PANJIM: Subham Debnath’s decision to quit his home State West Bengal and move to Goa ahead of the 37th National Games saw him upgrade his last edition silver medal to gold and the 20-year-old was quick to acknowledge that the upgrade in training facilities played in his success.
On Tuesday, he bagged Goa’s 12th gold medal in this edition of National Games, topping the chart in Men’s Traditional Yoga category. Kolkata-born Subham learnt the basics of the sport from his mother and rose up the ranks by participating in locally organised tournaments in Bengal.
While local tournaments to provide exposure to yoga players are plentiful in the State, where the State lags behind is in providing the right kind of training facilities for the players to prosper onto the next level. This is where Debnath benefitted by making Goa his training base.
“I was amazed to see the kind of facilities being provided to aspiring yoga players in Goa. They gave us five-star hotel rooms to stay in, proper and plentiful food to eat, massages and recovery baths and everything that a young athlete could want to succeed in their journey. I felt like an international player with the treatment they gave us here. This is important for young athletes as it builds an aspiration with them to take up these seldom followed paths as professional career options,” said Shubham, who has also been offered a job in the State Transport Department by the Goa government. Subham’s, a second-year student in BSc Yoga from Bolpur Viswabharti University in Shantiniketan, said his affinity for yoga came from his mother, who works as a maid.
His father is a labourer in a textile unit in Bengal. The 20-year-old made a visit to Goa looking for some job and learnt about the trials for the sport.
“I decided to take part in those trials and that is how my shift to Goa happened,” he said, adding he would continue to represent the State and make the most of the facilities here for further glory.
“I always wanted to perform and win medals for my country in prestigious international competitions. But I always had to stop short of my dreams because I could not afford to travel and register for tournaments in foreign destinations. “The gold here has given me the confidence that I can fulfil that dream one day,” he concluded on an optimistic note.
