A bitter court battle almost forced Varsha Gautham to quit but perseverance helped her to tide over the crisis and clinch a silver medal in sailing at the ongoing Asian Games.
(For The Quint’s complete coverage of the 2018 Asian Games, click here.)
Sailors are given points after each race, and the pair, which gets the least point, is declared the winner.
Varsha and Sweta were initially not chosen by the the Yachting Association of India to represent India in 49erFX event and only after a court battle, they reached the Indonesian capital.
"And there was a realistic chance of losing today, but we stayed clam," Varsha said, adding that they needed donations and crowd funding to pursue their passion.
Varsha and Sweta, who is a medicine student and was a sailing coach before teaming up with her partner, were not selected by the federation for the Asian Games since they had lost the trials to Ekta Yadav and Shaila.
But, after the pair won a silver at the Asian Championship ahead of the preferred team, Varsha argued that she and Sweta should be considered for the Asian Games, since the Asian Championship was a better platform to judge capability.
When YAI refused to change the nomination, Varsha approached the Delhi High Court, which asked the IOA to choose team.
Eventually they were in the team and ended as silver medallists.
"We eat together, we shop together. Yesterday we went shopping we had an off day," the 27-year-old said.
Varsha said the sport is not only demanding physically but requires immense mental strength.
"We are using the Olympic class boats first time. When I was in Incheon, those boats were youth class and less demanding."
Sweta said for a layman, it could appear dangerous, but it is fun in the water.
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