For the first time in many years, if not in the history of the National Gymnastics Championships, two Maharashtra athletes – Anoushka Patil and Eshitaa Rewale – stood on top of the Women’s All-Around competition in the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar, earlier this month. They outdid competitors from powerhouses like Railways and West Bengal.
Dig a bit more and you will find that they outperformed those who train in National Centres of Excellence in Delhi and Kolkata by training under Vishal Katakdound, Head Coach in the Prabodhankar Thackeray Kreeda Sankul (PTKS) in Mumbai’s Vile Parle East. It may not be a fancy facility but has now earned bragging rights over many established centres.
The 18-year-old Anoushka Patil was ranked third in Vault with an average of 11.900 points. Her rally began on the Uneven Bars where she was fourth with 9.933 points, a good routine of the Balance Beam got her the second place and 11.267 points and wrapped up the All-Around competition with a routine that secured her 11.333 points and the third place in Floor Exercise.
Eshitaa Rewale, 23, started by securing the highest score (13.133 points) in the Vault, but a 9.933 on Uneven Bars and a below par execution on Balance Beam that got her 10.367 and saw her slip from the top of the charts to be just in medal reckoning with the Floor Exercise routine left. She held her nerve and executed her routine to get past Railways Protistha Samanta.
Eshitaa Rewale won gold in the Vault final (12.300 points) and bronze in Floor Exercise (10.433) while Anoushka Patil claimed silver on the Balancing Beam (11.467). For athletes who were fifth and sixth in the All-Around competition in the National Championships in Pune last year, they have done well to stay focused, train smart and rise to the top.
Having passed her 12th Standard exams, Anoushka Patil hopes to pursue studies in Artificial Intelligence in Data Analytics while Eshitaa Rewale, a Shiv Chhatrapati Award recipient, has graduated in Psychology and hopes to become a sports psychologist. Hailing from middle class backgrounds, their aspirations beyond sport are nurtured by the focus on holistic development.
They know they will have to raise the bar higher over the next month to be able to realise their dream of competing in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July and the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya late this year. A lot will depend on how they fare in the Asian Championships in Zunyi in China from June 18.
As per the selection criteria on the GFI website, both can will make it to the National Camp in Bhubaneswar. In addition of their showing in the National Championships, the gymnasts were assessed during the Model Test during the Camp when the selectors picked the Indian team for the Asian Championships.
PTKS Gymnastics facility founder Neelam Babardesai says there is dire need to secure equipment, similar to what is used in international competitions. “For example, the old-fashioned bar has to be upgraded. While the Trust has supported us with infrastructure, we will need an investment of Rs. 30 lakh to Rs. 40 lakh to raise the quality of the apparatus for the trainees,” she says.
One question naturally crops up. If an academy can foster a National Champion and the runner-up, why has it not been identified as a Khelo India Accredited Academy? That would allow the gymnasts to draw the full Rs 6.28 lakh support afforded by Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to Khelo India Athletes and not just the Rs 1.20 lakh out of pocket allowance.
Come to think of it, there are just 10 gymnastics facilities which are on the list of Khelo India accredited academies. Three of them are National Centres of Excellence in Chatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, New Delhi and Kolkata. There is good reason to identify more academies and empower them to unearth and develop gymnasts who can make the country proud.
Besides, there is reason to track the performances of those chosen for support as Khelo India Athletes in the National Championships. That only 25 of the 55 female gymnasts competed in Bhubaneswar is a telling commentary on the gap between those identified as having potential and their not making it to the entry list in the National Championships.
If India is to rise higher in the Asian Games medals table, it must crack the code in disciplines like Swimming, Cycling and Gymnastics. In the Asian Games, India has won nine of the 1632 medals in Swimming, three of the 649 medals and just one of the 636 medals in Gymnastics. Ashish Kumar made it to the Asian Games podium, earning Floor Exercise bronze in Guangzhou in 2010.
India’s journey towards becoming a better sporting nation must encompass such disciplines and ensure that the grassroots initiatives are well supported. Then again, to leave it to the Ministry of Youth Affair and Sports alone is not the best solution. India Inc can surely make better investment with some its CSR funds in grassroots sport so that the country has a larger pool of talent.
Photos: Feature image (L to R: Eshitaa, Anoushka and Protistha Samanta) courtesy Odisha Sports; Eshitaa and Anoushka with Vishal, Courtesy Multiple Good Faith Foundation)
