Naga sportspersons need exposure, says Sakshi Malik

Staff Reporter
Dimapur, Oct. 6 (EMN): Professional wrestling in Nagaland needs to be given proper exposure as there are no teams from Nagaland representing India unlike Manipur, according to Rio Olympics bronze medallist wrestler Sakshi Malik.
Addressing a press conference here at Hotel Acacia Dimapur on Friday, the Khel Ratna award winning wrestler said that in order to encourage the sport of wrestling it was important for the state government to extend assistance and provide good facilities.
Malik, a recipient of Padma Shree as well Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, is in Dimapur with her husband Satyawart Kadian – also an Indian wrestler and a recipient of Arjuna Award – to attend the 25 years celebration of St. Mary’s Higher Secondary School Dimapur as the chief guest on Saturday, October 7. Her husband has been invited as the guest of honour.
Malik who is the brand ambassador of ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign in Haryana wants not only to encourage people to take up wrestling but persuade women to take up sports and fight to achieve their passion.
“I started wrestling when I was 12 and there were only a few girls, so I was trained with boys mostly,” said Malik. However, she said, it did not prevent her from following her passion and participate in various competitions.
On her intention of visiting Nagaland, especially for a school programme, the grappler said she wanted to introduce the game and the scope of sports among the students – considering her own experience when there was nobody to encourage her to pursue sport.
While maintaining that in Haryana people tend to engage in sports for the sake of receiving a government job, Malik noted: “Haryana, which is considered as a male-centric society, is witnessing change in mindset with more women getting involved in wrestling and bringing medals for the state which makes it easy for the elders to be flexible and the government accommodating.” This approach, she felt, was needed in Nagaland.
On wrestling’s state of affairs in the national level, Malik acknowledged that India needs room for improvement especially in terms of providing first rate facilities. Supplementing Malik’s comment, her husband Kadian said: “The game spirit mentality need to change as Indian players play with the spirit to earn a living while other countries play to win medals.”
This, he said, was because of the lack of support from the government while other countries had unparalleled support from their governments which creates gap between Indian players and their counterparts from other countries.