'Unfinished business': Decorated karateka Supriya Jatav chases Asian Games dreams

Indian sporting world comes to a halt during the summer when the cricket crazy nation is blinded by the glitz and glamour of the Indian Premier League. To the surprise of a few, some sporting achievements in other disciplines go unnoticed during this period. And a certain karateka Supriya Jatav got a taste of it when her pair of gold and bronze medals at the prestigious US Open Championships last month slipped under the radar. The double medal success (team gold and individual 61kg bronze) was praised by the Madhya Pradesh government but some recognition from the Indian sports fans had to wait until a string of social media posts pointed out the flaw of ‘mainstream media’ of ignoring a champion.

Thanks for all your well wishes and encouragement...
Happy n blessed to inform everyone about winning one Gold n one Bronze in US Open karate championship held in Vegas 2022@yashodhararaje @ChouhanShivraj @OfficeofSSC @PMOIndia pic.twitter.com/NkOjGte8X6

— Supriya Jatav🇮🇳 (@karatesupriya) May 4, 2022

The 30-year-old Kumite Karateka (one-on-one Karate fighter) wasn’t surprised at the lack of recognition that came from the media but always knew that people do have a love for the game that matters to her the most. “Cricket is something you don’t compete with. It’s the sport of the masses so I wasn’t surprised at the lack of media attention,” Supriya tells Firstpost. “But the way people on social media took the matter into their own hands and try to spread the word of my achievements, really pleased me and made my belief stronger that there’s a love for karate in the country.” Supriya, in fact, is a revered name in Indian karate as she has been bossing the national championships for the last decade in the 55kg category while training under her coach Jaidev Sharma at the top-class facilities of DFSYWMP in Bhopal. A flamboyant personality, she also strikes a chord with the netizens as the 30-year-old karateka, who prefers to be called a ‘sports model’, is a bit of an Instagram celebrity with over 13,000 followers. On the mat, she gained the respect of the worldwide karate fraternity when she decimated two-time Asian Champion and Asian Games silver medallist Taravat Khaskar on her way to grabbing the 2014 Asia Karate Champion Cup bronze medal. ‘Iran ka mujhe tension nahi Her coach Jaidev fondly recalls how she tamed the No. 1 karateka of Iran, who are among the powerhouses of the sport along with Japan. “I think that was the moment when she took her game to another level after an exposure camp with the Indian team in Iran,” remembers coach Jaidev, who also serves as India’s national coach. “On our way to China for the Asian Cup after the camp, she told me ‘Iran ka mujhe tension nahi (I am not worried about Iran)’ and that really took me by surprise but in the tournament, she defeated the Iran fighter 8-1 and in fact could have won by knockout.” For the laymen, a karateka wins a bout by knockout if they beat their opponents by an eight-point difference. The maximum point of a move is three points (through overhead kick) and minimum is a point (punch). Since her exploits in China, Supriya went on to grab the Commonwealth Championship gold medal twice (2015 and 2018) before becoming the first Indian to win an individual gold medal in the elite category of the US Open in Las Vegas in 2021. When asked which one of the medals was the most favourite to her, the champion gave a surprising answer. “International medals mean to me a lot but it’s the 2017 National Championships gold in Goa that is really close to my heart. I had a deep cut on my feet at training two days before the Nationals and had to undergo stitches. I still came back and won the tournament. “Us din karate ne khushi se zyada sukun dia (felt more satisfied than happy that day) because my opponents thought I am weak but I still reacted with a win,” says Supriya. However, one medal, or better say the event all together, has been eluding the national champion. Despite her medal runs at the Commonwealth Championships, she was snubbed for the 2018 Asian Games selection as the federation’s selection criteria didn’t favour her. Supriya accepted her fate at that time but watching the same Iranian Taravat Khaskar, whom she took down with little difficulty in the past, grab the silver medal made her think otherwise. “I am willing to play by the rules and if federation and IOA says my ranking should be higher then I accept it. Par jab Iran ki fighter ko silver medal milte dekha to laga mauka haath se nikal gaya (But when I saw that Iran fighter win the silver medal, I thought I had a strong chance),” says Supriya. Unfinished business Back in 2018, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) was recommended by the sports ministry to relax its selection norms in specific cases concerning athletes or sports, who/which couldn’t qualify due to lack of exposure or or non-participation in ranking events but have a strong chance of winning a medal. However, the IOA rejected the suggestion and stuck to its earlier criteria of picking athletes, which allowed top six in individual events and top eight in team sports. The karate federation (KAI) named an 8-member squad, including Supriya, for the quadrennial event in Jakarta Palembang. However, IOA later chopped down the list to just two male karatekas. Four years later when the Asiad is postponed by a year with new dates yet to be out, is Supriya hopeful of competing at the big-ticket event? “Honestly, I don’t know after how things went down last time. It’s my dream to compete in Asian Games and I will be preparing hard for it like I am doing for this year’s Commonwealth Championships. But when there is no certainty of selection, it’s very hard for any athlete to give his or her full focus, I am going to try anyway as I have entered the final phase of my professional karate career and Asian Games is an unfinished business,” concludes Supriya. 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