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Though she came into the game by accident, Sagarika Shyam has done the country proud by being part of the winning team in Russia’s Youth Games
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Photo: Bhagya Prakash k.
Winning ways Sagarika enjoyed her Russian sojourn
Some years ago, 14 year-old Sagarika Shyam played tennis as a recreational sport. When her mother Jaywaranthi, a former international basketball player, suggested that she take up basketball, she was dismissed it with a curt “just because you p
layed basketball, don’t expect me to play!” Her mother didn’t push her daughter.
With basketball in the genes, it was inevitable that at some point Sagarika would be attracted to the game. At school, Sagarika played basketball for fun and when there was a need for a player in a competition, Sagarika stepped in and enjoyed the game. That was it. Sagarika soon switched to basketball.
This year Sagarika’s game improved by leaps and bounds. After the national junior tournament, a short list of 175 girls was drawn up which then was pruned to 32 girls that would participate in the selection trials for a team that would go to Russia to play in the youth games. Twenty of the girls from the list were invited to a camp from which the final playing twelve were selected. To her credit, Sagarika was the only girl from Karnataka to make the Indian junior basketball team.
Flying out to Russia on the Aeroflot Airline was an amazing experience. From Moscow the journey to Yakutz and onward to Niryungiri was a bit scary. Expecting the weather to be minus 28 degrees, the Indian contingent of about 250 boys and girls landed to pleasant weather and really long days with barely two hours of night.
The under-16 girls’ basketball team played brilliantly to reach the final. With victories over Thailand, Mongolia and two other Russian teams, Irkutsk and Khabravosk, the Indian girls faced off against the Republic of Sakha in the final. The home team spurred on by some vociferous cheering quickly took a 15-point lead in the first quarter. But the Russian girls soon ran out of steam. Sagarika shone as ball controller and with some crisp and effective passes fed her tall team mates who were able to score repeatedly. The Indian girls finally won 98-56 much to the disappointment of the home supporters. “There were a few supporters for India but the Russian media did not splash any pictures of the winning Indian basketball team. Incidentally, no other Indian team from the other eight disciplines bagged any medal (One individual Indian did get a gold though),” Sagarika said.
Sagarika’s first trip abroad was really enjoyable. She made lots of friends with the Russian players who were able to speak English. With some of the other teams there was a bit of a communication problem but the whole experience was “cool” said the fourteen-year-old.
The tenth standard student of Sophia’s Girls High School was really grateful to her Principal who let her miss school for one and a half months. She also was appreciative of the support from her mentors Nandini Basappa and Govindraj of the Karnataka Basketball Association.
The tilt towards sports runs strongly in Sagarika’s house. Her younger brother too plays basketball and her late father represented the country as a handball player. “He would have been proud of my gold medal winning performance,” she said wistfully.
As for future plans, Sagarika says that she would like to continue playing basketball and would like to study abroad at a college where the game is prominently played.
RAVI SHANKAR D.
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