Manoharan Janakiraman is a 31-year-old visually impaired Judo player from Sholavaram, a small town in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He is also a medalist of the Para Asian Games and Commonwealth Judo championship. Full of hope, he flew to Azerbaijan in May this year to participate in the Baku Grand Prix, one of two Paralympics qualifying rounds, but Covid-19 cut short the player’s dream as he tested positive while in Azerbaijan and couldn’t participate in the game.
Shalini S | TwoCircles.net
TAMIL NADU – The metal shed which Manoharan calls a dojo (training hall) can be easily mistaken for a godown. That’s where he trains to win his Paralympic medal. It was beginning to scorch inside the shed as the player recounted his ten-year journey in martial arts and his recent loss of opportunity to participate in the Baku Judo Grandprix as he contracted Covid-19. The player couldn’t secure a quota to qualify for the Paralympics (2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympics) scheduled to be held in Tokyo, Japan between August 24 and September 5, 2021.
Manoharan Janakiraman is a 31-year-old visually impaired Judo player from Sholavaram, a small town in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He is also a medalist of the Para Asian Games and Commonwealth Judo championship. Full of hope, he flew to Azerbaijan in May this year to participate in the Baku Grand Prix, one of two Paralympics qualifying rounds, but Covid-19 cut short the player’s dream as he tested positive while in Azerbaijan and couldn’t participate in the game.
“I was the only one who contracted the virus. I felt like I wasn’t as strong as I thought I would be. I was angry and frustrated as I couldn’t participate in the game. I tested positive as soon as I landed at Baku airport on May 20 and was isolated. I was helpless. All the contacts I had stored on my mobile got deleted accidentally. I couldn’t contact anyone or talk to the doctors. The language was a huge barrier even to communicate with other Indian team members who came along with me as none of them could speak Tamil,” he told TwoCircles.net.
He was accompanied by three other players from India and in-charge Munawar Anzar Ali, from the Indian Blind and Para Judo Association in Uttar Pradesh.
Manoharan said that he was unaware of what was going on around him and where exactly he was admitted as there was no one to assist him.
He said he was gutted when he knew that he was asymptomatic and his results came back negative quickly within a few days, right on the day of his match on May 25. “I do not know the name of the hotel we stayed in or the hospital I was treated at as I can’t read or mobilise in a new place all by myself. When I was brought back to the hotel from the hospital, they just dropped me in the reception area. I didn’t know where my room was, so I had to call our in charge several times. When the other players knew I contracted the virus, they mostly stayed away out of fear,” he recounted.
Manoharan said that he had to crowdfund money for his travelling expenses but didn’t succeed. He couldn’t participate in the second Paralympics qualifying round held in Britain earlier last month due to a lack of financial support.
“My family is in great dearth of money amid lockdown. I am yet to pay for the medical expenses for my Covid treatment in Azerbaijan. It is stressful to collect funds and concentrate on training at the same time,” he said.
Women para Judo players from the state of Tamil Nadu have already quit the sport due to a lack of support from the government and pressure from their families to follow a career in which they can make money. The hope of getting cash incentives for winning medals in national and international games is also bleak for the players and the demand is a long-standing one.
Manoharan had also previously missed a chance to participate in the World Judo Championship in 2014 for the same reason. At that time, he worked as a coolie in a plastic company to support his family. “If the government provided proper incentives and financial support for players like me, it would make things easier,” he said ruefully.
“My friends motivated me a little after I came back to India. Few even said that I might get selected by the paralympic committee since my world ranking is 31st under B1 classification (no functional vision) – 73 kg. I am clinging on to it for hope but it’s not confirmed,” Manoharan said.
Talking to TwoCircles.net, Coach Uma Shankar from the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) in Chennai said that fund allocation for the Para sports are largely overlooked by the state.
The facilities provided at SDAT for the Para Judo players are only recent (as Para Judo was prominently established in India only around 2010) and players with disabilities from other districts cannot afford to travel to Chennai for practice. They either have to create a self–poised sports environment like Manoharan or give up their sports dream.
Manoharan hits the mat every single day to practice harder than before to grab hold of every opportunity that comes his way. He also coaches 40 students, both disabled and non-disabled children and youngsters in his locality for free.
“Before opening a training hall in Sholavaram, we practised in open space, nearby rivers, temples, under huge banyan trees, and wherever we could find a place,” Manoharan added, as he prepared to train for the day.