Shahib Somwarpet Amir son of Ameer Konnur Bashir Shab, runs a dry fruit shop and represented India as a Vice Captain in Socca World Cup 2022, held in Hungry, Budapest.
Shahib hails from Karnataka and is 27 years old. Born in Kodagu, Bangalore, Shahib comes from a middle-class family. His father is a small businessman and his mother, Noorjan Somwarpet Ameer is a homemaker. Shahib has one brother and two sisters. Shahib is 5.4 ft tall.
Shahib started his football career with Kodagu League and is currently playing for ADE football club super division at Karnataka state football association.
Shahib completed his D-license coaching license in the year of 2018 from the all-India football federation and has played several matches so far and has been popularly named Goal Machine.
Some of his list of matches include the Karnataka state team in the 49th junior national championship Dr.B.C.Roy Trophy as a defender and secured one score.
Played for Pre-University State-Level Football Tournament in Belgaum as an attacking midfielder and secured 8 scores.
Played State Level Under 17 Football Championship at Bijapur as a captain.
Represented Mangalore University Football team at the University of Calicut and Kerala as a Midfielder.
Represented Bangalore University football team at Pondicherry. Played Karnataka state PYKKA football championship held at Tumkur ( Karnataka ) in 2010 as a vice-captain.
Represented Karnataka state football team in all India Sub Junior Football Championship as a captain at Chandigarh.
Played for the postal department football club at A division in the year at Karnataka state football association as a Striker. Played for the postal department football club at A division in the year 2019 and 2020 at Karnataka state football association.
Represented the super division team Madaam FC at Gujarat State Football Association as a midfielder.
Represented India at an Indo-Nepal international friendly match under Indian Sports Federation in the year 2021 as a captain.
Represented KV Sports India at SIAM FC International Week Trails and International Tournament Football Championship in Bangkok ( Thailand ) as a captain.
Talking about his recent tour in Budapest Shahib says, “Football is not just a sport it is like emotion for me. I feel blessed that I could participate in Socca World Cup 2022. I will be forever thankful to Mr. Kartik Vashist, who guided me to fulfill my dreams. I dedicate my achievements to my family and God. Having said that, I worked hard to reach where I am today and would continue to do so. I wish to stay fit for a longer period and play for India. This year my focus will be to play ISL as it would be helpful for young players like us to achieve our goals”
Shahib’s message for all the young talent trying their luck in football is to stay fit, work hard and above all believe in god, respect your parents, and keep patients. Shahib is a huge fan of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Mairaj Ahmad Khan wins a spectacular gold from nowhere in the Digvijay Singh shotgun championship in Delhi on Sunday. | Photo Credit: Kamesh Srinivasan
New Delhi:
Darshna Rathore had a chance to fight for gold but missed the last two birds and thus had to settle for the bronze.
Olympian and World Cup gold medallist Mairaj Ahmad Khan asserted his class yet again as he accelerated to a smart finish in grabbing the skeet gold in the Digvijay Singh shotgun championship at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Sunday.
The 46-year-old Mairaj beat Arjun Thakur 35-30 for the gold, as he missed only one bird in the medal round. He had qualified on top in the semifinal with 27 hits, after having made the final with a modest score of 115, six point behind qualification topper Gurjoat Khangura.
‘’Final and semifinal are great. I am going to work only on qualification for the next three months’’, said Mairaj, understandably happy about the way he had competed despite not being at his best.
It was a similar case during the last World Cup in Changwon, when Mairaj had to win a shoot off with four others after being tied on 119 for the last two berths, before racing to the gold.
Anantjeet Singh Naruka who had shot 120 in qualification lost the shoot off against Amrinder Singh Cheema for a berth in the medal round.
Raiza Dhillon won both the women’s and junior skeet gold medals. | Photo Credit: Kamesh Srinivasan
It was Raiza Dhillon all the way as she won both the women’s and junior gold. Raiza beat qualification topper Ganemat Sekhon 36-35 for the women’s gold, and beat Parinaaz Dhaliwal 33-32 for the junior gold.
Darshna Rathore had a chance to fight for gold but missed the last two birds and thus had to settle for the bronze.
The saying that ‘Necessity is the mother of invention’ is so much actualized by Assam’s long-distance runner Abdul Barek. In his case, the ‘necessity’ was the money he desperately needed to buy food and books after his family farmlands were washed away by the mighty Brahmaputra.
“It was not out of love for a particular sport… I was born and brought up in a self-sufficient family in a rural hamlet in the Kamrup district. However, when our farmlands were eroded by the Brahmaputra, we were left with nothing for sustenance. The little produce from our livestock was not enough for the family. I was in standard IX when for the first time I participated in a Rongali Bihu Marathon in a nearby locality and came first in it to win prize money of Rs 1,000. Well, that was a lot of money for me! I could buy my school uniform and books with it.
“Now that I’ve discovered a way of earning and my family was in a very bad financial shape, I have started looking to every marathon event as a means to earn. I participated in every known event and would look for all the prize money up for grabs. Gradually, I developed a yearning for winning all possible cash prizes in marathons in Assam and the Northeast. And, for that, I started practicing regularly and improving my performance with each run,” Barek told Awaz-the Voice.
Abdul Barek (second from left) with fellow sportspersons from Railways
Barek craved newer heights in the no-cost sport. Having bagged scores of medals and trophies at state and national levels, his campaign culminated in the World Railways Athletics Meet at Denmark in 2005 where he emerged 10th in the individual event and third in the team event of the marathon championship. He is the first-ever sprinter from NF Railway to participate and win a medal in World Railways Meet.
“My success lies in my perseverance. I’ve never compromised with my practice. My job with NF Railway has helped me a lot because I don’t have to forgo practice due to household work as I did in the past … I would like to thank former international athlete Tayabun Nisha for suggesting my name to the Indian Railways which promotes sports. I had also appeared in interviews with Central Excise and Indian Army,” Barek explained.
On his success, Barek said: “Practice, rest, and nutrition are the key to performance. There was hardly any infrastructure during our times. But, after the 2007 National Games, we’ve got a whole lot of infrastructure and necessary facilities including coaches. However, the problem now is that our young players have lost interest in sports. The smartphone and fast food have spoiled a generation. Most of the youngsters nowadays munch on fast food, and keep themselves glued to their mobile phones when they should be at the playground.”
Abdul Barek in the international Railways sports meet
Regarding his food habits, Barek is a follower of cricketer MS Dhoni; both love to drink milk as an energy booster. “I used to drink a lot of milk. My father used to tell us to drink milk instead of water and that I used to do. I don’t like fast food and I’ve always preferred vegetables with our staple rice.” Barek also lamented that the urban youth were reluctant to do hard work. “Since I am based out of Guwahati and I am associated with an athletic academy, I always wanted to groom some good athletes. But, what pains me is that the rural youths can’t sustain long-term coaching and urban youths are reluctant to do hard work. A few very talented youngsters from Baihata Chariali and Morigaon were training under me for some time. But, they could not sustain the tough regime and left. One basic requirement of a marathon runner to be successful is to run at least 200 km a week which is divided into a scientifically designed schedule.”
source: http://www.awazthevoice.in / Awaz, The Voice / Home> Youth / by Imtiaz Ahmed, Guwahati / May 04th, 2022
Umran Malik, the young pace sensation from Jammu and Kashmir, has done it again.
The 22-year-old Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer on Tuesday set the internet on fire by sending a 150-kmph delivery in the first over of his team’s IPL 2022 match against Rajasthan Royals at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, here.
And this is not the first time that the express pacer has clocked the 150-kmph on the speed gun in the IPL.
In the second leg of the IPL played in United Arab Emirates (UAE), Malik sent down a 153-kmph thunderbolt, the fastest delivery in IPL history, and had both his skipper Kane Williamson and the then India captain Virat Kohli gushing over the new speed demon of Indian cricket.
After seeing his ability to bowl with lightning speed, SRH gambled and retained him as their third player ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction.
On Tuesday, that gamble seems to have paid as Malik was their best bowler against Rajasthan Royals, taking two wickets in his four overs spell giving away 39 runs.
Every time he jumps on the popping crease, he outdoes his pace. With his express pace, Malik got the wickets of Jos Buttler and Devdutt Padikkal.
The instant stardom, that he achieved in UAE last year and enhanced on Tuesday, is just a byproduct of his confidence that made him believe that he could make it to the India team at a very young age.
When he was 18, he wrote in his bio on his social media handle, “India Soon”. The pacer, whose father Abdul Rashid is a fruit-seller in Shaheedi Chowk in Jammu, was confident enough to predict that one day he will make it to the national side. His dedication and perseverance paved the way into his state’s Under-19 squad.
A good performance in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 competition helped him make it to the Sunrisers Hyderabad team as a net bowler.
Malik was roped in as a short-term Covid-19 replacement for T Natarajan, who had tested positive for Covid virus ahead of Hyderabad’s encounter against Delhi Capitals on September 22, 2021. After that, Malik’s fortunes completely changed.
Malik, who was part of the Hyderabad contingent as a net bowler, has played eight T20 and one List A match for Jammu Kashmir and has picked a total of four wickets.
Hailing from a modest family in Jammu’s Gujjar Nagar, Malik began playing at a young age. His family has always supported his passion with his father, his mother and two older sisters always there for him.
In the game against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2021 IPL, Malik went a step further by bowling the second-fastest delivery of IPL — a 152.95kph thunderbolt that stunned everyone.
At the post-match presentation, RCB’s then skipper Virat Kohli spoke in support of the youngster, “Whenever you see talent like this, you are going to have your eyes on them and make sure you maximise their potential.” “I really felt proud on seeing such a big player talking about me,” Malik had said after the match.
His exploits resulted in him being asked to be part of the Indian senior team’s net bowlers for the T20 World Cup in the UAE last year.
By clocking 150-kmph again on Tuesday, Malik has proved that his exploits last year were not a flash in the pan. He has it in him to consistently hit the 150-mark on the speed gun.
Now he has to build on this brilliant start to fulfill his dream of making it to the Indian team.
–IANS
source: http://www.tribuneindia.com / The Tribune / Home> Sports / by IANS / Pune, March 29th, 2022
Powerlifting champion Sk. Sadia Almas presenting a bouquet to Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy at Tadepalli on Tuesday.
Proposal for setting up a powerlifting academy at Mangalagiri approved
Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has announced a final assistance of ₹5 lakh on behalf of the Andhra Pradesh government for international powerlifting champion Shaik Sadia Almas.
Ms. Sadia, along with her father Samdhani, met Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy at his chamber in the Assembly . She won three gold medals and a bronze medal at the Asian Powerlifting Championships held at Istanbul in Turkey in December 2021.
Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy appreciated Ms. Sadia and approved the proposal of establishing a powerlifting academy in her hometown of Mangalagiri. He said that the government would make all efforts to encourage athletes in the State.
Sports Minister M. Srinivasa Rao, Mangalagiri MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy, Special Chief Secretary Rajat Bhargava and others were present on the occasion.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Andhra Pradesh / by Tharun Boda / Vijayawada – March 22nd, 2022
Sarfaraz Khan has rained runs in the domestic circuit. | Photo Credit: VIVEK BENDRE
Living father Naushad’s dream, hitting 400 balls every day, driving across north India to find a game or practice session during the lockdown, never settling for just a hundred — the prodigious Mumbai run-scorer offers an insight into his life and methods
You may have come across the 3 Ps and 3 Ds in self-help books. Sarfaraz Khan, the record-breaking Mumbai run machine, has been performing such exceptional feats that he deserves new terminology devised especially for him.
A kid from the by-lanes of Kurla, a central Mumbai suburb, Sarfaraz isn’t one for corporate jargon; he prefers ‘Bambaiya’ lingo. But having tracked his cricketing sojourn for over a decade, one can sum him up in the 4 Os: Obsession, Outstanding, Occupation and Opportunity. Let’s look at each of these facets.
Obsession
Hours after being adjudged the Player of the Match in Mumbai’s final Ranji Trophy league game in Ahmedabad, Sarfaraz reaches his home in Taximen’s Colony in Kurla at around 10 p.m. The first thing he asks his father Naushad is whether the ‘nets’ are booked for the morning.
At 7 a.m. the next day, Sarfaraz is padded up at the Karnatak Sporting Association at Azad Maidan, ready for the daily drill of facing at least 200 balls in the session (he will repeat this dose on a makeshift turf pitch outside his house in the afternoon).
This is the routine Sarfaraz has followed ever since he was hailed as a ‘boy wonder’ in Mumbai’s school cricket circles a decade ago. The 24-year-old has had a topsy-turvy ride though. He has enjoyed the high of playing two Under-19 World Cups and being retained by an IPL franchise ahead of an overhaul. Then came a challenging phase when he left Mumbai for Uttar Pradesh before returning to the domestic powerhouse and establishing himself as a vital cog.
Sarfaraz’s stupendous success — he averages a staggering 77.74 in First Class cricket — has been driven by his determination and maturity at the crease. But the stocky batter says the runs are also a consequence of trying to repay his father’s faith and hard work. In many ways, he has been living his father’s dream.
Sarfaraz Khan at Cross maidan. | Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI
“I have struggled quite a lot. Especially with Abbu. Even after playing two World Cups, the IPL, to be lined up alongside 400-odd cricketers for selection trials (in Uttar Pradesh in 2016-17) and wear the badge of player No. 315, it was quite weird. I used to feel bad for Abbu. We used to stay in a hotel and Abbu would have sleepless nights,” says Sarfaraz, having taken a break from his morning drill and made way for Naushad, who has padded up to ensure the “net bowlers don’t feel like wasting their time”.
“He has worked so hard on me that I feel I have to do it for Abbu. I don’t know whether I will eventually end up playing for India but I want all his hard work to pay off. That’s what I am striving for. He has left everything for our cricket, so I am glad that he has that [chance] to see his son scoring so heavily in Ranji Trophy, that too for a team like Mumbai. To play for Mumbai in itself is a big deal. And to be able to play again means a lot.”
For a sense of the family’s obsession with cricket, sample this: during the pandemic-enforced lockdown, Naushad drove his sons and a couple of local net bowlers in an SUV all the way to Azamgarh, his ancestral town in Uttar Pradesh, to ensure they stayed playing cricket. For the next year or so, the Khans would drive to every town and city across north India that offered the opportunity to play a practice game or have an outdoor net session.
“Be it Meerut, Mathura, Ghaziabad, Azamgarh…. he would drive us all over north India. In Mumbai, people couldn’t drive down for two hours and here we were, travelling all over India in our car to play cricket,” Sarfaraz says.
“Abbu would drive us all over so that our cricket didn’t stop. Sometimes when I travel to other places in the north — be it Delhi or Jaipur or Mohali — I feel as if it’s a home game and not away. I am so used to playing in those conditions that acclimatisation is never an issue.”
Outstanding
You cannot separate Naushad — a former Western Railway cricketer who has devoted his life to moulding Sarfaraz and his younger brother Musheer, an all-rounder, into classy cricketers — from Sarfaraz’s cricketing journey. But this day is about Sarfaraz. And Naushad realises it and doesn’t intervene even once when Sarfaraz is chatting with The Hindu.
Sarfaraz Khan at Cross maidan. | Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI
Ask the plain-speaking Sarfaraz how well he remembers his First Class hundreds and pat comes the reply: “Six centuries… ek (one) triple, three doubles because a triple is also counted as a double. And every century is 150-plus, the one I scored for UP was 150 (155), it is the lowest.”
He says it as a matter of fact. But his returns since returning to Mumbai in January 2020 after a three-year hiatus are gargantuan: 1,564 runs in 15 innings at 142.18! And he isn’t a wee bit surprised by his phenomenal consistency, be it for Mumbai or for India-A against an all-international bowling attack in South Africa.
“I used to score heavily in school cricket, so it feels the same. I have done the same all my life, be it at Azad Maidan or a club ground or at a big stadium, I just am used to going through the motions and scoring runs,” he says.
“Every day brings a new challenge, a new ball, a new set of bowlers and it just doesn’t feel like I scored a hundred yesterday. It just feels like I have to work all over again and go through the routine and the process all over again and score runs. That’s what I have done since school cricket and since I started training with Abbu.”
And what’s the secret behind his daddy hundreds? The response offers a peek into his mindset.
“A lot of players tend to play a rash stroke after getting to the hundred. Once I celebrate the hundred, I keep telling myself — obviously every batter wants to score a hundred — ‘your aim is achieved, now do it for the team by converting it into a big one’.
“Also, there are so many quality players who score hundreds,” he says. “If you want to stand out, you have to score big hundreds, so I wait for four-five balls after the hundred and then start playing freely. Till the 100, I tend to plan in 10s, once I cross the 100, I start looking at it in 20s or 30s because every 20-30 runs that I add, not only will I get to another milestone but I will be taking the team to safety.”
Occupation
In addition to being obsessed with making it big as a cricketer and living his father’s dream, a changed batting outlook has also helped Sarfaraz. He has begun treating the match as his “office” and batting as his “job”. He refers to a dialogue from M.S. Dhoni’s biographical feature film: “Duty ke baad bhi practice (Your practice continues even after office hours)”.
“For me, it’s duty ke pehle and office ke baad bhi practice (it’s practice both before and after office),” he says. “I don’t have an off day. If I am not playing a match, I face at least 400 balls a day once Daddy wakes me up at 5 a.m.”
So how does he put his astounding form into perspective? “I have always been grounded, whether I score or not. I know that you enjoy when you perform well but there are always more sad days in life. That’s why we don’t tend to get excited. Even when I score, I don’t throw parties, nor do I attend anyone else’s. I don’t celebrate my birthday, nor do I attend someone else’s birthday party,” Sarfaraz says.
“My Daddy says, ‘You have so many followers and fans, so if you end up being friends with everyone, someone will have his or her birthday. So if you attend a birthday party every day, when will you play cricket?’ So I don’t go out much nor does our household get over-excited with any achievement. For us, doing well is like our daily job. And I’ve been learning something every day. But I keep telling myself two things: not to repeat the same mistake and follow whatever Daddy says.”
Opportunity
As someone who adapts to red-ball and white-ball formats as seamlessly as he switches between “Abbu” and “Daddy” when he refers to Naushad, Sarfaraz is making a strong case for an India call-up. One can sense that he desperately desires that India cap, especially with the sensational form he has been in, but he spells his position out calmly.
“There would be at least 500 cricketers toiling around us here at the maidan right now. And each one of us aspires to play for India. Whenever the chance comes, I have to be ready for it. That’s all that I am prepping for. If I can do it, I know I shall make my Daddy happy. And that’s what matters the most,” Sarfaraz says, before padding up again and replacing Naushad in the nets.
While Sarfaraz’s range-hitting keeps fielders and bystanders on their toes, Naushad expresses the hope that Sarfaraz gets a chance at the earliest in his new IPL franchise, the Delhi Capitals.
Had the Ranji Trophy not been postponed due to the Omicron variant, Sarfaraz could well have triggered a bidding war instead of being bought at base price in the accelerated auction. But as he starts walking towards his father’s SUV — the same one that had turned into his virtual home-cum-cricket room during the lockdown — Sarfaraz has a parting shot.
“It’s not about the money. It’s about the opportunity.”
With the dazzling form and frame of mind he is in, don’t be surprised if Sarfaraz adds ‘Optimisation’ to his 4 Os the moment he gets an opportunity in the IPL.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport> Cricket / by Amol Karhadkar / March 19th, 2022
Arif Mohd Khan, of India, leads their team in during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, in Beijing. | Photo Credit: AP
Arif is the first Indian to secure qualification in two events of the same edition of the Games and his competitions are slated for February 13 and 16
Beijing Skier Arif Khan led a small four-strong Indian contingent during the Winter Olympics opening ceremony here on Friday amid a diplomatic boycott of the event by the country.
The 31-year-old Arif will be the lone Indian competitor at the Games, having qualified in Slalom and Giant Slalom events. India sent a six-member contingent to the Games including a coach, a technician and a team manager.
Arif is the first Indian to secure qualification in two events of the same edition of the Games and his competitions are slated for February 13 and 16.
India was the 23rd contingent to walk in during the grand ceremony at the iconic Bird’s Nest stadium here as China welcomed athletes from 84 countries amid a diplomatic boycott by powerful nations such as the USA and Britain over its alleged human rights violations in the Xinjiang region.
India announced a diplomatic boycott of the Games after China fielded Qi Fabao, the regimental commander of the People’s Liberation Army, who was injured during the 2020 military face-off with Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh, as a torchbearer for the event’s Torch Relay.
India said China’s move was “regrettable” and it has chosen to “politicise” the Olympics.
Born in Kashmir’s Baramulla district, Arif took up skiing quite early in life, winning his first national slalom championship at the age of just 12.
He later went on to win two gold medals in the Slalom and Giant Slalom events of the South Asian Winter Games in 2011.
He has also participated in both the editions of the Khelo India Winter Games held in Gulmarg, Jammu and Kashmir.
Arif’s inspiration was his father Yasin Khan, who owns a ski equipment shop in Gulmarg, a popular tourist destination in Jammu and Kashmir.
Previously, India’s Winter Olympics campaigns have been identified with one man — veteran luge athlete Shiva Keshavan, who represented the country in six editions of the mega-event.
The 40-year-old from Manali, Himachal Pradesh has now taken up the role of promoting winter sports in India.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport / by PTI / February 04th, 2022
Soha bags fourth title of the season at AITA women’s tennis event
Bengaluru:
Soha Sadiq came back from a set down to beat Akanksha Nitture of Maharashtra in the final as she bagged her third singles crown of the season at the AITA women’s tennis tournament played under the aegis of KSLTA here on Saturday.
The top seed from Karnataka beat Akanksha 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 to end the tournament with a fine double. Overall, this was Soha’s fourth title of the season as she and Akanksha had won the doubles crown on Friday.
After heavy rains had delayed the start of the final by more than two hours, the 23-year-old Soha dominated the proceedings from the start and was soon 4-1 up. However, she lost the momentum which was quickly grabbed by her opponent as third seed Akanksha went on to win five games on the trot to take the first set, according to information reaching here.
The second set saw both the rivals fight hard for each point until the sixth game with the scores being level. It was then that Soha stepped up on the gas and closed out the set at 6-3.
Soha, after a 2-1 lead, broke Akanksha’s serve in the fourth game of the decider which saw both of them reach deuce five times before the latter succumbed. There was no stopping Soha from that point as she just marched away with the set and the match.
“I am happy to win my third singles title of the season. I didn’t expect it to be a three-setter but luckily I found my rhythm when I needed it most,” Soha, who has just graduated in Commerce from Mount Carmel’s College, was quoted as saying by the KSLTA in a release.
Results (Seedings in pre-fix, States in brackets) Women’s Singles (Final): 1-Soha Sadiq (KAR) bt 3-Akanksha Nitture (MAH) 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
(IANS)
source: http://www.ommcomnews.com / Ommcom News / Home> Sports / by Ommcom News / October 09th, 2021
Olympaid swimmer Srihari Nataraj’s coach, Nihar Ameen in a candid chat with CE, shares why Tokyo Olympics 2020 was the toughest mission for him
Bengaluru :
He may not have won a medal at the recently-concluded Tokyo Olympics 2020. But swimmer Srihari Nataraj’s coach, Nihar Ameen, is proud of his student who has faced several lows during the last one-and-a-half years as he prepared for the biggest sporting event. During a tete-a-tete with the coach on a weekday afternoon, Ameen shows no sense of disappointment at his ‘shishya’ not bringing home a medal. Instead, following Nataraj’s elimination at the Olympics, Ameen has got down to business immediately. He’s working on Nataraj’s performance who he feels needs to be stronger and fitter. “We are just waiting for the 2022 calendar to come out and we have already started the preparations for the Asian Games. We have got three years now to set everything right and we will come back with a medal from Paris in 2024,” says Ameen, a Dronacharya awardee.
Along the course of the conversation, Ameen, who has been a trainer for nearly four decades, confides that this has been the toughest mission for him so far.While the fear of Covid-19 remained on one side, the task to prepare Nataraj for the Olympics to “start from scratch” was another. Following the lockdown in India during 2020, a lot of sports arenas and training centres were shutdown. Swimming pools were no different. Ameen believes that the closure of swimming pools did take a severe toll on training. “In India, pools were completely shut for seven-eight months. Srihari got no training whatsoever. If at all the lockdown was relaxed and swimming centres opened early in 2020, Nataraj’s results would be different. I am confident that he would have reached the finals,” says Ameen, who had little time to get Nataraj to the top 16 in the world.
The inconsistent training periods also proved to be a major challenge for the coach. “Sportspersons become very rusty if there is no consistent training. I had to bring Nataraj from zero because he was not in the best of shapes. Although Nataraj is tough mentally, however, we had to build the natural processes. Being out of water for so long, he also suffered a shoulder injury during an event in Dubai,” says Ameen, adding that Nataraj had just 10 days to come to his best ahead of the competition at Tokyo Olympics.
From a very festive departure in New Delhi to a very subdued welcome at Tokyo, Ameen admits he was shocked and surprised at the “dead atmosphere” that shadowed the world’s most important sporting event. After landing in Tokyo, the team was made to wait for over six hours due to the strict health protocols enforced at the airport. “This wait too, affected the minds of participants,” feels Ameen.
The rapport between Ameen and Nataraj is like any other case study of a guru and his disciple. Ameen believes that with the right nurturing, Nataraj will go places. “He is a self-motivated person, and is a national asset who needs to be nurtured well,” Ameen adds. The two often sit together and plan the training programme. “Once he gets down to do what he is supposed to do, I am there to supervise. We don’t have any verbal communication after that,”says Ameen.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Sanath Prasad, Express News Service / August 12th, 2021
