By Adeeb Walter
LUCKNOW: The nip in the morning air fails to break the passion of young and aspiring sportspersons who come to sweat out daily at KD Singh Babu Stadium.
With a week left for polling in the nine assembly constituencies of Lucknow, sports arenas and grounds have turned into a hotbed of political discussion with players expressing their views on what they want their representatives to bat for to improve sports facilities.
Tanushree Pandey, a 17-year-old lawn tennis player, who has won three junior international championships, rues the absence of flood lights on courts making it hard for players to acclimatize on international arenas.
“It does not end here, we don’t have balling machines either,” she added.
“It is because of these shortcomings that we have not produced any ace tennis player in the last five years. If our representatives focus on such things, we can also have our very own Venus Williams,” said Sasha Katiyar, Tanshuree’s partner .
Conveying similar sentiments, volleyball player Mohammad Sadiq, 21, said, “A law making sports and physical education mandatory in schools must be made. It will help in developing respect for sports and more youngsters will opt for it as a career,” he said.
“There’s no facility in my city for weightlifting, that’s why I have to come to the state capital. Last year when I came to Lucknow there were not many facilities here, but recently, we have got some new indoor equipment. It will be good if similar arrangements are made in every district,” said Poonam Yadav, a weightlifter, who hails from Gorakhpur.
Siddhant Seth, a 21-year-old, a national level weightlifter, said “If our elected members use even 10% of the MLA-LAD funds for improving basic sports facilities in their constituency, India can easily grab 100 medals in Olympics. We have got immense potential, but lack in resources for training”.
A senior coach told TOI that the last two years of the Covid-19 pandemic have been very tough for players because every time cases surge, sports facilities for practice sessions are closed, which makes a great impact on training. “There should be a policy to support budding players so that they can carry out training sessions at home,” he suggested.
