Madhumita (left) and Mithu. A Telegraph picture

Siliguri, Jan. 13: Winning has become quite a habit for 18-year-old Mithu Chaki of Uttaran, a school for the disabled.

Ready to take on the 15th National Athletics Championship to be held in Jamshedpur later this month, the speech-and-hearing-impaired athlete from Siliguri gave a good start to the year. She bagged gold medals in both individual and group categories at the 9th North Bengal Zonal Sports Meet organised by North Bengal Handicap Rehabilitation Society (NBHRS) today.

Having won the national championship several times, Mithu said she had lost count of her gold medals. She said in sign language that she is looking forward to the event from January 21.

“This time we are taking three children from Siliguri to the national meet,” said Chandan Ghosh, the general secretary of NBHRS.

Mithu will be accompanied by Madhumita Swarnakar (16) and Sumi Ghosh (16) from Siliguri. All three are from Uttaran, run by the NBHRC. While Madhumita has won a bronze earlier, it will be the first time for Sumi.

Five other children Canning Pantha, Sujan Mandal, Rumpa Saha, Baidyanath Patra and Prabhat Bhadra from Raiganj Suryaday Deaf and Dumb School will also participate at the national meet.

“The national meet is the highest sports event for the hearing and speech impaired in the country from which players would be selected for international meets,” Partha Sarathi Das, the principal of the Suryaday Deaf and Dumb School, said.

About 250 children participated in the zonal sports meet from all over north Bengal in three categories—hearing impaired, mentally handicapped and cerebral palsy. Children from Centre for Special Education of the Disabled, Jalpaiguri, were declared champions. They got the Siliguri Jatiya Mahila Samity trophy, Representatives of Uttaran as runners-up received the Ananta Biswas Memorial trophy. Suryaday bagged the Kumkum Memorial Trophy for the best disciplined school.

Ghosh said the annual meet is one way of discovering new talents from rural areas of north Bengal. “This meet is not just about having fun but also a scope for children to prove themselves.”