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Welcome home, you did us proud

By Our Sports Reporter

Glowing with pride and faces mirroring the mood of success, the Indian stars — shooter Anjali Bhagwat, hockey heroine Mamta Kharab, pistol-man Jaspal Singh Rana and weightlifter Kunjarani Devi — with the Sports Minister, Ms. Uma Bharti, on arrival in New Delhi on Tuesday. At extreme right is Mr. Suresh Kalmadi, President, Indian Olympic Association.

NEW DELHI AUG. 6. As India accorded a red carpet welcome to the Commonwealth Games contingent, someone took a `conscious' decision to whisk away the entire weightlifting team.

The news about the Indian male lifters was a dampener, trying to divert attention from the festivity. So, those `marked' male lifters missed the Air India flight from London with only one making it. All the women lifters did arrive but while the shooters, boxers and the women's hockey team attracted the attention of the waiting media, they quietly left.

Nevertheless, the spectacle at the Indira Gandhi International Airport was party-like. Never before has such a scene been witnessed to celebrate India's glorious performance in sports other than cricket.

There were numerous brass bands led by the disciplined CISF band, a drum squad which kept the mood upbeat for more than three hours before the members of the Commonwealth contingent trickled out, an hour past midnight. Then there were trainees of the SAI Centre who danced to the beat through the night.

"We worked well as a team. There was tremendous understanding between us especially after we lost the World Cup qualifier to the United States,'' said the captain of women's hockey team, Suraj Lata Devi. "There were some tense moments in the final, but we knew we were on the right track,'' she said.

Overawed by the occasion, the golden girl of India's triumph, Mamta Kharab, could hardly spare any time. For, she was carried from inside the airport to the departure lounge by Sports Minister, Ms. Uma Bharti, herself!

As they reached the area officially designated for the welcome ceremony, everything went into a frenzy. For once, the cops took the back seat and allowed Ms. Bharti to `enjoy' the situation. The girls rightly deserved the recognition as they emerged winners from a field consisting of world-class teams.

There were a few other gold medals — Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore in double trap and that of light-fly boxer Mohammed Ali Qamar — which had a different glow compared to the others.

"It's fantastic. For once, I am happy that Olympic sports are getting such an attention,'' said the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President, Mr. Suresh Kalmadi. "Our next aim is the Asian Games and we hope we will be able to do it there (Busan, South Korea) also.''

Mr. Kalmadi was all praise for rifle shooter Anjali Bhagwat, who won four gold medals, two in pairs and two in the individual event.

"She was our trump card. She was the captain of our contingent and she led from the front,'' Mr. Kalmadi said.

If Anjali was suave but composed while answering the queries, Jaspal Rana, who was the first to emerge, `acted' as if all were there only to greet him. He got himself carried on the shoulders of his fans, then with his wife and daughter in tow, grabbed most of the attention.

He, however, was non-committal about repeating the performance at the Asian Games. "It will be tough at Busan, but if we are given proper and enough ammunition we can do it,'' he said.

"The juniors did very well in Manchester. Especially after the Lahti World championship experience, we were committed to perform and win medals,'' Rana said.

But, between all this festive mood, Mr. Kalmadi could not hide his disillusionment about the fiasco in weightlifting.

In public, the IOA and the Sports Ministry may claim that there was nothing untoward. But the fact remains that one male lifter, Krishnan Madasamy, has been stripped of the three silver medals he won and another is in the firing line.

These may be a few stray cases, but there might be something brewing at the dope control facility in Manchester. In a few days' time, we will know where the Indian male lifters stand.

Maintaining that the IOA had asked for the `B' sample of Madasamy to be tested, Mr. Kalmadi said that the IOA would be very strict with the lifter if that sample confirms the dope.

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