"The piece de resistance was the tug-o-war. Traditionally it is the married men vs the unmarried but since last year (our girls have been working out) the girls have challenged the boys in a show of strength and they have won two years in a row. It was nine girls vs six boys but pound for pound they were equal,” noted a report on the 85th annual athletic meet organized by the Calcutta Parsee Club (CPC) on February 2, 2020.
Divided into three age groups of under 20, under 50 and over 50, "contributing points to one’s team was taken seriously and everyone happily got up and had fun,” according to the write-up. Experimenting with a different format this year, CPC held some events on the Club grounds and proceeded to the maidan area only for the running events. The familiar surroundings resulted in greater participation from the aging community who found the rest rooms easier to access.
The stars on the athletic field were Armaan Singh who created four meet records in the 100 m, 200 m, 400 m and high jump events, and Samara Mehta Vyas who broke the 400 m record in the 10-15 age category. Samara’s mother Sanaya Mehta Vyas and Danesh Tarapore were the winners in the older age group. The credit for the successful conduct of the event went to vice president (sports) Ratan Postwalla and his assistants with Jimbo Vatcha serving as master of ceremonies.
Active in Calcutta (clockwise from alongside): Bahadur Postwalla, Prochy Mehta, Ratan Postwalla, Rayzad Bulsara; Shaun Langrana, Tristan Bulsara, Kareena Rabadi and Nazneen Subawalla on the victory stand; Tanya Batlivala on inline skates; multi-sport event for youngsters; tug-o-war in progress; women’s futsal team
The month of December saw other activities organized by the enthusiastic CPC team and individual sportspersons participating in national events. The third edition of the CPC futsal championship from December 5 to 8, 2019 for the first time had a separate women’s tournament with eight entries. The CPC had registered one team in the women’s tournament and two teams — White and Blue — in the men’s tournament that was played on a league and knockout format, as noted a write-up by Postwalla.
The women’s team comprising Kaizeen Confectioner, Swati Daver, Anahita Gupta, Sanaya Mehta Vyas and Mihira Singh won all their league matches and qualified for the semi-finals but lost that game on penalties. Confectioner was second in the goal scoring chart among women, scoring seven goals. Both the CPC men’s teams came third in their respective group of four teams.
Yet another multi-sport (football, badminton, basketball and athletics) competition for 30 youngsters was organized by CPC over some weekends of November and December. "Our objective of providing our youngsters with a competitive platform to play sport was definitely met. Both teams played with all seriousness yet with good sporting spirit,” stated Postwalla.
For roller skater Tanya Batlivala who has earned three gold, three silver and 10 bronze medals at State meets, December gave her an opportunity to compete in the National School Games of India in Belgaum, Karnataka. She participated in the 500 m and 1,000 m road races. Earlier she was chosen to represent Bengal in the 54th National Skating Championships in Bangalore and was even selected to represent the country in an international event in Belgium which she had to miss due to her school examination, according to a write-up sent by CPC president Prochy Mehta.
Having started her skating journey on quads at the age of five, Tanya’s coach promised her a new pair of quads if she came first in the six to eight years age group. She beat elder competitors to win the gold and a new pair of quads. The skater graduated to inline skates (that have four wheels aligned behind each other) at eight years of age, making her the youngest inline skater in the State. Since this was a new age category specially created, she set the timing for the State meet and was awarded four bronze medals as per the rules of the Roller Skating Federation of India for the four events which she completed: 250 m time trial, 500 m and 1,000 m rink races and 2,000 m road race.
The coaching camps in different parts of India have helped her hone her skating skills with the best in the country. Whilst lucky to escape major injuries like fractures and dislocations, Tanya has often landed up with injuries to her face and limbs because the surfaces on which skaters practice are not actual rinks designed for skating but cemented or tarred tracks.