The City of Pearls finally bid goodbye to Sheroo as the curtains came down on the inaugural Afro-Asian Games at the gigantic Gachibowli Complex here on Saturday.
At the conclusion of every Games, there is a sense of emptiness - accentuated by the fact that you would be bidding farewell to ‘friends’ who supported you all through the event.
A similar atmosphere pervaded here as athletes, officials and volunteers converged at the main complex, knowing that they would all disperse on the morrow.
The colourful ceremony, to some extent, lightened the mood - but not to the extent of erasing the thought from your mind altogether.
There was the dare-devilry of the Army motorcycle riders, a breathtaking air show by the Indian Air Force - which splashed the hues of the tri-colour all over the Stadium, an Asian Act Performance by the Imperial State Circus of China and a mélange of cultural programmes which left the spectators spell-bound.
The long speeches by the Indian sports officialdom were the sore point and kept the packed stadium guessing when the real fireworks would begin. But when it all happened, they all forgot that speeches were also part of the proceedings.
The Indian sports fraternity - officials, athletes, coaches et al - soaked in the atmosphere and made merry late into the night at the successful conclusion of the Games.
{{/usCountry}}The Indian sports fraternity - officials, athletes, coaches et al - soaked in the atmosphere and made merry late into the night at the successful conclusion of the Games.
{{/usCountry}}But probably in their merry-making, they forgot that India had little to show in terms of ‘real’ performance.
A second-place finish in an inter-continental event - in which only a handful of top athletes and teams from the two continents converged - just won’t lift the host country’s image among the sporting nations.
Tennis itself accounted for seven of the 19 gold; and that too because India’s best played against the two continents’ weakest players.