Rajashree, new athletics star on horizon

KOLKATA: Bengal girl Rajashree Prasad set the track ablaze in Hyderabad to claim the sprint double in the just-concluded National youth athletics meet, helping the youngster from Ichapur seal a berth in the Indian squad for the Youth Asian Games and the World School meet, to be held in France in June.
Rajashree took to athletics just like any other game when she got into primary school.It was the school games teacher who noticed her talent and encouraged her to pursue it seriously.
“I like the 100 and 200m dash although I competed in 400m earlier,” Rajashree told TOI on returning to the city on Tuesday.
Both her parents had a sporting background and backed Rajashree. “My father was a footballer but had to leave the game due to family commitments. My mother is also very supportive and used to accompany me when I went for training. She used to be a gymnast at the district level once,” informed Rajashree, the younger of two daughters. Her elder sister didn’t have a knack for sport and has settled down to family life after getting married.
Rajashree started training intensively under coach Gopal Debnath at the Jaunpur academy in Kanchapara. She soon made her presence felt in various age-group competitions in the state.
Gold-medal winner in the state athletics meet last year, she went on to claim silver in 100m at the junior Federation Cup championships. And now, success in the National youth meet.
In Hyderabad, she won the 100m in 12.33s and 200m in 25.22s. Both, however, were below her personal best.
“I wanted to improve my personal best timings, but that somehow did not happen. I will try to better that mark on my next attempt,” said the Class XI student, whose best in 100 and 200 are 11.93 and 24.68, respectively. The 17-year-old, though, was happy to have improved on her bronze-medal finish in the last youth Nationals in Coimbatore.
Earlier this year, Rajshree clocked 12.17 secs to win the National School Games title in Pune.
Bengal coach Animesh Ray couldn’t hide her excitement at seeing Rajshree emerge as a major talent. “She is a real big prospect,” he said. “We are hopeful that she will make it big one day.”