NEW DELHI: The Indian government has ordered a thorough enquiry into the causes for the poor show by the Indian athletes at the Beijing Asian games.
Prime Minister V.P.Singh who is also in charge of sports, is said to have viewed seriously the contingent’s performance at the games.
Earlier the chef demission Aslam Khan enquired if “trials and performances shown by them (sportsmen) were genuine”. “This is important and necessary, because the performance by our sportspersons in the Asiad proved otherwise” he said. He continued that though “I was not involved in the training, coaching and final selections of the teams, but as a keen sports observer, I was expecting gold in men’s hockey, Kabaddi, yachting and men’s 1500 meter race”,
Khan, who is also the sports minister in Uttar Pradesh state said “What is disappointing is that we left with big hopes which were dashed, the performance by cycling, wrestling, golf, women’s hockey and tennis teams was miserable. The athletes too disappointed. Once again P.T. Usha won medals for us.”
He praised Dina Ram, who won silver in athletics saying “he put in everything to win a medal, and that dedication was lacking in most other competitions.”
Article extracted from this publication >> October 26, 1990
