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Pune’s training grounds put athletes on flight to Tokyo Olympics
PUNE Whether it is training at the Army Sports Institute (ASI), or getting supported by non-government-organisations like Lakshya, athletes boarding flights to Tokyo for the Olympics have a special connection with the city
PUNE Whether it is training at the Army Sports Institute (ASI), or getting supported by non-government-organisations like Lakshya, athletes boarding flights to Tokyo for the Olympics have a special connection with the city.
Even when the country was tackling the second wave of Covid, ASI turned out to be a safe haven for Indian boxers and archers, as camps were set up with all the precautionary measures.
“We had provided them a very safe environment for practice, and before the boxers and archers left ASI, we made sure that they got the vaccine doses. All the athletes have got both the doses,” said one of the ASI officials, on the request of anonymity.
“The infrastructure of ASI makes it possible to organise a national camp at any time. We are focussed on keep upgrading our facilities to produce more good athletes,” added official.
A total 13 sports persons from ASI have qualified for the Olympics (7 athletes, 3 boxers, 1 wrestlers and 2 archers).
At the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Rahi Sarnobat, Tejaswini Sawant; Para athletes Swaroop Unhalkar and Suyash Jadhav did their training. Avinash Sable and Pravin Jadhav who are with ASI now were the students of Krida Prabodhini.
Support of NGO
Shooter Sanjeev Rajput, boxers Pooja Rani and Simranjit Kaur and paddlers Sharath Kamal and Sutirtha Mukherjee, are among the six Tokyo-bound athletes who have been assisted by NGO Lakshya in order to strengthen their preparations and pursuit of medals at the upcoming Olympic Games.
Race walker Sandeep Kumar is the sixth Lakshya-backed athlete who will be seen in action at the mega event in Tokyo.
Through its Mission Olympic Programme, Lakshya has been arranging training equipment and facilitating access to nutritionists, physiotherapists, and mental trainers for the athletes.
Among the six athletes, Pooja Rani and Simranjit have been associated with Lakshya for many years. Believing in Pooja’s talent Lakshya has been supporting her for close to a decade now, which includes her being out of the sport for almost a year due to injury, to winning back-to-back gold medals at the Asian Championships. On the other hand, Lakshya scouted Simranjit and backed her talent ever since then.
“I’m really lucky to have Lakshya’s support right from 2012. My journey has been a mixture of success and hard luck, but their continuous support kept me going and working hard to win medals for the country. It takes a lot of effort to win medals at the international stage, but support like this makes the journey quite easier and fruitful. Even during lockdown, training with a mental conditioning coach, physiotherapists and other experts provided by Lakshya eased the pressure and kept me focussed on my game,” said Pooja Rani, who recently clinched gold at Asian Boxing Championships.
Lakshya has also been supporting racewalker Sandeep Kumar, who sealed a Tokyo berth by breaking national record and is gearing up for his second Olympic Games, and paddler Sutirtha, who will be making her maiden appearance at the Olympics.
“It’s our mission to contribute to making our country a sporting powerhouse in the world. We started this NGO to support our athletes with necessary facilities so that they do not have to worry about any peripheral needs and can only focus on their game. We are delighted to see that among the six of the players two of our longest-supported athletes, Pooja Rani and Simranjit Kaur, made it to the games. We are committed to help all the athletes in every possible way to make their quest for the medal stronger in Tokyo,” said Vishal Chordia, president, Lakshya, which has been contributing to the growth of Indian sports ever since its inception in 2009.
