Keeping tab — Who will bell the sponsors?

Sponsors dictating terms is nothing new. But what used to be an occasional indulgence is fast becoming a permanent feature. Only yesterday,...

Sponsors dictating terms is nothing new. But what used to be an occasional indulgence is fast becoming a permanent feature. Only yesterday, the Games sponsors, Videocon, insisted that their advertisement hoardings be displayed prominently at the Jagdale Memorial shooting range, the venue of the shooting event. Their demand may have been prompted by the fact that the event was being covered by Doordorshan, but they did not realise that nothing can be placed in front of the shooters except the target. A heated arugment later, it was agreed that a small board would be placed at the left corner of the range. Now, who won and who lost?

Troubleshooter

HIS presence was enough to make the organisers heave a sigh of relief at the shooting range. And to everyone’s delight, things did start moving soon after Manmeet Singh Goindi, administrator of the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Ranges in Tughlakabad, made his appearance the other day. Overnight, the bridge that connects the target shooting range to the skeet and trap arena was repaired, saving the shooters a detour of nearly 2 km.

Two Delhi teams THE faction fight in the Delhi kabaddi firmament has resulted in two men’s teams landing for the National Games with both claiming the right to play in the championship. As a result, the organisers had to put off by a day Delhi’s opening clash against Tamil Nadu, scheduled for Tuesday evening. The matter has reached the sessions court in Delhi and the next hearing is on July 25. Organisers said the ball was in the court of the Delhi Olympic Association (DOA). One team has the approval of the DOA while the other, comprising mainly Central Reserve Police Force players, has the backing of the Delhi Kabaddi Association. Better facilitiesTHE Indian Olympic Association (IOA) would form various committees to coordinate and provide better facilities for athletess for the next National Games, IOA secretary general Randhir Singh said today. The committee members would reach the venue and start functioning at least 15 days before the start of the Games to ensure everything was in order, he added. He said the IOA had set up an athletes’ commission, which would check facilities for them in the Village and venues for the next Games.

Scribes up in arms

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HARRIED sports scribes covering the National games, finally got a chance to air their grievances when the IOA) convened a press conference on the fourth day of the extravaganza. Flooding IOA secretary Randhir Singh with a litany of complaints about the organisation of the mega meet, the media men expressed their resentment over poor facilities in most venues and sudden changes in fixtures. While many covering the basketball event were not provided with the complete team lists, the non-avaibility of xerox machines in most venues only added to the problems.

Pool shortage

Southern Railway swimmers come back with medals no matter who they represent. But in Chennai, which happens to be the headquarters of Southern Railways, there is no swimming pool available for international and national swimmers. Railways do have a club, but it is beyond the reach of the swimmers since the membership fee is quite exorbitant. So, where do the swimmers go? If you happen to be a Tamil Nadu player, with roots in Kerala as in the case of most of them, you head straight back for “home”.