Chasing a dream

Thanks to his determination to produce world champions using his own methods, Jagdish Singh was able to overcome all hurdles and become successful in his mission. He never cared for his critics — in fact, he doesn’t care to know their opinion about him even now.

Basking in the glory of his ward, Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh, Jagdish, who started the Bhiwani Boxing Club (BBC) in 2003 with bare minimum facilities, is now planning to renovate the club. He wants to turn it into a world-class complex and produce more Olympic and World champions.

“I have fought against the system, my detractors, land mafia and other vested interests to come this far. I believe that athletes who have the hunger for success can be nurtured into world champions with proper training,” Jagdish said.

From 40 students to 120, including 15 girls — the number of trainees at BBC, which imparts “free” coaching, has increased appreciably in five years. Jagdish, who is also a Sports Authority of India coach, claims that he has produced 161 medallists at the international level and 312 medal winners at the National level.

The club has only one ring and a few punching kits besides some training equipment. Even with such meagre facilities, BBC has managed to produce some good boxers. Three out of the four pugilists who represented India in the Athens Olympics and four out of the five boxers in the Beijing Games belong to the Bhiwani club.

What are the criteria for admission to the club?

“It’s purely on the basis of talent. Basically, I look for students from lower middle-class families. I believe, being deprived, they have the spirit to excel in life, they can go through the hardships to succeed in their mission,” Jagdish said.

But how does Jagdish handle so many students all alone?

“Some senior boxers assist me. Besides, athletics coach Jagdish Prasad takes care of the fitness part of the training. We maintain a flexible schedule.”

Now that Vijender has brought glory to the club, Jagdish wants to make it even bigger. “I know this is not the infrastructure with which Olympic gold winning boxers can be produced. There is this five to 10 per cent difference between winning a bronze and a gold.

“I want to have all the modern facilities, latest technical support, the help of a nutritionist, a library and CDs of all top boxers and the development of boxing. All this requires a lot of money. Recognition has started coming and I hope I will get some aid to build my dream centre.

“All the difficulties are coming to an end and I can see a new chapter waiting to open,” said Jagdish, who has been chosen for the Dronacharya Award.

When asked who has been his best student so far, Jagdish replied: “All those who have done well in the Olympics are good boxers.” He was, obviously, referring to Akhil Kumar, Jitender Kumar and Vijender Singh.

Does he expect bigger glory from his wards in the London Olympics in 2012?

“The performance should improve. There should definitely be a gold medal,” said Jagdish.

‘Vijender is a winner’

Vijender Singh’s father, Mahipal Singh, wants life to go on as usual for his son and his family despite the glory and fame

What used to be an alluring means of livelihood in Bhiwani, a small town in Haryana, has turned out to be the cause of national glory. After Vijender Singh’s Olympic bronze medal-winning effort, many of the poor young men, who enter the boxing ring in order to get a job in the Army, can now afford to dream bigger.

The quest for a better life led Vijender and his elder brother, Manoj Kumar, to boxing in their teens. A few years later, Manoj succeeded in his mission of getting into the Army thanks to his boxing credentials. He then became determined to support his brother.

“After Raj Kumar Sangwan got the Arjuna Award for boxing (in the late 1990s), a craze for the sport increased. Coming from a poor family, it was one of the main avenues to get a job. When we started in 1996, Vijender was in Class V and he joined the Sports Authority of India centre. He has been fortunate to train under one coach from the beginning as Jagdish Singh was then coaching the sub-juniors,” recalled Manoj.

“My father is a driver (Haryana Transport) and at that time he did not have enough funds to provide us good facilities. Both of us used to go for boxing on one cycle and even shared a pair of gloves. But things changed after I joined the Army in 1998,” he said.

Haryana has been a treasure house of boxers and a state-level winner here is considered to be a runaway favourite for a gold medal in the Nationals. In Bhiwani alone some 700 boxers train in various government and private academies.

Vijender won his first state championship in the sub-junior category in 1997 and went on to bag his maiden gold medal at the 2000 Nationals. The turning point, however, came in the Afro-Asian Games in 2003. Despite being a junior boxer, Vijender took part in the selection trials and was picked for the meet where he fought valiantly to win a silver medal.

“The Haryana Government awarded him Rs. seven lakh for his achievement and he never looked back after that. He has won medals in the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and now the Olympics,” Manoj said.

Vijender’s house at Kaluwas village, on the outskirts of Bhiwani, wears a festive look these days. Big shots, the media and well-wishers throng this new hot spot everyday. The local administration has built a new road to Vijender’s house following his achievement in the Olympics. Not to be left behind, a few corporate houses have taken the opportunity to gain some publicity by putting up their banners in the temporary tent erected for the guests.

“You don’t see such celebrations even in a marriage. We have been endlessly attending to guests and the media and have not even slept properly for the last four to five days,” said Krishna, the proud mother of Vijender.

Vijender’s father, Mahipal, was overwhelmed by joy. “This is the second occasion I am feeling the honour of being Vijender’s father. When he got the Arjuna Award, I had been to the Rashtrapati Bhawan. That was a great moment in my life and so is this,” he said.

“After Bindra won the gold medal, I always thought may the Almighty help Vijender achieve the same glory. Thank god, it has happened,” Vijender’s father added.

Mahipal, however, didn’t feel let down by Vijender’s loss to Emilio Correa of Cuba in the semifinals. “He is a winner despite the defeat. He has done something which no Indian has ever done,” he said.

Mahipal, who has been asked by his employer, the Haryana Transport department, not to drive any vehicle any more and join duty at the bus yard, wants life to go on as usual for his son and his family despite the glory and fame. “Boxing has given him so much, he should not leave it. Rather he should try to win the gold next time. I also feel the same for me, I am ready to go on with life and drive vehicles as I used to do,” he said.




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Nike India’s scheme

MUMBAI: Nike India announced a football initiative on Friday, a website www.nikefootball.in, for Indian fans, apart from a talent hunt project named ‘Where’s the next’, aimed at spotting an outstanding young footballer (age group 15-17 years).

The chosen Indian youngster will be part of an 11-member Asian selection squad sent to Barcelona to train for a week at FC Barcelona in August 2007, according to a media release. The chosen boys will also play against FCB youth team and watch the Spanish football giant in action.

The talent hunt will be from July 15-31, and participants are required to post a one-minute video of his/her football skills on the site, alongwith name and personal details. The top 10 from India, shortlisted on the basis of these videos, will be taken to Delhi by Nike to attend the final. Baichung Bhutia, the current Indian captain, will select the Indian winner.

Here's Nike's India game plan

Did you see anything different about the Indian cricket team's uniforms? If you were too busy groaning over the lacklustre performance to notice, let us point it out: there's a little swoosh on the arm and below the right collar. It's small, but it's significant.

For the first time, Nike's logo is appearing in connection with an "Indian" sport: cricket. A few months ago, Nike wrested the rights to become the official kit sponsor for the Indian cricket team for the next five years, beating arch-rivals Reebok and Adidas; it paid Rs 196 crore (Rs 1.96 billion) to the Board of Control for Cricket in India for the privilege.

The first "Just Do It" cricket ad also made its appearance during the Champions Trophy last month. "We want to look at what drives the passion for cricket in India. We aim to connect emotionally with our customers," declares Sanjay Gangopadhyay, marketing director, Nike India.

The swoosh has finally swung, and how. The American sports footwear and apparel giant has had a presence in India for close to a decade, but it's consciously held on to its "international" image.

Where Sachin Tendulkar and Dhanraj Pillai were endorsing rivals' products, Nike's ads stuck to Maria Sharapova and Ronaldinho. India didn't really figure in the company's marketing and promotion activities.

That's changed now. And it's likely to change the rules of the game of the Rs 1,100-crore (Rs 11 billion) Indian sports footwear and apparel market.

All these years, market leadership has eluded Nike in India. This is the only market where Reebok is No. 1 (40 per cent marketshare), followed by Adidas (20 per cent). Nike's 15 per cent share is a distant third (source: Technopak Advisors). Will the change in positioning tilt the balance of power now?

A fresh start

Other sports companies realised the value of adapting to Indian consumers long ago. What delayed Nike? The operational arrangement was probably to blame: Nike's entry into India was through a seven-year licence agreement with Sierra Industrial Enterprises, unlike Reebok, for instance, which is a fully-owned subsidiary of the American parent.

In 2004, instead of renewing the franchise, Nike India became a subsidiary.

It was an opportunity to start afresh, with greater independence, and Nike is aware of it. "The Indian market is growing in terms of retail, customer spends and awareness. It only made sense for us to cash in on these opportunities as early as possible," says Gangopadhyay.

In fact, ask Nike executives and they'll tell you the company is "just two years old in India" - as if the previous seven-odd years never existed.

The company figures that it is critical to connect emotionally with customers. And in a cricket-crazy nation like India, you don't need to think too hard about how to do that. Even rival Reebok agrees.

"You can't be present in India without being associated with cricket," wryly comments Subhinder Singh Prem, managing director, Reebok India. "But to build a successful association, you can't see cricket as a seasonal activity," he warns.

Nike is listening. Witness the five-year contract with the BCCI. "We wanted to first show our loyalty to Team India, to prove our commitment towards the market and win the confidence of cricket fans," says Gangopadhyay.

That was followed by the introduction of Nike's first cricket shoes. The Air Zoom Yorker was launched this September by pace bowlers S Sreesanth and New Zealand's Shane Bond, who have also been signed on brand ambassadors for the product. A shoe for batsmen, the Air Zoom Opener, followed.

Besides, the BCCI deal allows Nike to launch official cricket merchandise such as replica team T-shirts and jerseys, kit bags and backpacks. That's not just a huge branding opportunity, it's a potential money-spinner: retail consultants estimate the licensed merchandise business could bring in more than $20 million in the first year itself.

Nike is also thinking ahead and taking its commitment to cricket to the grassroots level. In December 2005, it tied up with coaching schools like the BCCI's National Cricket Academy.

The academies will work with Nike to understand the product requirements of the players. It's a win-win situation for both the company and the academies. While Nike creates brand awareness and has a shot at creating loyalists at a young, impressionable age, the academies' need for equipment such as shoes and training gear is looked after by the company.

"This is good move by Nike to promote products at a serious level and to build brand awareness through its commitment to develop sports in India," says Harminder Sahni, chief operating officer, Technopak Advisors.

Catch 'em young

There's nothing original about the focus on cricket, but elsewhere Nike is stamping out fresh ground. Players like Reebok and Puma are looking at extending the sports product line as a lifestyle brand for the 17-35 years age group.

While Reebok is looking at increasing its exclusive women's stores from the existing three to 10 by next year, 70 per cent of the merchandise in Puma stores is lifestyle-, and not sport-related.

But when Nike talks of young customers, it means young. Across the world, its core audience is between 12 and17 years, and it sees no reason why India should be any different.

"We want to inspire youth to become serious about sports that interest them," says Gangopadhyay. The cricket ad, for instance, is clearly targeted at this group.

The ad showcases some of India's finest cricket moments in recent times: Virendra Sehwag becoming the first Indian to score 300 runs in a test match and the dramatic win for India in the Natwest series in 2002. You won't find any memories of the Prudential Cup win of the 1980s in this supersized, 300-second commercial: the target group isn't likely to relate with an event that's not just historical, it's history.

"Children today don't just play the game, they also understand how serious it is. That is why instead of showing cricketers, we decided to show moments that highlight the achievements of cricketers," says Namita Agarwal, creative head, JWT, the agency behind the campaign.

The sponsorships of the cricket academies and the ad isn't the only child-friendly tactic Nike is adopting. It has also launched its cricket shoes and the replica gear in small sizes. That's a good move, say retail consultants. "Targeting kids will help Nike build the brand and create a long-term effect by addressing customers' needs at an early age," says Sahni.

There's some doubt, though, on whether cricket is the best sport to communicate the brand's values to a young, discerning audience.

"Brands like Nike are clearly focused on the upper segment of consumers. I'm not sure whether cricket is any longer such a popular sport with that group. Young consumers in the upper strata are more likely to be tuned into events like the NBA or Premier League Football," Sahni adds.

Be a sport

For its part, Nike isn't taking any chances. The company is also paying attention to other popular sports in the country, such as tennis and football. Of course, it hasn't started any aggressive marketing initiatives for these sports, but the company is determined to tap into the under-15 group here as well.

After announcing its partnership with the All India Football Federation in March 2006, Nike gave an opportunity to the Indian leg of under-15 players to participate in the Manchester United Premier Cup, an annual international Nike tournament.

The winners of this India round were then flown to Bangkok to participate in the South East Asia leg. Further, to inspire its audience the company has signed on India's leading football star Bhaichung Bhutia to endorse its products.

Tennis, too, is being given a hand-up. Under Nike's deal with the Bhupathi Tennis Academy, promising players in the under-12 and under-14 categories will get a chance to participate in the Nike Junior Tour's International Masters Championship, played at international venues like Nice, France.

Retail analysts agree that Nike's efforts will certainly help it create new space within the Indian sports footwear and apparel market.

"It might help Nike change its position since it has taken a different approach from the competition. One, by extending its commitment to emerging sports and two, by involving young talent at an early stage," says Sahni

Resurgence of Indian football & birth of a star

Have your say: Do you think that the AFC Cup win will turn around Indian football?

It was a great night for Indian football at Ambedkar Stadium, New Delhi on August 13, exactly a year after India won the Nehru Cup at the same venue. It was a night that not only heralded a new beginning for Indian football, but also gave birth to a new football icon in the form of Sunil Chettri. He was the golden striker, who scored a hat-trick to give India a thumping 4-1 victory in the final of the AFC Challenge Cup over Tajikistan. The win, thus, earned India an automatic entry into the elite AFC Asian Cup after a hiatus of 24 long years.

The whole spectacle at the Ambedkar Stadium defied the notion that in India it is only cricket that rules the roost. A near capacity crowd, which braved incessant rain, flocked the stadium, cheered the men in blue all through the 90 minutes got to witness a match that will forever be imprinted in their memories. They were thoroughly entertained by an inspired Indian team led by local lad Sunil Chettri and the face of Indian football, skipper Baichung Bhutia.But it was not only the triumph, but the way the Indian team played the throughout the tournament that is heartening.

From the very outset in the final, they came out all guns blazing with 3 superb strikes within the first 25 minutes which ultimately sealed the match in their favour and devastated the morale of the opposition Tajikistan, which came into the final on a high note after humbling DPR Korea, the top ranked team of the tournament at 94. Even after leading 3-0 at half time, India did not stop attacking. There is no doubt that this victory will spiral Indian football to a new stature in the Asian football circuit.

It will surely infuse the oxygen that was dearly needed by the footballers of our nation. Indian football needed to realize the ambition of coach Bob Houghton to see the team among the bests in Asia. At the press conference, immediately after winning AFC Challenge Cup, the coach who earlier helped China win the first ever Olympic medal in football, conceded that it was one of the most satisfying wins of his coaching career.

If the triumph provided a fillip to the otherwise struggling Indian football team, it also gave the sports a new pin-up boy. Before the match, Baichung Bhutia was the lone face Indian football has had for the past one decade. By slamming a hat-trick in the all important final, Sunil hogged limelight from his captain with some spectacular solo runs and dribbling skills. Despite his short height, it’s amazing that he repeatedly snatched the ball from the opposition in the air. In the final he demonstrated that he can also surprise the opposition with his knack of finding the back of the net from no where.

Coach Houghton showered plenty of encomiums towards the upcoming luminary of Indian football. Bob described Sunil as a hardworking and honest footballer who is destined to be a star. “He will be big star”, assured the Briton. “Amazing thing about Chettri,” Bob continued, “is his resilience.” He failed to score a single goal until the dying minutes of the semi-final of the tournament. However, in the last 100 minutes or so he scored four goals which is an achievement in itself.

The coach said, “What surprises me is his never say die attitude.” In the team game like football, individual glory often pales into insignificance if the team finds it tough to get going. The contribution of the entire team is what it takes to become champs in any team game. In that aspect, the entire team, be it custodian Subrata Paul, or right winger Steven Dias or mid-fielders Renedy Singh or Mehraj, everybody in the camp has been excellent in the championship.

The success, thus, can be attributed to the team spirit. The entire team gelled together as a unit under Bob Houghton who has been instrumental ever since he took up the reins of Indian football. It’s no wonder that India clinched two big titles within one year after he became India’s coach. What he has done with this under rated team is that he instilled a sense of ambition in every footballer.

And it’s hardly surprising that a senior journalist, who has been following football for a long time, told Houghton after the final that the entire country is indebted to him.At a time when hockey has lost its old glory and cricket has become a commodity at the hands of money seeking mercenaries, it’s the resurgent Indian football which can fill the void in the hearts of a billion sports aficionados of the country.