Much debate has arisen from Prakash Padukone’s rant following Lakshya Sen’s loss in the Bronze Medal Match at the Paris Olympics on Monday when the head coach went on to lambast athletes of the Indian contingent for their lack of effort to bring home Olympic glory.
“After Milkha Singh in 64′ and PT Usha in the 80s, we have so many fourth-place finishes. I think that it’s high time that the players also take responsibility. At least for the results in this Olympics and the previous one, you cannot hold the federations and government responsible for the results. They have all done whatever they can. Ultimately the responsibility is on the players to go and deliver when it matters the most,” Padukone stated in talks with reporters after Sen’s loss in the Bronze medal match.
Padukone stated that it was in fact on the players, at this point, to introspect, and find a way to win, rather than demand the federations to do more for them.
“The players need to introspect, and not just keep asking for more from the federations. They need to ask themselves whether they are working hard enough, because all of these players have their own physios and all the facilities. I don’t think any other country, including the US, has so many facilities.”
Padukone’s comments have left everyone torn. On one hand, the former shuttler’s comments may seem harsh, especially when Sen had just lost out on a medal in a heartbreaking defeat.
But, on the other hand, Padukone is not wrong. India have failed to register success and this time around especially, the trend has been in full effect at the Paris Olympics, with multiple fourth-place finishes and even more disappointing early exits from touted favorites.
A lot has been said about federations not supporting players. But, to quote Padukone himself, that argument can’t hold its weight anymore.
Federations across sports have grown to accommodate the demands of the top athletes, with schemes such as the TOPS (Target Olympic Podium Scheme) well into its 10th year of implementation to aid the growth of athletes in the country.
Over the past half a decade especially, much can be said about the commercial exposure many sports have garnered too, thanks to the hosting of league-style tournaments, to bring more eyes and money into the sport as well.
Superstar players across these sports do exist and they are usually in a position to have their demands met, sometimes to the fault of the federations themselves. But, this time around, there has been no proven superstar talent who has brought home Olympic glory yet.
There are quite a few opportunities for India to rake in some more silverware, but for the time being, let’s take a look at the Indian contingent’s performances so far, and peruse through the dejections that the nation has had to endure so far.
BADMINTON:
Padukone unfortunately will now bear the load of having coached the Indian badminton contingent to their first medal-less finish at the Olympics since 2008.
Obviously the whole conversation was birthed right after Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen’s crushing defeat on Monday. So, let’s start there.
Sen, 22, was in blazing form through the Olympics, putting away his opponents with ease, and cruising to a historic first semifinal where he faced off against the reigning champion Viktor Axelsen.
Despite the inherent challenge of taking on the top seed, Sen got off to a sensational start, piling the pressure on Axelsen to take a huge lead, all for it to be demolished by the Dane and to be swept away by him in 2 straight games.
In a bronze medal match, where Sen once again dominated his opponent out the gate to take the lead, disaster would striker again, and Sen would end up losing the ordeal in three games as the almost seemingly-assured Bronze slipped right out of his fingers.
But, it does not end there in badminton. PV Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, herself came up short when she was needed.
Following a poor season lately, it was understandable that Sindhu would have been shaky for a bit. But, as a two-time Olympic medallist, one would have expected the ace to clean up her act and go for glory again. But, alas, she lost in the quarterfinal of the Women’s Individual event.
A rather shocking and almost silent disappointment in the Badminton contingent was none other than the pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.
Satiwk-Chirag, arguably the best men’s duo in world badminton currently, was another pair expected to bring home a medal with ease. But, just like Sindhu, they faltered in the quarterfinals, going down in three sets to Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik after taking the lead. But, again, they were hailed for making it this far, but not criticised for losing out.
ARCHERY:
After a strong showing in the international circuit, much was expected from the Indian archery contingent. But, yet again, like always, they failed to make it count, as India still remains medal-less in the discipline at the Olympics.
There exists a severe problem with former Korean coach Woong Ki being denied accreditation for the Paris Olympics, and in his place, former archer Purnima Mahato being sent.
But, yet again, when it boiled down to hitting the mark personally, the archers missed terribly.
Indian’s veteran archer Deepika Kumari once again missed out on making her way to a medal finish, as she slumped to a bad loss in the quarterfinal of the Women’s Individual event.
Another pair who joined the regretful club of fourth-place finishers was Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat, who both fell at the very last step to let a Bronze medal slip away from India’s grasps.
SHOOTING:
Another contingent that had its fair share of athletes who failed to hit the mark was Shooting.
Now, bear in mind, that this is currently the only contingent that has brought in any and every bit of silverware for India. So, there has been a new ray of light shining through for Indian Athletics, especially in the form of Manu Bhaker.
But still, one would be remiss to miss out on those who could have joined Bhaker and Sarabjot to bring home more Olympic glory.
Amongst those names, lie Maheshwari Chauhan and Ananjteet Naruka. The Skeet duo were one win away from securing the Bronze right when they fell and lost the bou by 1 point to settel for the consolation 4th.
Why even the glorious Manu Bhaker herself was a victim of the curse, as a hat-trick of medals was on the cards after Bhaker had claimed two bronzes earlier. But despite taking second place in the qualifiers, she was not able to replicate her performance as she finished fourth after a shoot-off against Hungary’s Veronika Major.
Another Indian shooter who fell in the last step was Arjun Babuta, who was a mere 1.4 points away from clinching a medal as Babuta finished with a score of 208.4 while Croatia’s Miran Maricic did better with a score of 209.8 in the men’s 10m Air Rifle Shooting.
But, the biggest disappointment of all was Sift Kaur Samra.
Sift Kaur Samra became the first individual gold medallist for India at the Asian Games 2023 claiming the top prize in the Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Position event and did it in style setting a world record en route to the same.
But, as the shooter came into the Olympics, she slumped to an abysmal exit in the qualification round for the Women’s 50m Air Rifle, finishing a dismal 31st in rankings.
BOXING:
Top medal contenders like Lovlina Borgohain and Nikhat Zareen also came back empty but not a word has been said about their performance.
Lovlina Borgohain led the charge for the boxing contingent, as the Indian fought her way to the quarterfinal of the Women’s 75kg event. But, as she stood just possibly a win or two away from a medal finish, she was ousted by China’s Li Qian by a split decision, as another Indian once again failed to deliver when it mattered.
Now, to be slightly fair to Borgohain, Qian was in fact the top-seeded boxer in the division and would most definitely prove to be a handful for anyone. But then again, champions are only made when one usurps an existing one.
What cannot be taken lightly though is how the remainder of the boxing contingent performed. Especially two of the biggest names in Indian boxing: Nikhat Zareen and Amit Panghal.
Coming into the Olympics, Zareen was undoubtedly looked up to as a potential medal-winner for India. But, nobody could have foreseen an embarrassing exit at the round of 16 itself, as China’s Wu Yu dominated Zareen.
Like the case was with Borgohain, Zareen was also going up against the top-seeded boxer in her division. But, to lose in the manner she did, a 5-0 unanimous decision against Zareen, was nothing less than shocking and embarrassing.
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