Raising the Bar

By Pragya Tiwari

‘The Rio Olympics for India, regardless of its disappointments, became immensely significant. In the dynamics of Indian sports, its legacy could be far-reaching. Three women, in their maiden Olympics, had blazed a trail unforeseen. Dipa Karmakar became the first Indian to qualify for Olympics, and reach the finals. Her fourth-place finish would be a significant benchmark for upcoming gymnasts. Sakshi Malik became the first Indian woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal in a sport traditionally marked for men. PV Sindhu became the youngest Indian to win an Olympic medal and the first badminton player to win a silver.

‘The chances of these three women pioneers were once viewed at best quixotic. Through their exemplary performances, they have woken up the entire country. To dream.’

• Language: English
• Publisher: Roli Books
• Release date: May 31, 2018
• ISBN: 9788193704929

Book preview

RAISING

THE BAR

ROLI BOOKS

This digital edition published in 2018

First published in 2017 by

The Lotus Collection

An Imprint of Roli Books Pvt. Ltd

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Copyright © Pragya Tiwari, 2017

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eISBN: 978-81-937049-2-9

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Contents

• Moment of Glory: Sakshi Malik

• Sensational Sindhu: PV Sindhu

• Flirting with Danger: Dipa Karmakar

Introduction

Three young women, and Olympic glory. In a country with skewed gender equation, it is a telling statement of success. The stories of PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik and Dipa Karmakar are a compelling concoction of self-belief and invincible spirit that mocked the prevalent conventions.

Neither of the three grew up with the idea of chasing Olympic medals. But from the beginning, they were possessed with a fierce desire to compete and be the best. A young Dipa wouldn’t rest till she had perfected a vault. As a sub-junior gymnast, she wanted to beat the senior girls. Sakshi was so engrossed with her wrestling that she would rarely socialize. A 10-year-old Sindhu wouldn’t complain at commuting 120 kilometres a day to the Gopichand Badminton Academy, having started her day at 4 am.

In the backdrop of a gloomy Indian run in the Olympic Games at Rio de Janeiro, they came together to create a glittering constellation of rare achievements. In the wake of receding Indian hopes, theirs was a beautifully orchestrated success.

Dipa represented the country in gymnastics, where India had no Olympic history. Her inclusion in the expanded India squad for the 2016 Games itself was viewed with awe and respect. She was already a winner in the public eye when she boarded the flight to Rio. But the 23-year-old was destined for bigger things when pitted against the gymnastic powerhouses. Her gritty performance hauled India out of a mournful trance. Dipa qualified for the final, an accomplishment in itself, and with her courageous execution of Produnova, the ‘vault of death’, she stirred the masses. In her first Olympic attempt, the diminutive Dipa, with a large heart, reintroduced gymnastics to India. She missed a medal by a whisker, but her effort was commendable. She understood the enormity of the loss only when she returned to her room. It gave way to bitter tears. Yet, without a medal, she returned home a victor. The warmth of the people stoked in her the desire of bigger Olympic success. It was her performance, imbued with unparalleled determination that inspired the bigger Indian feats.

The Olympic story of Sakshi commenced when Dipa’s ended. The 23-year-old wrestler from the small town of Rohtak in Haryana had fought against societal reservations for girls indulging in a contact sport like wrestling. Her state is notorious for its plummeting sex ratio. Her childhood coach, Ishwar Dahiya, faced protests when the girls in his academy trained with the boys. So, Sakshi was not unfamiliar to obstacles and adversities. It came handy at Rio, where she scripted thrilling comebacks. She lost in the quarterfinals before getting a new lease of life through repechage since her conqueror reached the final. Sakshi did not let go of that opportunity. On the back of strong performances, she barged into the bronze medal play-off. There she lagged for most part before forging a sensational counter-attack that blew the mind away. Her audacious performance got India its first medal in Rio Olympics. It sparked a mini-revolution of a kind which instantly emphasized the need to nurture and educate a girl child. Sakshi is now seen the face of such campaigns in Haryana.

While the country went berserk with celebrations, Sindhu deepened the joy by making it to the final of the women’s singles. It meant a gold or a silver, an upgrade on Sakshi’s bronze. In the dying stages of the competition, the Indian graph was rising. The tall and unassuming Sindhu, at 21, was the youngest to reach such heights. As she unleashed her new, aggressive facet on court, the world watched agog. The soft-natured Sindhu was not to be muzzled during her victory march. And though she faltered on the final hurdle, she won hearts by demonstrating her graceful side to the weeping winner Carolina Marin. Despite the practiced intimidation on court, the respect for the opponent wasn’t lost; the spirit of the sport wasn’t compromised. That it came from a youngster was reassuring for both the purists and non-conformists.

The Rio Olympics for India, regardless of its disappointments, became immensely significant. In the dynamics of Indian sports, its legacy could be far-reaching. Three women, in their maiden Olympics, had blazed a trail unforeseen. Dipa became the first Indian to qualify for Olympics, and to reach the final. Her fourth-place finish would be a significant benchmark for upcoming gymnasts. Sakshi became the first Indian woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal in a sport traditionally marked for men. Sindhu became the youngest Indian to win an Olympic medal and the first badminton player to win a silver.

The chances of these three women pioneers were once viewed at best quixotic. Through their exemplary performances, they have woken up the entire country. To dream.

Moment of Glory

Sakshi Malik

The Rio Olympic Games had entered the last stretch. Three days from the closing ceremony to be precise. Miles away, a country of billion people was left starved of a medal. Every evening, the amphitheatre of chosen parks would be dotted with spectators – sports fans with strong nationalist fervour, some new converts, couples snuggled up in corners, a few star-struck fans. The vendors would tone down their voices. They too, between their flourishing business of selling potato chips, tea in neat, tiny paper cups, cold drinks pet bottles in flavours of cola, orange, lemon; perspiring mineral water bottles in green and blue labels, on the hot, damp monsoon days, would invariably steal a glance at the giant screens. With thousands gathered, their hearts swelled too; their hopes, too, dashed in an unwritten solidarity. Indian participation on a world stage tends to colour its people in the strikingly similar hue of patriotism.

The night of 18 August provided this repressed sentiment an expression. Sakshi Malik, till then a cherubic face unknown to the masses, took the stage for a bronze medal bout. She won her first two rounds (round of 32 and 16) but lost to her nemesis Valeria Koblova of Russia in the quarterfinals. But the girl from the small town of Rohtak in Haryana, some 77 kilometres from Delhi, was given a new lease of life when Koblova reached the final in the 58-kg weight category. In sporting parlance, it is called repêchage, a French word that simply means ‘another chance’. The idea is that a worthy competitor, who is clubbed with an equally worthy opponent, shouldn’t suffer at the hands of the draw. The method is used in just a handful of sports, wrestling being one of them. The only condition being the winning opponent should reach the final.

In a way Koblova had sprinkled fairy dust on Sakshi. It was a good sign. No Indian had ever lost in the repêchage round of the Olympics. Be it Sushil Kumar in Beijing in 2008 or Yogeshwar Dutt in London in 2012, both had returned with bronze medals. But then it had always happened in the men’s wrestling. An Indian female wrestler was yet to use this golden opportunity.

For the 23-year-old Sakshi it was her maiden Olympics. She had fought fate and favourites to reach this envious platform. In wrestling, the competition in a category is decided in one day which means a wrestler may have to fight four to five bouts in a matter of few hours.

For the bronze medal play-off, she needed to beat Pürevdorjiin Orkhon of Mongolia in her first bout, which Sakshi won with a commanding 12–3 verdict. Also, between her and history stood the reigning Asian champion Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan. Sakshi had to play her later in the day. She needed nothing but her best. The Indian camp in Rio was expecting the world from her. The past few days for them had ushered in repeated disappointments; like repeated blows from a merciless pugilist.

Wearing her orange dress and complementing it with colourful beads between her mini braids, Sakshi was among the last hope to bring in some sporting sunshine. At least, she had created a crevice to sneak in the sunbeams. The tension was palpable. Aisuluu was never going to be easy. If Sakshi had strength, she had speed.

The start was far from ominious. Sakshi began by conceding a point for being over-defensive. Within minutes, Aisuluu had leapt on her leg to grab two more. In another attack from Aisuluu, she lost another two points, before separating for the break – hair disheveled, the beads scattered, breathing hard. Her coaches, fanning her with towel, barked instructions. She just nodded, her eyes betraying nothing, her face blank. But when she returned, her steps had a certain spring in them. The foreign commentators described her as a wrestler who could fight deficits. Down 0–5, it had precipitated to now or never for her.

A confident Aisuluu again attacked but this time Sakshi was ready with a strong counter-attack. She brilliantly turned her defensive position into one of aggression to bag two points and then flipped Aisuluu to earn two more. With merely few seconds in hand, she was just a point behind. As people in India – homes, offices, parks, or the amphitheatres, sat tight, Sakshi in a swift take down, surged ahead by three points. It took her a mere moment to realize what happened, she glanced at her coaches who were already in mid-air, jumping joyously. Incredulous, eyes dilated saucer-like, she ran towards them. But Aisuluu was disgruntled and not in agreement with the referee. She appealed. The umpires motioned the Indians to halt the celebrations. Sakshi sat on the floor holding her head. It, though, turned out to be a matter of time. The judges not only overruled but also granted one extra point to Sakshi by