Pandemic plays a spoilsport for this judoka’s dream

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, June 18

The virus has meant different things for different people. For budding judoka Maheshinder Saini (17), it has played a spoilsport for his dreams of donning India colours in the Asia-Oceania and the World Cadet Championships slated to be held in Macau and Turkey, respectively, later this year.

Despondency and pessimism are threatening to take over his life. The Class XII student of the local Dhan Devi DAV School has not only lost his chance to take part in the two world-class tournaments, his selection to the prestigious Centre of Excellence (CoE) run by the National Institute of Sports, Patiala, also hangs in balance.

After a series of trials in February, Saini was selected to the CoE but Covid has wrought havoc on his future. For six years, the boy travelled to the JFI adopted centre in Gurdaspur from his home town of Sujanpur, which is at a distance of 100 km, come rain, sunshine or sleet, every day, including holidays. In 2015, his coach Amarjit Shastri managed to convince his father, who is barely able to make both ends meet, to let Saini stay in Gurdaspur, “if he had to fulfill his dream of representing the country.”

Saini won a gold medal in the 66kg weight class in the SGFI national school games held in Bhavnagar in Gujarat last year. His performance was enough for selectors to push his name for the national squad for the Asia-Pacific Youth Games held in Vladivostok later that year.

He surprised judokas from Russia and Japan, both strong contenders to win the gold, with a performance full of finesse in the 66kg category. PM Narendra Modi, who was on an official visit to Russia, visited the venue of the championship, along with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Saini remembers both the premiers giving him a pat on the back.

Hope is what is sustaining him in these dark days. “Keep your eyes on the sun and you will not see the shadows. I know I am passing through moments of adversity. But I have not lost hope. To me, it is like a star not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity but only to be discovered in the night of adversity and hardship,” says Saini.

He dwells on the impact of social distancing on contact sports where players are in direct bodily contact with each other. “Contact sport games such as judo, wrestling, hockey, football and basketball may take a big hit while limited contact games such as cricket, volleyball, squash, badminton, lawn tennis and baseball may see a revival soon. But, as for now, nothing is sure. The future of every sport remains in the realms of speculation,” he quipped.