Team News Riveting
Raipur, April 28
Para athlete Shrimant Jha of Bhilai in Chhattisgarh has been selected for the Asian Para Arm Wrestling Championship to be held in UAE next month.
He has been selected in the 80 kg category. The championship is to be held on May 3, 2023.
By participating in the Paralympic, Shrimant will not only bring laurels for the state of Chhattisgarh but also for the country. Jha wanted to play football at the school level but due to a problem in his right hand, he was not permitted. He joined a nearby gym and learned para-wrestling and started practicing.
Significantly, Shrimant Jha has participated in many national and international competitions earlier. He is currently number one player in Asia and stands at third position in the world’s ranking. He has won 40 medals for the country in various international tournaments.
Shrimant Jha has said that the reservations he faced at a young age made him inspired to become an athlete. The 29-year-old youth from Naxal-affected Chhattisgarh, he faced rejection for the first time when he was in class X.
“When I was in 10th, I wanted to participate in the Inter-School Football National Championship. There were 200 players and I made it to the top-22 but was later rejected due to my disability,” Jha said and recalled it as the turning point of his life.
He said, “At that time, I took the pledge that I would win a medal for my country. I worked hard and now it’s all in the open,” he said, adding that he was rejected by many private organizations during college campus because of his disability and it was multinational company Jindal Steel and Power that provided him a respectable placement. He is presently working as an engineer in the company.
Naveen Jindal, Chairman of Jindal Steel and Power, has also congratulated Shrimant for the feat and extended best wishes for a good performance.
