Jharkhand's brightest sport climber, Jamshedpur schoolboy Talim Ansari is now on Mission Tokyo.
Talim, 13, who returned empty-handed from Tehran, his international debut in Asian Youth Sport Climbing Championship this September, allegedly because individual events were changed to team ones without his knowledge, will now eye the height of heights, sport climbing in Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Talim is the only climber from Jharkhand to be selected by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) for specialised training in sport climbing.
IMF sport climbing president Col (Retd) Ajit Dutt said it was good start as sport climbing had been included as a discipline in the Olympics from the 2020 edition.
Talim and the six others from across India will be groomed under special mentors in New Delhi in the coming months.
"I am not saying that these seven talents selected will be fielded in the Olympics straightaway as any player of any country needs to go through stringent qualification processes. As far as Talim is concerned, he is still very young, but he is certainly on our radar. That is why he is among the seven shortlisted by us for the specialised training," Col (Retd) Dutt told The Telegraph over phone from New Delhi.
The federation's sport climbing president added he was highly impressed with Talim's talent.
"The IMF is happy to bring the boy under its wing. Talim has the potential to become a top-notch climber. The IMF will be keenly observing his performance at the National Sport Climbing Championship in Bangalore next month," Col (Retd) Dutt said.
Talim, an eighth grader at DBMS Lilliput School who lost his father very early, was excited when informed about the IMF's decision.
" Mujhe bahut khushi hui. Mujhe pata nahin tha. Bangalore nationals ki tayari mein laga hoon na (I am very happy. I was not aware of the IMF's decision as I am busy preparing for the Bangalore nationals)," said the international climber who has stayed a simple boy at heart.
Also the first national medal winner from Jharkhand, Talim is a product of Tata Steel Adventure Foundation's sport climbing training centre. Talim bagged a silver in the National Sport Climbing Competition held in New Delhi between November 27 and 30 last year.
