11 February 2010

South Asian Games wrap

Quick thoughts on the South Asian Games:
  • By claiming 8 golds Nepal did pretty much as expected. No better, no worse
  • Nepal can no longer claim itself as a regional martial arts power - all the big boys won as many medals as us in the martial arts disciplines
  • Other than womens football no sport made a breakthrough which was very disappointing and leaves us with little to be optimistic about for the future
  • Mens football = MAHA FAIL! Ganesh Thapa and company really need to reevaluate ANFA's development strategy. Please stop blaming referees and the lack of a short, 3 month long, league.
  • Our officials continue to show their amateurish nature: fighting each other, fighting referees and failing to do their basic administrative duties
  • Nepali media coverage was quite good. The journalists seemed to be on top of all the news.
  • Was very disappointed that there was no real-time results website for the SAG
  • Nepal has a long way to go in becoming an ICC ODI nation
  • I am very curious to see how Bangladesh does in the next SAG. Their gold medal tally was surprisingly high. Was it simply a case of "home" cooking
  • How amateur were the organizers? Marathon circuit 5km short, upside down Nepali flag, wrong national anthem, etc.
  • I know its politically impossible, especially these days, but NSC should really just concentrate on a few core sports and stop funding sports like hockey where we are beyond hopeless
  • With India sending second class athletes and still dominating the SAG, the organizers need to reevaluate the competition format. Perhaps it should be an under-23 tournament for all sports
What are your thoughts on the Games?