National
Against all odds, a labourer’s daughter dreams of winning an Olympic medal
Coming from a small village in Uttar Pradesh and setting a record in long jump for Delhi, the story of Shivani Soam has drama, emotion and the determination to overcome all odds, including the barriers erected by the male chauvinistic society.
Hailing from a village in Moradabad district, choosing sports was not easy for Shivani. From getting flak for wearing shorts to practicing with boys, life wasn’t easy for Shivani in her village.
But her dedication and determination to do something in sports saw Shivani go ahead despite the taunts. The society, which used to berate her and her family, is today lauding her achievements. The mind-set of the people has changed after Shivani won silver in the 30th North Zone Junior Athletics championship, organised by the Haryana Athletics Association at Rohtak in October 2018.
“All this was not easy for me. My parents used to work in Delhi as daily-wage labourers. At the time of the first Covid-19 wave, the financial situation went from bad to worse for us. We had to return to our village from Delhi. There, when I used to go for practice in the morning, I was the target of taunts. Still, I continued my training,” Shivani told IANS.
Taunts were not the only problem Shivani faced. During the lockdown, when her parents had no work, a situation arose when she even though of leaving the sport. However, she continued her passion against all odds.
Shivani concedes that the pandemic period in 2020 was like an ‘earthquake’ situation in her life.
“The lockdown affected us badly. We had to return to our village… we faced a different problem here. There are many problems for girls, but I did not give up and continued my practice. After a few months, when things became normal, we came back to Delhi, where Deepika ma’am (a sports management company head) contacted me. Since then I have not faced any problem. Now I am focusing on my game,” said the 20-year-old, who wants to breach the Asian Games qualifying mark.
Shivani won gold in the Delhi State Athletic Championship in August, 2019, with a record jump of 5.31 metre. The record is still in Shivani’s name. She says that she is putting in a lot of effort to breach the Asian Games qualifying mark of 6.45 metre.
“I made this record (Delhi State) in 2019. Since then, my performance has improved a lot, now I can easily cross 6.50 in training. It is not difficult for me to qualify for the Asian Games.”
Shivani has a dream of winning an Olympic medal. While the athlete is aware that the task is not easy, she is confident that one day she will be good to compete at the international level.
“For a player, the biggest dream is an Olympic medal. I have a dream of winning a medal at the Olympics. But before that, there will be an attempt to win a medal at the Asian Games. My jump is good now, and with a little improvement, I will qualify for the Asian Games. After that I will plan for the future,” Shivani told IANS.
Shivani thanked the sports management company ENGN and its head Deepika Das Pereira, and said that they have helped her a lot by paying for training.
“Shivani is a very talented girl. ENGN focuses exclusively on female athletes and helps them realise their potential and reach their goals. In its endeavour to encourage all women to make health and fitness a part of their life, it has also launched a product line of high quality performance wear at affordable prices. Part of the revenue is cycled back towards supporting the needs of their talent,” Pereira, head of talent and sports, ENGN, said.
National
Gukesh, Manu, Harmanpreet, Praveen picked for Khel Ratna Award
New Delhi, Jan 2: World Chess champion Gukesh D and Paris Olympics and Paralympics medallists – Manu Bhaker (shooting), Harmanpreet Singh (hockey) and Praveen Kumar (para-athlete) are to be conferred with Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2024 by President of India Droupadi Murmu at a specially organised function at Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 17, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports announced on Thursday.
Gukesh recently became the youngest-ever World Chess Champion after outclassing China’s Ding Liren in the title battle in Singapore.
Manu became the first Indian athlete to win twin medals in a single edition of the Games in Paris, following a double bronze in the 10 m air pistol and 10 m air pistol mixed team event.
On the other hand, Harmanpreet led India to their second successive bronze medal in men’s hockey while Praveen bagged gold in the high jump T64 in the Paralympics.
Apart from the Khel Ratna, the Sports Ministry also named a 32-athlete list for the Arjuna Awards for outstanding performance in Sports and Games 2024. The list includes Jyothi Yarraji, Annu Rani, Nitu, Saweety, Vantika Agrawal, Salima Tete, Abhishek, Sanjay, Jarmanpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Rakesh Kumar, Preeti Pal, Jeevanji Deepthi, Ajeet Singh, Sachin Sarjerao Khilari, Dharambir, Pranav Soorma, H Hokato Sema, Simran, Navdeep, Nitesh Kumar, Thulasimathi Murugesan, Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan, Manisha Ramadass, Kapil Parmar, Mona Agarwal, Rubina Francis, Swapnil Suresh Kusale, Sarabjot Singh, Abhay Singh, Sajan Prakash and Aman.
Former cyclist Sucha Singh and former para-swimmer Murlikant Rajaram Petkar were awarded Arjuna Awards (Lifetime) for outstanding performance in Sports and Games.
Subhash Rana (para-shooter), Deepali Deshpande (shooting) and Sandeep Sangwan (hockey) were named Dronacharya Award 2024 recipients.
S Muralidharan (badminton) and Armando Agnelo Colaco (football) were awarded the Dronacharya Award in the lifetime category.
Physical Education Foundation of India was given the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar while Chandigarh University (overall winner), Lovely Professional University (first runner-up) and Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (second runner-up) were awarded Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2024.
The overall top-performing university in Khelo India University Games is given the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy.
National
Stage set for historic return of Hockey India League in Rourkela
Rourkela, Dec 27: The highly anticipated return of the Hockey India League (HIL) 2024-25 is set to become a reality with a clash between Delhi SG Pipers and Gonasika on Saturday, promising a spectacular showcase of world-class hockey and fierce competition.
The Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela will host the eight men’s teams till the Final on February 1 while, four Women’s teams will compete against each other from January 12 to January 26, in Ranchi.
The men’s HIL will kick off in Rourkela, with Phase 1 spanning from December 28 to January 18, where all eight teams will play against each other once. Phase 2, beginning on January 19, will see the teams divided into two pools: Pool A (Delhi SG Pipers, Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers, Soorma Hockey Club, Vedanta Kalinga Lancers) and Pool B (Gonasika, Hyderabad Toofans, Tamil Nadu Dragons, UP Rudras). Each team will face others in their respective pool, with the top four teams advancing to the Semi Final on January 31.
“All our players excited to play against Gonasika and are looking forward to beginning the league. We have prepared well for the last two weeks and we have had a few bonding sessions as a team as well in this period. There is a bit of pressure that comes with it but all the players in our squad are well trained and aware of the demands at this level, so we will play the match with the aim to do our best. We have to execute the strategy set by our coaches and take it game by game. Every match is important and the but it is also important to take the first step in the right direction tomorrow,” Delhi SG Pipers Captain Shamsher Singh commented.
Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers, Delhi SG Pipers, Soorma Hockey Club and Odisha Warriors are the four teams in the Women’s HIL. Their matches will commence on January 12 at Ranchi’s Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Astro Turf Stadium, with each team playing against the others twice. After a competitive pool stage, the top two teams will meet in the Final on January 26. Both men’s and women’s teams will also play one of their matches at the alternate venue to bring the HIL excitement to fans in both locations.
“HIL is returning after seven years and everyone in the team is excited for the match against Delhi. We have a good understanding amongst each other in the team and a good mixture of youngsters, Indian seniors and foreigners. We will look to implement the things that we have trained on so far in the match tomorrow. We have also played with and against these players before, so we will look to play our game and do our best to minimise their goalscoring opportunities,” Gonasika Captain Manpreet Singh shared.
National
‘There Has Been A Lapse…’: Manu Bhaker Breaks Her Silence On Khel Ratna Award Nominations List Row
Double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker feels she has erred on filing for the nominations for the Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award, breaking silence on reports of being excluded for the list. However, the 22-year-old said she remains motivated to perform well on the biggest stage, regardless of whether she wins the award or not.
“With regards to ongoing issue for my nomination for the most prestigious Khel Ratna award – I would like to state that as an athlete my role is to play and perform my country. Awards and recognition keeps me motivated but are not my goal. I believe there has been a lapse maybe on my part while filing for the nomination which is being corrected. Irrespective of the award, I remain motivated to win more medals for my country. It is a request to everyone, please do not speculate more on this matter.”
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