Sports people make games popular, they must be supported: Anjali Bhagwat

Champion shooter Anjali Bhagwat has seldom missed her aim, even when it comes to her statements. At a recent event in Mumbai, Bhagwat spoke pointedly when asked to comment on corporate involvement in sports.

To her, it’s sports people that are making sports popular, so they must be supported. “People see Saina (Nehwal) and pick up a badminton racket, people know Sachin (Tendulkar) and they want to play cricket, people see Abhinav (Bindra) and want to take up the sport,” she says.

Corporates usually sponsor a particular sportsperson and his/her equipment. Instead, Bhagwat suggests that more corporates come forward to promote sports, starting at the school level. “Corporate involvement is required at a sport level and then for a particular person,” she adds. In Bhagwat’s own case, her first kit, trousers and jacket was sponsored by actor Nana Patekar and her first weapon was from a corporate house.