Kuniyil Residents were brimming with hope when Olympian K T Irfan, their local boy, passed the halfway point in the 20-kilometre race walk at the World Athletics Championship being held in Moscow.
Crossing 10-km mark, Irfan had indeed raised the odds for winning a medal and bringing accolades to both the country and this village.
However, a pall of gloom set in soon as Irfan was pronounced disqualified for the three fouls he committed during the 10 and 15km points.
On Sunday evening, Irfan’s house was full of sports enthusiasts watching, along with his family, the live performance at the World Athletics Championship.
Giant screen was set up outside Irfan’s home to see the race live for the hundreds gathered at the house. His father, mother, siblings, grandmother and other close relatives were all present at the house when the starter pistol went off for 20-kilometre race walk at the championship.
“It is sheer bad luck. He was not optimistic about the result when he phoned us in the morning. The performance of Irfan in the first 10 km has given the hope that he might win a medal,” said Irfan’s father K T Mustafa.
The relatives and friends of Irfan were also suitably disappointed as he was disqualified from the race after giving hope that he would finish in one of the first three positions.
Irfan was placed sixth when the competition was through the half way mark. Chances also augured well for Irfan in the beginning as some of the leading contestants were tired out from the competition.
Irfan was standing 12th when the first five km of the completion was completed.