India has fored into unknown territories and emerged Victorious at the Asian Games and one such sport is Roller Gates where India has earned a medal after 41 long years uh where the men and women’s uh team won a bronze in 3,000 meters really event with me right now is H sadu
Uh the newest Star of Indian Sports just 17 years of Fate uh who was part of that women’s team he’ll first of all congratulations on this massive achievement tell us what this achievement mean to you personally so this achievement is like uh Asian Games 2022 was my dream for
Like six years now we have been planning uh this event for since I got my first national medal and today while receiving the brones it was it was like a dream come true after so many struggles so many like so many bumps in the journey it was totally worth it and like
Everyone who had hopes in me every my parents my coach my family members and like the Federation itself had really good hopes and it was really important for the sport also to get a medal in this and I believe we could have gone like a a little more than brones like I
Had to go for the goal this time but some things because of some bumps it it couldn’t happens but yeah the brones meant a lot for everyone for me especially and for India it meant a lot well absolutely does and to be at a stage where you’re competing with the
Best of the best in Asia uh what was going through your mind at that point of time right before you right before you knew that you have won that bronze medal oh actually The Real Race we knew we had we knew we had like 99.9 chances
Of brones we were planning if the brones gets uh like confirmed in the race while we running with new so we would try to go for the silver but uh when we were racing uh some pushing and some happen so we were playing safe like
At least we had to get loans for the country so yeah uh when I was giving the LA we had to like we have to give tags to the next person so they can go and while I was giving the last tag I was like go India we have to get that last
Last lab and we have to get the brones and while when it finished I was like wow something happened at last after all those years it was totally worth it and everything it didn’t go as like plann but at least we had something so it was I was really happy and seeing the
Stadium lit up with the Indians was too amazing the Adin the race it was us talk to us about how you started in this sport because from what we know from what we know uh your mother basically took you to swimming classes and uh that is where you found out that
Listen uh forget swimming I’m going to I’m going to be picking up a different sports because you saw somebody skating there tell us about that how did you how did you take up that uh actually so it was like I was like in second or third standard and my
Mom took me out to swimming every morning at like 5:00 a.m. and I was just a little kid so I thought like Mom no not no 5 a.m things I can’t do 5 a.m things just this uh like beside that was a skating center so I saw the children
Doing it and they were going like I thought that time they were going full speed and I like the speed so I wanted to try it so since uh since 2012 I started skating and 2013 only My First National was there in V Mumbai and from the very first national I got one
Silver and bronze and from then from 2013 till 2023 today for 10 years we were getting National medals every year and 2023 today we got to Asian Games medal to so the journey the journey was really hard but it was worth it all it was worth it you talk you talk
About the journey uh uh tell us about the kind of struggles uh you have faced uh to come here and now win an Asian Naes uh uh bronze medal uh we know that you come from a middle class family your father is a banker your mom is a housewife she travels with you
Everywhere uh yeah and they have they have uh struggled a lot to get you where you are right now in terms of uh getting you uh the equipment taking you to uh places where you can actually practice talk to us about yeah oh so in uh as you
Said we are a middle class family so skating actually is a very expensive sport in itself and like I told you just the boots the boot only not the frame not the wheels just the boots are like one L appro and everything else is different and we
Have to do it on our own because there is like no government joined no nothing and in Delhi like if you see the infrastructure is really poor so we don’t have uh like the 200 M International standard tracks in Delhi uh so we and like me and my coach for
Asian Games we had to prepare very hard so uh we did our sessions our trainings on road like at late nights when the roads was like empty and there were no cars coming so we thought like now we can go and then we train there but on
The weekends I remember I remember your father told I remember your father told me that uh whenever you have to practice on the road he makes sure that uh uh you are safe in every way because uh there is a lot of traffic uh he has to make
Sure that you don’t go on on that side of the road Etc so it’s it’s really tough yeah so like he said so he keeps his car behind us and I skate in front so that he can control the traffic if there is any so and we try like in a
Week uh half days we are in Delhi doing Road sessions because we have road races and track races both in other events we have both races so we do Road and track both for track we go we have to travel to moali Punjab because there is an infrastructure that’s the best
Infrastructure in whole India so that has an international 200 me track and all and it has a road circuit also there but as you know we can’t stay in moali for like every day so we have to travel like 300 kilometers up and down so it’s very hectic and yeah the people the
Support us but like in Delhi as I said there is no track there is a track in like a private school but uh the owners have given the responsibility or the contract to a private consultant or Academy and they the people there they are like money-minded so they take a lot
Like a lot of money for just a session uh before coming here also we asked them if we could like do like some days uh like an week or something but uh they refused to give even a minute the owner said yeah you could do so one day we did for an hour
That’s it we have to pray for that also and uh it was like there was no support from them but yeah and on the other hand as I told you we had uh really good chances in the individual event also games that I told we had some things
Going on in the last three to four months uh actually it was that my coach uh whom I train with he is an government employee he he is a government teacher actually he’s a lecturer in like in a school so government school and he was deputed in the stadium for
Month he couldn’t give me time like 12 to6 was his working hours so our training suffered from that and it was like like my mindset got whole like it shattered so I don’t I didn’t know how to cope up from that so my Peak Performance perance it fluctuated like a
Lot so if I think if that wouldn’t have happened or maybe if like after this something like if he gets back to the stadium and I don’t know if the government HS somewhere in this maybe we can focus more and we can yeah but now that you now that you
Have won won a bronze medal in this event uh we saw the prime minister also tweeting uh uh for you tweeted also uh do you feel yeah do you feel that things are going to change uh for the sport and for you now that you’re getting the kind of recogition in this particular
Sport obviously of course uh Roller Sports actually I think half of India they didn’t know this vort existed only so after Narendra Modi G tweeted it and it went viral on Instagram and Twitter it’s like everyone knows about it now and I think that this will help like I’m I’m happy I’m glad
That my medal somehow we’ll get the sport something that will help the upcoming uh like athletes in this game and as Juniors to do something great for the nation in upcoming years and I’d be really happy if for the next Asian Games or for next any event if he get can get
A goal for the nation and we hear that national anthem on the podium that’s that’s all I dream for in the next some years uh I think this medal is going to help some uh you know the junior athletes they’ll get more inra if the government allows and till till now uh
We don’t we don’t even know if there is z skating in the next Asian games so I hope they add this Sport and I really believe in the next Asian Games 2026 we can really do some great achievements I myself uh I would I am myself think like my next goals
Obviously my coach would decide them but as a I know it would be Asian Games 2026 and we would aim for go and it would be great that we go for the goal and we achieve that goal like if not gold then something better than this time like in
Individual would be a great thing well uh it is just the beginning for you and for the sport in India and I hope uh and we all hope collectively that the sports gets the kind of recognition that it deserves H thank you very much for talking to NV and congratulations once again
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