Last week, a major sporting event commenced at Incheon in South Korea – the 17th Asian Games. Here in India though, there is not enough media hype, which has surprised me to be honest; after all, this event gives athletes the chance to test themselves at the continental level with the Olympics just under two years away.
Controversies
Like we saw during the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games (CWG), there is always something going on with respect to athletes and the federations. Initially we thought the boxers may not be able to compete under the Indian flag, but they have been given the go ahead.
There was Olympics 2008 Gold Medalist Abhinav Bindra accusing authorities of red tapism, because of which the contingent could reach Incheon only five days prior to the event. That is ridiculous if true, as athletes need as much time as possible to help acclimatize to conditions.
There were also a minor rumbling when Dr. Vece Paes was dropped from the travelling contingent. And finally, the IOA has reportedly been slapped with a $10,000 fine for last minute pullout of teams.
Needless to say, the athletes could have done without all the aforementioned attention.
Scheduling
The Asian Games comes on the back of the Commonwealth Games held at Glasgow. India is one of the few countries to be participating in both events. This has probably led to the media pushing these games to a third tier level. In addition, it has probably given rise to viewer fatigue, although time will tell.
Through no fault of theirs, both the events were telecast on the same channel – Ten Sports – with the same presenters and analysts, and viewers could possibly find it redundant. Another factor to be considered is that the Games take place between 5.30 am and 5.30 pm – inconvenient for the Indian working middle class.
Player availability
Some of the biggest names in Indian sport have given this tournament a miss. Leander Paes and Somdev Devvarman played for the country in the Davis Cup at Bengaluru last week, but they have chosen to play ATP tournaments and not go to Incheon. Sania Mirza also preferred to stay on the WTA circuit, rather than represent the country, but had a last minute change of heart.
India’s only double Olympic winner, wrestler Sushil Kumar, has decided to give these games a miss so that he can focus on Rio 2016. Meanwhile, pugilist Vijender Singh and badminton doubles specialist Jwala Gutta have fallen victim to injuries. This has not helped the games gain enough traction in India.
My point of view
It is sad that the Asian Games is not getting a strong enough pull. Using Ten Sports’ in-house commentators does not seem to be a good idea. Digitally, the Games have hardly managed to create a ripple, when they could have promoted it through contests on social media.
With a sports fan’s attention being captured by marquee clashes in the Barclays Premier League, Formula 1 and the Champions League T20, a lot more needs to be done for us to cast an eye on the Asian Games.
