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When Indians from lesser known sports like fencing and equestrian made their debut at the Olympics, another little known sport missed out on its 'we made it' moment at Tokyo.
The capital city of Amman in Jordan where the final Asian qualifier event for the quadrennial bash took place last year, had a 14-day quarantine rule for Indians due to the surge in Covid-19 cases here in April-May. But the Indian Olympic Committee (IOA) held the selections trials just 12 days prior to the start of the tournament.
Whether it was ignorance on the part of IOA or lack of communication by hosts Jordan remains unclear but four Indian taekwondo players missed out on a chance to book their Olympic ticket.
"It was unfair on the athletes. People might brush it aside as 'mere representation', but having someone from our small Indian taekwondo fraternity at the Olympics could have broken the glass ceiling," felt Kiran Pawar.
After 15 years of his playing career ended in 2017, Bengaluru’s Kiran immediately donned the coaches role for the same reason - to produce future heroes in the Korean form of martial arts.
The head coach of the Karnataka Taekwondo Academy with three branches in Yelahanka, Chikkabanavara and the main one at the Sree Kanteerava stadium had seven students participating here at the State Mini Olympics last week.
“We won five of the 20 gold medals on offer apart from picking up a silver and bronze. All the seven kids are going back home with a medal around their neck. I couldn’t be happier,” said the proud coach.
While Shaurya JS (u-44kg), Neil Baptist (u-49kg), Chiraag B (u-35kg) and Hitesh Sai (u-39kg) in the boys section and Saanvi Sri (u-53kg) in the girls’ category finished on top of the podium, Heman Gowda (boys u-35kg) won silver and Manvi Mithotta (girls u-38kg) picked up a bronze.
Shaurya, a 9th grade student of Kendriya Vidyalaya, was also adjudged the best fighter (boys) at the two-day event. “I started taekwondo nine years ago but I have improved the most under Kiran sir,” said the 13-year-old who is a sub-junior national champion.
Kiran who works as a taekwondo instructor at the Delhi Public School North, during the day shuttles between Yelahanka and Chikkabanavara every evening to train 50 aspirants at each of the two branches.
“Three coaches take care of 150 kids at the Kanteerava stadium. All the 250 players gather here for day-long camps from 6 am to 6 pm every weekend. So we have no off days,” explained the 29-year-old.
With little perks in a job that often goes unnoticed, Kiran and his team of four coaches are determined to contribute towards popularising and developing the sport of taekwondo.
"There are around 100 taekwondo clubs in Bengaluru today as compared to 15-20 a decade ago. It’s growing. Our dream of making the sport big might seem too ambitious but we are part of the martial arts family. Win or lose, we only know how to fight," he signs off.