'Not just the Teacher's Day gift, he has given me all the gifts (that one can) today. Not just him, but Pranav (Soorma) too, because when I had started club throw in India, no one knew what it was.'
He may have finished last in the men's club throw F51 event at the Paralympics but for Amit Kumar Saroha, who coaches gold-medallist Dharambir, the success of younger generation feels like a mission accomplished with Pranav Soorma clinching the silver.
India's medal tally swelled to 24 on Wednesday when Dharambir and Soorma sealed the top-two finish but Amit finished last in the same event. He was nonetheless elated that the squad would be returning with the gold medal.
"I won't say it was hard luck (for me)," the 39-year-old said after the event.
"Yes, my event did not go well. I was looking at Dharambir and he had first four throws as fouls. I was getting very anxious that the event is going worse and the same situation happened to me," he added.
Amit explained the complexity of the discipline, saying there are many factors which have to work together for one to succeed.
"The disability that we have is very severe -- our fingers do not work and we have to stick the club with glue. But it became so sticky due to the cold weather that it was just not gripping. The skin on my fingers were ripped off in the process because of the stickiness," he explained.
But Amit said there was no disappointment for him to have missed on winning a medal in his fourth attempt.
"But having said that, the dream that I had, it has come to life. Ever since I began participating in sports, it was my dream to win a medal in Paralympic Games and this is my fourth event -- you know I am the most senior athlete in the team -- so what if I was not able to win it, my student did it," he said.
Asked if Dharambir's gold was an early Teacher's Day gift, Amit said it was more than anything he could wish for.
"We are going back with a gold medal and there cannot be a greater gurudakshina (a gift to a teacher) that we were together, we were competing against each other and he won the gold," he said.
"Not just the Teacher's Day gift, he has given me all the gifts (that one can) today. Not just him, but Pranav (Soorma) too, because when I had started club throw in India, no one knew what it was," Amit added.
'Making a start is difficult for everyone but somewhere I started and today, the result is in front (of us).'
Amit said like many other athletes across arenas, he too had naysayers when he forayed into club throw as a para athlete after a car accident at the age of 22 left him a quadriplegic.
It is a condition that severely limits mobility in arms and legs, partially or even completely, due to a spinal cord injury.
Amit said no one in the country, including the federation, knew about the discipline when he began.
"There was a time when people said we won't be able to compete. 'No one from India has competed with this disability so how can you?' Who will be responsible if something happens to you?'”
"They just did not know because there wasn't any athlete in this discipline in India before. I won't blame them. Making a start is difficult for everyone but somewhere I started and today, the result is in front (of us)," he added.
Amit said he feels his mission has been accomplished.
"We had a clean sweep (of medals) in the Asian Games, today we have two Paralympic medals — gold and silver — so I think the work I had put in, it has come to an end today," he said.
"The next generation has taken over. I have ruled this event like a king for 12 years, I held two Asian records for that period and if my own kids (students) are breaking them, it cannot get better than this," Amit added.
