Tag Archives: Dhronacharya Ismail Baig

Ismail Baig – The coach who transformed Indian rowing

Sports, World Opinion, , , , , ,

Hyderabad, TELANGANA :

Under the aegis of the Dronacharya awardee coach, Indian rowing team has won as many as 156 international medals.

Ismail Baig (Source- Telangana Today)

When Indian rowers  brought back three medals (1 gold, 2 bronze) from the Asian Games in Jakarta, there were plenty of speculations around the future of former foreign coach Nicolae Gioga. After the Romanian left, the Rowing Federation of India (RFI) decided to not hire any foreign coaches. In the meantime, national coach Ismail Baig was given the responsibility to take care of the seniors.

The Dronacharya awardee coach guided the team in the Asian Rowing Championships in Cheongju (South Korea) last year, where the Indian won one gold, two silver and two bronze medals. Under the aegis of this 54-year-old coach, India won as many as 156 international medals, including two Asian Games gold, ever since he took over as Indian coach in 1999.

Baig, who has trained many Asiad and Asian medallists at Hussain Sagar Lake in Hyderabad for close to two decades, claims “I accidentally became a coach at the age of 26,” in an exclusive conversation with The Bridge .

Tracing back his journey, Ismail was a part of the Indian army and since it was compulsory to take up sports in the army, Ismail was actively participating in boxing. However, he didn’t find much interest in the sport so when the rowing coach in Bengaluru asked Ismail to take up this sport, he didn’t hesitate.  “At that time there were no facilities in Bengaluru, therefore, I was sent to Pune in 1987 and after rigorously being a part of the game, I fell in love with rowing,” said Ismail. 

In 1989, he participated in his first national championships and in his maiden appearance, Ismail bagged a bronze in the Coxed Four event. Two years later, in 1991, Ismail converted the bronze into gold. However, the 1991 nationals was the end of his playing career, he took up NIS coaching course and at 26 years he became a coach.

Ismail was sent back to Bengaluru to train the state team. However, there he found a dearth of facilities and broken oars. His skills and experience, however, made the cut as Karnataka won the gold in Chandigarh nationals against the big teams in 1992. “Our technique and training was successful and then onwards, we started bringing medals at every national tournament our team took part in,” Ismail adds.

Before the Asian Games in 1998, RFI appointed Ukrainian Dmitri to be the coach of the Indian national team. Dmitri, was closely following Ismail and he asked Ismail to join the team as the assistant coach. It was Ismail’s first big breakthrough as a coach to be a part of the Indian team. Following the Asian Games in Bangkok in 1998, Ismail was appointed as the chief coach in 1999. “The Asian Championship in Japan was my first outing as an independent coach, and there we won 3 silver and 1 bronze medals,” said Ismail. 

As the coxless pair finished second in Asian Championship and after Japan’s withdrawal, the rowers qualified for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney for the first time in history. The Indian camp was also shifted from Pune to Hyderabad. “I can proudly say that I have been the coach of the Indian team in all the Olympics our team has participated in,” quips Ismail. 

It was under Ismail’s stewardship. India clinched silver in Asian Games as Bajranglal Takhar (single sculls) stood second in the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar. In 2010, the record was bettered with the team winning a gold, three silver and one bronze medals at the Asian games. The medal spree continued in 2014 and 2018 as well by the likes of Sawarn Singh, Dattu Baban Bhokanal, Om Prakash, Sukhmeet Singh, who were all trained by Ismail. 

source: http://www.thebridge.in / The Bridge / Home> Coach’s Corner / by Md Imtiaz / October 11th, 2020

Yesteryear sportspersons wallow in nostalgia

Amazing Feats, Leaders, Sports, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hyderabad, TELANGANA :

Sportspersons from the city being honoured at an event on Saturday.
Sportspersons from the city being honoured at an event on Saturday.

Football legends and athletes felicitated by Ethic Sports Foundation

It was an evening when some of the football legends from the city went down memory lane while reflecting on the state of the sport.

On Saturday, Ethic Sports Foundation felicitated some of the finest sportspersons from the city, under the banner of ‘City of Heroes’, which also saw a sprinkling of outstanding women athletes like 2004 Athens Olympian J.J. Shobha, Arjuna Awardee and volleyballer Mulini Reddy and quite a few kabaddi players.

The objective of the event was to honour these stars of yesteryears and also remember the contribution of legendary football coach S.A. Rahim, who scripted India’s golden era in football.

Some of the speakers included sports historian and commentator Novy Kapadia, former sports scribe N. Ganesan, Olympians T. Balaram, M.S.S. Hameed, D.M.K. Afzal, S.S. Hakeem, son of late S.A. Rahim, renowned badminton coach and Dronacharya S.M. Arif, former SAI boxing coach Emani Chiranjeevi, hockey Olympians N. Mukesh Kumar and Edwards Alloysius, former India football captain Victor Amalraj, Mohd Habib, Shabbir Ali, rowing coach and Dronacharya Ismail Baig, Arjuna Awardee Mir Khasim Ali.

Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary to Telangana Government, was the chief guest.

To inspire youth

Kailash Nath Yadav, MD of Ethic Sports Foundation, said they hosted the event to inspire youth by showcasing the diverse nature of sports in Hyderabad along with highlighting the efforts of the greats like S.A. Rahim.

 source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – September 15th, 2018

My dream is to have women’s team in 2020 Olympics: Ismail Baig

Leaders, Sports, ,

Hyderabad, TELANGANA :

National chief rowing coach Ismail Baig.
National chief rowing coach Ismail Baig.

Hyderabad:

National chief rowing coach Ismail Baig is a man on a mission. With 2020 Tokyo Games coming in three years, he is closer to his dream of having an Indian women’s team in Olympics. Baig is confident that if the women rowers continue to persist with the game with dedication, they can qualify for the Olympics. He also says that the Telangana rowers have started carving a niche for themselves with their exploits. He also revealed his next assignment as coach in an interview with Shiva Krishna Gundra.

On India’s Next Assignment

We are conducting Indian camp for the upcoming Asian Championship and next year’s Youth Olympics next year. The camp has started three weeks. If our rowers do well in World championship or Asian Championship, they can book the Youth Olympics quota. However, there are only two categories for each country and that too, one quote is reserved for women. Right now, we have 19 boys and 14 girls training in the camp. For the first time, we have eight rowers from our State which is remarkable.

On State Rowers

Our state rowers are doing great at nationals especially in sub-junior and junior level. We topped the nationals in the junior and took second place in seniors. These results assures of a bright future for the State. We have good support from SATS (Sports Authority of Telangana State) as well. We were never on the rowing map in the country in the combined State. But after formation of the new State, we started from the scratch as most of the rowers left for the other States. Most of the kids are from army families. But we are concentrating more now on our own athletes.

On Target 2020

There are good girl rowers like Sitamahalaxmi. Youngsters like Geetanjali and Hemalatha are very impressive. Both these girls won gold in junior category. They won bronze in the senior category as well. So I am working on this combination for the 2020 Olympics. I am pretty sure the men’s team will qualify but my dream is to have a women’s team for the Olympics for the first time in rowing history. I’m happy with the way the girls are making progress. I am confident that if they stick to the game, they can qualify.

On Infrastructure

I can’t say we have world class infrastructure. But this is one of the best facilities in the country. We have federation’s equipment. We have a good water body in the city.

On International Events In The City

The quality of the water in Hussain Sagar is not good. The government is also doing a lot to clean the water. But it also depends on the citizens of the twin cities. If we can do that, we can have international tournaments in the city. We conducted an international tournament in 2005. If the water condition improves in the future, every year we can conduct an international tournament.

On Game’s Popularity

I have been coaching since 18 years. The game was not so popular then. The game was introduced in the Asia in 1980s. We used to win only bronze medals. But under my coaching we have won gold and silver at Asian Games and qualified for the Olympics for five consecutive times. Dutt also finished good in the last Olympics. That is a great achievement. So the craze for the sport is increasing slowly.

On Future Rowers

We started three years ago with few rowers who were of 10 and 11 years. Now they are producing results. Rowers like Sairaju won international silver medal in pair category. It is a great achievement. He also won gold in the nationals. So our rowers are producing good results at national levels and also competing at international level.

On Government Support

We need more funding. We need more local camps and talent hunts. We have to start two or three centres in other parts of the State. We can establish a centre in Karimnagar. There are other places where we also can start. We can get more talent and give advanced training in Hyderabad. That will help for larger pool of talented rowers.

The Bhopal water sports has 15 crore budget. We don’t have that much budget in the State. Our rowers have won first gold medal for the State in National Games in Kerala. We won five medals from rowing alone. That is 40 to 50 per cent of medals that won State was from water sports. A medal from hockey or other games will give lot of attention. But medals from water sports are not treated in the same way. Ours is an Olympic sport. We need to change our thinking.

source: http://www.telanganatoday.com / Telangana Today / Home> Sports> Other Sports / by Shiva Kumar Gundra / March 23rd, 2017

Local boy Ahmed wins Asian silver, creates waves

Sports, World Opinion, , ,

Mohammad Ahmed with the silver medal he won at the recent Asian Rowing Championship, at the Hussainsagar in Hyderabad on Tuesday. — Photo: V.V. Subrahmanyam / The Hindu
Mohammad Ahmed with the silver medal he won at the recent Asian Rowing Championship, at the Hussainsagar in Hyderabad on Tuesday. — Photo: V.V. Subrahmanyam / The Hindu

After a silver at the Asian Rowing Championship – the latest addition to the many feathers in his cap, this 20-year-old has set his sights on greater glory

For a sport dominated by personnel from the Services, 20-year-old local boy Mohammed Ahmed has managed to surprise, and delight all. He is now virtually the non-playing captain of the coxed eights Indian rowing team.

His recent silver in the Asian Rowing Championship in China shone bright in his smile as he returned to the Hussainsagar on Tuesday.

The son of Mohammed Ismail, a meat-seller from Kavadiguda, Ahmed took to the sport after one of his routine trips to the lake along with his father three years ago. Dronacharya Ismail Baig suggested the boy take up rowing. What ensued was rowing’s gain.

Ahmed won gold in the Kolkata Senior Nationals in the coxed four event, bronze in the Hyderabad Nationals in the coxed eight team and later a silver in the Asian championship later on in Korea. All these vindicated the faith shown by Baig, the untiring coach who has been shaping the destiny of most rowers in Hyderabad for close to 13 years now.

“I am enjoying every moment. Thanks to Ismail sir, I can now dream big,” the shy youngster says, even as he proudly displays his medal to his famed coach.

What exactly is this young rower’s role in a coxed eights event?

“Well, he is like a guide, telling the teammates when to accelerate in the course, how the conditions are at a given time. Otherwise, the rowers will be busy unleashing their power to keep up the pace. It is a very demanding job. Though he doesn’t row, it requires high levels of focus,” Mr. Baig says.

Ahmed, who adores cricketer Virat Kohli (he even tries to sport a similar hairstyle), plays cricket and badminton to relax after hard work in the waters. A student of St. Antony’s High School, this shy rower was only recently drafted into the CRPF, and will be reporting for duty next week.

“My next big target is to win a medal in the next year’s Asian Games and then think about the Olympics. I owe everything to my coach sir and to the Federation officials for backing me up,” Ahmed signs off.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by V. V. Subrahmanyam / Hyderabad – October 01st, 2013