London Olympics - Indian Team upset with the supply of poor quality of kit

 

Indian medal hopefuls at the London Olympics are upset with their ‘poor quality’ kit and uniforms, a newspaper reported on Friday.

“To be honest, this is the worst kit I have seen,” Indian boxer Jai Bhagwan, who is to compete in the men’s lightweight (60-kg) category, was quoted as saying by theMumbai Mirror newspaper.

“It’s of poor quality, lacks durability and some of it does not even fit right. Our kit in national competitions (back home) was of much better quality,” he said in an interview.

India’s star drag-flicker Sandeep Singh was spotted at the Olympic village wearing shorts that were bursting at the seams. Sandeep had decided to step out in his torn shorts as a mark of protest against the quality of kit provided to his team.

“Sandeep Singh is facing more problems than the others because, as a drag-flicker, he has to bend awkwardly during penalty corners. He is worried that there may be an embarrassing accident,” said a team source, who asked not to be named.

Singh later trained in an old pair of torn shorts ‘as a mark of protest.

The Archery team, which starts its ranking round on Friday, had a different kit problem last week. In their case, the sleeves of their shorts were so long, stretching right up to their fingers, that they were finding it difficult to grip their bows.

The kit has been supplied by Dida, whose claim to fame until they won the Olympics contract from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) for Rs 50 lakh, was supplying gear for the National Atya Patya Championship, National Floorball Championship, and the National Tug-of-War Championship.

Dida clinched the contract by defeating some big companies like Li-Ning and Shiv Nareh

An official from the manufacturing company Dida, Deepak Nagia, said that the kit was fine; that it had to be since he is had been approved by the IOA.

An IOA official said that Dida’s was the best bid that they had received. “I don’t see anything wrong with the quality of the kits,” the official said. “What is all the fuss about?”