Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

On a winning spree

T. Saravanan

"We crave for recognition but, it is hard to find"

VICTORS ALL: The athletes, who returned with a rich haul of medals from the Indo-Russian Sports Meet for the Disabled, in Madurai on Saturday with coach R. Parasuraman, second from right. — Photo: K. Ganesan.

MADURAI: They have once again proved their mettle at an international meet bringing laurels to the Temple City.

The seven-member team from Madurai has done the country proud by winning nine gold, five silver and five bronze medals at the Indo-Russian Sports Meet for the Disabled held in Lucknow between December 3 and 5.

While J. Ranjith Kumar kept the winning tempo going by bagging three gold medals, D. Azhagu Pandiammal won gold medals in all the events she contested in.

For 22-year-old Pandiammal, daughter of a farm labourer, it was a dream come true. In her maiden attempt at an international meet she found the Midas touch, as whatever she touched turned gold. Contending with 13 fierce competitors, she won the shotput gold hurling the iron ball 5.92 metres. She cleared 15.01 m to bag the discus gold and her third gold was in the javelin throw event, where she made a mark at 10 m.

Ranjith Kumar (29), the earning member of his family, clinched golds in discus, javelin and shotput in the male wheelchair category. He braved the cold weather to annex the gold in the shotput event hurling the ball 7.72 m breaking his personal best of 7.15 m. In discus throw, he cleared a distance of 27.82 m and in javelin he made a mark with 19.14 m.

R. Stalin (25) bagged golds in the discus, javelin and shotput events clearing distances of 24 m, 43.73 m and 11.86 m respectively.

K. Kathiresan, an advocate, claimed two bronzes in shotput (6.73 m) and javelin (12.53 m) and a silver medal in discus (15.4 m).

A. Gopi Kannan (29) clinched two silvers in shotput (6.65 m) and javelin (18 m) and a bronze medal in discus (14 m). S. Gurunathan (22) won two bronze medals in javelin (18.72 m) and discus (17.73 m). S. Thirumalai Kumar bagged the silver in discus and the bronze in javelin.

Lacking Govt. recognition

"All these candidates practised on the Dharmarajjiyam Sports Grounds. Everyday they spent around three hours to gain the fitness level. They are talented and fit to bag gold medals in the Paralympics if the Government protected and supported them financially with proper diet and sports equipment," said R. Parasuraman, Physical Education Teacher, Thiagarajar Model Higher Secondary School, who trained these sportspersons.

"We only crave for recognition. When performers from other States are getting due acknowledgement from their Government, we too expect the same from ours. But, it is hard to come by," said Mr. Kathiresan, who is also the manager of the team.

Though these ambitious sportspersons have consistently performed well in the international arena they still find it hard to get a sponsor to fund their sports endeavours.

While winning an international medal is a dream for many, it is the means that matters more than the medal for these youths.

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