S. Marthamma and K. Shyam Kumar hail from an ordinary background.
While Marthamma’s mother Ramalakshmi sells vegetables at Pendurthi, Shyam Kumar’s father Arjun runs a two-wheeler mechanic shop at Railway New Colony in the city.
But their determination to excel in the chosen sport brought them laurels.
Shyam Kumar won four gold medals in the nationals at an early age. Recently, he picked a gold in the 49 kg category in the 35{+t}{+h}National Games organised in Kerala. Marthamma won a bronze in the women’s 69 kg category.
Marthamma, the younger of the two siblings, took interest in boxing when she attended a coaching camp at Pendurthi in 2010. Her fitness and interest in the game grabbed the attention of Mr. Venkateswara Rao. In 2012, Marthamma participated in the World championships in Turkey and the Youth World meet in Bulgaria in 2013. She went up to quarterfinals in both the meets. In 2014, she won silver in the Multi-Nation Cup meet in Serbia. Marthamma is in the 69 kg category and hopes that the category will be introduced in the Olympics to be held next year as there is a proposal to have competitions in five weight categories for women boxers. Otherwise, she has to wait till the 2020 Olympics.
“Meanwhile, she can participate in the Commonwealth and Asian Games,” Mr. Venkateswara Rao said.
Ms. Ramalakshmi is happy with her daughter’s achievements.
“There are problems, but I have decided to support my daughter despite meagre earnings,” she said.
Mr. Arjun has seen his younger son also growing into an international boxer. His elder son Sagar joined the Railways and is representing the South Central Railway.
Shyam Kumar took to boxing naturally and was picked up by Mr. Venkateswara Rao for training at the SAI Hostel. He went on to win the National championship gold medals in the sub-junior, junior, and youth categories.
