First Indian woman jockey crosses social barriers to carve a niche for herself.

When Rupa Singh won the Annamalai Plate in the Ooty races on Thursday, it wasn’t her first. Rupa has done it many times before, but every time the city-based jockey wins a race, she feels like crossing an obstacle that society has put in front of her. The 33-year-old, from Velachery, is the only woman jockey in the country and she has won 720 races and seven championships. But it was never an easy road to glory for her. “I suffered a lot of rejection initially because I am a woman. I raced with ordinary and average horses for almost three years.It was only after I won 50 races with average horses that I could ride favourites,” Rupa said.

For a long time, the owners and trainers did not show confidence in her skill. “My horse kept getting poor odds. The chances were few and it was demoralizing at times,” Rupa said, recollecting her difficult days. The champion jockey, however, concedes that men get an advantage in this sport, because riding a horse demands a lot of strength. “We don’t have the stamina and physical strength that our male counterparts have.We can get the strategy right but it takes immense strength to control a horse and a race. It is only through rigorous training that I have increased my stamina. I have always undergone the same training as the male jockeys,” Rupa, who is a Rajput by birth, pointed out.

Her family has a history of dealing with horses and Rupa got hooked to it pretty early on in her life.

“My grandfather Ugam Singh used to train the British Army horses here. My father Narpat and brother Ravinder have both been jockey and trainer. So I used to ride from my school days,” she said.

The first woman to make a name in the Indian horse racing circuit was Silva Storai, an Italian. It was Rupa’s father’s wish to see his daughter as the first Indian woman jockey . “Riding a horse is risky and I broke my collar bone and ankle after I had taken up racing as a profession. But in my childhood, I was more scared of my father than the horse,” Rupa laughed. Narpat was like a coach and he told her that she can give up racing after she had done it successfully . “But once I started racing, my passion for the sport grew. As I won a few races, I wanted to show the world that women can be as good as men.”

Rupa rose to prominence in 2010 when she toppled the favourite in the A-Class race in one of the Madras Classics. “It was special because I was riding an average horse. So when I won the race, even MAM Ramaswamy came to meet me and encouraged me,” said Rupa. But the icing on the cake was the Shikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Championship Cup, which she won in Poland in 2014. “I had raced in Germany , Abu Dhabi and the Netherlands but the Poland race was really special. I never thought I would win riding against famous jockeys of the world,” said Rupa.

Despite all the success, there’s a tinge of sadness that she hasn’t been able to inspire any other Indian woman to become a jockey . “I feel proud and sad at the same time for my achievements. I am perhaps living with a false hope that I can inspire at least one girl to take up the sport. The family has to be supportive and the girl needs to have a lot of mental toughness to go through the physical grind,” Rupa said, hoping for brighter days.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India/ News Home> City> Chennai / by Shilarze Saharoy / TNN / April 16th, 2016

Coimbatore:

The state’s first synthetic skating track was inaugurated at the Svastika International Roller Sports Complex located on Kanuvai-Maruthamalai Link Road in Coimbatore on Monday. Set up by parents of children who represent the sport at state and national level and skating enthusiasts, the 200m synthetic track would now allow budding skaters to get training at home turf itself. The stadium is, however, still under construction.

The parents recalled how their children had to travel to neighbouring states such as Karnataka to practise on synthetic track, as both national and international competitions were held on such tracks. The state so far had only one cement track and one coata stone track. G Sreedhar, a parent involved in setting up the synthetic turf in the city, said, “My son has won at the national level. Since the city lacked enough infrastructure, we often had to travel to Pune or Bangalore for his training. So, we wanted an international-level facility for our children here in our own city.”

To realise this dream, parents and skating enthusiasts came together and formed a trust, Svastika trust, and collected funds for the same. The result is track called synthetic roller rink that was inaugurated on Monday.

N Sathyamoorthy, a professional skater who had represented the country at various international meets since 2006, would impart training to kids at this turf. “Our state has immense talent, but when it comes to national or international level meets, our children lack confidence as they have to skate on synthetic tracks over there. Having mostly practised on cement tracks, when they skate on synthetic tracks at these meets, the speed surprises them and they often under-perform. So, we wanted to give them infrastructure to ensure better performance,” said Sathyamoorthy. He would also train budding talents in the city.
Ganesh, whose son has represented the country at junior-level in various international meets, said taking his son to various cities for training wasn’t always affordable. “It will be easier for our children to train now. This was much needed for the development of the sport in the state,” Ganesh said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Coimbatore / TNN / April 12th, 2016

Chennai :

Two-year-old Aradhya Vedwan and 6-year-old Anoop Skanda, both residents of Chennai, have created unique records in the realm of children in sports. The former has been titled the world’s youngest archer, and was awarded Bronze for ‘Recurve Archery’ at the under-10 category. The latter won gold in the complex ‘Compound Archery’ category, making him the youngest in the world to hold the type of bow at any recognised event. They returned home after bagging medals at the National level archery competition conducted by the Archery Association of India at Vishakapatnam last week.

The two young awardees and record-setters were felicitated at their Archery training institute run by Shihan Hussaini. “Its not everyday when your student makes you so proud. That too children at such a tender age picking up an art like archery, its the best moment for a teacher like me,” he said at a press meet on Saturday at his ‘Dojo’ (institute).

The two archers both skilfully demonstrated their shooting techniques with their respective bows, to the  watching audience after being felicitated along with their parents who have also been training alongside them. “One parent is expected to train alongside the child, to act as a parent coach. It becomes like an addiction even for us,” says Ashwin Kumar, father of Anoop.