Valena Valentina

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 25: Odia karate champion Valena Valentina won two gold medals for Andhra Pradesh at a national event last week.

Local fans of the sport are taken aback at losing the karateka, who has won numerous medals for Odisha, to another state. Asked why she had moved base from Odisha, she cited education as the reason. But the Odisha State Karate-do Association appears indifferent to losing the sportsperson who won the two golds at the Senior National Karate Championships held in New Delhi last week.

Valena told The Telegraph that she preferred representing Andhra Pradesh since it would be easier for her to pursue higher studies while training under her coach J.S. Kalaimani in Chennai. She recently joined the Kakatiya University in Warangal for a postgraduate degree.

“Regular training and championships meant I had to miss classes and could not appear for postgraduation examinations at Utkal University. But the karate association of Andhra Pradesh said they would allow me to play for them if I appeared for exams from a university in that state. It is important for me to continue playing for any state right now and to be able to represent my country at international championships. I have represented Odisha and won medals for the state for the last 15 years. So, nobody should complain that I have moved,” she said.

The 24-year old karate champion said she had not approached the Utkal University authorities to consider her situation for appearing for examinations. She had earlier blamed the authorities at the varsity for not allowing her to appear for her exams because she had low attendance and that was why she shifted base.

“I did not wish to continue my studies at the university because my classmates as well as juniors have graduated. I wanted to start afresh and, therefore, did not approach the university authorities,” she said.

The state karate association is not perturbed by the player’s decision.

“She asked for permission to move to Andhra Pradesh for better educational facilities since she was not getting the requisite support here. We allowed her and we are happy that she is winning medals, even though it’s for another state. She will always be known as an Odia player. We have no right to direct her personal life,” said Hari Patnaik, secretary of the state karate association. “We will welcome her if she wishes to return to represent Odisha. Our association has no ego problems. We are grooming talented players who will win us medals in the near future,” he said.

Valena said that once her education was over she would want to come back and play for the state and would be applying for jobs here even though she might not immediately represent the state after her return. The karateka, who will represent Andhra Pradesh at the National Games this year, said she wanted to continue her training under Kalaimani since there were not enough facilities in Odisha for coaching in Ryu Shin Kan karate.

However, Odisha Olympic Association secretary Ashirbad Behera said her coach was responsible for Valena’s moving to Andhra Pradesh.

“He provoked her to quit representing Odisha. We had given her awards and cash prizes whenever she performed,” said Behera.