Heptathlete Abha Khatua defies odds to win bronze in National Open

Kolkata, Oct 7: Abha Khatua could have been probably the country’s most promising heptathlete had she not been compelled to stay away from athletics for around last three to four years.

She could have secured a berth in the senior Indian team even for the crucial international championships like Asian Championship, World Championship but dire financial distress prevented her from achieving her dream.

Abha lives in a village named Narayangarh in the Jangal Mahal area in Midnapore, West Bengal. This area was once infamous for Maoist activities and military oppression.

Coming from her village to Kolkata every day for training by travelling three hours turned out too hectic for the 22-year-old athlete. So at the beginning of this year, Abha came to Kolkata but did not have a place to live in.

Even, her coach Subhas Sarkar who is an employee of Sports Authority of India (SAI) did not do much for one of his most promising students.

Later, due to an initiative of the state sports ministry, Abha got a bed in the dormitory at the Salt Lake Stadium campus for last three months.

Abha, who had started doing heptathlon at the age of 12, has already won 20 medals at different national level tournaments in the sub-junior and junior level.

The girl, however, is not pleased and rued, “I have not yet got either a job or any sponsorship. I still have to run with only one pair of shoes which I bought a couple of years ago for Rs 1500 only. In the heptathlon, an athlete needs at least seven running shoes to take part in seven events and the price of a quality pair of shoes is nearly Rs 8,000 to 9000.”

Abha won the bronze medal in the recently concluded Open Nationals in Chennai with that same one pair of old running shoes.

The athlete also revealed, “I cannot buy healthy food to maintain my fitness. That is why I feel pain in my legs.”

Still, Abha dreams of donning India shirts in the Asian Games and in Olympics. She signed off saying, ”I need to score 6200 points to qualify for the Olympics. My dream to score 6500 points.”