Asian Games 2018 | Sajan Prakash breaks 32-year-old jinx despite family going missing due to Kerala floods
Indian swimmer Sajan Prakash has broken the 32-year-old jinx by finishing fifth in the 200m butterfly final in the ongoing Asiad. However, the situation has not been the same back home for the 24-year-old as his family has been missing for the past three days because of the floodwaters in Kerala.
On Sunday, Sajan became the first Indian swimmer in 32 years to qualify for the 200m butterfly final of the Asian Games. The last time an Indian reached the final in this event was Khazan Singh in 1986. However, Prakash could not win a medal despite entering the final as the third-fastest qualifier. But in finishing fifth in the eight-man final, he still set a national record, clocking 1 minute 57.75 seconds.
On the other hand, Sajan’s mother revealed that her son could not concentrate on the race because of the situation in Kerala. She said that Sajan kept calling the whole day as he was distracted.
“He was calling me all day. He is very upset and was not able to focus on the race. If not for this, he would have won a medal,” Sajan’s mother Shantymol told The Indian Express.
Shantymol further said that she did not tell Sajan about the family situation (five members missing since Thursday) fearing it would impact his performance. However, she felt that her son got to know about it from someone else.
“I think someone at the Games village told him. So he called me late Saturday night, demanding to know what had happened. We have lost everything, our house, our land and we are not being able to trace our family as well,” she added.
Not just Shantymol, Prakash’s peers and mentors, too felt that if not for this news, the Indian swimmer would have won a medal. Nisha Millet, an Arjuna Award winning swimmer who is now a coach, felt that Sajan had made some rapid progress in the last few years. He won a bronze at the Mare Nostrum meet in Monaco in June.
However, the 24-year-old would want to give his best in the remaining events (4x200m freestyle and 100m butterfly). Shantymol further hoped that her son would be able to overcome the distraction and do well.
“I am trying to convince him to focus on his events. He has worked very hard for this, he should not be worrying about things that are not in our control,” she concluded.
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