Asiad medallist labours at brick kiln

July 24, 2012

Santhi_Soundarajan

Bangalore, July 24: Irony doesn't get any more cruel than this. Santhi Soundarajan won a silver medal in the 800m at the Doha Asian Games in 2006, then lost it after she failed a gender test. Today, she works as a daily-wager in a brick kiln, slogging eight hours under a scorching sun to earn Rs 200 every day — the wage paid to women labourers.

Contrast this with Caster Semenya of South Africa, also a middle-distance runner, who lost the gold she won in Berlin World Championship 2009 after she failed a similar gender test. The 21-year-old Semenya will be her country's flag-bearer at the London Olympics. Her outraged nation rallied around her. South Africa fought to safeguard Semenya's dignity and position in world sports. The result: last year, the International Association of Athletics Federations revoked the ban on her.

Unfortunately for Santhi, no such help was forthcoming for her from her own countrymen. Banned by the Athletics Federation of India from participating at any level, the then 25-year-old's name and feats were struck off the records. She was simply abandoned as she reeled under fate's bitter blow.

Her hands, once raised in triumph, now wield a shovel or knead a crude mixture of powdered jelly stone, clay and water to be shaped into bricks. "My hands ache and burn all the time. The skin has peeled off, there are boils all over," Santhi told TOI on Monday.

Following the ignominy of a gender test, the manner in which Santhi's name and achievements were erased from the athletics records, Santhi lost all hope to the point of attempting suicide. "I've been on this job three months now. In the initial days, I could do nothing with my hands after work. I could neither eat nor use my fingers to grasp any object. They would be tender and swollen. The situation is no better now," says the athlete from Kathakuruchi, Pudhukkottai in Tamil Nadu.

Her parents, Soundararajan and Manimegalai, too work at the brick unit run by her uncle for a collective daily pay of Rs 500. They have a family of six.

Santhi was unemployed since 2010 when she resigned from the job of a coach at a paltry salary of Rs 5,000. A modestly successful coach, athletes she trained won medals at national meets and at the Chennai marathon. But the Tamil Nadu government's refusal to confirm her employment -- she was on contract - made Santhi realise she had to look elsewhere for a job.

She cannot pursue the NIS diploma course that could guarantee her a better position as coach. The graduate has no records as athlete to speak of, all of them snatched from her after the Doha episode. Also, she cannot confidently answer the question of gender that figures prominently in the NIS prospectus. She fears the ridicule it would entail. Over the last three months, Santhi had also approached the district administration for a job.

"I met the district collector and told him that I was even ready to work as a peon. He wasn't bothered. He said since I wasn't registered with the employment bureau, I didn't stand a chance. I told him about my feats as an athlete. I pleaded with him to consider my family's plight and give me a job on compassionate grounds. My plea fell on deaf ears," Santhi said.

Not that Santhi didn't attempt to fight to understand why she had been banned. "Though I had lost all interest in life, I tried to meet Kalaignar (M Karunanidhi, who was CM then) and Amma (Jayalalitha, the present CM) and explain my plight to them. But I wasn't granted permission," Santhi said.

The prize amount of Rs 15 lakh that she received from 'Kalaignar' was used to fund her siblings' education and for her sister's marriage. "My brother is still studying." Two of her sisters are employed. "But the situation is such that I have to earn to make ends meet," says the woman who, fights off bouts of depression only because she can't see her family in distress. "Sometimes I think of committing suicide. Or go away where I cannot be traced. What wrong have I done? Why am I being punished for something I have no control over?" she says.

Despite everything, Santhi still nurtures the ambition of representing her country in athletics again.

With the International Olympic Committee mandating that a more civil method of testing a female athlete's hyper-androgenism (excessive production of testosterone), she feels she stands a good chance to make a comeback. But before all that, Santhi wants a job.



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News Network
May 8,2020

New Delhi, May 8: India skipper Virat Kohli believes cricket in empty stadiums is a real possibility in post COVID-19 world and though it is unlikely to have a bearing on the intensity of players, he feels the magic would certainly go missing.

Cricket Boards across the globe are exploring the option of resuming the sport in empty stadiums. There is speculation that fans could be kept away from stadiums in a bid to salvage the T20 World Cup in Australia, which is currently under threat due to the global health crisis.

"It's quite a possible situation, it might happen, I honestly don't know how everyone is going to take that because we all are used to playing in front of so many passionate fans," Kohli said in Star Sports' show 'Cricket Connected'.

"I know it will be played at a very good intensity but that feeling of the crowd connecting with the players and the tension of the game where everyone goes through it in the stadium, those emotions are very difficult to recreate," he added.

Kohli said the many moments which are created because of the passion brought in by fans, would be missing.

"Things will still go on, but I doubt that one will feel that magic happening inside because of the atmosphere that was created.

"We will play sports how it is supposed to be played, but those magical moments will be difficult to come by," he said.

Cricketers such as Ben Stokes, Jason Roy, Jos Buttler and Pat Cummins have backed the idea of playing behind closed doors.

However, legendary Australian Allan Border has said it would defy belief to host a World Cup without spectators.

Another Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell and some other cricketers have also expressed similar sentiments.

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News Network
May 27,2020

Bengaluru, May 27: Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has revealed that he was never able to dismiss Inzamam-ul-Haq in the nets.

The Rawalpindi Express praised the former Pakistan skipper and said Inzamam could see the ball one second earlier than the rest of the batsmen could.

"Honestly, I don't think I could ever get him (Inzamam) out, he had the time and I always felt he saw the ball a second earlier than the rest of the batsmen because I had a complicated action unlike Brett Lee, I felt I could never dismiss Inzamam-ul-Haq," Akhtar told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I couldn't get him out in the nets, I think he could see the ball a second before anyone else," he added.

Inzamam played 120 Tests and 378 ODIs for Pakistan.

He finished his career with 20,569 runs across all formats.

The right-handed batsman called time on his career in 2007 and he played his last Test against South Africa in Lahore.

On the other hand, Akhtar played 224 matches for Pakistan in international cricket and took 444 wickets across all formats.

The Rawalpindi Express last played an ODI in 2011 as he played against New Zealand in the 50-over World Cup.

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News Network
January 17,2020

Jan 17: Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza cruised into the women's doubles final of the Hobart International with her Ukrainian partner Nadiia Kichenok here on Friday.

Sania and Kichenok sailed past the Slovenian-Czech pair of Tamara Zidansek and Marie Bouzkova 7-6 (3) 6-2 in the semifinal contest that lasted one hour and 24 minutes.

The fifth-seeded Indo-Ukrainian combination will lock horns with second seeds Shuai Peng and Shuai Zhang of China. The Chinese pair got a walkover after Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens and Alison Van Uytvanck conceded the other semifinal match because of injury.

While Sania and Kichenok had to fight hard in the opening set, the second set was a cakewalk for the combination.

The first set was a tough contest between the two pairs, bringing the tie-breaker into the equation after it was level at 6-6.

In the tie-breaker, Sania and Kichenok upped their game by a few notches to outsmart their opponents and take the lead.

The second set was a no-contest as Saina and Kichenok broke their opponents thrice -- in the second, sixth and eighth game -- to easily pocket the set and a place in the summit clash.

Saina and Kichenok got 11 break chances out of which they converted four, while their opponents utilised two out of the five break chances that came their way.

The 33-year-old Sania is returning to the WTA circuit after two years. During her time away from the game, she battled injury breakdowns before taking a formal break in April 2018 to give birth to her son Izhaan. She is married to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik.

Before the ongoing event, Sania last played at China Open in October 2017.

A trailblazer in Indian tennis, Sania is a former world No.1 in doubles and has six Grand Slam titles to her credit.

She retired from the singles competition in 2013 after becoming the most successful Indian woman tennis player.

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