This was in Kolhapur, a city in southwestern Maharashtra with a heady blend of that potential, popularity and passion for sports.
Not confined to just football. From about 18,000 spectators flocking to watch Maharashtra play West Bengal in last month's Santosh Trophy game to delivering a consistent battery of international shooters, from carrying forward the centuries-old legacy of kusthi (wrestling) to producing a couple of age-group national tennis champions recently, the land famous for its spicy cuisine carries an equally rich sporting flavour.
One that gave the country Khashaba Jadhav, the 1952 Helsinki Games bronze-winning wrestler who was independent India's first individual Olympic medallist.
And world-class shooters in Tejaswini Sawant, Rahi Sarnobat and, among others, Swapnil Kusale, who earned a quota spot for the 2024 Paris Olympics at last year's Cairo World Championships. And Virdhawal Khade, the 2010 Asiad bronze medallist swimmer. And Aniket Jadhav, the footballer who was part of India's U-17 FIFA World Cup squad and currently plies for Odisha FC in the Indian Super League. And tennis hopefuls Sandesh Kurale, the 2021 U-18 national champion, and Aishwarya Jadhav, India No 1 among U-14 girls last year.
For a small town limited in facilities, infrastructure and exposure, Kolhapur is more about a fine sporting culture than just an odd freak talent.
A lot of it is down to its deep-rooted history. Under the reign of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj (1894-1922) who had an avid interest in sports, several wrestling mud akharas-known as talims were built all around the city. Those talims still occupy pride of place in every nook and corner of Kolhapur.
Except now, it extends beyond wrestling. And so, seven of the 16 A Division football clubs in the city are born out of a talim.
This story is from the February 05, 2023 edition of Hindustan Times.
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This story is from the February 05, 2023 edition of Hindustan Times.
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