Daughters of farm labourers to represent Andhra in kabaddi at KIYG 2021
Jun 05, 2022
Panchukla (Haryana)[India], June 5 : Ten youngsters out of 12 in Andhra Pradesh's kabaddi girls team are from a small hamlet of Kapusambham near Vizianagaram. Even more amazingly, they are all children of farm labourers.
The excited girls have arrived in Panchkula for the Khelo India Youth Games not only to battle it out for a medal but also to become future sporting icons. Nearly 5000 athletes, including 2,262 girls, will be jostling for gold and glory over the next 10 days in 25 exciting sports, including 5 indigenous games.
The race for supremacy will get underway on Sunday itself, with as many 25 gold medals in weight-lifting, wrestling, cycling, yogasana and gatka up for grabs.
Vandana Suryakala turns feisty when people ask her about her parents' background. "So what?" she retorts. "Each one has a profession and my parents are labourers by profession. And I am very proud of them."
Suryakala made her debut at the Games on Friday and has already underlined her prowess. The young raider scored 14 whopping points in their Group match at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium to help beat Chhattisgarh 40-28.
"I started off as a runner because I used to sprint to the fields when I was a child. But when I turned 7, I switched to kabaddi after seeing all my friends play it. I quickly got a hang of it and there has been no turning back, " she said.
Another debutante, Munakala Devika, a student of GNR Junior College, talks along similar lines: "We are proud of our parents and it is because of them that we are here. They have encouraged us to play the game, giving us all the support that I need."
As and when the cheerful girls are not competing or at camps, they are more than happy to help out their parents in the fields. They are waiting for the day when they can buy fields for their own parents.
