Travel curbs dash para taekwondo exponent’s Tokyo dreams
It turned out to be a disappointing day after 13 anxious days in hard quarantine in the hostel room of Sports Authority of India’s centre in Lucknow for Aruna Tanwar, India’s best medal hope in para taekwondo at the Tokyo Paralympics, on Tuesday.
Her dream of participating in the Asian Olympics qualifier, scheduled to be held at Amman in Jordan on May 21-22, was dashed as the authorities said there was “no chance” of the Indians taking part in the event now.
The eight-member Indian taekwondo team was scheduled to catch a flight to Amman on Wednesday, but strict travel restrictions in view of Covid-19 shattered all such chances. To enter Jordan, they would have had to go through a 14-day quarantine in some other country, but no step was taken in this regard.
“It seems all but over. This is the biggest disappointment for me and a big loss to India as I was sure of not only qualifying for the mega event, but also of winning a medal in Tokyo,” said World No. 4 Aruna, who hails from Bhiwani (Haryana).
“Even while being in quarantine, I kept working hard on my training and fitness inside my room, but now I am feeling frustrated and disappointed as despite being so close to achieving my dream, I am unable to grab it,” Aruna said.
“I tested corona positive at the start of the camp on April 8, but I never stopped my training. My mobile phone remained my best friend as no one came to see me and I could speak to the warden once or twice in all 13 days. It was horrible to stay behind closed doors for 13 days.”
Five-time national gold medallist Aruna carries the hopes of her family. Her father Naresh Kumar is a farmer in Dinod village. A medal at the Tokyo Games could have changed her fortunes.
“I have been practising 7-8 hours daily since 2017 and winning a medal at Paralympics is my biggest dream,” said Aruna. “We should have been told in advance that there was no hope of our participation at the Asian qualifying event at the start of the camp itself,” she said.
Both her hands are naturally short by birth, but this didn’t make a difference to Aruna who took all criticism as a big motivator. “I never felt ashamed or disappointed. I always channelled all comments into positive energy,” she said.
Aruna, the first and youngest female Paralympics player from India to reach the Asian qualification round in the 43 class under 49 kg category, has already proved her worth at the international level, winning one gold, two silver and two bronze medals at international championships.
She had a dream run in 2019 where she won a bronze medal at the 8th World Para-Taekwondo Championship in Antalya, Turkey, and a silver medal at Asian Region President Cup Para-Taekwondo Championship in Kish, Iran. In addition, she won a bronze medal at Amman Asian Para-Taekwondo Championship 2019 in Jordan.
“If there was some technical issue about the quarantine period of Indian athletes before the qualifying event at Jordan, the authorities concerned should have made adequate arrangements for this so that a player like me would have not missed the chance,” she said.
“Now, I am being told that I should prepare for the upcoming Asian Open Championship in the coming months. This is
FIVE-TIME NATIONAL GOLD MEDALLIST ARUNA CARRIES THE HOPES OF HER FAMILY. HER FATHER NARESH KUMAR IS A FARMER IN DINOD VILLAGE. A MEDAL AT THE TOKYO GAMES COULD HAVE CHANGED HER FORTUNES
ridiculous. When athletes of other sports can go outside India and train before the Games, why didn’t we?” she asked. Besides Aruna, the turn of events have proved disappointing for seven other Indians —Akshay Hooda (u-68 kg), Navjeet Maan (u-80 kg), Kashish Malik (57 kg), Margerette Maria Regi (67 kg), Sadham Hussain (u-61 kg), Gurcharan Singh (+75 kg) and Sarika Andana (+58kg).