24 March,2011 06:43 AM IST | | Ashutosh Patil
Names of three city athletes, who were about to miss the sporting extravaganza, find mention in the final list of Special Olympics
It's official. Three city girls, who were most likely to miss the bus to Athens because of delay in issuance of their passports, are finally going to represent the nation in the Special Olympics World Summer Games, starting June 25.
The MiD DAY report on March 9
The much-awaited list of athletes and coaches participating in the 10-day sporting extravaganza has been published.
MiD DAY carried a story (on March 9) on how the special athletes from Mentally Destitute Children's Home, Mankhurd, were about to miss the games because of late submission of passports to the international committee of the games.
The next day, the state had hurriedly issued their passports and Special Olympics Bharat Maharashtra officials had assured that girls' names would figure in the final list of 22 athletes.
The Olympics committee has kept its promise, but names of four other special children from Pune do not find mention in the list. The athletes could not make it to the final list because of delay in submission of their passports, which Pune passport office failed to clear on time.
The list includes the names of cycling champ Meri Manda, badminton player Sakhu Nagarkar, volleyball player Heena and handball player Kavita. The Children's Home superintendent, Anil Gite, said, "Now we feel relieved.
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The passports of the girls were delayed over two weeks and we had lost all hopes.
But thankfully the issue was reported in the media which mounted pressure on the government machinery to process their documents faster and ensure that the girls don't miss the bus to Athens."
The trio, who had qualified for state and national games, has been practicing hard for the past three years. "Their hard work could have gone down the drain because of the delay in submission of passports.
But now the girls are more than happy and are practising with renewed vigour," said their coach Manasi Sawant, who will accompany them to Athens.
But the Children's Home officials are not taking any chances when it comes to their training.
They have roped in a special coach for training the girls. Manish Gray, a national level hockey player and coach for several sports academies in the city, is busy in training these girls along with Manasi Sawant for the past six months.
While the Children's Home officials at Mankhurd are feeling triumphant, four other special children from Pune have lost the battle.
When MiD DAY contacted Sandra Vaz, area director, Special Olympics Bharat Maharashtra, she said, " Pune children couldn't submit the passports on time.
Some other children have replaced them. While the case of Pune children was also similar to Mankhurd inmates, their passports were delayed as the Pune Passport office delayed the verification of the documents."
Ashok Nangre, coach of Pune children's home, said, "We had applied in January, but some fake passports were found by Pune Passport office in last few days and that delayed the verification process of all applicants during that period and we suffered for it."
Volleyball player Bhupesh Kothari(22) and Nisha Chinchole (21), cyclist Bharat Patil (21), handball player Varsha Nagarale (17) have missed the opportunity to represent the nation at the Special Olympics.
The special athletes will gather in Delhi in the first week of June, attend a small training session and then will fly to Athens. Nineteen athletes and two coaches have been listed from Maharashtra.
FAST FACTS
>The Special Olympics World Summer Games Athens 2011 will be held from June 25 to July 4
>Around 7,500 athletes from 185 countries will compete in 22 Olympic-type sports. The 236-member-strong India squad will have 100 boys, 88 girls and 48 coaches.
> Indian teams and players will participate in 13 events
