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Deepankar Sharda
chandigarh, January 30
For Manju Rani, who lost her mother when she was two years old, her father is her world. When her grandparents, who raised Manju, refused to send her to a Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre nearly 50km away from her home, Jagdish Ram stood firm in his daughter’s support. When Manju was struggling with her training due to a fund crunch, Jagdish mortgaged a piece of his land for a loan of Rs 8 lakh to support her dream.
Having won her first Asian Games medal, Manju is steadily moving towards realising her Olympics dream, and the 24-year-old credits her father for her success.
“My father is everything to me,” said the 24-year-old after winning the women’s 20km gold at the 11th Indian Open Race Walking event here today.
It was her first gold in the 20km event and she finished in a personal best time. “It was a good day for me. I’m happy to have clocked 1 hour, 33 minutes in the season opening race,” said Manju.
Manju had claimed bronze medal in the 35km race walk mixed team event with Ram Baboo at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year. Success, though, has not come easily for her.
My father helped me get proper coaching. I needed the money to continue training, and with no resources or sponsors, it was very difficult. My salary was Rs 21,000 and my shoes cost Rs 17,000. I was in dire need of sponsors, but no one came forward. Manju Rani
Manju comes from Khaira Khurd, a small village in Punjab’s Mansa district with an female population of approximately 4,000. She is the first female athlete from her village to achieve such success.
“Having decided to become an athlete, she wanted to move to the SAI centre at Badal (Muktsar),” Jagdish said. “My parents refused her request, but I didn’t want her to feel the pain. Since then, she has made it her mission to stand on her own feet. I am lucky to have a daughter like her,” he added.
Manju got a job with the Sashastra Seema Bal in 2018 but still struggled to fund her training. “My father helped me get proper coaching. I needed the money to continue training, and with no resources or sponsors, it was very difficult,” said Manju.
“My salary was Rs 21,000 and my shoes cost Rs 17,000. I was in dire need of sponsors, but no one came forward. I think the corporate houses also identify their self-interest before investing. It’s business, but disheartening for athletes like us. I am looking forward to getting a promotion as DSP. My only target now is to bag a medal in the Paris Olympics,” she added.
Manju’s winning time was well outside the Paris Olympics qualifying mark of 1:29:20. She will be competing in the 35km race tomorrow. A two-time national champion, Manju was the first Indian woman to clock a sub-3-hour time in the 35km event. She clocked a national record 2:57:54 at the Indian Open in Ranchi last February.
Akshdeep’s best
In the men’s 20km race, Akshdeep Singh, the first athlete from Barnala district to qualify for the Paris Olympics, clocked 1:19:38 to bag back-to-back national titles. He improved on his previous national record of 1:19:55, clocked last year in Ranchi.
“I had to support Suraj (Panwar) in achieving the qualification time. We had decided to keep up the same pace for 15 rounds, and in the last five laps, we gave whatever we had. I am happy with the results, as it’s my first tournament of the season. The weather was also pleasant. I will have to work smart to stay away from injuries and sustain my performance in the coming weeks,” said the 24-year-old.
The 22-year-old Panwar, who had won a 5000m race walk silver in the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, finished second in 1:19:44. He also breached the Paris Games qualifying mark.
Talking about his future plans, Akshdeep said he will participate in the World Cup in Turkey, before starting his Olympics preparations. “Before the Olympics preparations, the World Cup will be the main showpiece event for me. Most likely, I will be training in Bengaluru, before training abroad,” he said.
Born to a farmer father at Kahneke village, Akshdeep got into race walking while preparing for the 1500m test for Army recruitment. Akshdeep had missed the Hangzhou Asian Games due to injury.
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