Jiwanjot Singh Teja to become youngest Dronacharya awardee
34-year old, Jiwanjot Singh Teja, is set become the youngest Dronacharya awardee after he was recommended, along with Asian Games gold medallist Arpinder Singh’s coach SS Pannu. CA Kuttappa (boxing), Vijay Sharma (weightlifting) and A Srinivasa Rao (table tennis) are the other recommendations.
National archery coach, Jiwanjot Singh Teja, is in line to become one of the youngest Dronacharya awardees after the 34-year old’s name was recommended for the prestigious award along with Asian Games gold medallist Arpinder Singh’s coach - SS Pannu. The 2018 selection committee chose Teja, who has been the head coach of the national compound archery team since 2013. The committee also picked Pannu, who trained triple jumper Arpinder Singh, who bagged gold at the recently concluded Asian Games in Indonesia.
Teja played a crucial role in reviving two-time Asian Games medallist Trisha Deb’s career. In 2010, a Korean coach said that Trisha was not fit to become an archer but under Teja’s guidance she went on to win two bronze medals at the 2014 Incheon Games.
“My son was born in 2010 and I have missed all his growing years because I was always away in the national camps. I really missed my son’s early years in childhood. I did not know when he started walking on his own but all this has paid now.
“And getting this award at the age of 34 is very encouraging for me and the sport. I can easily serve another 20 years. Initially, I had also thought to become an engineer like my brother but then I chose to be an archer. I never became an international standard archer because there was no good training available.
“I asked my family to help me become a coach and today we have produced excellent results in compound archery. Our team was ninth in the world in 2011 and in two years we took it to world number two rank,” Teja told PTI sources.
The other nominees for the prestigious Dronacharya award are CA Kuttappa (boxing), Vijay Sharma (weightlifting) and A Srinivasa Rao (table tennis), as per sources in the sports ministry.
