SAI may crack whip on some foreign coaches

NEW DELHI: Some established foreign coaches in India may soon pay the price for their athletes’ poor performances at the Asian and Commonwealth Games, with the Sports Authority of India (SAI) about to begin a long-promised performance review of these highly-paid professionals. SAI had promised such a review going into the Asiad in Jakarta-Palembang.
Some of the names on SAI’s radar include middle and long-distance coach Nikolai Snesarev, race walking coach Alexander Artsybashev, Indian women boxing performance director Raffaele Bergamasco and rowing coach Nicolae Gioga, among others. Foreign coaches are well paid in India, with most earning in the range of $6000-$8000 a month. Coaches involved with prominent sports like hockey earn ever higher.
The Rowing Federation of India (RFI) is unhappy with the training methods of 66-year-old Romanian Gioga and a termination of his contract looks likely. During the Asiad, Indian rowers won a gold and two bronze, but according to the RFI, the contingent could have returned with more medals had the coach not forced his gruelling training regime on rowers.
Bergamasco’s training methods are also in the spotlight after India’s women pugilists returned empty-handed from the Asiad, with none getting past the quarterfinal stage. In the Gold Coast CWG too, except for Mary Kom’s gold, none of the other women boxers managed a medal.
Mary Kom, incidentally, has her own coaching and support staff and only takes guidance from the Italian when part of the national camp. With Delhi hosting the women’s world boxing championships in November, Bergamasco might get a one-event extension.
Artsybashev’s coaching technique came under severe criticism after four of the country’s leading race walkers — KT Irfan, Manish Rawat, Sandeep Kumar and Soumiya B — were disqualified at the Asiad, with only 20km race walker Khushbir Kaur managing a fourth-place finish.
At the CWG, none of his trained athletes managed a creditable finish, returning empty-handed from the event, while Soumiya B was again disqualified. Artsybashev’s contract had already expired on April 29 but he was offered an extension till the Asiad.
Snesarev, on the other hand, hardly has any track athlete of note training under him now. All the middle and long-distance runners who participated at the CWG and Asiad were trained by other coaches. The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) isn’t interested in continuing with his services.
Indian hockey’s high-performance director, David Ian John, too is under the spotlight after the Indian men’s team finished a disappointing fourth at the CWG while, at the Asiad, the boys settled for a bronze after losing the semifinal to Malaysia. Indian men had won gold at the 2014 Asiad and SAI, it is expected, may ask for a detailed explanation from John. However, with the Hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar a couple of months away, he may get to stay a little longer.
Trap-shooting coach Marcello Dradi, meanwhile, has been diagnosed with tumour and will undergo a surgery. It’s understood that Asiad was his last assignment.