“More Excited Than Nervous”: Joga Purty, Deepu Mallesh Ready for Asian Games Debut

New Delhi, Sep 24: Making debuts on a large stage can be a nerve-wracking task, but for Joga Purty and Deepu Mallesh, the prospect of representing the country in the Asian Games brings excitement rather than nervousness.

The 19-year-old Joga and 28-year-old Deepu will represent India's challenge in sport climbing at the Asian Games, with their competitions scheduled to begin on September 29. Climbing was introduced to the Asian Games in 2018 and made its Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Games. India is yet to win a medal in the sport at the continental event.

Joga's entry into climbing was almost accidental. The Jamshedpur teenager had accompanied her brother and friends to the Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (TSAF) Sport Climbing Academy, where she tried climbing out of curiosity.

"I knew nothing about sport climbing," Joga told PTI. "While there, I ended up trying it myself. A coach noticed my potential and told my brother to bring me again. Eventually it became a routine and my career."

Joga, whose father runs a small grocery shop from their home in Jamshedpur, went on to make rapid progress. She broke her own national record at the Asian Championships this year, finishing among the top 16 to secure her place at the Asian Games.

Deepu's association with climbing began when he was around 11 or 12. A school coach introduced him to the sport, and the youngster, who was already involved in several sports, soon found himself drawn to climbing.

"I was a very active child, and I played other sports in school too. Once I got introduced to sport climbing, I thought this is a bit different from regular sports," he said.
Deepu has been competing on the senior circuit since 2019 and is also a national gold medallist. Based in Bengaluru, he now divides his time between training and coaching young climbers.

"Right now my only passion is climbing. Most of my time is spent on training and coaching other kids," he said.

Asian Games Debut Brings Excitement Over Nerves

The Asian Games will present a major challenge for the two climbers, but neither is allowing the occasion to become overwhelming.

"I do feel the pressure of performance, but more than that I am excited to compete at such a massive platform. I feel proud that people of my country would be watching me. More than pressure, I feel proud," Joga said.

Deepu echoed that sentiment, saying his focus would be on delivering his best rather than worrying about the scale of the event.

"I am excited, actually, not so much nervous. I am not putting too much pressure on myself, but I want to deliver a good performance and feel that I gave it my 100 per cent," he said.

The Indian climbing contingent was originally expected to comprise eight athletes, but the squad was subsequently reduced to two after selection criteria requiring athletes to be among Asia's top eight.

The pair will travel with only a coach as support staff. While both acknowledged that additional assistance such as a physiotherapist would have been useful, they do not expect its absence to affect their performances significantly.

"We can do it nevertheless. It is not that we specifically wanted it but had they been there, it would have been better," Deepu said.

Shuttling From Terrains Of Unfamiliarity To Making A Career

For Joga, pursuing climbing also meant overcoming initial reservations within her family.
Her parents were initially reluctant to let her pursue the sport, particularly because she was a young girl travelling for training. Her brother eventually convinced them to support her.

"Eventually, after I won a gold medal at the national level and my picture appeared in local newspapers, my parents felt a sense of pride in my achievements and never stopped me after that," she recalled.

Joga said the support she received from the TSAF academy was crucial to her development. Without access to proper facilities and equipment, she believes pursuing climbing at an elite level would have been difficult.

"I had support; that's why I could pursue it. Otherwise, I wouldn't have. It's a difficult sport to pursue because our equipment is a lot if we have to compete at the highest level," she said.

She has also seen talented climbers leave the sport because they lacked adequate facilities and support.

Deepu believes climbing is steadily gaining popularity in Indian cities, with growing interest in places such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Pune. However, he feels athletes still need greater opportunities to compete internationally.

"From an athlete's point of view, we are not getting enough support to go out and compete. That's what we are missing right now," he said.

Looking beyond the Asian Games

Sport climbing consists of three disciplines - lead, boulder and speed. While lead involves scaling a taller wall while secured to ropes, bouldering is contested on shorter walls without ropes. Speed climbing is a head-to-head race on a standard 15-metre wall, with the fastest athlete winning.

The sport will have six medal events at the Los Angeles Olympics, increasing the opportunities for climbers on the global stage.

For India, however, the immediate focus is on the Asian Games and the chance to make an impression in a sport where the country is still searching for its first continental medal.
For Joga and Deepu, their debut is also an opportunity to showcase a discipline that remains relatively unfamiliar to much of the country.