Kick-Boxing needs more State patronage, says Harsha who won two Senior National gold medals

Harsha a B.Tech graduate and a post-graduate diploma holder in Disaster Management, this spirited boxer is clearly fighting heavy odds off the ring as he chases bigger dreams of clinching honours on the international stage abroad

HYDERABAD: He ventured into the Iskimos Kick-Boxing Academy just to stay fit in 2012. But, little did Harsha Ratnakar realise that within a decade, he would be winning a bagful of medals, including two Senior National gold and two silver in International Open championships.

This, despite the sport never getting its due, though the Indian Federation has been affiliated to the world body and sending teams abroad.

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Ironically, the 30-year-old Harsha, now a junior assistant in Commercial Taxes Department of Telangana Government, reminds in a chat with ‘Telangana Today’ that the bronze medallist from Punjab got a cash incentive of Rs 10 lakhs and a promotion in the Police Department while he being a silver medallist in the same competition doesn’t even get cursory appreciation!

Fresh from his second gold (the only gold for Telangana while his teammates won two silver) in the recently held Senior Nationals in Raipur in the ring full contact (81 kg) category, Harsha is undeterred and clearly looking ahead.

A B.Tech graduate and a post-graduate diploma holder in Disaster Management, this spirited boxer is clearly fighting heavy odds off the ring as he chases bigger dreams of clinching honours on the international stage abroad.

“Years after implementing the old Sports Policy, which doesn’t recognise kick-boxing, the new Sports Policy has given interim recognition to kick-boxing to be reviewed after one year. So, there is hope of better things to come,” said Harsha, who owes his career to ‘Master’ Suresh Patil.

It is not just sport that he wants to stay focused; he made serious attempts to get into the prelims after taking a break from the ring in 2016 (made it thrice to the civil services finals) before being back to where he belonged to in 2022.

Clearly, this is yet another success story in a sport which has no Godfathers and no takers in the higher-ups of the sports administration, while the lesser mortals with ‘no qualification’ are given high-profile postings just because they play the high-profile sport.

“What we (about 15000 train and compete at different levels in the State regularly) need is some recognition and a reassuring touch to let us pursue the sport with passion,” signs off Harsha, keen to script more success stories.