THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: ‘‘A gold medal in Asian Games was a dream that I cherished secretly for many years,’’ said Sharmi Ulahannan, a member of the gold medal-winning national Kabaddi squad at the recently-held Asian Games in Guangzhou.
She was speaking at a reception organised by the staff and students of Maharani Sethu Parvathi Bayi NSS College for Women, Neeramankara, where she is pursuing her post graduation in Malayalam. Speaking on the event, Sharmi said that only a very few people, including her family and coach, knew of the dream that she held close to her heart for so many years. She also shared her experiences so far to reach where was now - including various adversities such as poverty. Sharmi, hailing from Kasargod, had travelled all the way from there to join NSS College for Women for doing the BA History course. She recalled that the people at the college had a played crucial role in moulding her as a better athlete. It was the training and the support that she received right from the head of the Physical Education Department V Jayakumar to Principal Kumari K Prema at the college that prompted her to join the college for post graduation in Malayalam, since the college did not offer a course in MA History.
The other persons who played key roles in moulding her career are her coach and mentor Udayakumar and her hostel warden Vijayakumari, whom she fondly calls Warden Aunty. Sharmi’s parents also motivated her to pursue the sport during a critical stage when she was even thinking of leaving it for a better career. Inaugurating the felicitation, Minister for Sports M Vijayakumar said that the State Government would distribute ` 10 lakh each to the four medal winners from the State. Initially, it was decided that a total of ` 10 lakh would be distributed equally among the medal winners. But this decision had to be changed after athletes from the State made the whole nation proud beyond expectations. The State Government has also completed the necessary steps to set up an exclusive sports training centre, Elite Sports Athletics Centre, in Thiruvananthapuram, aimed at grooming the potential athletes in the State in view of the coming Olympics events in 2012 and 2016. Monday’s event also turned out to be a forum to congratulate Ulahannan and Mary, the proud parents of Sharmi. Thunderous applause echoed inside the auditorium on each occasion when their names were announced.
trivandrum@expressbuzz.com
