NEW DELHI: Online — the new buzzword in Indian sports. From conducting meetings, seminars to championships, the internet is being used by Sports Authority of India (SAI) and most National Sports Federations to try and function smoothly. Following in the footsteps of shooting, the Wushu Association of India (WAI) is conducting online state championships which will be followed by the nationals.
While states like Maharashtra and Karnataka have successfully managed to host the championships, and other states have started their respective events, WAI have been deliberating over how to ensure a smooth conduct of the meet in Jammu and Kashmir. Only 2G service is active in the state.
"For most of the states, internet connectivity is not a major issue. But for J&K, we decided to allow athletes and kids there to send in video recordings and our judges will award points on the basis of the videos. We want to encourage players of all states and hence we made this exception," WAI secretary Suhel Ahmed said. This was decided after the online Annual General Meeting.While the J&K state championships was scheduled to start on Sunday, it has been postponed by a couple of days after one of the state’s top wushu exponents lost his mother.
Nationals brought forward
Initially, WAI was looking to conduct the national championships in October. Now they are planning to prepone the tournament to May in order to keep the athletes’ morale high during this lockdown period. "Most people will be home and outdoor activity will be limited hence this plan of bringing forward the tournament. Our target is to start on May 15 and finish off all state championships by May 12," Kuldeep Handoo, chief national coach, revealed.
The top four from all states will compete in the nationals. The athletes have been demonstrating Taolu and Sanda moves. While Taolu is a solo act, Sanda utilises combat using kicking, punching and acrobatics. "Taolu is easier to do inside a room and hence we went for it. For Sanda, we wanted athletes to show us their form, how accurate their posture and follow through is and we are awarding points based on that," Kuldeep said. There are also plans to include Tai-Chi in the future through online classes.
Mask & sanitiser prizes
WAI will gift the winners of the state championships with certificates and various other cash prizes. They also want to award the athletes who have participated. The prize? Face masks and hand sanitisers! "We wanted to gift them something to keep them motivated. We decided to gift them masks and sanitisers so that they can continue to train without fear while also maintaining their health," the secretary added.