Cricket gets focus due to consistency: PT Usha

JAMSHEDPUR: Though many sports icons of the country were angry with only cricket hogging the limelight and its players getting lots of money, former sprint queen PT Usha felt there were various reasons for that.

Usha said cricket has become a lucrative and attractive game because of lack of consistency in other games in the country.

"Poor performance in other sports including track and field caused people as well as sponsors to get attracted towards cricket particularly after India won the World Cup in 1983," she said.

Usha was here to assess the performance of her cadets from Kozhikode-based Usha School of Athletics at the 47th National Open Athletic Championship that concluded at the JRD Tata Sports Complex on Friday.

Though the Athletics Federation of India had improved facilities including development of infrastructure, appointment of foreign coaches and more provisions of international exposure during the past three decades, Usha said performance of athletes in the 1980s was much better compared to that of the present lot.

She said she had attracted lots of sponsorship even when cricket was gaining popularity following the 1983 Wold Cup.

The 'Payyoli Express' had missed an Olympic bronze in Los Angeles in 1984 by fraction of a second.

If she could put up such performance, why not the present lot of athletes, who undergo training under a scientific method amid good facilities.

Current athletes should grab the opportunity of international exposure and foreign coaches to excel their performances, Usha said.

Asked whether foreign coaches were good for the athletes, she asked, "Where is the result?"

Certainly, Indian coaches were good and they could prove their mettle if they were provided with at least half of the facilities given to foreign coaches, she said.

Referring to her athletic academy, Usha said out of 11 girls undergoing under her supervision, six were doing well at the national level.

However, she was pinning hope on Tintu Luka and Sonia KA, who faired well at the National Open Athletic meet with Luka winning a bronze in the 400 m race, to win medals for the country.

Asked about the Tata Athletic Academy (TAA) established to nurture budding long and middle-distance runners, Usha said there was no comparision between TAA and her academy.

While TAA inducted medal winning athletes to improve their performance further, she recruited cadets at the early age of 11-year and nurture them, she said.