ERODE
: For 21-year-old K Keerthana, Silambam was close to her heart even as a child. Her efforts to master the martial art has paid dividends today - she has won two medals, including a gold, in the World Silambam Cchampionship that was held in Malaysia, recently.
Hailing from the tribal hamlet of Ramapuram near Thalavadi, Keerthana is a fourth-year engineering student of a private college in Coimbatore.
Born to Kumar-Jayamma couple, it was her parents who encouraged her to learn the martial art. “When I showed interest in silambam as a child, my parents did everything they could do to help me learn the same.”
Keerthana was trained under coach Sudhakaran, who is all praise for her. “She had won gold in her debut tournament,” the coach recalled, adding, “She also shined in the selection tournament, which was held in Kannyakumari district in the first week of September, for the world championship that was held in Malaysia from October 2 to 6.”
Her parents said they were proud of her daughter’s achievement. “We did not expect our daughter to win two medals. Her achievement has also brought laurels to our hamlet, the inhabitants of which are mostly farmers.”
Talking about the world championship, Keerthana said a total of seven countries including India,
Sri Lanka
, Malaysia and
Bangladesh
, had participated in the event. “There were more than 500 contestants in different categories. The competitions were really tough.”
She won the gold in ‘kambu veechu’ category and bronze in ‘thodu munai’ category.
The residents
of Ramapuram hamlet had extended a rousing welcome to Keerthana on Tuesday evening, when she returned from Malaysia.
Keerthana has appealed the state government to sponsor her to participate in the world championships in future.
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