Spirit of courage

It was an evening dedicated to the real heroes. In an attempt to encourage non-cricket sports, TiE-Aspire Young Achiever Awards were recently organised to honour sports personalities from less popular fields like hockey, high jumping and even maritime sailing. Awardees Rani Rampal, Girisha Hosanagara Nagarajegowda and Lt Cdr Abhilash Tomy received a standing ovation at the award ceremony in the city. Thrilled about receiving the award, Tomy says it’s high time to promote non-cricket sports in the country. “We have some very talented sportspersons in various fields who work hard to compete with athletes and players from across the world. They are the real heroes. However, soon after they win a championship or break records, they are forgotten both by the government and sports fans,” says Tomy of the Indian Navy, the first Indian to circumnavigate the globe — solo, non-stop and unassisted — in 151 days. He is also the winner of Kirti Chakra (National Gallantry Award) and Tenzing Norgay Adventure Award. If their achievements are jaw-dropping, the difficulties they have overcome are more incredible. Taking a walk down memory lane, Rani, who became the youngest player to participate in World Cup 2010 at the age of 15, recalls, “As a child I always dreamt of a pukka house as our house used to fill up with water during the rains. Once I received a ten rupee note as a token of appreciation from my coach Baldev Singh, which I wanted to hold on to but was forced to use it because of financial constraints. And that is one of my biggest regrets till date.” Paralympic high jumper who won the silver medal in 2012 London Summer Paralympics Men’s High Jump, Girisha shares that he had given up on high-jumping a few years back because of financial problems. “I had never thought that I would get to participate in Paralympics once I opted for a job to support my family. No one from state or central government offered help. When I finally qualified to participate in London Paralympics everyone advised me not to quit my job,” says Girish, who still went ahead, left his job and trained hard to bring home the ninth Paralympics medal. He was awarded the Rajyotsava Award by the government of Karnataka in 2012 and Padma Shri by the government of India in 2013.