The brothers Banaji

"Only the two best athletes in an event from each state are selected for the national games,” says 13-year-old Raiyan Banaji (see "Sporting siblings,” Sports, Parsiana, August 2001), explaining the back­ground to his participation in the 200 m and the 4x100 Mahar­ashtra state relay team at the 48th National School Games athle­tic championship in Bangalore in January-February 2003.

Enjoying the "feeling of being free, of running without barriers,” the long, empty track curving invitingly ahead, Raiyan asserts that the ‘get-set’ position at the start of a race is the most nerve-racking: "You don’t know exactly when the starting gun will go off, whether your start will be quick enough or you will make a false start.” Getting off the blocks at precisely the right second can make or break a sprint, he as­serts.

Though a medal eluded him at Bangalore, Raiyan’s performance at the Maharashtra State Sub-junior Athletic Championship at Karad in February secured him the silver with a timing of 12.3 sec in the 100 m. The silvery orb had also adorned his neck in the triathlon (100 m, long jump, shot-put) at the 35th Bombay City District Amateur Athletic Association (BCDAAA) meet in December last year, establishing a meet record as well, according to his bio data.

Sharpening his running skills under Homi-yar Mistry at Adille Su-mariwalla’s Ace Athletic Club, Raiyan’s tally at various levels up to February 2003 stands at seven gold, five silver and two bronze medals. A special moment, he says, was at the 109th Mumbai School Sports Association athletic meet in December when, after trailing at the 50 m mark, he surged ahead to claim gold with his best timing of 24.7 sec in the 200 m in the under-14.

Equally enjoying the "feeling of speed and agility” is Raiyan’s sprinting sibling Aresh who at under 10 years of age is the holder of three Maharashtra state records — for the 50, 60 and 100 m and has equalled the state record in the 80 m in his age group. As per his bio data, his timing of 7.4 sec in the 50 m at the 35th BCDAAA meet last December sent into a spin a record which had stood for 32 years! Aresh also obliterated his own state record in the 100 m (established a month earlier) with his new timing at the meet of 14.2 sec. The nine-year-old was also part of the Cathedral School squad running the 4x100 m relay clinching second place in the boys under 16!

His toughest competition, says the fourth standard student, was at the Maharashtra State Sub-junior Athletic Championship at Karad in February 2003, where he equalled the meet record (7.4 sec) in the 50 m and created a new meet record (14.3 sec) in the 100 m. Slightly nervous before the race, the little front-runner who trains under Savio D’souza at the Ace Athletic Club says he tells himself to "look straight ahead, run your race, once it’s over, it’s over,” and he has reaped his reward, which stands up to February 2003 at 16 golds, four silvers, one bronze and six individual champion­ships!