Bowling quartet feted

The quartet of Shabbbir Dhankot, Aakash Ashok Kumar, Prathima Hegde and Swapna Mitra, who won a medal for India after nine years in the Mixed four event in February, were awarded a cash prize of Rs 75,000 each for their effort by TBF(I) President Karthi Chidambaram.

“It’s a great effort by these four here and it shows that we as a bowling country has come a long way. But we have just got started, there is still a long way to go,” Chidambaram said. “Our goal is to win a medal at the Asian Games 2014, and it is good to know that we are on the right track,” he added.

Prathima and Swapna said they were glad to bring back a medal and hoped this would inspire other people to take up the sport seriously. “This is a big achievement for us and if it can inspire more people to get involved in the sport, then it will be great for everyone concerned with bowling,” Swapna said.

“It is a result of a lot of hard work put in by all of us,” Prathima added. Shabbir said they were looking forward to the National Championships in Bangalore in November and then the World Cup next year. “It felt really great to bring back a medal and even better to get recognised for it,” Shabbir said. “Now all my concentration will be on doing well in the Nationals and pushing on from there.”

Aakash echoed the sentiment. “It feels brilliant. I was a reserve initially and then I fought my way into the team and to win a bronze medal is great. Now I hope to continue my good form in the Nationals,” said Aakash who beat Shabbir in a State-ranking tournament here earlier this week.