Will our young fencing champ make it to Poland?

Thirteen-year-old Karunya Shanmugan from Namakkal is an ambitious girl. She might not have enough money to go for a fencing championship to Poland, but Karunya wants to teach fencing to under-privileged children one day. Currently studying at Selvam Matriculation School in Namakkal, Karunya recently won a silver at the National Fencing Championship in New Delhi. Opportunity knocked at her door as she was chosen to take part at the 40th International Children’s Fencing Tournament Challenge to be held in March, in Warsaw in Poland and currently, Karunya is getting trained for the competition.
Talking to us about her daughter is Akhila, who lives at Pallapatti Kangana Palayam. “Karunya was always interested in sports, and was an athlete. On every Pongal thiruvizha, she would be an enthusiastic participant in the running race competitions. She always used to return with accolades. She is a good student and used to score decently, but then we realised she was more keen in sports than in studying. We wanted to send her to an English medium school, but we cannot afford it. That’s when we realised we could apply through a sports quota,” she says.
Akhila is a daily wage worker under the NREGA scheme and her husband is a mechanic. “We, like all other parents, have always dreamt of a bright future for Karunya. But for us it is difficult just to make ends meet. We were not sure if we can give our daughter a decent education, but she is doing well for herself. We have always given her a lot of freedom to do whatever she wants to do. We have never restricted her. Though we have had a lot of relatives and neighbours discouraging us, we never bothered,” shares an emotional Akhila.
Karunya has been learning fencing from Prabhukumar (a certified fencing coach) for the past two years. “He teaches fencing to a lot of students at school, and he was the one who identified Karunya’s flair in the sport. He keeps saying that Karunya is a gifted child and that she can shine in this field if given proper training,” says Akhila. Talking about the sport, Akhila says, “Not many people realise that fencing is a traditional sport. People give so much importance to other sports like cricket and football. We still have about `30,000 to collect for her to be able to participate in the championship. But Karunya hopes to represent the country and become a fencing teacher one day.”