Behind every successful man, there is a woman, goes the popular adage. But take the context of sports in the two Telugu States, and you will find that behind every successful athlete, there is almost always a supportive father.
Athletes from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have made significant contribution to Indian sports, especially in the past two decades, irrespective of discipline and economic status. It all began at the 2000 Sydney Olympics when Karnam Malleshwari became the first Indian woman to win an Olympics medal, a bronze. Coming from the relatively obscure township of Amadalavalasa in Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam district, the diminutive weightlifter showed what a woman can achieve despite all odds — she had trained at a makeshift ‘gym’ in a cowshed in her hometown!
For many other women athletes who have scaled the summit of stardom, success did not come overnight, be it Mithali Raj (cricket), Sania Mirza (tennis), Koneru Humpy and Dronavalli Harika (chess), Saina Nehwal, P.V. Sindhu and G. Jwala (badminton), Soundarya (hockey), Sowmya (football), S. Appoorwa (carrom), Nikhat Zareen (boxing) or Esha Singh (shooter). It took a great amount of sacrifices, uncountable hours of hard work and single-minded dedication to reach where they are. And it wouldn’t have been possible but for at least one family member who took the athlete’s commitment to a different level, even if it meant becoming the butt of jokes among family and friends.
No doubt, most of them were lucky to have their fathers double up as a mentor-cum-coach from an early age — Imran Mirza for Sania, Koneru Ashok for Humpy and P.V. Ramana for Sindhu. A few others had professional coaches to guide their destiny like R.S.R. Murthy for Mithali, S.M. Arif for Jwala, P. Gopichand for some shuttlers, N.VS. Rama Raju for Harika and a relatively unknown Shamsamuddin for Nikhat.
Jwala Gutta
A big part of Sania’s successful tennis career is the unwavering support of her father, Imran. He used to drive his daughter around in their car to as many All India Tennis Association-ranking tournaments as possible for her to make it to the International Tennis Federation events. Today, she is considered the greatest woman tennis player in the country. With six Grand Slam titles and World No.1 title in women’s doubles to her credit, her feats are what many players can only dream of. She even put up a spectacular show in the Wimbledon last week, tipped to be her swansong. To say that Sania has inspired thousands of young girls to pick up the tennis racquet would be a gross understatement.
Then there is Harvir Singh Nehwal, who used to take his little daughter Saina on his two-wheeler from Mehdipatnam to Fateh Maidan Indoor Stadium early in the morning for badminton training under coaches like late Nani Prasad, Govardhan Reddy and Dronacharya S.M. Arif. Not many would have dared to predict the magic Saina would weave when she held the racquet for the first time.
Like Sania in tennis, Saina is a pioneer in women’s badminton in India, showcasing to the world what a young and determined girl could achieve, backed by unstinted support of her family members and coaches.
Mithali Raj’s is another inspirational story. As a young girl who first picked the nuances of cricket under the tutelage of late Sampath, then the APSRTC ticket inspector, she had the difficult choice to make between classical dance and the gentleman’s game. But as was destined, it turned out to be Indian women’s cricket’s biggest gain, for she redefined the levels of excellence with her brilliance.
Nikhat Zareen
She made her mark in a sport when there were not even separate nets for girls to train. All that they had were a couple of local leagues organised by AP Women’s Cricket Association with late T.N. Pillay and Jyothi Joshi being the key officials.
The fact that Mithali’s international cricket career spanned over 23 years is an unmatched accomplishment, something that perhaps wouldn’t have come easy without the support of her parents, Dorai Raj (former Air Force personnel) and Leela Raj.
In the case of chess wizard Koneru Humpy, one wondered where she would have headed but for her father Koneru Ashok quitting a lucrative lecturer’s post to back his daughter to the hilt.
It was no different for P.V. Ramana and his wife P. Vijaya, both former international volleyballers, who took the call to put Sindhu in badminton training. It was hugely demanding for Ramana to take his daughter — the only Indian woman athlete to win two Olympic medals (silver and bronze) — from their Secunderabad home to the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Gachibowli every day — a distance of 70 km to and fro, initially on a two-wheeler.
Significantly, the success story of each of these gifted women athletes from the Telugu-speaking States clearly suggests how at least one family member made all-out sacrifices to let the girls chase their dreams. In a way, it was some sort of a gamble. For, one wasn’t sure what the future had in store, and that it is not always mere talent which takes a girl far in sports. There are several factors at play, that see a female athlete go from early training to making a mark in the junior grade before graduating to the intensely competitive seniors circuit.
Perhaps, these women athletes had the assurance that they could fall back on a doting parent when the going got tough and then quickly recoup to prove a point or two under pressure.
The fact that none of these parents even dared to think of withdrawing their daughter from a particular sport is itself a tribute to their confidence in their wards’ talent. Clearly, they all took big risks by taking their level of commitment to a different level. In the process, they have showcased how a young girl interested in sports can be groomed even while maintaining that academics-and-sports balance, and most importantly, showing the way to many parents of the current and future generations about what it takes to mould a sporting champion.
Esha Singh
There were also some other memorable performances which may have not got their due, like shuttler P.V.V. Lakshmi becoming the first woman from the then united Andhra Pradesh to represent India in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Then there was J.J. Shobha, a national heptathlon champion, who got a standing ovation at the 2004 Athens Olympics in Greece when she completed the event despite a knee injury to finish at a creditable seventh position.
Not to forget, N. Usha, the Visakhapatnam boxer who won two silver medals in the World championships, trained by Dronacharya I Venkateswara Rao; Purnima Rau, India’s first women’s cricket captain from Hyderabad; Satti Geetha, a girl from non-descript Marteru town in West Godavari district who went on to be a double Olympian in athletics under the tutelage of Sports Authority of India coaches M. Ranga Rao and N. Ramesh; and also Akula Sreeja, winner of the women’s national singles title in table tennis, becoming the first woman from Hyderabad to do so and only the second after the great Mir Khasim Ali, who had won the men’s title in the ‘60s.
For many women champions, parents were the wind beneath their wings, the ones who who recognised their talent, nurtured their sporting dreams, and helped them jump hurdles, from gender bias to lack of opportunities:
‘Lot more difficult to groom girls in sports’
Sania Mirza with her parents Nasima and Imran Mirza.
We always had a great tradition of sports in our family. When Sania turned six, it was normal for her to take up sports, not necessarily to become a world champion. It just happened that she took to tennis. Obviously, financial support was always an issue and it gets bigger as you enter the national circuit — the stepping stone to the international stage. Another major problem was the dearth of coaches who knew about grooming youngsters for the international level.
Initially, it was not about winning or losing. In 2003, when Sania won the Wimbledon junior girls doubles title, we realised she could make it big. The entire family was backing her; my wife (Nasima) was the biggest strength. I think it is a lot more difficult to groom girls in sports. Initially, some members of my extended family were against girls taking up sports because they felt she didn’t have any future.
Sponsorship, too, was a problem because there was no big name in women’s tennis in India before Sania. My daughter winning the 2015 Wimbledon women’s doubles and becoming World No.1 in women’s doubles were most memorable for us.
-- IMRAN MIRZA, father of tennis ace Sania Mirza
‘Putting a kid in sports is a huge gamble’
Mithali Raj’s parents Leela Raj and Dorai Raj | Photo Credit: SUBRAHMANYAM VV
My priority was to inculcate discipline and some level of physical fitness in my children. My son was training at St. John’s Cricket Coaching Foundation (which has produced the likes of V.V.S. Laxman and Hanuma Vihari). It was pure destiny that Mithali got interested in cricket and so, I used to take her regularly for coaching, travelling on a two-wheeler from Alwal to Secunderabad.
The biggest challenge in those days was to counter the dissenting voices of immediate family members, who were not at all happy with our decision to put Mithali into sport, more so in cricket. In a way, their concern was understood since we are a typical middle-class family where the emphasis is generally on education.
Many agree that putting a kid in sports is a huge gamble. But, we took the risk since Mithali showed promise when she started knocking around in the ‘nets’, even facing the boys with ease. Once she was adjudged ‘best batter’ in the under-16 and under-19 nationals, there was no looking back as far as our decision to back her was concerned. Her mother has been her biggest support; she looked after her cricket training, academics, diet, and sleep.
Back then, it was difficult for girls to take up cricket and the players didn’t have proper infrastructure. But our joy knew no bounds when Mithali was made India’s youngest captain at 22 when the team took part in the 2005 World Cup and reached the final for the first time. We feel proud when Mithali is described as the face of women’s cricket.
-- DORAI RAJ, father of cricketer Mithali Raj
‘Many criticised us for putting my daughter into chess’
Chess Grandmaster Koneru Humpy with her father Koneru Ashok and mother Latha.
I got fascinated with chess after following the historic battle between legends Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer in 1972 when the media coverage was confined to print and books. That’s when I thought Humpy should be in sports. In fact, I was interested in her taking up tennis. But somehow after watching me play on the 64 squares, I was startled by the way she came up with some great moves. I could see a spark in her and decided to put her in chess.
She started playing serious chess at the age of seven and once she won the State under-10 title and the South India open titles, it was pretty obvious that she was in it for long haul. The biggest challenge in the early days was combining her interest in academics and chess. It is never easy for any child to focus on both with the same intensity. But my wife (Lata) took care of her academics. Financial support is always an issue for any parent, especially in the formative days. But we saw to it that Humpy pursued her passion in chess.
The defining moment was when Humpy won the World under-10 championship in 1996 at Cannes. We started believing that she will be a force to reckon with. Being Humpy’s coach myself was a huge plus for us. She was in her comfort zone.
Many in our own circle criticised us for putting my girl into the sport. Luckily, chess meant training in a ‘homely atmosphere’ without any distractions. My personal opinion on women athletes being more successful is they show greater dedication and the competition standard being comparatively low in those days, unlike now.
We never thought of quitting at any stage of Humpy’s career and are glad she went on to become the world rapid chess champion too.
--KONERU ASHOK, father of chess champion Koneru Humpy
‘We supported her dream despite financial issues’
P.V. Sindhu with her parents P. V. Ramana and P. Vijaya
It was quite natural for my wife Vijaya and I to put Sindhu in sports. Being former international volleyballers ourselves, we knew the importance of sports. We always believed that sports and academic excellence can go hand in hand. With Sindhu herself showing interest, we had no issues in letting her continue her passion for badminton.
I recall how Sindhu had beaten a particular player in the State championship and that girl was playing in the main draw of the Nationals under-13 while Sindhu was in the qualifying rounds. Being aware of the nuances of the sport, I raised the issue. But I found out that the coach had been instructed that the girl had to be given a wild card.
I was always confident of Sindhu making it big when she was 12. My wife also supported her dream greatly despite financial issues.
The biggest challenge for a woman athlete is to get permission to have parents accompany her on tours. I am grateful to the Badminton Association of India for letting me or my wife accompany Sindhu for tournaments. Our best memory is of her winning against the reigning Olympic gold medallist Li Xurei in 2012, within a month of the London Games. At that point, we felt she could go all the way as it gave her the confidence to look at the next level.
--P.V. RAMANA, father of badminton champion P.V. Sindhu
