KOLKATA: Battered and bruised by the second wave of Covid-19, three high-profile events had been a perfect stress-reliever for the past one month for sport-lovers in Kolkata. While thousands stayed up well past midnight to watch world class football — with back-to-back Euro matches followed by Copa America clashes early in the mornings — the excitement came to a sudden halt on Monday.
All three tournaments that had been grabbing attention and generating excitement — Euro, Copa America and the Wimbledon — ended on Sunday (the Euro final ended at 3.30am on Monday), leaving fans suffering from “withdrawal symptoms” — a feeling of nothing exciting to look forward to from the start of the week.
For techie Souvick Basu, it was a month of passionate football that involved a lot of hard work for him as well.
“I had to change my entire body clock. I was up until 2.30am watching Euro Cup matches. Then there were Copa America matches that had an even weirder India schedule – starting anytime between 3am and 5.30am. I could hardly get a nap before I had to log in for office and was dependent on several cups of coffee to sit straight during Zoom meetings and presentations. The entire evening, I was sleeping only to wake up before the Euro matches resumed again,” said Basu.
For JU passout Tanumoy Naskar, a Covid volunteer who shifted his focus to his first love football over the last one month, said he was having a hard time returning to normal routine. “Covid had taught me to manage stress and sleeplessness. So, even with the emergency calls gone, I was up all night watching football and the evenings were reserved for tennis. For a sports fanatic like me, it was a perfect treat after the Covid emergency. But now with all of them getting over this Sunday, there is a sudden void from this week,” said Naskar.
According to stress management expert Siladitya Roy, it is common to feel the void and withdrawal symptom once a person gets used to certain good things. “But as the saying goes, every good thing must come to an end. So people have to readjust to the current schedule again and should utilise the time doing something productive or spend time with their family members,” said Roy.
With football and tennis off the menu, the city is looking forward to the nation’s favourite sports — cricket — and the World’s most sought after sporting event – the Olympics. Initially scheduled to begin from Tuesday, the T20 and ODI series between India and Sri Lanka will start from next week following change in quarantine protocols. While India women’s team is already vying for the T20 trophy in the final match against England on Wednesday, India men’s team will begin their Test clash with England from next month. Once that is over, IPL’s second leg will begin at UAE, which will follow the T20 World Cup. Tokyo Olympics will begin in two weeks where 124 Indian athletes will compete in 18 sporting events from July 24.
