Dipa Karmakar won five gold medals for Tripura in gymnastics at the National Games. (Source: PTI)

It was a calamity waiting to happen much before the National Games began. And on Friday, the hosts’ worst fears came true after participating teams alleged that organisers were ‘ill-equipped’ to conduct the competition, after they used the old pattern of scoring. Furthermore, the organisers allegedly threatened those who protest against the move with disqualification and further action. Competition Director Narendra More said a total of 27 teams and the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) —a total of 127 men and 55 women — have registered for the competition, which kicked off in Thrissur on Friday.

The boxing event was under a cloud ever since the organisers had failed to procure the Computerised Scoring System, which is essential to follow the new scoring pattern. It was further in trouble after the sport’s new governing body — Boxing India — threatened to ban the pugilists and officials participating in the National Games. BI had stated that the decision was forced by the Indian Olympic Association’s refusal to grant recognition to it.

“The teams are here, the competition is on but it is a total mess. They don’t have the software to implement the new scoring system, so they have decided to go with the old pattern. Some teams have already protested against a move for which they were not prepared at all. They have demanded that in case the old system is used, boxers should be allowed to use the headguards as well,”an official of a participating team was quoted as saying by the PTI.

The old pattern of scoring fetched points for every connected punch but the new format is more subjective with boxers, who are no longer allowed headguards, being rewarded for overall ring craft besides the number of blows. “Even the technical officials are not well versed with the new format of scoring. 70 per cent of them have no clue what is the pattern now. Moreover, how can the boxers be expected to suddenly revert to the old system after training in the new pattern?” asked another team official.

But when contacted, More claimed that the norms set by the International Boxing Association (AIBA) are being followed in letter and spirit. “The scoring system is as per the AIBA norms,” he claimed.

But despite the “shock”, the teams will not pull out and continue to participate. “There won’t be pullouts now, it’s too late and the teams would compete even though it is grossly unfair,” another official of one of the participating teams said.

Meanwhile, things turned ugly for Kerala’s 56kg boxer Anzal TM, who was allegedly manhandled during the weigh-in by a boxer from a rival faction of the state body. “Things are getting very ugly. Anzal was manhandled at the weigh-in after a court verdict allowed Kerala State Boxing Association to be the official entry at National Games instead of Kerala Boxing, which is being backed by the IOA,” a source said.

Karmakar’s golden run

Commonwealth Games bronze medallist gymnast Dipa Karmakar won a total of five gold medals for Tripura but the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) continued their domination in the overall standings on day six of competitions in the 35th National Games. Karmakar, the first Indian woman gymnast to fetch a Commonwealth Games medal, repeated her 2011 edition’s show to be the top performer yet again, clinching gold in individual all-round, table vault, balancing beam, uneven parallel bars and floor exercises. Dipa accumulated 52.100 points in all.

Services shooters on mark

At the shooting range, the Services’ guns were on target in both the team and individual competitions of the men’s 50m rifle 3 position event. The trio of Surendra Singh Rathod, Satyendra Singh and Chain Singh Manhas totalled 3492 to finish on top, well ahead of Haryana (Sanjeev Rajput, Mahesh Kumar and Deepak Kumar), who shot a score of 3431. The Uttar Pradesh troika of Akhil Sheoran, Ishan Goel and Rahul Poonia settled for a bronze with a score of 3396. SSCB then added a gold and a bronze in the individual competition. Satyendra clinched it in a shoot-off after being tied at 445.8 with Maharashtra’s Swapnil Kusale in the regulation shots. Chain Singh Manhas, who won three gold medals overall, had to be content with a bronze despite leading for much of the final.