For a change, the National Sports Day celebrated across India last Saturday had something to cheer about for the sports fraternity from the twin cities as five of its athletes were given away the prestigious awards by the President of India.
Tennis star Sania Mirza led the group bestowed with the prestigious Rajiv Khel Ratna Award and shuttler Kidambi Srikanth (Arjuna), Anup Kumar Yama (roller-skating), former Davis Cupper S.P. Misra (Dhyan Chand) and K. Sai Baba, former Ranji cricketer and general secretary of Sports Coaching Foundation (Masab Tank) getting the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar at Rashtrapathi Bhavan. Quite justifiably, these big stars twinkled at the august ambience in Delhi.
But far away at Gymkhana Ground, a dedicated coach of Sports Authority of Telangana, Kameshwara Rao, was there once again to play a key role in the District Sports Authority’s efforts to hold a sub-junior hockey tournament for boys at the venue where the illustrious Nandnuri Mukesh Kumar and 1996 Atlanta Olympics goalkeeper Edwards Alloysius finetune their raw skills to emerge superstars in world hockey.
Interestingly, Mukesh was at Gachibowli around the same time garlanding the only statue of the legendary Dhyan Chand, in whose memory the National Sports Day is celebrated. Some sort of a ritual for many, no doubt.
It is a pity that the Hyderabad Hockey Association was nowhere in the picture due to warring groups. A sad sight given there are only about 30-plus voting members in the body but a majority looking the other way when it comes to play a constructive role in promoting the sport.
This is why the likes of Kameshwara Rao and Aleem Khan, District Sports Development Officer, can be appreciated for keeping hockey alive at the venue which again with its uneven patches and ditches is also symbolic of the state of hockey itself!
Interestingly, the Kuki Students Organisation of the North-East was there at the adjacent football ground which brought colour and life to the whole sports complex. The all-girls teams clearly enjoyed every bit of the game of soccer they played. .
“We are about 500 members who are in the City for studies. And some of them who have completed graduation, are into jobs also in this beautiful city. We love the atmosphere here and the people. We are grateful to the DSA for allotting this ground to celebrate our sports meet,” says Guni K. Khongsai, general secretary of Kuki Students Organisation.
What was more important was the sporting spirit and not who won or lost. Clearly, these students showed the way to many of those Hyderabadis who are content in boardroom discussions rather than go out there and enjoy a stint on the sports arenas!
