Kudos to Eldhose and Prannoy

Kerala is proud of the Arjuna awards given to athlete Eldhose Paul and badminton player H S Prannoy when this year’s national sports awards were announced. These two awards made Kerala shine in the field of national sports.

The gold medal won in the triple jump at the recent Birmingham Commonwealth Games made Eldhose entitled for the Arjuna Award. Before the Commonwealth Games, Eldhose had gained attention as the first Indian athlete to reach the triple jump final at the World Athletics Championships held in the United States, but he did not have high hopes of winning a medal at the Commonwealth Games. But everyone was surprised by the result in the triple jump. Indian athletes won the gold and silver, both Keralites - Eldhose Paul and Abdullah Abu Baker. Both achieved a historical feat in Birmingham. Eldhose won the gold with a career best of 17.03 m.

Eldhose came through the rough roads of life. This 25-year-old native of Poothrika Palakkamattam, Ernakulam lost his mother when he was four years old. His grandmother Mariamma took care of him after that. Benny, a sports teacher at Alangad Krishnan Elayath Memorial High School, found the sportsman hiding in young Eldhose. Eldhose later joined Mar Athanasius College, Kothamangalam and was polished under various coaches. He got entry to the Indian camp. Eldhose, who qualified for the World Championships and Commonwealth Games after winning gold in the Federation Cup, won the Arjuna Award.

Eldhose has not been able to fully overcome the challenges of life even now. Eldhose lives in his uncle's house with his aged grandmother and differently-abled brother. There is not even a good road for a vehicle to reach his house. The greatness of Eldos is that he faces life with an absolutely positive attitude despite these crises. This Arjuna is only the beginning of many achievements to come to him.

Prannoy should have received this Arjuna Award earlier. He had publicly expressed his ire for rejecting him in the past few years. Not getting the respect they deserve on time can dishearten any sportsperson. In spite of these pains, Prannoy fought hard in the last season and this time he made it impossible to cut his name from the list of award winners.

Prannoy, a native of Thiruvananthapuram, reached the eighth position in the world ranking in 2018. Prannoy started by winning bronze at the 2010 World Junior Badminton Championships and the Youth Olympics and won gold at the 2016 South Asian Games. He was a member of the Indian teams that won gold in the 2018 Commonwealth Games and this year's Thomas Cup. The 30-year-old, who has performed brilliantly in several BWF Open tournaments, got married recently. Let these awards inspire the new generation entering the sports field.