Rashmi Kumari is the most accomplished woman carrom player in the country. The two-time World Champion was quite thrilled about winning her third Federation Cup title in Varanasi on Tuesday.
It was her third Federation Cup trophy, after the earlier triumph in 2012 and 2010. “I am very happy to win this title”, said Rashmi, Chief Manger with the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).
Rashmi beat the reigning World Champion S. Appoorwa 11-15, 25-6, 25-12 in the final, to assert her class.
“The standard of players has gone up a lot. Many junior players have come up. So, it was a great experience to struggle a lot to reach the final and meet the reigning world champion’’, said Rashmi, quite appreciative of the other players.
Rashmi has also won the World Cup twice, the ICF Cup twice, and been a SAARC champion four times, apart from being the Asian champion thrice.
She has been a dominant force in the domestic circuit, winning the national title ten times.
It has not been easy training for the event. Rashmi’s mother had to come from Patna to Delhi, so that Rashmi could entrust her children,
nine-year-old daughter Shambhavi and five-year-old son Shubh, to her and travel to Varanasi for the tournament.
“My husband Sumit works in State Bank of India, and supports me a lot. But, with online classes for children, I have to wait for them to sleep to start my carrom training’’, revealed Rashmi.
The next competition for Rashmi is round the corner, the Public sector championship scheduled in Jaipur from January 4 to 7.
“All these national level tournaments are important for our ranking. Also, I will be representing my employer ONGC in this. It was in 2014 that I had won this tournament last time. The current world champion Appoorwa will also be there as the defending champion. So, it will be interesting”, said Rashmi.
Despite all the achievements over the years, the urge to excel keeps burning bright and drives Rashmi to train hard for the events ahead, especially the National championship scheduled in Dadar, Mumbai, from February 28 to March 4.
