Sailing

These days, the mega event of the Indian cricket season, the Indian Premier League (IPL), is in progress, and as a result, the cricket lovers of India are an excited lot these days. The media, too, is full of information about the ongoing matches, teams and players. It is good that the game is getting so much recognition but at the same time, the regrettable aspect is that the feats of players in other sports are being totally neglected. Recently, it was heartbreaking to hear the comments of Satwicksairaj Rankireddy. He is one of India's best badminton players and recently helped the country win the bronze medal in the Thomas Cup championship, which is the symbol of world supremacy in the men's team championship. But the achievement did not get the attention that it deserved. Badminton players are neglected Rankireddy and his doubles partner Chirag Shetty are the only Indian doubles pair to reach the World no 1 ranking. But he's dejected that he is getting no help from anyone, not even the government. This is what the player said: "I do not get support from anywhere. I am all alone in this. Instagram models get more attention than we players do. I might as well stop doing it. " Rankireddy spoke about how little the ecosystem offers to sportspersons in India, who travel across the world in the pursuit of excellence and to make their country proud. They make big sacrifices to win medals. But does India care? A few days ago, the Indian women's archery team snatched a thrilling victory over their strong Chinese rivals in the World Cup stage 2 archery championship in Shanghai, China. But again, this information got buried by cricket news. Achievement of Secunderabad girl was buried From the Twin Cities, a young lass, 15-year-old Shringari Roy of the Secunderabad Sailing Club, is making waves in national sailing championships by winning back-to-back medals. She is a student of St Ann’s High School, Mehdipatnam, and will represent India in the World Optimist Sailing Championship in Morocco in June. A few local journalists have written about this talented girl, but yet there is no adequate publicity about her. The girl remains largely unknown. Fifteen-year-old Shringari Roy of the Secunderabad Sailing Club This indifference from the public and the media hurts the athletes in many ways. For instance, they have great difficulty in finding sponsors. In India, cricket enjoys a level of popularity that no other sport can match among the public. The sports media only follow the popularity trail and so other sports lag behind. Television ratings for cricket are enormous. Advertisers spend heavily on cricket broadcasts and newspapers know that cricket stories attract more viewers and readers than reports on athletics, hockey, badminton or swimming. As a result, cricket dominates headlines, television debates and social media discussions. Indian athletes in sports such as badminton, wrestling, boxing, athletics and hockey have won Olympic medals and world titles. Yet, their achievements receive only brief coverage compared to even ordinary cricket events. The imbalance also creates a cycle. Because less media attention means fewer sponsors and smaller fan followings. While cricket certainly deserves its popularity, sports lovers in India as well as the media should also acknowledge achievers in other games. A broader sports culture would encourage young athletes, inspire diversity in sporting talent and help India grow into a stronger all-round sporting nation. India is aspiring to host the Olympic Games in 2036, so we must focus on other games as well. We cannot merely keep up the present standard and win our customary four or five medals that we do every time. Or we will become the first host country in the history of the Olympics to win so few medals and become the laughing stock of the entire world.

Sailing

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