Telangana skaters Anup Yama and Manish Sivakumar set the rink ablaze at the 17th Asian Roller Skating Championship held in Lishui, China, by bagging a clutch of medals to do the state proud.
Arjuna Awardee Anup bagged two gold and two silver medals in the senior men’s artistic figure skating, combined, free skating and inline figure skating disciplines while Sivakumar won a gold medal in the cadet boys artistic free skating discipline.
“It has been a great championship and an honour to win so many medals and accolades for India and Telangana,” Anup said.
However, he rues the lack of infrastructure and support from the state administrators. “We skaters spend our own money not only to get trained in India and abroad but also to attend the championships on the circuit. It would help us a great deal if the government acknowledged our efforts and rewarded us on par with other sports achievers,” Anup says.
Young Manish was delighted. “I am thrilled to bits about winning the gold medal for India at the Asian Championship. It was wonderful to see our national flag being raised and to hear the national anthem played during the prize distribution because of my effort. It was a proud feeling,” he said.
“It was exciting to compete for the first time with skaters from different countries like Thailand, Singapore, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong South Korea and to beat them to the first place on the podium was the icing on the cake,” Manish said.
The youngster thanked his parents for the immense support of sitting through his skating sessions, and the coaches for shaping up his skills.
The Roller Skating Association of Telangana lauded the medallists. “It has been a wonderful and memorable championship altogether for India and winning medals and accolades for the country has been a matter of pride and honour for Telangana skaters. The Roller Skating Association of Telangana wishes the medal winners great success in their future endeavours,” the body said in a statement.
The medallists owe their exploits to coaches Veeresh and Amar Nag Yama, under whom they train rigorously.
The training included six hours of practice every day to prepare physically, mentally and technically for the championship. Then comes the preparation for the high level choreographic sequences, creative jumps, spins, moves, glides, theme and interpretation set to the music and programs.
The Yamas are national level coaches who have trained many international champions so far. Besides home help, Anup also underwent a specialised training stint in Italy under coach Ruben Omar Genchi for the prestigious championship.
