong, can they?
I hope their is a legacy left after this...although i have not heard any plans yet...
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Delhi Belly Issue - its been truly amazing and hilarious to read the reports on Delhi Belly from the Media and even comments from some athletes.
What this tells me is the incompetent preparations of British and other athletes to visit India. It is very well known that one can get a tummy infection when you visit any new country...specially where the cuisine is different to your own. And India is a perfect fit for this scenario.
There are measures to prevent this and then there are very effective remedies to cure this. Its amazing that atheletes who are very fit and who get top class medical and other advice did not plan for this accordingly.
Before the games, there was so many security and epidemic fears...what happened to all that...
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#30 I have never known previously (I'm sure someone could enlighten me) when pigeons have been allowed to mess in warm up pools!!!
Yes the opening ceremony was spectacular - but just look at the row upon row of empty seats.
What does that say about the games
This SHOULD have been a major event on the world stage for those countries who could compete.
I think it is outrageous that these athletes who have spent years of selfless dedication and hardwork get such small audiences.
I dread to think how much these games have cost the indian economy (in an area that could benefit from an injection of funds)
It will be very interesting to see how these venues are cared for over the coming years (I suspect they will be hollow shells in a few short years.)
Still look on the bright side - so few people have turned up - there shouldn't be problems with crowd control!!!
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HornetRobin
The only world class name on that list was Child. But she's young give her time to develop, and possibley Twell but she needs to step up in distance. Most of the names you mentioned are not WC or young. And if you've read Matt's blog this is the 2nd negative one after lots of positive ones, e.g. Squash and the Adlingtons. Stop being biased towards the beeb
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I guess England will get more gold medals than India.There are lot more to come in Boxing for England and most of the Indian boxers are out in semis.
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Aru, most of the boxers are from Norther Ireland, there is perhaps 1 or 2 English boxers in the final. But there are also 3 Indian boxers in the final. Its well poised.
The India-England men's hockey semi will be good to watch. Might this prove to be a crucial determinant in the end?
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So stage is set a nail biting finish then between India and England.Thats something good for the sport.
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Thanks hornet robin you speak truth and have analysed the scenario perfectly.psgm1969 does bbc pay you money to write such great analysis.also how long will bbc hypothetical approach win.is bbc moderation strong and man enough to publish my comment.also does britan a country with no resources capable to compete india who is so powerful on all ends.brits who are belittling india too much do you have the resources.unlike innocent pakistanis who react indians are like brits they hold it back when they are hurt do you think you can handle the subtle shrewd indian brain.the backlash would prove you costly.britan is just americas ally and america heavily depends on india for sterling brits.olden times are over and stop burning your brains thinking about history at present britan is at the middle of nowhere prime minister cameron knows better thats why he visited to ask for help with a full team.so india gives you money so brits who belittle indians are funny since your country depends on india what a joke?
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I have enjoyed the games and the BBC's reporting on them. India has done well except for the shocking bad behavior of the Archery spectators. I was so impressed by the Indians across the board, and then to see this happen - I was totally disgusted! I have always believed that the Indian nation believed in fair play and honorable behavior, instead they blew their honor for the sake of 2 medals.
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Well said, tenseiga. Most of the Indian medal winners come from poor families with virtually little or no access to resources or training. Most of their coaches tend to be fathers or uncles because they cannot afford professional coaches. With so much talent, the sports ministry of India and the various sports federations should be ashamed of themselves. These guys wake up only after the talent is visible. But they don't go out of their way to seek talent out at the grassroots or help them with facilities and equipment. The expenditure that they spend on Indian athletes is probably 5-10% of what they spend in England, Australia or the USA. Sad!
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Home support is to be taken for granted I suppose and not to be grudged in any country.Do you seriously expect the Indian crowds not to vociferously support local athletes?I suggest the English supporters take a leaf out of your experience here and try and see if their vocal support helps Blighty win a few more.Polite silence is good for Wimbledon, but nowhere else, well,maybe the Rydeer cup and other golfing events definitely. Though it is for sure that crowd support must have gone a long way in boosting Indian athletes' confidence, it has often not been enough to help the athlete in question win , as is seen from yesterday's boxing match against Ogogo.Oh BTW, is it because of poor village conditions that Eng has not been able to score well?
I am Indian and am proud of my country also very embarassed by Kalmadi the buffoon's goof ups.This CWG is very much an example of what goes on in India today, the common man and the common athlete exceeding himself inspite of the Government or lack of it.
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India need to modernise herself. India's poor performance due lack of sporting women talent compared to white common wealth. This is due lack of equality in society. Poverty & dire lack any facility in school, virtually no motivation/ encouragement from teachers. Most performers are from middle class background supported by their parent. No doubt CWG will open up new ideas & will boost morale. Average people on street doesn't see sports has future or can pursue as a career. China will always will do better because of equality between men & women & religious equality. Sport reflects society.
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At last Matthew some positive reporting of India's Commonwealth games, Indian athletes have done well despite being denied facilities eg cyclists only got their bikes a week before the opening ceremony and coming from very poor circumstances.
No matter how much bad publicity jealous nations have generated the games have been a success in terms of magnificent stadia being built, and giving these sports public awareness. Indian companies will now put money into the sports and athletes and you will see massive improvement in Indian Olympic performance, look at cricket where we are the number 1 test ranked team, and India funds 75% of world cricket.
We will never match China who you (Matthew Pinsent) reported force children to train at a very young age against their will. Also no credit has been given to India as a free country that reporters have been allowed to travel and interview people completely freely.
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20. At 4:50pm on 11 Oct 2010, Always_a_Gunner wrote:
# 16. This is ironic. The commonwealth games are games of the commonwealth nations (i.e. UK and their erstwhile colonies). Yet we ourselves chose not to send many top athletes to these games.
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The commonwealth may have been born from British colonisation but the modern day commonwealth is a collection of nations with common goals, the UK is no longer the head of the snake, indeed it would function exactly the same without us.
When the choice is a straight one between CWG and Olympic/Worlds there is only one sensible decision, the bigger games come first.
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Oops typo in my comment, I should have said Ryder Cup and not Rydeer.Just for the record.:) Best of luck to all England, Scotland ,Wales, Northern Ireland athletes from an Indian and may the Delhi Belly stay away from your lads and gals.
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I've never really understood why we split the home nations up in certain sports and events? Our country is called 'Great Britain' which is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, to point out the obvious. We are all British...so why don't we just pull our resources and compete as Great Britain in ALL sporting events?? If we did this in the Commonwealth Games we would actually have 35 Gold medals now compared to India's 31...still close, but nevertheless more. Also, I've noticed that England have had to settle for Silver in a significant number of competitions in Dehli after a narrow defeat to an Australian.
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Its a shame BBC is not reporting medal rankings (country wise) in their news channels.
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English are upset with Indian spectators regarding the Archery Event, noise from the crowd made them lose gold. Why didnt they complain when their men's team defeated India by just 2 points to take the Gold??
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The trends that matter..I think given the trends any kind of comparisons between a rising India and dying england would be put to rest perpetually within 3-5 cwg and probably 5-6 olympics..
Year India England
1978 5 27
1982 5 38
1990 13 47
1994 6 31
1998 7 36
2002 30 54
2006 22 36
2010(c) 32 30
Its all about money and training. Its not a coincidence that Indians haven't become more athletic or sporty. Its an eventuality that comes money. I know its the medal tally that counts but bother looking at the fringes in olympics and you will how far India has come in the last 10-15 years.
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Still looking like it's going down to the wire in terms of 2nd place in the medal table.
I think England may just pip India in the end as there are still a few titles up for grabs in the Boxing, Badminton & Squash.
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I am surprised to see India do as good as they have done. While I expected us to have very good chance of finishing third, I never thought that I would find us sitting at 2nd place in the tally for so long. Still anything could happen, so have my fingers crossed. Hopefully, we'll see a good performance from India in London too.
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What a win in the Hockey against England. Can there be any better common wealth games???! I pray and hope that these games leave a huge legacy for Indian sports and we start dominating world sports in the Olympics. Imagine the poential, Delhi (national capital region including) is as big as entire Australia put together, imagine what the whole of India could achieve in years to come.
All the critics are proved wrong, the games are better then most of the previous games! Iam interested to know the TRP's of the TV channels, Im sure it'll have to tbe the biggest ever in history.
Job well done India, it does not matter if India finishes 3rd because I think the athletes have proved it already. The stats say it all, max no. of CWG records ever broken till now, are at the Delhi games, can someone say, its a failure??? If yes, go take a hike loser, coz I ain't interested in you!
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#39, Dilliwala, Home support is all well and good, but the crowd etiquette is one thing that we lack, and that is primarily because we don't usually go to watch any games. Certain sports like archery require concentration, and the crowd should have kept quiet when the English girl was taking her shot.
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In 10 years time in the Olympics 3 countries will be battling for top of gold medal tally - China, US, India. India will overtake Australia, although Australia will still be well ahead of everyone per head.
So many sports in India, especially among women, are taking off. The men still prefer to play cricket because making it big in that is still most young boy's dream (just like football is in the UK). Lot of girls around India play basketball, do athletics and other sports. I have no doubt India will be competing against China and the US. I am surprised how well India has done in the athletics. The progress has been much quicker than expected.
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4*400m GOLD medal to India ?!!!
Am I dreaming or is this true? Someone please pinch me!!
!!! WOW !!!!
Truly amazed how India has started performing in the more "physical events". I guess this is just the beginning!
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#53 Easy there boy, we are progressing, but not as rapidly as you think we are. We are so far behind Australia, let alone US and China who are on a totally different level altogether when it comes to Olympic sports. Anything more than 2 gold medals in London would make me a very happy person.
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I'm completely stunned today... really no words... seeing the replay of the 4*400M relay again and again.
I can understand winning in Cricket... but India winning a GOLD medal in an event like 4*400M relay (and even Discus throw), competing with all those hyperfit Nigerian and Aussie birds... I'm really chuffed for our strong women :-)
Need to relax and let it sink in now!
P.S: Fantastic display by the guys in Hockey too!
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Hey Matthew, thanks for your support. Its true that poverty exists in India. But many foreigners dont know how much money it has (unfortunately it lies with corrupt people). For example let us say hockey, if govt. sanctions some amount for that game, I bet not even 1/10th of the money is utilized. Even if you spend half of that, the situation of anything and everything in India would be far better by now.
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@56
Even in cricket its only the last 4 years or so India has become a good unit because a bit before then they did not win a series away from home for some 2 decades. They've never really been that good at cricket to be honest and relied on preparing dust-bowls and employing several spinners, which was actually to their detriment when playing away from home because spinners were ineffective and their fast bowlers found it difficult because they weren't bowling on conducive pitches at home. But they started employing excellent coaching, world-class fitness techniques, started preparing 'fairer' pitches at home which means they are not playing on alien conditions abroad as much before and this is all now starting to pay dividends.
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@55,
Look at China some 10-15 years ago and they were only getting few medals. It amazing how things can improve quickly when you start directing funding to sports, employ world-class coaches and use the best possible fitness and nutrition.
I am not sure how much natural talent there is in China in those Olympic sports. Lot of its just their sheer willpower to top the US and they will do anything to win medals. India doesn't have that mentality but can still come on leaps and bounds in the next few years.
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Thank you Mr. Pinsent for your tribute to the advances made by Indian Sport. My father was Indian, my mother British and therefore I have loyalties to India and UK. I grew up in India and therefore my greater loyalty is to India: I feel Indian even though I love and appreciate Britain. I felt a little glum at India's recent Olympic performance (I think it was a single gold by Abhinav Bindra in shooting.) I believe India can make great strides. I think India's government should invest in sport from the ground up (schools, training centres.) There will no doubt be some nay saying Indian politicians "How can you think of investing in sports when there is so much poverty" and so on. My response is that, first, investment in sport is investment in people (and vice versa: when we feed people better they are healthier and stronger.) Second, a case can be made that pride makes people perform better individually and as a nation: therefore a relatively small investment in sport (a few billion pounds or dollars is actually a minute amount for a country as large as India and would therefore hardly dent the economy) may make a great return in general productivity. Nothing against Australia but I would love to see India and Britain (England) 1 and 2 in the games
I would like to add a little about the negative press. None of the negativity has been racial in nature. Whether it is ethnically or nationalistically motivated, we cannot know unless we see evidence. It does seem as though there is a large focus on the negative and that is partly why Mr. Pinsent's article is particularly refreshing (he is open about his loyalty to the 'Home Nations' and yet admiring of India.) I think that the negative press has gone on enough and in my opinion to an extent greater than good reporting. Yes, it did seem as though the facilities were dirty but they seem to have been cleaned up before being occupied by the athletes. Reports indicate good accomodation, good food, good athletic facilities. Some swimmers did get sick but the water in the pools was tested and met standards. I can't guess the source of the illness (perhaps off facility food or perhaps drinking water: I don't think India chlorinates but athletes should have known this.) I do know that when one person falls ill the 'bug' may be transmitted to others esepcially since the individual is infective before symptoms appear. It does appear that there have been communication blunders by officials. These should of course be reported, apologies should be made, there should be reflection on the causes (the India of my memory-I now live in the US-was notoriously inefficient and prone to last-minute operation,) and, then, the matter should be forgotten. Yes, there were mishaps in the leadup; there should be apologies to the workers and recompensation that is commensurate with the injury / deaths. However, once this has been adequately reported, there should be no need in the foreign press to continue reporting on it (the local press has a responsibility to continue reporting untill compensatory action has been taken and the issue of future occurrences addressed)
My hope is that the Games end on a high note as an expression of fraternity among peoples and nations
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#59, We'll be doing better in the Olympics in the next few editions, but not to the extent that we'll be able to challenge Australia, who have a brilliant sporting set-up, let alone US and China. Funding for Olympic sports is still pretty low, although we now have World Class infrastructure, atleast in Delhi.
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#31 @psgm1969
I donno which games are you watching or maybe you are just watching repeat telecast of first few days, but I have watched Boxing, Table Tennis, Weightlifting, Wrestling, Athletics Field and track events, Swimming, Hockey.. and seen crowd increasing in number with about 65-95% attendance. And sorry about Pigeons messing the pool how silly of them to not understand that its swimming pool for Athletes to train.. and neither we have learnt Pigeon language to make them understand and tell not to mess it up nor scientist have invented a device to communicate between humans and pigeons. Speaking of crowd how come you are sitting at home? Why didn’t you go to SUPPORT HOME NATION? I have hardly seen people from other commonwealth nations in audience. I blame media for all hyped negative publicity about (80% probability of terrorist attack, Dengue etc.).
#60 @bluevortex
India does chlorinate water but some people might have weaker immune system and prone to certain diseases especially people coming to tropical regions from non-tropics.
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England have appeared to have done it now, here comes the gold rush. And by the way all the sniping at Australia's success I will point out that England have already won more medals than they did in Melbourne
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
Anthony Ogogo is really making himself a laughing-stock with his latest comments.
"No disrespect to O'Kane but in two years time at the Olympics I'll be beating people like that, quite comfortably as well"
No disrespect? And then you go on to basically imply that the man who trounced you is not even in your league - a man who not only beat you, but utterly humiliated you 16-4 in the most one-sided final of the Games?
"I'm only 21, I'm still quite a physically immature 21-year-old," added the 21-year-old Lowestoft tomato can.
Physically, Anthony? That's not the half of it.
This individual really is an embarrassment to his country. Stick to the reality TV shows Anthony. You are the Jedward of boxing.
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Nice to a refershing blog and hopefully India will reach to the second place, even if not it is a good achievement for India.I can see the change in the mood of the media about the whole games and the games village. India is not only about snake charmers, elephants and poverty as few people think it is also a place for success stories and triumphs against all odds.
Here are some links about the positive feeling from athletes about CWG2010.
Hi thats a great blog and appreciate the difference people are feeling and positivity.Here are some links to the laurels about Delhi CWG2010.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/10/01/3027685.htm
http://headlinesindia.mapsofindia.com/sports-news/commonwealth-games/players-praise-health-facilities-at-games-village-64981.html
http://alpha.newsx.com/story/australia-happy-games-village?quicktabs_5=0
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/commonwealth-games-2010/news/Games-Village-is-best-ever-in-history-of-CWG-Fennel/cwgarticleshow/6698492.cms
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/Filthy-Many-athletes-happy-with-CWG-village-facilities-and-food/articleshow/6643559.cms
http://sports.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/oct/01/slide-show-1-cwg-2010-delhi-commonwealth-games-village-from-filthy-to-swanky.htm
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/101586/as-charles-comes-calling-players.html
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20101001/sports/sports5.html
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Games-Village-fantastic-Players-to-Prince-Charles/articleshow/6677536.cms
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/commonwealth-games-2010/news/Athletes-bid-adieu-to-Games-Village/articleshow/6741682.cms
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Biased umpiring, Absence of top athletes, Crowd shouts disturbing the concentration of athletes are some of the reasons why India won that number of medals.
I dont know.... speaking the above truth violated house rules...????
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Looks like you were both right and wrong.
We didn't go backwards, in fact we did very well with so many high profile absences.
India on the other hand have been a revelation - congrats to them.
The differences in overall medals makes odd reading when you see us below them due to one gold yet hugely outnumbering their medal tally though.
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Why does a bronze = a gold in the medal tally? Surely a gold should be worth 3 points, silver 2 points and bronze 1 point or something? Then add it up. I've always found that the medals tables in these things were wrong. A country with one gold and no other medals would appear in the medals table above a country with 100 silvers and no gold?? The country with 100 silvers is surely a more successful sporting country overall?
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Athian wrote[67]:
"Biased umpiring, Absence of top athletes, Crowd shouts disturbing the concentration of athletes are some of the reasons why India won that number of medals."
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Yes, of course you're right. But the same goes for just about any home nation in the CWG. The boxing scoring was grotesquely biased in favour of Indian competitors - when someone was fighting an Indian, he would often not be awarded points throughout the entire bout, even when he was clearly hitting him. But that always happens to some extent. A lot of that in the Beijing Olympics too.
But even considering that, it's still a tremendous achievement for them to finish 3rd to Australia and England in the overall medal tally, so credit where it's due.
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@Athian(#67) ... "Biased umpiring, Absence of top athletes, Crowd shouts disturbing the concentration of athletes are some of the reasons why India won that number of medals'
The same reasons as those helped England in Manchester, right? Didn't biased officiating won the WC for England in 66?
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Guess the answer turned out to be NO... England could not overhaul India... but must credit the Brits for putting up a valiant effort to uphold the "Great" to their name. Now cheer up and look forward to London 2012... who knows... this may be your last chance!!
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