Ashish hits comeback trail, ready for World Cup

Vinayak Padmadeo

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 19

Coach Manoj Rana spots a break in the morning routine. Ashish Kumar looks off, he says,  “I think he has an upset stomach”. The 27-year-old confirmed the problem. “The only thing I ate outside was popcorns, I think that is the source of my problem,” Ashish said promptly, in the midst of his last training session before a prospective flight to Melbourne for the World Cup, which will be his first major tournament after the 2017 World Championships.

The coach and his trainee joined hands post the 2014 Commonwealth Games disaster, details of which still rile Ashish, who as a 19-year-old won a historic bronze in floor exercise at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. This was the first ever medal by an Indian gymnast at the world stage. Since then, injuries and tiffs with the officials, including the then foreign coach Jim Holt, threatened to end a once blossoming career.

The slide

The slide began at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Minutes from the start, Holt ordered Kumar to remove his taabeez (amulet), as he opined that the team risks point deduction from the referees. Kumar replied that the code of points merely talks about jewellery and he had past experiences of international competitions. He had also spoken to a number of referees who were of the same opinion. But Holt persisted and threatened to cut it if it was not removed.

“I don’t know what personal issues he had with me, he caught hold of my taabeez and ordered me to remove it or he will cut it. A coach’s duty is to keep his trainees motivated and relaxed before a crucial event. I pleaded with him but I had to remove it. If you do something like this with a player 20 minutes before the start of a crucial competition what do you think will happen with his mental state?” he recalled of the incident.

The beginning of the slide

Ashish failed to make the podium. This was to be the start of a depressing period for the Allahabad boy. In the first practice session after the CWG miss, he sustained a ligament tear in his right ankle. Doctors told him to forget about participating in the 2014 Asian Games and work on rehab after the surgery.

“I thought I won’t be able to play at all but then I came under Manoj sir and it was down to his motivational skills that I could make a comeback. You get depressed if you are alone in such time. It bogs you down. He treated me like his own child. He used to drive me to the doctors for consultation,” he said of his new coach.

But just when faith had been restored and Ashish was taking small steps to get back, he was hit with another blow. Ashish travelled to the 2015 World Championships without Rana. “It was another blow to me. It was one of my worst performances,” he said.

Ashish was ranked 159th in the all-round routine. By this time his right wrist started to hurt. The growth in the metacarpal bone started to impinge on the ligament. To cope up with the pain, Ashish decided to quit training on all the six apparatus, focusing solely on floor exercises and vault. 

The year 2016 passed off without any competition. Even the Nationals weren’t held that year.

Wrist surgery

In 2017, Ashish had to undergo surgery on his right wrist. “My metacarpal bone had grown and because of it I couldn’t support myself on the pommel horse. I underwent surgery. The surgeon made sure my ligament or any other tissue was not touched. He was so good that I could start training within 15 days of the surgery,” he said. 

Ashish then participated at the 2017 Montreal World Championships but he was mindful about the stitches on his wrist. “I erred on a dismount and I was not in the medal contention. I was also mindful as the stitches were fresh,” he recalled.

After the competition, Ashish was not given any opportunity to compete outside India. But he caught a lucky break as his name figured in the TOPS list.

A month long training stint in Uzbekistan last November followed by another in Kiev this year has the gymnast ready to prove his critics wrong. 

Ashish rubbed shoulders with the likes of Oleg Vernyayev, gold medallist in the parallel bars and the silver medallist in individual all round competition in the Rio Olympics, during his stay in Kiev.

“It became an exposure trip. I finished fourth and third overall in their in-house competition. It was a big boost,” Ashish said.

Redemption road

Ashish returned to New Delhi a couple of days before the national trials that were held in New Delhi on February 13. And he topped the charts.

“I came back on February 11. I had a training session in the evening that day. Then I trained again on Monday. And on Tuesday, I performed on all the apparatus during the selection trials, and I came first. This was very satisfying for me as I performed well in all the apparatus and topped the trials after years,” he said with a smile.

For a man who was told his career was over, this was a major slap on the detractors’ face. “It happens to most of the athletes in India. When you are performing you get a lot of support. The moment you are out injured and low you don’t have the same support. I know people started to say my career was over. I faced a lot of criticism too. But I never lost hope. My first target is to make it to the finals in the World Cup. From then on it is luck, whoever performs well gets the medal. But if I win the medal there it will be historic as nobody from India has a medal to show for.”