AHMEDABAD: With three gold and a bronze, Maharashtra's Rupali Sunil Gangawane literally owned the mallakhamb arena at the Sanskardham Sports Academy in Godhavi, Ahmedabad. The 24-year-old Rupali, who hails from Mumbai, claimed top honours in the women's rope competition, individual all-around and team event apart from winning a bronze in the pole competition to make her maiden outing at the National Games a memorable one.
However, her ultimate goal is winning medals at the Mallakhamb World Cup scheduled next year. Despite the past edition being held in Mumbai, she couldn't compete in it as she had missed the national championship and thus a chance to qualify for the World Cup. In her bid to make up for the loss, Rupali has even given up studies after clearing class 12 so that she can focus solely on Mallakhamb.
"After completing school education in 2020, we decided to take a break from academics and focus only on mallakhamb," Rupali's father Sunil Gangawane, who was a national level gymnast and mallakhamb player, told this daily. Explaining the reasons behind the move, the father said, "She trains for seven hours a day. She needs proper rest after such a rigorous training regime. Had she continued her education, it would have been difficult for her to concentrate fully on the sport. Our target is the 2023 World Cup. I want her not only to represent the country but also lead the team."
Sunil stopped competing in 1996 and started Tumbling Academy of Gymnastics in Chembur, Mumbai. Presently around 150 children are training for mallakhamb at his academy. His son Buddhbhushan started training at the facility first and Rupali followed his footsteps when she was only four.
"My mallakhamb training has been going on for the past 20 years. My parents used to take us (my brother and me) to the academy. First my brother started training and I followed. He, however, has left the sport as he wanted to focus on studies. It's the opposite with me as I have left studies for a time being to focus on mallakhamb," Rupali told this daily with a chuckle.
She has competed in three nationals so far and won a bagful of medals. Speaking on her routine, Rupali said, "My training starts at 7 in the morning. After a three-hour session in the morning, I train from 6 to 9:30 in the evening. I compete in both pole and rope mallakhamb so I have to put in extra effort during training. These sessions are very demanding and have to be supported by a proper diet. Rest is key as it helps in recovery."
In rope competition at the Gujarat event, Rupali dished out a clinical performance to score 9.25 and secure gold. She scored 8.60 points in pole competition to finish with bronze. In the all-around competition, she scored 17.80 to finish on top. Her performances in these events also helped Maharashtra women clinch gold in team event."I have worked hard for the National Games and I am happy I contributed to Maharashtra's medal tally. Credit goes to my father, who has been guiding me all these years," she added.
Mallakhamb along with Yogasana made its debut at the Gujarat National Games. Earlier, the sports were introduced in the Khelo India Youth Games held in Panchkula in May. Sunil hopes the promotion continues as he wishes the sport eventually helps his daughter to win the Arjuna Award. "Government has been promoting the sport and even conferring sports awards to mallakhamb players. I hope Rupali also gets the Arjuna Award soon."