Year of steely women

P V Sindhu, Aditi Ashok, Sakshi Malik and Dipa Karmakar raised the bar amdist tough competition

It was rapidly turning out to be the worst Olympic campaign for India in a decade. The country’s largest ever contingent to the mega event had significantly shrunk by the second week. It was then that three young women making their debut on the sport’s biggest stage orchestrated a spectacular turn around. The feats of P V Sindhu, Sakshi Malik and Dipa Karmakar revived the rapidly receding hopes and threw the billions back home in a state of undiluted ecstasy.

Each had created history in her own right. Sindhu, at 21, became the first badminton player to win an Olympic silver medal; Sakshi, 24, earned the distinction of being the first woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal, and the 23-year-old Dipa did the unthinkable, by first qualifying for the gymnastics final and then settling for the fourth position. She missed the medal by a whisker, 0.15 points to be precise, but her effort was no less laudatory. Through their sensational performances the threesome lifted the gloom caused by Indian athletes’ below-par performances and shifted the focus on the progress of the women athletes in India.

In many ways, the year couldn’t have been more favoured towards women. The women's hockey team made their maiden appearance in Olympics in 36 years, Sania Mirza, despite separating from Martina Hingis, finished the year as the World No 1 doubles player, and boxer Mary Kom was conferred the AIBA Legends Award.

Significantly, the teenaged Aditi Ashok, after creating a flutter at the Rio Games, won the Hero Women's Indian Open and became the first Indian to win a Ladies European Tour title. Two weeks later, she clinched the Qatar Ladies Open and finished the season second on the Order of Merit and won the Rookie of the Year award besides earning a partial card for the LPGA Tour.

Their success was preceded by years of hard work in extraordinary circumstances and fuelled by the burning desire to exceed their limitations. Dipa had trained in her fledgling career in make-shift infrastructure, where the equipment was made from the part of a scooter. But her obsession to beat the best was bigger than her tiny frame. She overcame the challenge of flat-foot, and resources to carry the rich gymnastic tradition of her tiny state Tripura to the global level. Her courageous execution of Produnova, “the vault of death” —  which she had performed over 1000 times before the Olympics — won her plaudits from the likes of legendary Nadia Comaneci and the current darling of the gymnastic world, Simone Biles.

Dipa was accorded the same celebratory reception reserved for an Olympic medallist. In fact, it was her performance on August 15 that set the ball rolling for Indian athletes in Rio.

Three days later, Sakshi turned a corner for women’s wrestling. She had lost in the quarterfinals to the Russian Valeria Koblova. However, she was given a new life through repechage when the Russian reached the finals. She grabbed the opportunity to barge into the bronze medal play-off round, where she overturned a 0-5 deficit against Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan in a dramatic finish. A sobbing Sakshi, wrapped in tri-colour, had ended an agonising 11-day wait for an Indian medal. She had had her share of struggles too.

She had to endure the patriarchal mindset when she began wrestling, and later the giant shadow of pioneer Geeta Phogat, who also fought in the 58 kg category. In fact, it was Geeta who was selected to compete in the last two Olympic qualifying events but she got suspended on disciplinary grounds in the first qualifier and Sakshi was named the last minute replacement in the final qualifying event in Istanbul. She clinched the silver and didn’t look back.

Coming from the small, busy town of Rohtak, Haryana, a place notorious for female infanticide, Sakshi’s victory instantly gave weight to “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (Save the girl child, educate the girl child) campaign of the government.  It also gave fillip to women’s wrestling which had been crying for more attention.

On the day of Sakshi’s feat, Sindhu raised the Indian celebrations a notch higher by reaching the final of the women’s singles. Sindhu, too, wasn’t the favourite before the Rio Games despite her two World Championships medals. She was returning from an injury but the tall Hyderabadi was to leave everyone stunned with her aggressive approach and body language. That she was a big match player, she proved it again with stunning victories over former World No 1 Wang Yihan and All England Champion Japanese Nazomi Okuhura in the quarterfinals and semifinals respectively.

And though she went down fighting to Spaniard Carolina Marin, Sindhu won the hearts with her display of grace under pressure. In the pain of defeat, she went across the net to her weeping conqueror to congratulate her. It was heart-warming and reassuring at once.

Born to volleyball players PV Ramana and P Vijaya, sport was in her blood but it was her complete surrender to discipline and hard work that put her in good stead. Beginning her day at 4.00 am and making the long journey to the Gopichand Badminton Academy as a child evinced no protests from her.  Sindhu is known to never say no to anything when it comes to badminton.

The accomplishment of these women athletes created a deep impact in the country. The footfalls, especially of young girls, have increased in wrestling academies in Haryana, a recent gymnastics workshop in Delhi saw more girls than boys in attendance, and the Gopichand Badminton Academy is busier than ever with new applications. The parents of these athletes are now frequently approached with queries on how to turn their child into an Olympic champion. Needless to say, most of them come from parents of girls!