I really miss playing tournaments,” said badminton star P.V. Sindhu, when asked what she misses the most from the pre-Covid days. Her last event was the All England Open in March 2020. “But with tournaments starting from January, I am really looking forward to performing well at the Thailand Open,” she said.
The world champion is working with sports scientist Rebecca Randell of the Gatorade Sports Science Institute and training with Badminton England’s Toby Penty and Rajiv Ouseph at the National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes, England.
All Olympics-bound Indian athletes like Sindhu are itching to compete, having resumed their training in June. The break may have come as a welcome one for some initially, but the long period of inaction that followed had its own challenges.
Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, India’s brightest hope for an Olympic medal in athletics, had an injury-plagued 2019 and an equally forgettable 2020, which saw him competing in only one event. “It has been a long time since I competed,” said Chopra, who is training at the national camp in Bhubaneshwar.
For a young Sindhu or Chopra, time is on their side. But the clock has never ticked so loudly for seniors like P.R. Sreejesh, former captain of the Indian hockey team. “As a goalkeeper, it is good that I got more time to prepare,” said the 32-year-old. “But at the same time, I need to be playing at the highest level to remain at my best.”
With teams undergoing training camps since June-July, coaches have had to prepare plans for different scenarios—be it for pre-Olympic competitions or for going to the Olympics without any international competitions.
Shooting
The National Rifle Association of India, along with the Sports Authority of India, held two national camps for Olympic core-group shooters in New Delhi. But 2020 was a tough one on Indian shooters who are used to training and competing all year round. “I usually train 365 days a year,” said pistol shooter Abhishek Verma. “But because of Covid, I was forced to take a long holiday. Only the 10m air pistol and air rifle shooters were able to train at home after the lockdown ended. And still, the ranges were closed.”
For Suma Shirur, national coach of the air rifle team, the first camp organised for the core Olympic probables squad was to sort shooters’ equipment. “It was about fine-tuning equipment with their body and basic fundamental training,” she said. The second camp, which started in October, was about technical training. The third camp is set to resume after a break interspersed with selection trials. “The second camp was very positive,” said Shirur. “Everyone got into the groove of competitive training together, so they know what level they are at.”
The national coaches have meanwhile devised all their plans keeping in mind the ISSF World Cups in New Delhi in March and in Changwon, Korea, in April. “Once it was clear that the Olympics would take place, we knew we have to be ready for it even if there were no competitions,” said Shirur.
Hockey
Rani Rampal, captain of the Indian hockey team, would rather look at the “extra time” her team got as a boon. Having qualified for the Olympics, the women’s team is looking to better its record at the Games. “I do not think Covid has affected our preparations because we are doing exactly the same things we would have been doing had the sport not stopped,” said Rampal. “When it comes to following the SOPs and the protocols, there have been some adjustments. But our focus has remained intact.”
Sjoerd Marijne, chief coach of the women’s national team, feels the extended break has given players an opportunity to bond off the field. “One of the first things that came to my mind was to keep the team together as a family,” he said. “Another aspect was to keep the players fresh both mentally and physically. Our coaching staff made sure that the team could improve their fitness levels, and also utilise time to analyse their past performances.” Marijne is hopeful of travelling for competitions soon.
Forward punch: Manisha Moun (in red) in action against compatriot sakshi chaudhary in the 57kg category finals at the cologne boxing world cup, Germany, in December 2020
Graham Reid, chief coach of the senior men’s hockey team, said the Covid-enforced break was an extended off-season that was turned into two four-month-long camps. The focus of these camps has been on tactical play and scenarios to prepare the team for any situation during games, said Reid.
He expressed satisfaction with where the players were, technically and physically, despite no competitions. “It is challenging to gauge where the team is at, when compared with other teams in the world,” said Reid. “We have done everything possible to get the players back to the level they will need to be to compete against the best.”
Athletics
Javelin thrower Johannes Vetter recorded the second-best throw in the history of the sport in September 2020. The German, who made a comeback after an ankle surgery, competed in seven events in Europe in the last three months of 2020. In contrast, India’s number one javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has competed only in one competition in 2020—in January, when he qualified for the Tokyo Games. “Yes, I faced a huge problem in training in 2020,” he said. “It had completely stopped during the lockdown. In 2019, it was like this too, because of my surgery and rehab.”
The Athletics Federation of India revised its domestic competition schedule thrice in 2020 but failed to hold any meets. They persisted with training camps at NIS Patiala and now Bhubaneshwar, but it has not been easy for the athletes. In November, the AFI’s high performance director (HPD) Volker Hermann resigned as he could not meet his “self-imposed expectations”.
“We are absolutely on track,” said AFI president Adille Sumariwalla. “People like Neeraj who were undergoing rehab got a little more time to recover. While they (Chopra’s competitors) are more experienced, Neeraj is younger. He has an advantage. The whole contingent is very young. Therefore, one more year of preparation will put them in good stead.”
Sumariwalla admitted that the lack of international competitions was a setback. “We definitely missed the competitions, but we are planning for our top guys to be outside India competing from January-February onwards,” he said. “It is important to keep athletes safe also. It is a real balancing act.”
Boxing
The Indian boxing contingent has perhaps been the best-placed in terms of competition exposure in 2020. Nine Indian boxers (five men and four women) qualified for the Tokyo Olympics and Indian boxing’s HPD Santiago Nieva had eyes on a few more berths to make it India’s best-ever qualification.
After the lockdown was lifted, boxing camps were held at NIS Patiala, followed by a training-cum-competition tour to Italy, France and Germany from October to December. Nieva was a happy man as the Indian team bagged nine medals at the Cologne Boxing World Cup, including three golds. “We were in the final [stage of] preparations for the Olympics, but then we had to wait for almost a year,” said Nieva. “But we are in the same situation as the rest of the world. We had good preparation and fortunately we could come to Europe and do this 67-day trip.”
Raffaele Bergamasco, coach of the Indian senior women’s team, though happy with the results, said he will have to come up with some new training plans in January. “The Italian federation arranged a joint training camp and a small tournament in Milan with good opponents,” he said. “I plan to start the preparation from January in India after some initial evaluation tests and improvisation in training methodology.”
Bergamasco said that European nations held mini-competitions by creating small bio bubbles and their boxers had their noses in front. “It is good to have more international exposure than training with the same partners at home,” he said. “In Europe, they are organising small tournaments even during the pandemic by taking good precautions. In 2021, from February, there will be tournaments in Bulgaria, Spain, Hungary, Belarus and Ukraine as preparations for the Olympic Games.” Apart from the European events, the BFI will host the Asian Championship in the first quarter of 2021.
Wrestling
It has been a very different story for Indian wrestling, being a contact sport. Following the high of 2019 with several World Championships medals, the grapplers had almost a full year of restrictions. From March to August, it was about individual training at home. Then the wrestling federation announced camps with severe restrictions and only Indian coaches. Women’s coach Andrew Cook had his contract terminated during the lockdown while foreign coaches for the men’s team could not travel to India. The women’s camp in Lucknow was called off entirely after Diwali.
An Indian contingent participated at the Individual World Cup in Belgrade against a depleted field in November. India returned with only one medal—a silver by Anshu Malik in women’s 57kg division—winning 15 bouts and losing 28. World Championships silver medallist Deepak Punia was beaten in the bronze-medal playoff and Rio Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik could not progress to the second round. The lack of proper training was evident. The Olympic qualifiers start in February 2021. Bajrang Punia has been sanctioned a month-long training stint in the USA and Vinesh Phogat is recovering from Covid-19.