16 city boys win 30 medals in Silambam championship held in Sri Lanka

Coimbatore: Sixteen Silambam champions made the city proud by winning 30 medals in various categories at the first South Asian Silambam Championship held in Sri Lanka last week. Nearly 64 students were selected across the country by the All India Silambam Federation. The event was held at Nuwara Eliya in Sri Lanka from October 2 to 6.P Selvakumar, who runs Silambalaya, said the events held were - stick fight, sural vaal vichu, single stick rotation and vel kambu vichu. For stick fights alone, there were various weight categories from 40kg to 80kg. “Silambam championships have been held at the Asian and international level. But this was the first time that a South Asian event was held for the participants of India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal,” he said. S Sudhakar, physical education director of Karpagam University said, “Totally, 150 participants took part in the event from all the four countries. We learnt a lot from the other participants as each country has a unique style of martial art. This was a great exposure for the 40 participants from Tamil Nadu as many of them were participating in an international event for the first time,” he said.V Krishnakumar, one of the participants who is studying in class 10 at ALG matriculation higher secondary school, said he was scared to event get on to the flight. “This was the first time, I was travelling outside the country and it was my first flight. I was very scared. But I am happy that I could win a medal for the country,” he said. He won three medals, one gold in stick fighting, one silver in sural vaal veechu and one bronze in vel kambu. S Sarnraj, who is a final year college student, won gold in sural vaal veechu and bronze in stick fighting and nedu kambu veechu. “I love this martial art and since my father has been training me since childhood, I have always enjoyed it. I hope that I win at the world championship as well,” he said.B Karthikeyan who is the co-ordinator of the boys and girls club for the Coimbatore city police said that they had given a ground at Puliyakulam to these children to train. “We hope more such championships are held to help these children get better exposure,” he said.