Jun Taki

ITANAGAR, Apr 13: Katu Yomcha, 29 year-old from Yomcha Village under West Siang, made history this weekend when she become the first woman to win a silver medal in the 6th International strength lifting & inclined bench press championship held at Bali, Indonesia.

But sadly for a young sportswoman like Katu who made her state proud and the country as a whole, her feat is yet to be acknowledged by the government and most unfortunate is that she did not even make it to the headlines.

The government has been blamed of meting out carelessness towards sportspersons pursuing lesser known sports disciplines, Yomcha’s case is a prime example as she is still struggling to find a foothold and waiting to get due appreciation.

In fact the champion’s family and clan members claim that her triumphant homecoming also went unnoticed and concern sports authority failed to depute anyone from their side to welcome her at the railway station.

According to family members, Yomcha was provided almost no support by the government and they had to bear almost the entire cost of training to travel expenses till date. However thanks to Galo Welfare society (GWS), Kargu Kardi Student Union (KKSU), Galo People federation (GPF) including  well well-wishers who voluntarily  sponsored all her travel expenses including coaching fees through collective donations to facilitate her dream.

“Fund constraints were never a deterrent to my aspirations, but the lack of support or empathy occasionally does demoralize me,” said Katu.

Maintaining that she has no hard feelings against government, she however observed that it will be good if Strength lifting sports is included in state sports calendar with facilities and its players provided incentives at par with other sports.

“It’s high time our state shifts the attention to lesser known sports also and players, both men and women,” she noted.

Born to Damra Yomcha and Terbi (Ronya) Yomcha, she was brought up at Lipu village under Yomcha circle. From a very young age, Yomcha was fascinated by sports activities with many accolades to her credit during schooling to college days.

She also won gold medal in state level Arm wrestling tournamens in 2015 and then a year later represented the state in the national level competition held at Madhya Pradesh in 2016 where she clinched a bronze medal.  There she met Pema Dorjee Bhutia- her mentor who encouraged her to pursue Strength lifting sport.

Knowing that it's not going to be an easy switch, but with continuous persuasion from Pema, she decided to quit Arm wrestling to try her hand at strength lifting sports.

Left to her own devices though, she  started her training by viewing youtube videos and practice lesson videos sent by her mentor through whatsapp and went on to win second place in the recently concluded 6th international Strength lifting at Indonesia held from April 7-10 last.

"I am being really optimistic right now. All I want to do is to go the extra mile and bring glory for my country and state by winning more medals, and then popularize this particular sports among the young generation,” she adds.

She stressed that the government must think beyond regular games and promote other sports as well. “If govt gives full support in encouraging Strength lifting sport then players like me can do wonders,” she quips.

Katu is presently working as a casual computer operator in PWD department.

Meanwhile, the Director of Sports, Tadar Appa clarified that he had no idea about the development as she (Katu) haven’t approached the department.  He however stated that Department never discriminates or deprives any sportsperson and is always ready to help and encourage  those who approach through proper channel.

But regarding this competition the director informed that the department has yet to receive any kind of application or information. 

It has to be confirmed if she participated in the competition or was Invitee participant, because there is lots of procedure to participate in International level competition, Tadar added.         

 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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