Skating to great success !

When the whole country was celebrating the success of the Indian contingent at the Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China, four young roller skaters and their coach from the city landed in Bangalore without any medals in hand.

Neither is participating in international championships something new to them, nor the part were they go unnoticed upon arrival in the country.

However, this time they witnessed a change.

When the skaters landed at the Bangalore International Airport, sporting the Indian jersey, they were awashed with the greetings from air hostesses, ground crew, airport staff and passengers congratulating them for their unprecedented success.

While the staff at the airport noticed them, their hometown, Mysore neither noticed their departure nor their arrival. We are talking about roller skaters Varsha S Puranik, H A Pragna, Pratheek Raja, Akash Aradhya and their ever supporting coach Srikanth Rao.
These skaters were part of a eight team contingent that represented the country in the first ever edition of the roller skating being included at the Asiad.

Having returned from one of the biggest sporting events, the players got right back to practise in front of the Zilla Panchayat (ZP) Office.

Road turns skating rink !

“I’ve never seen one there,” is your reply, then don’t worry. You’re not the first person to ask that. Because they practise on the Boulevard Road in front of ZP office here, as that is the most suitable for all the skaters.

The players are an embodiment of what American Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger said. “Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, this is strength.”

Speaking to City Herald about their experiences at the Asiad, skater Pragna, who is also pursuing her studies at Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering said, “You can’t compare the Games to other tournaments. There were so many athletes and it was obviously good. We are lucky to have been part of such an experience.”

II PUC student and all of 17 years, Akash was the best finisher among the four who went to the Games. He said that they could have performed better. Even though countries such as China, Korea, Chinese Taipei are the most popular and have very strong clubs he believes, that training and practising regularly can bring better days for the skaters.

Observing the need for dedication to sports, coach Srikanth Rao said that the Chinese won’t be anywhere near us if we are given the support. “I’ve seen a lot of change in five years. Since the sport has got a medal the Asiad, I hope the government recognises our sport, so that we can do much better.”

However, Srikanth is distraught that a city like Mysore could produce only five players to participate in the Games. Four skaters and the other player being Poojashri Venkatesh.
“So much money is being spent on other games.

But roller skating hasn’t even been included in Mysore University’s sports activities. Why such discrimination?” he questions.

Describing her experience, another Asiad participant Varsha who completed her internship at the JSS Medical College and presently doing her internship at JSS Hospital, said that she received unexpected support from her college, friends and of course family.

However, the players are bothered about the high expenses involved in the sport. With every set of wheels for the roller skates costing around Rs 6,000 t0 7,000 and a set required after every race, the players feel they should be better supported.

“The support given by any of the State Governments has been zero,” said coach Srikanth. Asked if the country needs foreign coaches, Srikanth says that they are ‘mind-blowingly’ expensive.

He said that there are good coaches here. But, what one needs is world class facilities. While countries like China build world class facilities in several places, India has such facilities in only selected places.

On the lighter side, mentioning an incident at the Games, Srikanth says that the international games villages was substandard. His cot broke on the third day. Taps were broken, but nothing ever came out in the news, he adds.

Groups

Roller skating is divided into two categories -  Artistic skating and speed skating. Indian skaters won two bronze medals at the Asiad.

Anup Kumar Yama winning the first bronze in men’s single free skating and then teaming with Avani Panchal to win another bronze in the pairs skating event.

The acclaims so far

Pragna H A - International Tournaments - 2 bronze (Asian Roller Skating Championships, Taiwan), 18 gold medals (National Championship), 24 gold medals (State-level Championship).

Varsha S Puranik - International Tournaments - 1 bronze (Asian Roller Skating Championships, Taiwan), 20 gold medals (National Championship).


Akash Aradhya - 1 silver medal (National Championship), 26 gold medals (State-level Championship), 16 gold medals (District-level Championships), S2 golds (Open Nationals), 1 gold (South Zone).

Pratheek Raja -  15 gold medals (National Championship), 53 gold medals (State-level Championship), 25 gold medals (District-level Championship).