Hammering through hurdles

Hammer thrower, Ajaz Ahmad, has bounced back into the game after a severe back injury and seems to be heading towards greater wins

August 29, 2015 05:13 pm | Updated March 29, 2016 06:11 pm IST - Bengaluru

Ajaz Ahmad is an overcomer Photos: Murali Kumar K.

Ajaz Ahmad is an overcomer Photos: Murali Kumar K.

After two long years of rehabilitation Ajaz Ahmad returned to competitive hammer throwing last week. Though he has just bounced back from a serious back injury, he effortlessly broke the 24-year-old State record, set by Harish Shetty in 1991. Though the sportsman is beaming, his coach, the 1990 Asian Games bronze-medallist S.D. Eashan, is disappointed with the results of last week’s State Junior and Senior athletics championships.

“I expected more than 57.46 m, but just 20 days before the competition he sprained his back, so the performance was not too bad.”

“I didn’t expect to break the record. God willing, I’ll be able to throw 60-62 metres soon,” says Ajaz, who moved to Bengaluru four years ago with his job in the South-Western Railways. Originally from Allahabad, U.P., Ajaz comes from a family of hammer-throwers. His oldest brother, Ishtiaq Ahmad, once held the National record for hammer throwing at 70.13m. His second brother, Laiqh Ahmad, was also a hammer thrower.

Ajaz was initially into kabaddi. His first attempt at hammer throw was when he was 15 and showed an aptitude for the sport by winning the U-16 gold at the Uttar Pradesh state meet in 2006.

Ajaz went on to claim medals by the bagful in the junior levels. His most impressive performances coming at the Junior Commonwealth Games in Pune in 2008, where he won the bronze. He set the Uttar Pradesh State record with the North Zone Junior, and the Junior National records in 2008. He also won the title of All-India Inter-University Hammer-Throw in 2009 and 2010.

It looked like Ajaz was destined for bigger things. But, in the winter of 2013, he pulled a muscle in his lower back squatting 200 kilos and was seriously injured. In the weeks that followed, Ajaz struggled to even walk. “I was worried. I thought I couldn’t compete any more,” he recalls. The road to recovery was “long and painful”.

He gives all the credit to his coach, who “came to Kanteerava Stadium from Kengeri every morning to help me with rehabilitation and gradually we returned to training. He gave me the confidence to eventually make a comeback,” says a grateful Ajaz. Being an international player himself, Eashan had the knowledge and experience to deal with such injuries. “I didn’t put much load on him at first. It was a gradual process of getting him back to a throwing condition,” explains the coach.

“In one-and-a-half or two years, I believe I will be able to hit the 70 m,” says Ajaz.

About balancing his work as a senior Travelling Ticket Examiner with the South Western Railways and the sport Ajaz says, “It is hard. The nutrition supplements, which I have to buy with my salary, are expensive. But the Railways has been supportive.” To make a mark on the national stage, Ajaz needs to throw closer to 70m. Eashan believes his ward will improve significantly.

Ajaz’s immediate goal is to record a throw of 62m at the Open Nationals in Kolkata next month, something his coach believes shouldn’t be too hard for him. “He is a hard worker with a lot of potential, but has a long way to go,” Eashan beams. Ajaz is also just 24 and can compete for another 10 years if he stays injury-free, and that is what he “intends to do”. Once a good, promising junior, the onus is now on Ajaz to perform at the highest level.

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