Games and sports in our country are now becoming fast growing arena for girls. In the Olympic games this yearP.V Sindhu, Sakshi Malick and Dipa Karmakar has proved it with all might that girl power dominates the space. Adding to the row of girl power in Indian sports is Mayurakshi Mukherjee.

Kolkata’s Mayurakshi Mukherjee, who is one of the most promising among the young rowers of our countrywas a member of the national team which has won 12 medals in Asian Indoor Rowing Championship held in Pattaya, Thailand recently.

19 years Mayurakshi, who is an engineering student in a private college in Kolkata, has competed in two team events of the championship and won silver and a bronze medals.

Indoor rowing involves a machine called ergometer that is used to simulate the watercraft rowing experience. Starting as a comprehensive practice technique, indoor rowing has increased in stature and is now considered a sport in its own right.

Mayurakshi interest lies in single sculls, which is designed only for one person who balances the boat with two oars. But in Pattaya, Mayurakshi’s events were the 500m mixed sprints and 2km doubles.

In the 500m mixed sprints, two male and female rowers sit on separate ergometers. All the machines are synced. The time each machine takes in covering a virtual distance of 500m is recorded. Then, the net average or cumulative time is calculated. That is considered the time clocked by the team.

The Indian team was tied in second place with South Korea in the mixed event. Both teams clocked 1.33 minutes while Thailand won the gold by finishing the race in 1.30 minutes.In the doubles event, the Indian team came third, clocking 7.38 minutes. Taipei won silver, with seven minutes and 33.8 seconds and Korea bagged gold at 7.20 minutes.

Speaking to Youthens News Mayurakshi said “My parents and my coach Sudip Naha are my biggest inspirations and playing for the country is a different experience altogether, it gives a sense of purpose”.

Mayurakshi became the first girl from Bengal to bring home an international rowing medal after 30 years. “I barely had any international experience under my belt leading up to the Asian Championships. But I was very confident of performing well.”

India bagged 12 medals in total at the Asian Indoor Rowing Championships out of which the Mayurakshi won silver in the Open Mixed Four category and a bronze in Women’s Doubles. Hosts Thailand won the 500m race followed by India and Korea who both managed a timing of 1 minute and 33 seconds. In the 2kms race, India was neck-to-neck with Chinese Taipei for the first 1000m but finished with a bronze after Korea and Taipei finished ahead of Mayurakshi.

The teenager, who lives in Bhowanipur area of Kolkata,started rowing since 11 years of age since her school days. “In school, I was more interested in basketball, swimming and karate. A couple of my basketball teammates introduced me to rowing in 2008. There has been no looking back since then”.

Her first big break came in 2010 when she won bronze in double sculls in the national sub juniors in Roorkee. In the next edition of the sub juniors she was part of the gold-winning Bengal team. Since then, she has won several medals in national, state-level and school-level tournaments.In 2016, she won bronze in single sculls in the national championships for seniors – a first in 25 years for Bengal.

In 2013, she graduated to the junior level and won silver in the nationals in single sculls, her first medal in her favorite event.Next year, she had to take a 10-month break to take her Class XII exams. Mayurakshi is equally good in her studies, she scored letter marks in 5 subjects in her exams.

For the Asian Rowing Championships in Pattaya, Mayurakshi and the other participants had to go through an extensive selection process in Hyderabad one month rigorous training session by National coach.

Sixteen rowers, five girls and 11 boys, went to a camp in Hyderabad after the first round of selections in Calcutta. There, eight boys and four girls got selected for the Asian Championships.

Speaking about handling pressure, the teenager said: “Talking to parents and the coach makes me feel light and handle situations. As they motivates me in every step.”

She attributes her achievements to coach Sudip Naha who himself was a successful rower. On the other hand her coach too have all praises for her while speaking to Youthenshe said “I am training her for 5-6 years, from the very first day I found her different, she is very focus and sincere. She has only two things in her life, Rowing and Study. She is very good studies too. On the other hand her parents too are very supportive and motivating. It is after 30 years a girl from Bengal has earned the medal in the International Championship. I have a big dream with her and have already started towards the goal. The goal is 2020 Tokyo Olympics.”

Now, Mayurakshi has her eyes set on next year’s senior nationals schedule to be in month of January to be held in Bhopal that would serve as a selection platform for the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.

The history of rowing in India is strong with the first clubs starting around the late 1800s, validating the still active Calcutta Rowing Club as one of the oldest in the world. It is where Mayurakshi has her first initiation in Rowing.

Her name might not be a household one now, but Mayurakshi’s performances on the international stage have made everyone take notice of her and draw inspiration. Mayurakshi inspires and motivates the youth when she says “both study and playing sports, earning name and glory for the nation is possible and can be maintained, don’t restrict yourself to just watching sports like Cricket and Football. Come and play, you can balance study and sports, as I can do”.

Tags: Indoor gameMayurakshi MukherjeerowingSportsTokyo Olympics

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