Shanthi - Poor Girl brought India silver medal (Asian Games)

[joe]

Guys,
Look at this..
http://sivabalanblog.blogspot.com/2006/12/blog-post_10.html

Shanthi who won silver medal in asian games (800 meters)

when I see shanthi's parents photo,I couldn't control my tears .I don't think they are educated enough to understand what their daughter achived.

I don't know how many shanti s are unidentified in India ..Long live Cricket :oops:

[Sanguine Sridhar]

Yeah that is a great news!! :clap:

add to that yesterday woman team won gold medal in 4*100 relay race and men team won silver medal in 4*100 relay! :D

[rocketboy]

I first came to know of this girl when the National meet was held sometime ago . She was the one who helped TamilNadu women team bag the gold metal in 4 * 100 m relay event. Its too early to compare her with P.T. Usha , but I feel she will emulate the legend. Again the media will take no notice of this feat . Damn it :twisted: Ellam cricket endra oru @#@$$%$%(ketta vaarthai) game naalathan.

[Sanguine Sridhar]

yesterday india won 2 gold medals in men doubles(paes & bhupathy) and mixed doubles (sania & paes) and one silver medal in womans singles(sania) :thumbsup:

paes was crying when our national flag was flying higher,during presentation anybody saw that emotional minutes? :D

these are the other victories which i saw yesterday

indian team won bronze in archery,
india won silver in sailing, bronze in 60 kg wrestling, bronze in womans hockey by beating korea- very thrilling match :)

india losed to malaysia in the squash - semi's anyway today India's saurav will play for bronze medal

india failed to convert silver and bronze to gold (around 35 medals) else it would have been a differnt story! 8-)

[ajithfederer]

:clap: shanthi

[MADDY]

This girl should be given a very good prize money by the govt. 8-)

[RR]

From sify: http://sify.com/sports/others/fullstory.php?id=14348307

Shanthi - A silver medallist's tale of rags to riches

Pudukkottai: Only a very few in Pudukkottai district knew that a village called ‘Kathakkurichi' existed, but now the village had become the centre of discussion with S Shanthi, winning the silver medal in the 800 metres event at the ongoing Doha Asian Games.

Hailing from Kathakkurichi village, S Shanthi was born to a poor family. But her poverty never came as a hurdle to her rise as a talented runner on the track, which was reflected in the Doha Asian Games, where she brought laurels to her village.

Not only the village, but the whole of Tamil Nadu rejoiced her victory.

At Shanthi's house the atmosphere is exuberant. The road leading to her house is converged with her well-wishers and mediapersons.

Her parents M Soundararajan (61) and S Manimekalai (48) are delighted at their daughter's feat.

Full coverage: Doha Asian Games 2006

''My daughter had brought laurels not only to the family, but also to the nation'' he proudly said.

Though Soundararajan's forefathers had settled in Sri Lanka, he returned to India during 1974s and settled down in this village.

Till recently, both Soundararajan and his wife Manimekalai were labourers in a brick kiln. But, poor health had forced them to stay indoors and currently their livelihood depended on the little money, they earn by rearing two cows, that too brought with the financial assistance of Rs one lakh sanctioned by former Chief Minister J Jayalalitha as a gesture for Shanthi’s medal winning performance in the National Athletics Meet.

For Shanthi her late grandfather, a veteran athlete in Sri Lanka, was her inspiration. His motivated and encouraged her to take athletics seriously from her young age. From tenth standard she actively started participating in district-level sport meets under the guidance of her school physical education teachers.

Shanti's interest in sports was never limited to one discipline.

She displayed immense interest and keenness in hockey, javelin throw, high jump and long jump.

Though her forte was sports, her academics never lagged behind.

She had completed Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) and is presently pursuing Post-Graduation in Chennai.

To her credit, Shanthi had won a lot of medals in different events in numerous state-level and national meets.

For the seven-member family, which included her parents and four siblings, Shanthi's sports career had been a blessing as the family at crisis depended on the cash rewards she received after winning many events.

''Presently, Shanthi's success and hard work had inspired my younger daughter Sarala and son Devendran. They have taken up sports seriously and are practising a lot,'' Soudararajan said.

He said the family was thankful to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi and the state government for rewarding Rs 15 lakh for their daughter's achievement.

He appealed to the Chief Minister to provide Shanthi with a government job.

Though the Doha Games never caught the attention of the people in Pudukkottai, now the entire district is awaiting eagerly to see the 1500 metres event at Doha Asian Games on December 14, in which Shanthi would be participating.

BTW, India managed to reach 10 golds..!

http://sify.com/sports/others/index.php

At one stage they were below Singapore :( [tscii:36b02ea0bc][/tscii:36b02ea0bc]

[rocketboy]

Indian Hockey team on an all time low. This time it is not in contention for even a bronze medal. It lost to China , a rookie :( .

[Sanguine Sridhar]

politics!! they dropped dhanraj pillai without any reason! :(

[MADDY]

http://www.rediff.com/sports/2006/dec/18test.htm?zcc=rl

Wat the heck is this?? :oops:

[selvakumar]

http://www.rediff.com/sports/2006/dec/18test.htm?zcc=rl

Wat the heck is this?? :oops:

I read this in DINAKARAN as well :shock: :lol: Sad STuff ! This is why I always keep my fingers crossed for atleast a month before appreciating medal winners at Olympics / Asian games etc :oops: :oops:

[Nerd]

TN Government honors Shanti :confused2: :?

http://www.ibnlive.com/news/despite-row-chennai-honours-santhi/28736-5.html

[asan]

seems that they are going to take away the medal after performing a gender test