Binisha, Saneesha and Sania with father N B Biju.Thrissur: This is the story of a father who sets out to make his daughters wrestling champions.
No, we are not narrating the story of ‘Dangal,’ in which Aamir Khan’s character catapults his daughters to national stardom from a village in Haryana.
This story is set in Alappad near Thrissur. The father is N B Biju. He is no amateur wrestler like Khan’s Mahavir Singh Phogat but he shares the same passion for the sport. His three daughters have already made a name in professional wrestling circles. The family is aptly termed the ‘Dangal’ family.
Binisha, Saneesha and Sania were the center of attraction at the state-level wrestling championship at the indoor stadium in Thrissur. The sisters can juggle wrestling and judo.
The medal hunt
Binisha and Saneesha, the twins, have earned bronze medals at the national inter-university judo championship held in Madhya Pradesh. Binisha had earned silver in the national junior judo championship last year.
Saneesha was the only scorer for Kerala in the national junior wrestling championship in 2015. She earned a bronze medal, the only achievement for the 30-member squad.
Binisha, however, was selected to the Indian camp based on her performance in the championship. She received a silver medal in the south Indian wrestling championship this year.
Saneesha has also received a silver medal in the south Indian wrestiling championship.
Costly pursuit
Binisha and Saneesha are into the second year of an economics degree course in the St Mary’s College in Thrissur. They go to the same class and stay in the same hostel.
The twins made their foray into the sporting arena when they were in the ninth grade. Judo was their first pursuit. Later they expanded to wrestling. Binisha had been crowned the second-best judoka in the national school games two times.
Biju grapples with his limited resources to see that his daughters pursue their passion. His wife Salooja is an employee of the public works department. Biju, who owns a tire resoling shop at Alappad, never misses a match when his daughters are playing.
He has to shell out a lot of money for the three wrestlers in the family. Their special diet, sports kit and traveling take up a major part of the family budget. Still Biju won’t rest until the three sisters have fought their way to the national arena.
They are being trained by Kerala Sports Council coach Sarath Chandran.
Deadweight of apathy
Wrestling is a neglected sport in Kerala. The organizers of the state-level championship in Thrissur had been frantically searching for the nine wrestling mats needed for the tournament.
The mats bought for the National Games held in Kerala two years are locked away in the Kannur Sports Council but the office bearers would not lent it unless the Thrissur district wrestling association pays them a heavy rent and security deposit.
The event could be started on Friday only with help from the Kottayam Sports Council.
Powered by Chuttuvattom: Read this story in Malayalam
The incident throws light into the scene of neglect faced by the sport in a state with a slew of promising players. Thrissur does not have a sports council hostel for the players to put up. As many as 270 players took part in the district-level wrestling championship in Thrissur yet the sports council does not think that the region needs a helping hand.
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