Braving all odds, Telangana boy leaps to gold
Kothuri Pranay, 16, from Nakkalapally in Mancherial district clinched gold in the under-16 high jump event at the ongoing Junior National athletic championship in Guwahati.
Hyderabad: Here is another perfect script for a Tollywood or Bollywood biopic. Kothuri Pranay, 16, from Nakkalapally in Mancherial district clinched gold in the under-16 high jump event at the ongoing Junior National athletic championship in Guwahati. Pranay followed up with his bronze medal on Monday, with a gold medal when he scaled 1.89 metres to corner the glory.
“I am so happy as I won two medals at this meet. The year 2020 was one of the toughest for me and my family because of the Covid-19 pandemic. We had to struggle for food as my father could not go for work. It was hard times,” said Pranay, the son of an agricultural labourer, Lingaiah.
Despite all the hardships, his training did not stop, thanks to the Telangana Social Welfare Residential School (TSWRS) initiative. “I got a monthly stipend for diet. It allowed me to continue with my training programme. The school would send monthly scholarship for the diet while Ramesh would conduct online training sessions and I would follow the instructions accordingly,” he said from Guwahati.
Dronacharya Awardee N Ramesh said this is one of the highly successful initiatives by the Gopichand and Mytrah Foundation Sports (GMFS) and TSWRS. “It helped athletes like Nandini, Pranay, Deepthi to continue with the training as TSWRS would send money for their diet while GMFS provided daily physios and training at Sports Authority of Telangana State’s Athletic Stadium at Gachibowli. Today these athletes have made us proud at the National meet,’’ he said.
Ramesh said Pranay always showed the promise. “Last year, he won the gold medal in the under-14 high jump event. Being spotted at a local event, he was lucky to get shifted to Shaikpet Telangana Social Welfare Residential School (TSWRS) and he has been one of the bright prospects,” he said.
RS Praveen Kumar IPS, secretary of TSWRS, and Ramesh were instrumental in Pranay pursuing his dream when the high jump pit at Gachibowli got worn out and was not in condition for training. “At this stage, Praveen immediately ordered a high jump pit worth Rs 1.25 lakh for Pranay to continue with his training. Today that dedication and hard work has paid off. This boy has a long way to go in athletics,” he added.
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