Karnataka has a rich sporting history and tradition. Right from pre-Independence days to the present era, the state has produced sportspersons of true class and quality. And not ju
Karnataka has a rich sporting history and tradition.
Right from pre-Independence days to the present era, the state has produced sportspersons of true class and quality.
And not just sportspersons, many eminent and efficient referees, coaches and administrators have emerged from time to time to guide and shape the sporting destiny of the state.
There is no sporting discipline in which the state’s sports persons have not excelled – right from athletics to yachting. The presence of a large number of public sector units and defence establishments in Bangalore and elsewhere in the state has been an added advantage. If there is any lacunae, it is in the private sector which has not really made noteworthy contributions down the years. If that had been the case, Karnataka would have created bigger ripples than has been the case so far.
The dream Olympics
The 1948 Olympic Games were held in London a year after India’s Independence. There was added interest as it was being hosted in England. And the then Mysore state provided no less than six footballers to the Indian team which participated in the Olympic Games football tournament. Goalkeeper K V Varadaraj, defender S A Basheer, midfielder B N Vajravelu, inside-left Ahmad Khan, centre-forward Dhanraj and inside-right S Raman were the ones who made the state proud.
From then on, there has been a steady flow of international sporting stars to the national pool although it has certainly thinned down in the last few years. Athletes, cricketers, footballers, swimmers performed exceptionally well to lead the state to victories and the national team to glory as well.
From Mysore to Karnataka
Mysore won the national football championships for the Santosh Trophy for the first time in 1946-47 in Bangalore when they beat the then mighty Bengal.
They repeated the feat in 1952-53 and again in 1968 and 1969 defeating Bengal on all occasions. The state has been the runners-up five times but has never won the title after being rechristened as Karnataka in 1973. The last time Karnataka entered the final was in 1975.
As Mysore, the state never won the national cricket championship for the Ranji Trophy but were runners-up twice.
As Karnataka, the state’s first won it for the first time in 1973-74 defeating Rajasthan and repeated that effort five more times with wins in 1977-78 (beat Uttar Pradesh), 1982-83 (beat Bombay), 1995-96 (beat Tamil Nadu), in 1997-98 (beat Uttar Pradesh) and for the sixth time in 1998-99 (beat Madhya Pradesh).
Overall, they have been runners-up on six occasions.
Athletics and more
Athletes like Kenneth Powell, Uday Prabhu, Anand Shetty, Arjun Devaiah, Angel Mary, Ashwini Nachappa, Vandana Rao, Asha, Sumavathi have all notched up individual titles. They also represented the country in the Asian Games, Olympics, World championships as well.
Swimmers too have performed wonderfully and Karnataka has reigned supreme at he national level for long. Sajini Shetty, Lorraine Varghese, Meghana Narayan, Punita Gupta, Shanaz Shacoor, Sangita Rao, Nisha Millet, Shika Tandon, J. Abhijit, M.
Satish Kumar, Hakimmuddin S H and Rehan Poncha have all excelled in their patent strokes that have kept Karnataka floating high in the pool.
The birth of a star
But the most significant achievement for the state came in the 70s. A kid answering to the name of Prakash Padukone burst onto the badminton scene in 1969-70. Padukone managed to win both the Junior National and Senior National Badminton titles in 1971 at the age of just 16 years. Prakash continued to win the National Senior title for 9 years in a row, a record that was equalled by a woman player in Aparna Popat a couple of years ago but not by any player among men.
Padukone announced his arrival loud and clear in the 1978 Commonwealth Games held at Edmonton (Canada). He won the men’s single’s final defeating Ray Talbot of B r i t a i n i n straight sets and won a gold medal.
In 1980, he won the Badminton Grand Slam by winning three major international badminton tour n a – ments including All England B a d m i n t o n Championship.
He also represented India in Thomas Cup Matches. In the 7th Asian Games, held at Tehran in 1974, he won a bronze medal.
In the First World Games held in USA (1981), he was awarded a bronze medal. He also won the Alba World Cup in the same year defeating Han Jain of China. Padukone’s victory in the all-England in 1980 set in motion a badminton revolution in the state and the country.
The national game
Hockey Olympians like Rajagopal, Munir Sait, Deshamuthu, Govinda, Ganesh put the state hockey prowess into the limelight but despite producing a number of players of class, the state has not managed to win the national hockey championship for the Rangaswamy Cup till now. Of course, politics in hockey has seen that the championship itself is pushed into the background. It has not been conducted for sometime now. The Bangalore-Hifliers won the now-defunct Premier Hockey League in 2006.
The tournament was played in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
Tennis, volleyball, kabaddi, ball badminton and sports for the disabled have also produced many fine exponents.
Beyond the field
Referees, umpires, judges and administrators have made significant contributions to state sports. Philanthropists like Jeenabhai Devidos, Nettakkallappa and J B Mallaradhya have shown the way in sports promotion at a time when sources for raising revenue like telecast rights, advertisements, etc. were virtually unheard of.
Though crores are being spent every year, sports infrastructure in the state continues to be of rather poor standards. No state association is in a position to host an international event at short or even due notice. Most of the stadia are in pathetic stages of neglect or have never come up to expected levels.
Though crores are being spent every year, sports infrastructure in the state continues to be of rather poor standards. No state association is in a position to host an international event at short or even due notice. Most of the stadia are in pathetic stages of neglect or have never come up to expected levels.
The state hosted the National Games in 1996-97. A number of new stadiums were built but sadly, the indoor stadiums are largely being utilised for commercial purposes rather than for sports. With state associations not being pro-active, there has been a dearth of sporting activity A recent trend to form instant clubs for tournaments like the IPL and KPL in cricket, the I-League in soccer and the PHL in hockey has also caused concern. Ageold institutions are being neglected.
AWARD WINNING SPORTSPERSONS
Arjuna Awards 1965 Elvira Britto Hockey 1965 Kenneth Powell Athletics 1968 E.A.S. Prasanna Cricket 1971 Muniswamy Venu Boxing 1971 P. Krishnamurthy Hockey 1972 Prakash Padukone Badminton 1972 B.S. Chandrashekhar Cricket 1973 M. P. Ganesh Hockey 1975 B P Govinda Hockey 1976 Shanta Rangaswamy Cricket 1977 G R Vishwanath Cricket 1978 Angel Mary Athletics 1978 C.C. Machaiah Boxing 1980 Syed Kirmani Cricket 1987 Vandana Rao Athletics 1987 D. V. Prasad Chess 1988 Ashwini Nachapp, Athletics 1994 Jude Felix Hockey 1996 A B Subbaiah Hockey 1996 Ashish Ballal Hockey 1996 Javagal Srinath Cricket 1996 Kalle Gowda Athletics 1966 Usha Sunderaraj Table Tennis 1997 Chetan Baboor Table tennis 1997 Reeth Abraham Athletics 1998 Rahul Dravid Cricket 1998 Satish Rai Weightlifting 1998 S. D. Eshan Athletics 1999 Nisha Millet Swimming 2000 B.K.Venkatesh Prasad Cricket 2000 J.Abhijith Swimming 2000 C. Honnappa Kabaddi 2001 B C Ramesh Kabaddi 2003 Pankaj Advani Billiards 2003 Suma Shirur Shooting 2004 Innocent Helen Mary Hockey 2005 Shikha Tandon Swimming 2008 Anup Sridhar Badminton Dronacharya Award 2004 Arvind Savur Billiards & Snooker Padma Shree 1970 E A S Prasanna Cricket 1971 G R Vishwanath Cricket 1972 B S Chandrasekahr Cricket 1982 Prakash Padukone Badminton 2001 Malathi Holla Paralympics 2001 Mahesh Bhupathi Tennis 2004 Rahul Dravid Cricket 2009 Pankaj Advani Billiards & Snooker
source/content: newindianexpress.com (headlines edited)