She walks on hopes

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It would be a long, pretty haul for Kozhikode girl A.M. Bincy to the National Junior Athletic Championship, to be held in Pune from May 8 to 10.

She’s full of confidence as she’s preparing for the 10 km race walking for the first time in her career under V.P. Haridasan, one of the handful of race-walking coaches in Kerala.

A.M. Bincy is one of the leading race walkers in the State in her age category, and has so far shown impeccable performance in the national meets she has participated, clinching gold in the two previous meets in the 5 km and 3 km categories.

The 16-year-old who has qualified for the junior athletic championship is now diligently training under Haridasan in the 10 km event.

“This is the first time she’s participating in the event, and for the past one month we have been training her for this,” says Haridasan, who has coached several national race walkers from the sleepy village of Maniyur near Vadakara in Kozhikode.

“The event calls for a lot of concentration and hard work. It’s not as easy as we see it. There are several chances to be fouled, as one of the legs has to be on the ground all the time, at any point of the game, and only a dedicated player can pursue it,” says Haridasan.

“A player must have special techniques and must mould her natural walking ability in an artificial way to excel in the event.

Besides, more work must be done by the coach as he has to walk with the athlete all the way to correct her,” says the former Kozhikode university player.

“My aim is to make her a gold medalist in the 20 km race. For that, a lot of dedication and effort are needed. It’s not that easy to change from 5 km to 10 km, and then to 20 km, walking suddenly.

However, within two to three years, she will be in the national arena, if everything goes well,” he said.
Haridas has coached several players including K.T. Irfan, who has won gold in 20 km race walking in the Federation Cup on Monday.