Tribune News Service
Ravi Dhaliwal
Gurdaspur, July 2
City judoka Jasleen Saini has developed a knack of fighting poverty and his adversaries with equal adeptness. He has displayed this trait on innumerable occasions in the past, and did so once again at the senior open Taipei Asian championship on Saturday, where he knocked out South Korea’s Chanwoo Park to win gold medal in the 66kg weight category.
He has already qualified for the Hangzhou Asian games and is now eyeing a berth for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Belonging to a poor family, Saini is perennially short on funds. He had lost the hope of travelling to Taipei because paucity of funds, but some judo lovers based in the US and Delhi came to his aid and sponsored him.
“There is no shame in being poor. But what hurts is when a player of his talent is forced to hold a begging bowl ahead of international championships. He is a class player, but what will class do in the absence of finances?” asked coach Amarjit Shastri.
“Worrying about hotel bills, travel and food leaves less capacity to think ahead. Hence, poverty imposes a mental tax,” Saini told The Tribune.
In order to pursue his Olympics dream, it is imperative that he took part in three Grand Prix tournaments spread over June and July. All these are Olympics qualifiers. After his Taipei triumph, he is more confident than ever and aims to go all out to accumulate enough points to earn a continental quota slot for the Paris Olympics. Each continent has a certain number of quota places that are allocated to the athletes with the highest number of points bagged in the qualifiers.
His father is a laboratory attendant in a local college. With at least Rs 2 lakh needed for each of the three Grand Prix tourneys, Saini needs at least a Rs 6 lakh sponsorship package.
A constable in the PAP, he intends to seek the help of DGP Gaurav Yadav and Dubai-based businessman SPS Oberoi, whose charitable initiatives in Punjab are well known. Ever since he won a gold medal in the Cadet (u-17) open Asian championship in Taipei in 2015 as a 15-year-old, his coaches have been fighting to ensure their protégé does not miss any tournament.
