Not one to shy away from revealing a bigger dream, P Anand of Ponda says that he is very confident of making it to the Indian taekwondo team for the next Olympics to be held in Rio in his weight category, above 80 kg. The martial art exponent discloses the final trials for selection for the next Olympics would be held after the South Asian Games next month
Basil Sylvester Pinto
Panaji
As a martial art, taekwondo is not short of talent in the State and the most recognisable name in the combative sport in Goa is P Anand hailing from Curti-Ponda.
He took to the martial art in 1998 as a 7-year-old inducted for coaching by his father at the Ponda Sports Complex. Starting with taekwondo for fun as any kid of his age, within a year the precocious young talent was driven to seriousness and began getting medals at the State and the National level taekwondo competitions. With his father, a constant support, he became the Seniors champion at the National level for the first time in 2007 at Visakhapatnam in the u-74 kg weight category while only 16.
Still 16, in 2008, he notably secured a bronze in his first international outing in Iran whilst still a junior and participating in the senior competition. Ever since, there has been no looking back and he has been winning medals and competitions galore.
The strapping 24-year-old has gone places thereon and till date has made Goa and India proud in playing around 15 internationals and quite often returning home with productive performances. His international exposure has taken him to countries like Iran, South Korea, Portugal, Mexico, China, Thailand, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Nepal and Bangladesh.
He has been attending the National Coaching Camp at Sports Authority of India (SAI) Aurangabad since mid November 2015 and was part of the Open taekwondo selection trials for the Rio Olympics qualification from November 19-21 wherein he was among four members that got selected in the above 80 kg weight category to move to the next qualifying round. After the South Asian Games to be held from February 5-16 (taekwondo from February 13-15), among the four selected in the preliminary round of his weight category, only one would get the final nod in the next round of selection to be held sometime in March at Aurangabad. If he comes through, which is expected from him, he would be going to Philippines in the third week of April to compete at the all-Asian level where at least a silver medal in his weight category would assure him a berth in the Indian taekwondo contingent to participate in the Rio Olympics.
At the ongoing camp at SAI, Aurangabad, he was called for selection trials in taekwondo discipline at the South Asian Games held in Shillong on January 26 and 27 and from there his name was pencilled in for the prestigious South Asian Games in the U-87 kg (middle-weight). He is currently preparing himself in right earnest for the South Asian Games to be held next month in Guwahati, India and he is the lone Goan among 8 men and 5 women selected by the Taekwondo Federation of India (TFI) for the said tourney. He is looking at maintaining his gold-winning performance at the said event which was last held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, wherein he weighed in to participate in the U-80 kg category. He has reaped two bronze medals at the last two editions of the Lusofonia Games in the U-80 kg category which was held in Portugal (2009) and Goa (2014) respectively. The martial art exponent, has the pride of securing a bronze at the Commonwealth Taekwondo Championship, Chennai in 2011 in the U-80 kg weight category.
When in Goa, he practices at the Ponda Sports Complex under the vigilant eyes of his coach, Sunil Sharma. A graduate, P Anand is doing his Masters in Physical Education from Punjab University, Patiala, as he pursues a dream of taking his kicks all the way to Rio. With a competitive sportsman, still studying, there comes a challenge of striking a chord between the two. And this he manages rather well. He reveals that he takes his books with him when he goes for camps and if he were to miss out on a scheduled exam, he answers the paper later on producing an authorised letter reasoning out his absence.
Not one to shy away from revealing a bigger dream, he says that he is very confident of making it in the Indian taekwondo team for the next Olympics to be held in Rio in his weight category, above 80 kg. He discloses the final trials for selection for the next Olympics would be held after the South Asian Games. He may have missed out on the London Olympics trip last time around, when he failed to make the cut at the Bangkok qualifiers, but he says now with experience, he feels he will come through. In fact, his younger brother, P Saravana Kumar, no lesser a talent himself, will give it a shot as well at the Olympic qualifying camp in the U-68 kg category.
For all his successes and accolades till date with the larger picture of a berth at the Rio Olympics evident, the taekwondo sensation expresses his gratitude to Raju Mangueshkar (President), Deepak Mandrekar (Secretary) of the Taekwondo Association of Goa, his coach, Sunil Sharma, and his present coaches with the Indian taekwodo team, Abhay Kumar and Radha Piyari as well as his parents and friends for being his pillars of support as he yearns to represent his State and country at the next Olympics.
Talking about financial support, which is normally a constraint for blossoming talents, he is quick to express his anguish that he fails to reason why corporates in the State fail to come forward to extend help. This especially, when he has done in suffice to merit sponsorship as sportspersons in other disciplines. He reveals that if business houses were to come forward and lend their support, it would enable him to participate in more opens internationally, thereby giving him maximum world-class exposure and bettering his chances at qualification at the Olympics and winning medals in major events like the Asian Games and the World Championships. But on the flip side, he admits he has kept going with his undying passion to the martial art, unstinting support from SAI, Goa, Taekwondo Association of Goa, SAG grants and his parents.
