They stayed in Shimla for close to a month on their own before the National Ice-Skating Championship for obvious reasons for they come from Telangana where even hailstorms are rare.
Yet, when the skaters represented the newly-formed Telangana State for the first-time in the 11th Nationals at Millennium City in Gurgaon, it was a memorable outing for them with the artistic roller-skating world champion Anup Kumar Yama leading from the front with two gold in the figure and pair skating in boys and seniors’ categories.
Most of the medallists are from the Yama Skating Academy in Hyderabad. In figure skating, Veda Dundigalla clinched gold in the Girls’ under-10 category, Khyathi bronze in the 10-13 years age group, Brahmesh Patel, a bronze in the boys (10-13 years), Ananya Murthy picked a bronze in the boys (13-19 years). Ananya Murthy and Praneeth won silver in the juniors’ category pair skating event.
“This is the first time that so many of our city-skaters have bought laurels at the National level in Ice-Skating Championship,” says Anup Kumar Yama. “In spite of not having an ice-skating rink here in Hyderabad, these skaters have adapted well to the floor in a short span of time and came out in flying colours” said one of the parents.
“Considering the popularity of this Olympic sport we hope to produce an Olympian in this category in near future,” said a Roller-skating official.
“All that the Government can do is to encourage the sport in Hyderabad by building a rink and providing basic infrastructure,” he pointed out.
