Prannathi G
Credit: Special arrangement
Bengaluru: Urging a six-year-old girl to compete at the national level may sound insane to many. That too, in a combat sport like wushu, a martial art form that requires wearing gloves and a head guard similar to those used in boxing. However, those who see young Prannathi G in action don’t doubt her abilities much.
“She’s ready for the Nationals!” That was her coach U Darshan’s first thought when he saw the Mysuru girl debut at the Karnataka state championship in 2020. And it wasn’t like Darshan, who has won multiple international wushu medals, decided to throw her youngest protege to the deep end. The then-six-year-old Prannathi made it there on merit by winning the required U-12 24kg state championship, defeating an opponent much taller and older than her.
“The way she was spontaneous with her moves, the way she was reacting to her opponent, who was much taller than her, I knew she had natural talent for it. Her parents were not sure, but I eventually managed to convince them,” recalled the 28-year-old coach, who — along with Parthipa HS (33) — trains Prannathi (now 10) at her B Prime fitness studio in Mysuru.
When you ask the little Pranathi, isn’t she scared of taking on opponents who are often almost as tall as her father, Giridhar SD? She would sweetly answer: “No, sir, my mother (Sangeetha L) told me they too have two hands and two legs like you have, they are not aliens. The thought took my fear away.”
Unaware of her abilities and fearless guts, organisers at Wushu Nationals in Ranchi were not convinced to allow little Pranathi to compete. Giridhar & family had to be content with a nominal participation certificate, but the perception of the officials changed next season when she again made it back to the Nationals with another state title.
Justifying her spot, Pranathi won three of her five bouts to bag the bronze medal at her Nationals debut, making her the youngest Indian wushu athlete (at 7) to win a medal at the level. This was only the start for Pranathi as she changed the colour of her medal to silver in the subsequent participation and soon followed her first international medal: A gold by defeating a higher-class rival at the Batumi Open International Wushu Tournament in Georgia last month. Turns out her dreams are only getting bigger.
“My dream is to make wushu a household name in India and take it to the Olympics (Wushu is an Asian Games event). I know I have to work really hard to achieve that. But I believe I can achieve that because I treat the game like my mother, I take care of it, and in return, it takes care of me,” said Pranathi before concluding.
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Credit: Special arrangement
Credit: Special arrangement