Subhash wants to do Bhatti village proud

Qualifying for the first ever Youth Olympics is an achievement in itself for village boy Subhash Yadav. Yadav,a native of Bhatti village of Varanasi,qualified for the Youth Olympics at the first Cadet World championships organised at Budapest,Hungary in 2009.

Qualifying for the first ever Youth Olympics is an achievement in itself for village boy Subhash Yadav. Yadav,a native of Bhatti village of Varanasi,qualified for the Youth Olympics at the first Cadet World championships organised at Budapest,Hungary in 2009. When Subhash adopted judo at the age of 11,he used to be scolded by his parents for devoting too much time to khel (sports) but things changed once he started winning medals. I intend to give my level best to do my village proud, says Yadav.

Talking to The Indian Express,he confided,My father Bachani Yadav is a marginal farmer. He grows wheat and rice on the 2.5 bighas of land that he has. Apart from this there is no other source of income. My parents expected me to be a helping hand for the family on the fields,more so,because I am the eldest among the sons,besides a sister elder to me. It was only when I started winning medals did they realised that I was serious about judo. I still remember the day I won my first medal at the nationals it was at the sub-junior nationals held at Lucknow in 2006. With talented village judokas getting absorbed in jobs,most of the people now want their children to take up judo. My younger brother Brijesh has also taken to judo and he has been selected for the upcoming sub-junior nationals to be held at Bhilai.

Yadav,is a big admirer of Ram Asrey an international judoka from Bhatti village and wants to give his best at the upcoming Youth Olympics to be held at Singapore from August 14. I have just returned from a 15-day training organised at Bangkok for the same. Though I stood ninth in the tournament held at Hungary,I want to give my level best to secure a medal for the nation in my below 55-kg weight category competitions. I have won golds at the junior nationals twice and it inspired me to do even better.

Yadav is extremely grateful to his coach Lal Kumar for grooming him in the game with great fondness. Both the trainee and the taught were honoured by the UP Judo Association (UPJA) at a felicitation function organised in Lucknow on Tuesday. They were also given Rs 5,100 each by the UPJA as a token of honour. The function was also attended by principal secretary (sports) Lalit Varma and Director Sports (UP) Hari Om. Speaking on the occasion,the UPJA officials highlighted the fact that despite producing national and international level players,Lal Kumar (47) is only an ad hoc coach in the Sports department earning Rs 7,000 per month and demanded for the regularisation of his job.

Kumar trains the judokas at Sigra stadium,Varanasi and has produced 50 national level medallists and three internationals,including reputed Indian judoka Ram Asrey,till date. The irony is that many of his trainees have got jobs in CRPF,SSB,UP Police etc. and the UPJA has been speaking for regularising Kumars services,but in vain.

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