Roller skating team finishes runners-up

Coming up with a commendable performance, the Indian team finished overall second in the 11th Asian Roller Staking Championship at Jeonju, S...

Coming up with a commendable performance, the Indian team finished overall second in the 11th Asian Roller Staking Championship at Jeonju, South Korea.

The team which bagged two silver and eight bronze finished behind Chinese Taipei while hosts Korea claimed the third spot.

Anup Kumar Yama clinched a silver and two bronze in artistic event while India claimed three bronze medals in the speed event.

The 35-member contingent returned this morning.

Union Sports Minister Sunil Dutt who received the team on its arrival assured the Roller Skating Federation of India that the government would take necessary steps to provide financial assistance to the body.

“Roller skating was a relatively unknown sport in the country and hence no one paid much attention. Now that you have proved your credentials we will do everything to provide necessary help to the federation,” he said.

Roller skating is currently in the “others” category of the ministry due to which the national team does not get any financial grant from the government for its foreign tours.

While this list has remained unchanged for many years, the ministry had recently decided to make necessary amendments and move the sports disciplines into higher or lower grade depending upon the performance of the country at the international level.