Lesser known 'Sotomayor': Hairy Tales of Chilean paddler from Falkland Islands
BIRMINGHAM: For all the connoisseurs of world athletics through the 90's, it was difficult not to remember legendary Cuban Olympic champion high jumper Javier Sotomayor.
Sotomayor's name was uttered in the same breath as Donovan Bailey, Linford Christie, Merlene Ottey or Cathy Freeman, world beaters in track and field during his time. So while browsing the various athlete sheets of the Commonwealth Games, the familiar name in the table tennis category does ring a bell.
Javier Sotomayor playing ping pong? And then one realised that it's a different Sotomayer, with his own little unique story to narrate. So here we have Javier Sotomayor 2.0.
Who is he? In a nutshell, a Chilean, named after one of South America's biggest non-football sporting icon, who plays TT for passion and styles flowing manes for a living.
There is no chance even in the hell that this Sotomayor would ever be as decorated in his own sport as his illustrious namesake, who had two Olympic medals including a gold and two World Championship yellow metals.
This rather is a story of a lesser known Sotomayor, who wanted to become a Jan-Ove Waldner or Timo Ball as 12-year-old Chilean but circumstances made him an expert hairdresser, who now runs a salon in Falkland Islands. You heard it right.
The same Falkland Islands, for which Britain and Argentina once fought a bitter war in early 1980's, which had its impact when Diego Maradona's team faced England in the 1986 World Cup quarter-finals.
And now has earned the distinction of being first paddler from the British Overseas Territory to be selected for the Commonwealth Games. "In 2006, I was working in Santiago as a stylist and someone who had opened a hair salon in the Falklands flew to Chile to find hairdressers," said Sotomayor, who is originally from Chile.
"I went to work for them for one year, then came back to Chile. After getting married to my wife Andrea I went back to the Falklands and we opened our business, Belle Hair Salon." In his teenage years in Chile, Sotomayor also had big dreams "I started playing TT when I was nine years old. By the time I was 12, I was ranked No.6 in Chile. I played for five more years but stopped because of academic pressure and professional life. My passion was reignited in the Falkland Islands around eight years ago because this is my sport. I missed it a lot," the satisfaction of achievement was palpable in Sotomayer's voice.
He is now working hard for the growth of the sport in the country, which became the 227th member of the International Table Tennis Federation's (ITTF) in November 2021.
"We are only four players. We try to do the best because we are not professionals. We don't have any competition. I went to the Island Games three years ago but the Commonwealth Games will be completely different. It's good to learn and play with better players. It doesn't matter if I lose. I'm feeling 100 per cent."
The small Falkland Islands contingent comprises 16 athletes including nine in badminton, two in Lawn Bowls, one in cycling and a sole table tennis player in Sotomayor.
Based on the latest available data, its population is estimated to be around 4000.
For the uninitiated, West Bengal, which is one of the nerve-centres of Indian TT, has around the same number of registered players (all age-group, men and women) as falkland Islands' population.
Even if Sotomayor's championship challenge ends in first round, his work in Birmingham won't end. Because the amateur TT player will make way for professional hair stylist. After all the Falkland Islands delegation in Birmingham includes two regular clients to his salon.