A giant seminar!

A giant seminar!
Shankar Ramachandran

MUMBAI, DECEMBER 30: ``This is not a Nationals, it is more like a seminar,'' lamented Kunjurani Devi. She was referring to the ``circus'' proceeding under the big tent pitched at Subhash Maidan, Kalyan, where the Senior National Weightlifting concluded today.

``The facilities are pitiful ... the quality is very bad ... a National is not a small competition, to be conducted like this,'' Kunjurani lashed out.

The queen of Indian lifting was not just referring to the hospitality -- lesser said about that the better -- provided by organisers Giants International.

``The platform was uneven, crude, and not of a good standard; the warm-up facilities were mediocre. Most of the lifters were hampered,'' she said.

Worse still, the women lifters, who have fetched the country numerous laurels, were forced to use men's barbells -- which, at 21 mm, are 6 mm thicker than those for women. Women's barbells were not available. Kunjurani said, ``For five years now, we have used women's barbells. Here we have been forced to change our gripping. It has been very difficult, and the women could not go all out.

``I have been speaking against it from the first day, but no one has bothered.''

The Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) usually sends a team to inspect the facilities provided, and in this case, secretary Gopal Khanra reached Kalyan three days in advance. But it was too late to rectify things, one official said.

Some IWF officials admitted this was one of the worst Senior Nationals. ``Ten years back, if such facilities had existed at a state meet, they could have been tolerable. But not now, when India reaps golds at the world level,'' said Squadron Leader (retd) BR Gulati, vice-president of IWF.

Hemal Ravani, one of the Giants organisers, said in defence, ``We lack infrastructure in Kalyan to organise such an event. We decided to pitch this tent so that people can come and watch and the sport becomes popular. The response would have been miserable if held indoors.''

For the want of a horse, the kingdom was sacrificed, it appears. At the risk of mixing metaphors, the horse seemed to have bolted the stable too, as the turn-out was not encouraging.