Opportunities Today :- April 2004 Issue

Outstanding Long Distance Runner

 

Rohinton Mehta is a Corporate Lawyer with ITC Limited and also a visiting Professor of Criminology at the University of Mumbai teaching the Masters Degree Course in Law (LLM). This apart he also holds a double Bachelors degree (B.Com, LL.B) and triple Masters degree {LLM, LLM, MS (USA)}and a Doctorate (PhD) in Law. Besides athletics in the Open, State and National level he has won a bronze medal at the Maharashtra State Track Cycling Championship in 1985. He was also actively involved in Okinawan Goju-ryu Karate and Mountaineering. At the present time Rohinton dedicates most of his time practising for the Veterans events. What is remarkable about him is that he is still a powerhouse of energy and a storehouse of legal knowledge.

In an interview with Rohinton Mehta I was happy to learn that he qualified for the Asian Masters Athletic Championship to be held in Bangkok from 1st to 5th December 2004. With a degree of pride he will now represent India in the above Athletic Championship. Rohinton stood 1st in the 400 m hurdles in the 40+ age group with a timing of 65:02. He also stood second in the 4 x 400 mtrs relay with a timing of 3:55:39. This 25th National Masters Athletics Championship was held at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad from 4th to 7th March, 2004. About 2400 athletes from every Indian state participated. We congratulate Rohinton on this achievement and wish him every success at Bangkok.

Enlighten our readers on your training philosophy.

I have an extremely busy professional life and travel extensively. You must find reasons to do what you love and not excuses to avoid doing it. I try to fit my athletics to my work and life style. Where there is a will there is a way. There are about seven pillars on which I have based my training philosophy. They are:

 

• Consistency in training - You have to average a minimum of 250 workouts in a year.

• Listen to your body - Aches and pains are warning signals. Cut back immediately on the quantum and intensity.

• Train Smart and scientifically - Many a times “less” is “more”. Read books and articles on your sport/event. A well-read and enlightened athlete is normally a much better athlete.

• Have a positive attitude and an aggressive body language on the field - Aggressive not rude! You must have the hunger to win. Remember when you are tired so are the other guys. Believe in yourself, your coach and your training.

• Rest Rest Rest - Rest and sleep are as important to a sportsperson as good nutrition and training. Cut down on late nights. I believe in the dictum “ TRAINED, RESTED AND READY”

• Learn from your defeats - Losses are the stepping stones to success. Everybody loses, including the World Champions. You must develop the ability to analyze your loss and rectify your mistakes. Most of the times the answer lies not in training more but in training differently!

• Specialize in your chosen event - Attempting various events is the rookie runner's fundamental mistake. This leads to pedestrian performances in all events. Pick one or at the most two events and specialize in them. After all, 1 Gold medal is worth more than 3 Bronze medals!

Do you think that the various Athletic Associations and Federations in India are doing enough for athletics in the country?

It is indeed difficult to generalize because there are Good-Bad-Indifferent and downright obnoxious associations. After all, an association is made up of humans and humans come in all varieties. Honest, hardworking, conscientious, political, corrupt, inconsiderate and genuinely incompetent!

Anyway, answering your question, Yes a lot needs to be done. The following three areas need to be urgently addressed:

Associations and Federations are not athlete centric. They focus on all aspects other than the athlete. The focus of an athletic association must be the “athlete”, his needs, his grooming, and his well being. 

This focus on the athlete means many other things including:

• Organizing more competitions

• Getting quality coaches

• Grass-root development

• Guaranteeing quality running surfaces. Some of our meets are held on rocky mud tracks full of stones.

• Guaranteeing availability of equipment such as hurdles, a properly maintained jumping pit, high jump mattresses, throwing equipment, etc.

• Associations & Federations must tackle the menace of overage athletes (in junior sections) and underage athletes (in veterans). The Associations must come down heavily on not only the athlete himself/herself but also the team. Severe punishment including suspension, heavy monetary fines on the team and publication of the names of the cheaters, their institutions and their coaches in the media is warranted.

• Associations & Federations must involve Corporates. You must not merely seek charity and donations but “sponsorships” with a quid pro quo. The companies must get something in return, otherwise why will they help you? A very good example is the good publicity garnered by Standard Chartered in their sponsorship of the Mumbai International Marathon Association. They must change their approach from being 'charity seekers' to being business-like in their approach. Athletics has a lot to learn from cricket and tennis in this regard.

What has been your performance in Veteran's Athletics?

I have been the State Champion for the last four years and competed in the last 3 Nationals (Bhopal, Bangalore and Imphal picking up a Gold, Bronze and a Silver respectively). I will be competing in my 4th Nationals at Hyderabad next month where I expect to come in the top two in the 400m hurdles. I also take part in a few city-level open meets in the “Men's” section and this year I got a bronze in the 400m. hurdles in the Bombay City District Meet in the Men's section competing with athletes who were exactly half my age.

How many training sessions do you have in a year?

I average about 260 sessions in a year i.e. about 22 workouts a month. Of these 11 are running, 10 are weights and 1 is a swim or a hike. There is more weight training in the non-competitive season (May-Sept.) and more running in the competitive season (Oct. to Mar.)

Do you have any sporting idols?

Not really. I don't idolize anybody but I have a lot of respect for Edwin Moses who won the 400m. hurdles at the highest International levels winning 102 consecutive races spanning about seven years and in 22 different countries. And mind you, the 400m. hurdles is considered the toughest event in track and field.

What are your plans for the future?

I will be running the Nationals next month at Hyderabad and in December 2004, I will run the Asian Championships at Bangkok. If I come in the top two at Bangkok I will compete in the World Veteran Championship in San Sebastian, Spain in August 2005. And of course in this period I will run about 15/20 other local races to sharpen myself.

CRICKET

India Square Series 2-2
The Samsung ODI Cricket series between India and Pakistan is eventually leading to a climax at Lahore. The highly partisan crowd that is behind the Pak cricket team has been well-behaved thus far. The game itself has on three occasions reached a feverish pitch. The first two ODI produced a thrilling and exciting cricket and went down to the wire. Cricket is the game of uncertainties. Take the case of the master batsman Sachin Tendulkar who scored 141 at Rawalpindi and did not produce a single run at Peshawar. Yet another is the case of Ashish Nehra who bowled brilliantly at Karachi but could not score with the bat at Rawalpindi to take India to yet another deserving victory. The third ODI at Peshawar, though exciting in certain moments, pitted out in a four wicket win for Pakistan.

Yasir Hameed blunted an inspired Indian bowling attack with a fine 98-run knock before crisis man Abdul Razzaq sailed Pakistan through to a four-wicket victory with 16 balls to spare in another thrilling contest between the arch-rivals. The victory gave the hosts a vital 2-1 lead in the five-match series as the action moves on to Lahore for the double-header. The wickets in these series have suited the Pakistanis. However, their bowlers were still struggling against the Indian top batsmen. And element of luck crept in for Shabbir Ahmed who got three top-order wickets and Shoaib Akhtar who kept applying the pressure throughout. There was not much bounce in the wicket as Yasir Hameed and Yuvraj Singh stroked their bats delightfully.

The Indian cricket team could not have asked for anything better at Lahore in the 4th ODI Samsung Series. They managed to restrict the Pakistan scoring with some superb fielding till the 30th over. Moreover five wickets of Pakistan fell in the last eight overs that gave India that little edge. It was a blow to the Indian pace bowlers when the Pakistan skipper Inzamam knocked the sails out of Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan and Balaji. His splendid knock of 123 from 121 balls kept the Indian cricket team on tenterhooks and one wondered whether India would be in position to draw 2-2. 

All said and done India made the perfect start and got ahead of the Pakistan score by almost 50 runs all along the way. What Inzamam did for Pakistan Rahul Dravid (76) and Mohamed Kaif (71) carried the Indian team on their shoulders and with some delightful batting of just ones and twos and few fours reached the target comfortably and defeated Pakistan by 5 wickets. It was indeed a great leveller and the Indian cricket team with its morale high and tremendous team spirit should not find it difficult now in winning the series 3-2 at Lahore.

At the time of writing this article the fifth ODI will be played at Lahore followed by the three Test matches. The highlights of these matches will be published in our May edition.

HOCKEY

India qualify for Athens Olympics by virtue of a miracle

The performances of the Indian hockey team for the Athens qualifiers held at Madrid, Spain fell below one's expectations. In the very first match the Indian hockey team was given a rude shock by Belgium who held them to a 1-1 draw. Next it was Malaysia who succeeded in taking a 2-0 lead when the Indian defense line crumbled. As the match progressed India came back strongly and beat the Malaysians handsomely. In a similar fashion after leading 4-0 against Canada, the defense line was all at sea and allowed the Canadians to dominate the proceedings even though India won 6-4.

There appears to be something radically wrong with the Indian team not only in defense but also upfront unable to capitalize on half-chances. One sorely missed the services of Dhanraj Pillay who had always been in a position to create defense splitting passes and allow our attackers to be more free to score goals. It is hoped that wiser counsel will prevail and he makes a come-back in his last Olympic venture.

Pakistan beat India 4-2 in the bronze medal play-off of the Olympic-qualifying tournament. It was a disappointing finish to India's campaign in the 12-nation competition, although they have already qualified for the Athens Games in August. If at all the IHF continues with this team there is very little hope of making it to the semi-finals as Australia, Germany, Holland and Pakistan are streets ahead of the current Indian team. The team that represented India last year in the Asia Cup had the full potential of causing major upsets.