CHANDIGARH: Yet to recover from the loss of thousands of lives caused by the deadly second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, Indian sports fans found a few reasons to smile in 2021. Like all other fields, several young athletes announced their arrival on the big stage with impressive performances.
Olympian discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur, quarter-miler Harmilan Kaur Bains and midfielder Manisha Kalyan, are some of the top names expected to raise the bar in the coming season.
Mighty throws: Kamalpreet Kaur
Kamalpreet Kaur rose from obscurity by qualifying for the Discus Throw final at the Tokyo Olympics with the second best throw. The national record holder hurled the discus to a distance of 64m during the Group B of women’s discus throw qualification round in Tokyo. The 25-year-old’s throw was good enough to finish only behind the eventual gold medallist Valarie Allman from the United States.
In the final, the athlete from Sri Muktsar Sahib in Punjab couldn’t quite get going; finishing sixth with a best effort of 63.70m after rain interrupted the play for a brief period and turned the conditions wet and tricky.
Earlier this year, Kaur became the first Indian woman to breach the 66m mark as she recorded a throw of 66.59m at the Indian Grand Prix IV in June. Her feat, however, didn’t go down too well with her competitor Seema Punia, who later demanded a hyperandrogenism test on the youngster.
While Seema’s request ended as a futile attempt, Kamalpreet had complained of being mentally disturbed by the allegations. Boarding the flight to Tokyo sans her personal coach Rakhi Tyagi, who was left out of the contingent due to a delay in getting the accreditation, the youngster put up a brave effort with virtual guidance from her mentor, based at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Patiala.
Kamalpreet’s instant rise may have created a sense of insecurity among her ageing competitors but the Punjab girl has to keep delivering consistent performances in the upcoming season to stand out of the crowd.
Conquering new milestones: Harmilan Kaur Bains
Forced to shift base to Dharamsala due to the Covid-19 restrictions put out at the NIS in Patiala, the 23-year-old Harmilan Kaur Bains came within striking distance of booking her berth for Tokyo Olympics, but overcame the heartbreak by breaking the 19-year-old national record of Sunita Rani in women’s 1500m.
Continuing her growing prowess in her pet women’s 1500m event, the Punjab metric miler clocked 4:05.39 at the 60th National Open Athletics championships to erase the mark set by Sunita at 4:06.03 at the Asian Games in Busan in 2002. She also shattered OP Jaisha’s Meet Record of 4:11.83 set in Delhi in 2006.
Born to former middle-distance runners, Amandeep Bains (South Asian Games medallist in 1500m) and Madhuri Singh (women’s 800m silver medallist at 2002 Busan Asian Games), Harmilan has shown rapid progress in the past one year, improving from 4:14.68 in Bhubaneswar last year to 4:08.70 and 4:08.27 at the Federation Cup (March 16) and Indian Grand Prix 4 (June 21) respectively, in Patiala.
The curly-haired athlete has stretched her unbeaten run to eight national level 1500m races since January 2020. With tournaments like the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games approaching, the youngster is on the right track to watch out for in the days to come.
Manisha Kalyan’s Magic Moment against Brazil
Growing up in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab, attacking midfielder Manisha Kalyan defied patriarchal odds to script history by scoring India’s first-ever goal against a mighty Brazil at the senior level.
A passionate fan of Brazilian legend Ronaldinho, the 20-year-old fired a left-footer that breezed past the goalkeeper Leticia to score the equalizer for India in the eighth minute of the match in Manaus. The women-in-blue, however, eventually lost the contest 1-6 but that goal surely go down in history as a Magic Moment for Indian football.
For Manisha, the journey of course hasn’t been a bed of roses. She had endured criticism for playing with the boys of her village during her school time. But the goal against Brazil is enough to silence her naysayers and inspire a bunch of budding footballers from nondescript corners of the country.
Manisha initially started with athletics before switching over to football in 2014, at the age of 13. Impressed by her agility and goal-scoring abilities, she was picked in the Indian Under-17 squad for the BRICS Football Cup in 2018. The 2019 AFC U19 Women’s Championship qualifiers was a turning point for her. She put in impressive performances, scoring a hat-trick in India’s 18-0 win over Pakistan before playing a key role in India’s impressive 1-0 win over Thailand.
In the same year, she made her senior national debut at the age of 17 in a friendly against Hong Kong. In November 2021, Manisha became the first Indian woman to score in a top-flight Asian competition, when she pumped in a goal in the AFC Women’s Club Championship match against FC Bunyodkor women’s team. She was named the Emerging Player of the Year by the All India Football Federation this year.
Olympian discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur, quarter-miler Harmilan Kaur Bains and midfielder Manisha Kalyan, are some of the top names expected to raise the bar in the coming season.
Mighty throws: Kamalpreet Kaur
Kamalpreet Kaur rose from obscurity by qualifying for the Discus Throw final at the Tokyo Olympics with the second best throw. The national record holder hurled the discus to a distance of 64m during the Group B of women’s discus throw qualification round in Tokyo. The 25-year-old’s throw was good enough to finish only behind the eventual gold medallist Valarie Allman from the United States.
In the final, the athlete from Sri Muktsar Sahib in Punjab couldn’t quite get going; finishing sixth with a best effort of 63.70m after rain interrupted the play for a brief period and turned the conditions wet and tricky.
Earlier this year, Kaur became the first Indian woman to breach the 66m mark as she recorded a throw of 66.59m at the Indian Grand Prix IV in June. Her feat, however, didn’t go down too well with her competitor Seema Punia, who later demanded a hyperandrogenism test on the youngster.
While Seema’s request ended as a futile attempt, Kamalpreet had complained of being mentally disturbed by the allegations. Boarding the flight to Tokyo sans her personal coach Rakhi Tyagi, who was left out of the contingent due to a delay in getting the accreditation, the youngster put up a brave effort with virtual guidance from her mentor, based at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Patiala.
Kamalpreet’s instant rise may have created a sense of insecurity among her ageing competitors but the Punjab girl has to keep delivering consistent performances in the upcoming season to stand out of the crowd.
Conquering new milestones: Harmilan Kaur Bains
Forced to shift base to Dharamsala due to the Covid-19 restrictions put out at the NIS in Patiala, the 23-year-old Harmilan Kaur Bains came within striking distance of booking her berth for Tokyo Olympics, but overcame the heartbreak by breaking the 19-year-old national record of Sunita Rani in women’s 1500m.
Continuing her growing prowess in her pet women’s 1500m event, the Punjab metric miler clocked 4:05.39 at the 60th National Open Athletics championships to erase the mark set by Sunita at 4:06.03 at the Asian Games in Busan in 2002. She also shattered OP Jaisha’s Meet Record of 4:11.83 set in Delhi in 2006.
Born to former middle-distance runners, Amandeep Bains (South Asian Games medallist in 1500m) and Madhuri Singh (women’s 800m silver medallist at 2002 Busan Asian Games), Harmilan has shown rapid progress in the past one year, improving from 4:14.68 in Bhubaneswar last year to 4:08.70 and 4:08.27 at the Federation Cup (March 16) and Indian Grand Prix 4 (June 21) respectively, in Patiala.
The curly-haired athlete has stretched her unbeaten run to eight national level 1500m races since January 2020. With tournaments like the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games approaching, the youngster is on the right track to watch out for in the days to come.
Manisha Kalyan’s Magic Moment against Brazil
Growing up in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab, attacking midfielder Manisha Kalyan defied patriarchal odds to script history by scoring India’s first-ever goal against a mighty Brazil at the senior level.
A passionate fan of Brazilian legend Ronaldinho, the 20-year-old fired a left-footer that breezed past the goalkeeper Leticia to score the equalizer for India in the eighth minute of the match in Manaus. The women-in-blue, however, eventually lost the contest 1-6 but that goal surely go down in history as a Magic Moment for Indian football.
For Manisha, the journey of course hasn’t been a bed of roses. She had endured criticism for playing with the boys of her village during her school time. But the goal against Brazil is enough to silence her naysayers and inspire a bunch of budding footballers from nondescript corners of the country.
Manisha initially started with athletics before switching over to football in 2014, at the age of 13. Impressed by her agility and goal-scoring abilities, she was picked in the Indian Under-17 squad for the BRICS Football Cup in 2018. The 2019 AFC U19 Women’s Championship qualifiers was a turning point for her. She put in impressive performances, scoring a hat-trick in India’s 18-0 win over Pakistan before playing a key role in India’s impressive 1-0 win over Thailand.
In the same year, she made her senior national debut at the age of 17 in a friendly against Hong Kong. In November 2021, Manisha became the first Indian woman to score in a top-flight Asian competition, when she pumped in a goal in the AFC Women’s Club Championship match against FC Bunyodkor women’s team. She was named the Emerging Player of the Year by the All India Football Federation this year.
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