‘My achievements motivated villagers to allow daughters take up sports’
When ASI Randeep Kaur, the international kabaddi player posted at PAP, Jalandhar, took oath on behalf of all participants during the inaugural ceremony of the First All India Police Kabaddi cluster on March 2, her entire childhood came as a flashback in her mind.
The struggles, hard work, her father’s never-ending resilience to get her into sports, all these memories kept on playing before her eyes. It was indeed a proud moment for the 36-year-old Randeep.
A silver medalist in the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, Randeep has won several accolades in her life, including two gold medals in the 2017 and 2018 Asian Championships that were held in Iran and Malaysia, respectively. She originally belongs to Nathu Khaira village in Gurdaspur.
“In my village and the surrounding villages, girls were not allowed to study back then, let alone join sports. When I joined Punjab Police in 2011 and did well in sports, people started taking inspiration and started motivating their daughters to study and join sports. Today, the scenario has changed completely,” she told The Tribune.
Having won three gold medals in the 2010 (Muscat), 2012 (Thailand) and 2014 (China) Beach games, Randeep owes her success to her father who was also a kabaddi player.
“My father used to run a dairy farm. I was very young when my father met with an accident, and it took years for him to recover. As a result, while growing up, we faced a severe financial crunch. While my mother would remain with my father, I, along with my sister, would take care of our house,” she told The Tribune.
Randeep further shared that she was in class IX when her father recovered and started training her for sports. “There was no ground in my village. My father would then ride a bicycle and would ask me to run to Qadian where I started getting trained. It continued for a few years and then I got into Punjab Police. My father was always very progressive in his thinking,” she said.
But Randeep has a wish that she gets a promotion. “I have achieved a lot in life, I should get promoted now. If I get my due reward, I would also motivate my five-year-old son to join sports. Right now, I do not encourage him much to take up any sports, because I feel that sportsmen are not suitably rewarded,” she said.
All India Police Kabaddi cluster concludes
As many as 1,370 players from 29 teams across the country took part in the 1st All India Police Kabaddi cluster that concluded today. The games that were held— kho kho, fencing, gymnastics and kabaddi.
The players from various states and UTs, including Manipur, J&K, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, etc, stayed in DAV University, LPU and PAP hostel. For four days, the PAP became a haven of sportspersons from all parts of the world and everyone got to witness their skills.
In kabaddi, 597 players participated (348 men, 249 women), 157 players in gymnastics. In fencing and kho kho, 199 (122 men and 77 women) and 417 (225 men and 192 women) players competed.
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