From Kannagi Nagar to Bahrain: Kabaddi star Karthika walks the talk with Asian Youth Games gold

CHENNAI: “Our ultimate aim is to make Kannagi Nagar a brand,” Kabbadi player R Karthika told DT Next a year ago, referring to the negative perceptions about her neighbourhood and how she and her teammates want to change that through their winning ways in Kabaddi. She was not part of the national set-up then, yet she exuded confidence.

A year on, Karthika has walked the talk—and how! The Class 12 student of Kannagi Nagar government school was the vice-captain of the Indian girls (U-18) team that remained unbeaten throughout the tournament and beat Iran 75-21 in the final to bag the gold at the Asian Youth Games in Bahrain on Thursday.

At the Isa Sports City arena in Riffa, Bahrain, Indian and Tamil Nadu Kabaddi fans turned up in sizeable numbers to cheer the team.

“Some turned up with banners welcoming Karthika to Bahrain. It was a sweet gesture on their part and a proud moment for all of us,” said K Raji (28), who coaches Karthika and the Kannagi Nagar

Kabaddi team. Talk about making Kannagi Nagar a brand.

More than 20,000 low-income group families reside in Kannagi Nagar and Ezhil Nagar tenements, hidden along the bustling IT Corridor. The girls in the team are students at the government schools in Kannagi Nagar and Thoraipakkam, and their parents are from the working class.

“About one lakh people live in our neighbourhood, most of whom are honest and hardworking. The number of people who indulge in crimes may be about 500, which is less than 1% of the population.

Yet, it is portrayed as if they represent the whole Kannagi Nagar,” said Raji, who, inspired by a local girls’ team he grew up watching in his playing days, formed the girls’ team in 2018.

Congratulatory messages have been pouring in for Karthika, including from Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, who handles the Sports and Youth Welfare portfolio.

“In our journey, we have experienced success and failures, and a little bit of adulation too. But, this is the first time we are experiencing how it feels to be celebrated,” Raji said.

Her mother, R Saranya (34), told DT Next that her usually verbose daughter was at a loss for words after the final. “Sirichitte dan irundha (All she did was giggle throughout the video call),” Saranya said. Her younger sister, R Kaviya, was part of the bronze medal-winning TN team in the Khelo India Youth Games earlier this year.Karthika is already on the radar of the senior team, and was part of the national camp held in Haryana in May.

Saranya used to work as a cleanliness worker with the civic body. After her daughters started playing Kabaddi, she bought an auto-rickshaw to drive them around. Her husband, Ramesh, is a construction worker.

When Karthika expressed wish to play Kabaddi, it was Saranya who gave the go-ahead despite opposition from family members.

“Whatever she achieved on the Kabaddi mat is through her own skills and her coach’s guidance. The only thing I taught my daughter was to not cry for anything,” Saranya told DT Next.

The people in the neighbourhood are preparing for a grand welcome for Karthika, who is expected to land in the city from Bahrain on Sunday. That Karthika’s achievements fell within a week of Deepavali has made procuring crackers an easier task.

“This (Karthika’s achievement) is only the beginning. Every girl should play for the country and Kannagi Nagar should be known as Sports Nagar,” said Raji. To this day, the Kannagi Nagar girls practice in the corner of a Corporation park. A long-time request of the team has been to set up an indoor Kabaddi facility in Kannagi Nagar.