The Sports-India Community

Most college programs will have competent trainers. K-State is a good culture of sports but I do not know how good they are in athletics. Specifically, do they have a top high jump coach? I hope he did his homework and chose the right place.

Read the article guys- the coach there coached the silver medalist in London Olympics...

Any half-decent school in the US is much better than staying in India and not improving. I always wondered why none of our athletes try this route. Someone like Tintu could have immensely benefited from a 4-year stint at one of the top US colleges. I am pretty sure she could have made the cut to one of the big schools. More than any other sport, I think of Track & Field, and Volleyball as good choices for Indians to take US college route. This will be a win-win situation for both the athlete and the nation. I am guessing since most Indians that excel in these sports either come from rural areas, and/or from poor families, so lack of awareness could be one of the issues. They may also be not equipped enough academically to consider this option.

- Varma

sameerph wrote: ↑Tue Sep 26, 2017 4:14 pm Tejswin Shanker decides to go thru US college route -

Tejaswin Shankar, national high jump champion, gets 4-year scholarship in US

I am not quite sure about the strength of the US college circuit in Athletics and his university. Others who are aware can comment of how beneficial for Tejswin.

NCAA standards in track and field is very high generally world class in many events.

Thanks, guys. Prashanth, I missed that part about his university long jump coach. So, it seems he is in good hands. Lets see what he comes up with in next 2-3 years.

I did not see anyone cover the Indian Open National Championships. Here is a reasonably complete article: Open National Championships

16 yrs old Sandra Babu jumped 6.07m to win gold in under-17 girls long jump event in the 61st Kerala State Schools Athletics Championships at Pala ... Sandra in her fifth attempt erased West Bengal's Sibani Bhumji u-16 national mark of 5.88m in 2006.

'Not just another Olympian, Sandra can be an Olympic winner'

That is great news about Sandra. Hope she will stay clean like most of the good ones from Kerala, like PT, Anju, Bobby etc and not follow the (foul) footsteps of that other jumper, Mr. Maheswari.

Yes, she certainly sounds like an exciting prospect. I wish Lakshya foundation or some other professional outfit takes care of her future training. All those tall claims from these coaches are unwarranted for. She barely started her career and these guys are predicting an olympic medal already. The sooner she is taken away from these guys, the better it is for India.

- Varma

Looks like PT Usha is raising funds (via Milaap) for her School for Athletes. The target is Rs. 27 lakhs that covers 6 months of expenses. You can contribute here. So far 5.7 lakhs has been raised.

Tejaswin Shankar seems to be making good progress at K-State university. Yesterday at the Big 12 Championship, Tejswin jumped an impressive 2.28 mtrs. to win bronze. This was new Indian indoor national record. Generally, outdoor marks in high jump are better than indoors.

So, if he keeps this up, a medal at April's commonwealth games is within reach.

This is a nice article on his progress at K-state athletics which appeared a few days ago ( before his today's effort)

SE: K-State T&F’s Shankar Takes Unexpected Journey from India to Manhattan, Cricket to High Jump

Our current 100m national record holder Amiya Kumar Mallick is planned to train in US under US-based Nigerian coach Taiwo Ariyo.

Top sprinter Amiya Mallick to train in US now

I met someone who is a "masters" racewalker (meaning retired/old ~55) and who represented the U.S. at a meet in Philadelphia this weekend. On knowing that I was from India, he said, "Your hero must be Milkha Singh." I was pleased on hearing this instinctively and agreed. But, then thought that it is quite sad that apart from him, Anju George, and P.T. Usha we have pretty much not had anyone. And that too Usha perhaps has an asterisk since she did things when the Russians boycotted.

Neeraj Chopra will take part in Doha Diamond league on May 4. Most of the top javelin throwers of the world will be there, it seems.

Neeraj Chopra to take part in Diamond League series next month

And Neeraj Chopra smashed the national record and personal best to throw 87.43 at the Doha Diamond league.
But, that is not good enough for a medal as 3 Germans throw over 90 meters which is a first in any competition in javelin so far. His 87.43 would have earned him a medal in last 4 olympics but not here. Still an excellent effort by Neeraj again.