The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : A sporting gesture for old hands

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Friday, Jun 13, 2008
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A sporting gesture for old hands

Staff Reporter

— PHOTO: BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

WINNERS: Ajay Patil, Pooja Alva, Chitra Magimairaj and Rehan Poncha in Bangalore on Thursday.

Bangalore: It was a morning that celebrated sport and tinged it with nostalgia. The Sports Writers Association of Bangalore’s (SWAB) annual awards function here on Thursday, gifted mementoes, bouquets and smiles to the winners of the 2006-07 season besides honouring four veteran journalists and five sports administrative staff members.

Ace swimmer Rehan Poncha was adjudged as the “best sportsman” while Word billiards champion Chitra Magimairaj won the “best sportswoman” award. The Bangalore Hi-Fliers hockey squad won the “team of the year” award. Ajay Patil (sportsman – juniors) and Pooja Alva (sportswoman – juniors) were the other winners.

Rehan with a touch of modesty asked the gathering to pray for him. “I haven’t yet qualified for the Beijing Olympics, I need a prayer from you all,” Rehan said while Chitra spoke about the need for staying consistent. “This award is an acknowledgement of what I achieved with hard work and I need to win more,” Chitra said.

Commitment

Chief guests, former badminton ace Vimal Kumar and athlete of yesteryear Reeth Abraham, spoke about the need for commitment while pursuing sports. “In India, there is so much emphasis on academics, often talented youngsters in the 14 to 15 age group stop sports and switch to academics. We need a system where they are able to focus on sport and may be, return to academics later,” Vimal said.

Reeth while hinting at the skewed coverage that favours cricket in the sports pages spoke about the need to follow sport with passion.

“When I was training, I used to go the stadium on my own at 6 a.m. and 4 p.m., nowadays parents drop their children at the stadium. In terms of infrastructure, the progress has been slow but if you are committed to the sport, you will go places,” Reeth said.

A touch of warmth permeated the hall as spontaneous applause rang out aloud when three senior journalists, Rajan Bala, P.R. Vishwanath and S. Devnath, were honoured for their contribution to sports journalism.

“I feel touched by this gesture, especially as it comes in a field that is considered dog-eat-dog. I am happy that the niceties of sport have been maintained in our fraternity,” Bala said in a voice high on emotion.

P.R. Vishwanath dedicated his award to all his fellow scribes.

“I wouldn’t have been the writer I am and the human being I am if not for my colleagues not just in The Hindu where I worked but also from other media groups as well. It would also be nice if we institute a few awards in the memory of the two Shanmughams (football and hockey) who passed away earlier,” Vishwanath said.

Senior journalist R. Arvindam however could not attend the function due to illness.

The support staff in various sports associations, P.S.B. Naidu (athletics), Chikchennaiah (football), V. Shanker (cricket), Ravindra Singh (basketball) and Nagesh (swimming), were also honoured.

Kalyan Ashok, SWAB president, spoke about the association’s commitment to nurturing sports.

S.S. Shreekumar, SWAB secretary, compered the awards function.

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