For the first time in Kabaddi since 1990, India will be returning without a gold medal. The Iranian women’s team thrashed India 27-24 in the finals. With this loss, India missed their third successive Asian gold medal. India had earlier clinched the gold medal in 2010 and 2014 Asian Games. However, interesting part in India’s loss is the Iranian coach Shailaja Jain, who has coached Iran women’s team for 18 months. Shailaja, Nashik-based has spent more than three decades coaching hundreds of Maharashtra kids, however, she never got opportunity to lead the India national team.
Shailaja wanted to show that she is the best tactician going around and started learning the local language. “When I first visited Iran, I said my mission is to prove I’m the best coach. And now we have the result,” she said to NDTV, wiping away tears of joy with one hand and carrying a notebook in the other.
“Before the final, I told the girls ‘don’t send me back to India without a gold’. And after the match, some of them came to me and told me ‘madam, we’ve gifted you what you wanted’.”
“This final match was very special for me and the team. After a long time, Iran won a gold. I’m thankful to the federation [Iran] for showing faith in me,” Shailaja told the PTI.
“Communication was not easy, so I learned Parsi. Before the match, I told the girls ‘don’t send me back to India without the gold medal’. Some of them came back and told me ‘madam, we’ve given you what you wanted.”
When asked about India’s back-to-back defeat in Kabaddi with the same opponent nation, Shailaja said, “I’m sad India lost. Like any other Indian, I love my country. But I love kabaddi also. Being their coach, I think only of the Iran team. Kabaddi is very popular in India. They all know what kabaddi is about. Everyone watched this match back in Iran.”
Interestingly, Jain taught her players yoga and pranayam, a breathing exercise, and learnt Persian to help her communicate with the team.
“The first things I did after reaching Iran was starting a kabaddi WhatsApp group. Every morning I’d post an inspirational message. There was a girl who’d translate it for others,” she said.
“Initially I started with 42 girls but kept trimming it as we pruned the team. Now it has 13 members — 12 girls and me.”
To note, Jain’s contract with Iran has expired with their Asian Games campaign and said she was looking forward to coaching another country in the future.
