Page 36 - EW November 2023

Young Achievers

attacks. Last year (2022), The younger child of Yarraji
we started playing profes- Suryanarayana, a security guard of
sional doubles tournaments a popular retail chain, and Yarraji
and our contrasting styles Kumari, a homemaker, Jyothi took
have paid off,” says Ayhika, to athletics at age 15 when she was
who moved to Kolkata at in class IX. “Encouraged by my
age 19 after she landed a job physical education teacher who had
with the Reserve Bank of great faith in my capabilities, I in-
India as assistant manager. vested time, practicing daily. My first
Likewise, Sutirtha relocated break came in 2016 at age 17 when
to Kolkata after Indian I was selected for training at the
Railways appointed her a Sports Authority of India (SAI) in
commercial inspector. Gachibowli, Hyderabad,” she recalls.
Currently the duo trains Since then, in her eight-year
for 3-4 hours daily at career in competitive athletics
the south Kolkata-based which started with the 2016 Youth
Dhanuka Dhunseri Acad- Games in Kozhikode (Kerala), Jyothi
AYHIKA & SUTIRTHA emy. Looking ahead, the girls are has won over 20 national and five
training intensively for the Paris
international medals. Between 2016-
MUKHERJEE Olympics scheduled for March 2024. 2019, she was under the tutelage of
“Although the women’s doubles
national athletics coach N. Ramesh,
event was scrapped in 1988, we are and won the national 100 m hurdles
ack in Kolkata from the XIX determined to win an Olympic medal every year from 2017-2022. In
Asian Games — which con- for India by competing in singles and 2021, Jyothi was shortlisted in the
Bcluded in Hangzhou, China mixed doubles events. We are very Reliance Foundation talent hunt
with a blaze of colour on October grateful to Dhanuka Sir for all his and relocated to Mumbai to train
8 — Ayhika Mukherjee (26) and support and are on the lookout for under British coach James Hillier,
Sutirtha Mukherjee (28) brought more sponsors. Unfortunately, our the foundation’s athletics director-
home a bronze medal in table tennis salaries cover only part of our train- mentor.
(women’s doubles). En route, they ing expenses.” says Sutirtha. According to this can-do athlete
derived considerable consolation Power to your elbows! “there is no substitute for hard work,
from having bested world cham- especially in international events”. A
pion Chinese pair of Chen Meng Paromita Sengupta (Bengaluru) final year arts student of VTJM Col-
and Wang Yidi in the quarter final. lege, Guntur, she follows a daily regi-
That’s quite an achievement con- men comprising rigorous three-hour
sidering that TT is China’s national JYOTHI YARRAJI training sessions in the mornings
sport. and evenings.
“Defeating the Chinese in their isakhapatnam (Andhra “Although my eyes are set on the
national sport was like climbing Pradesh)-based athletics star Paris Olympics 2024, I have some
Mount Everest. We are hugely VJyothi Yarraji (24) is on a roll catching up to do. Currently my tim-
motivated by this achievement this year. At the recently concluded ing is under the Olympic qualifica-
which can only help us improve our XIX Asian Games staged in Hang- tion timing by .01 second. Therefore,
game further and win more tourna- zhou (China), she won a silver medal over the next few months my focus is
ments,” says Ayhika. in the 100 metres hurdles clocking on qualifying for the Olympics,” says
Born and raised by sports lov- 12.91 seconds — .13 seconds faster this sprint hurdles champ.
ing families (Ayhika’s father was than her own national record. Earlier Way to go, Sis!
a member of the Border Security in July, this lanky (5 ft 9’) athlete
Force football team while Sutirtha’s won gold at the Asian Athletics Somasekhar Mulugu (Hyderabad)
father is an Army officer and plays Championships held in Bang-
multiple sports) in the Naihati sub- kok.
urb of North 24-Parganas of West Despite the less than enthu-
Bengal, Ayhika and Sutirtha met siastic reception she received
in 2003 at the Naihati Youth Club on her return from the Asian
where their parents had enrolled Games, Jyothi is undeterred.
them to learn the nuances of this “I feel blessed for winning a
fast-paced game. silver medal for my country
“Sutirtha was my senior at the although I was awarded it after
club and became my role model a false start by a Chinese ath-
as she started winning district, lete which almost disqualified
state and national tournaments. me. Truth prevailed in the end
Although I have studied her every and the judges disqualified her
move we have completely differing instead. Overall this has been a
play styles. I play defense while she good year for me,” says Jyothi.

36 EDUCATIONWORLD NOVEMBER 2023