Berhampur, July 31: The town has emerged as a cradle of weightlifting, but the future of the sport is in danger with no government support.
Experts in the field believe that there are only a few girls now who wish to pursue the sport at the highest level, while the number of female weightlifters is on a decline. Selection of schoolboys and their grooming is also a tough task now. After Tukuni Badamundi, Damini Kumari Sahu, Padmini Padhi and Puja Sabat there are no such female weightlifters who Berhampur can count on, feels Ramesh Chandra Padhy, joint secretary, Odisha Weightlifting Association and a national referee since 2003.
“Girls from Ganjam are unable to become champions in the state weightlifting since last four years. Khurda girls are performing better and claiming state titles since hostel and other facilities are available for them,” Ramesh said. Despite continuous emergence of several international and national level weightlifters from the city over the years, the government is yet to take up any major measure at the professional level to promote weightlifting here, he alleged. With private efforts, veteran weightlifters in the city tried to develop the skills of the girls and the boys right from school level.
“We nurtured and trained Damini Kumari Sahu, Padmini Padhi and Puja Sabat from a tender age who were studying at Government Telugu Girls High School here. We trained Minati Sethi when she was a student of Class VII. Minati brought fame to the state when she won gold medal in the youth and junior Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship in 2011,” Ramesh said.
Members of the Odisha Weightlifting Association tried to train the students in weightlifting from school level. They approached City High School with a German coach, who volunteered to train the students in weightlifting. But officials of the school did not support.
Golden boy of Berhampur K. Ravi Kumar was an old student of this City High School. The case has been similar with Queens of the Mission High School and Girls’ High School, Aska Road. As the authorities of the Government Telugu Girls’ High School did not provide the minimum infrastructure and a room, the association trained selected students at the Veer Hanuman Circus and Physical Institute, known for grooming Ravi Kumar, during their leisure hours and all of them brought laurels for the state.
“To promote professional weightlifting, the state needs weightlifting coaches in every district, refresher courses for the coaches, physiotherapist, organising anti-doping seminar, nutrition diet for students and provision of infrastructure in schools,” Ramesh said.The Veer Hanuman Circus and Physical Institute, established since 1940, still trains the girl students in weightlifting despite financial crisis. The institute never charges boys and girls who come to train. Its students include Arjuna awardees Bijay Kumar Satapathy (silver medallist in the 1982 Commonwealth Games) and K. Ravi Kumar (gold and silver medallist in 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games, respectively).
Weightlifters who trained her and made a name include Chandra Sekhar Sahu, Ranu Mohanty and Tikina Gopal.
Since 1995, the number of clubs that train weightlifters here has also dwindled from 14 to three. Apart from the institute, the two other clubs are Shankar Physical Club and Balunkeswar Club. The state government was providing Rs 25,000 per annum to the institute but that has been discontinued since the last three years, said Narayan Sahu, secretary of the club.
