Sporting veterans

It was the first time Khurshid Mistry, Fareez Vasania and Rohinton Nazir were taking part in a veterans athletic meet. At the 29th National Veterans Athletic Championship at the Dadoji Kondeo Stadium at Thana near Bombay, from May 9-11, 2008, seven Parsis, all representing Maharashtra, took part and garnered 11 medals in both track and field events.

Mistry won four gold medals — in the 100m, 200m, 400m and the 4x400m relay (women over 40). Vasania struck gold in the high jump, long jump, triple jump and silver in the 100m (men over 40). In the arduous 1,500m event, Nazir finished seventh in the men over 45 age group.

Veteran hurdler Rohinton Mehta added to his store of medals by picking up gold in the 400m hurdles and the 4x400m relay and silver in the 400m run in the men over 45 group. Experienced walker Soli Karanjia came first in the five km walk (men 50+), while Khushru Patel stood fifth in his category (men 65+) for the same distance. In the men over 70 group, Farokh Patel missed a medal by standing fourth in the shot put and javelin throw.

"I usually take part in only two races (hurdles and relay) but this time I ventured for the 400m flat as well. Since I am a specialist hurdler, adjustment is required and I was probably beaten in the last three steps,” Mehta said to Parsiana. He speaks of the infighting in the veterans federation at the apex level, with factions filing cases and counter cases and exhorting athletes to participate in competitions organized by their own faction and not the other!

Mehta, who has four veteran international medals to his name, has set his sights firmly on participating at the World Masters Games in Sydney in October 2009. "It is bigger in numbers than the Olympics. It has all the disciplines, but restricted to competitors over 35,” he explains. "It’s a huge sporting extravaganza, held every three years. I know I am yet at Asian level but I am going to work very hard to reach world level and am aiming to win a medal in Australia.”

"I had participated in the Corporate Olympics this year and it was there that I met Mehta who persuaded me to take part in the Veterans meet,” says Mistry who is a manager with UTI Mutual Fund and who had been a runner in her school days. "I run short distances the best. Last year I had taken part in the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon and stood fifth in the women over 40 group (and second among the Indian competitors) in the 21 km half marathon. It was a massive effort, I was absolutely finished at the end! The last five kms are very difficult.” Mistry trains regularly with two coaches Deepak Londhe and Praful Uchil at the Priyadarshini Park or Shivaji Park or the Mahalaxmi Race Course, depending on the event under preparation. "I get up at 4.30 a.m., from 5.30-7.30 I train and am at work by 9.30 at the Bandra-Kurla Complex from Lamington Road where I live in Shapur Baug with my mother. I thoroughly enjoy athletics and my trainers insist I enter competitions.”

Vasania is versatile. In competition, he runs, jumps, plays football, does motorcycling and drag racing! With additional spring in his step following his success at Thana, Vasania won more medals at the 22nd Malaysian Masters meet in July — silver in long jump and triple jump, bronze in high jump and 100m. There were veteran athletes from Malaysia, Singa­pore, Brunei, Sabah, Johar and a few from New Zealand and the UK, says Vasania, who took part in the events at the Perlis Stadium in north Malaysia, an eight-hour bus drive from Kuala Lumpur. The athlete aims to add to his tally at the next international meet in Bangalore in September, followed by the Asian Masters in December at Bangkok. Vasania expresses his sincere thanks to the Muncherji Edalji Joshi Memorial Trust for having sponsored his trip to Malaysia.

A photographer by profession, Vasania also trains children aged five to 15 in football at the Dadar Parsee Gymkhana. "Now I have my own football team called Zoroastrian F.C. and we won the fourth division championship at the Mumbai Division Football Association league. This year we move to third division,” he declares. Vasania also plays football for Air India at the veteran level, having played for the airline earlier in 1995.

Almost 20 years ago, Vasania had won a motorcycles 350 cc stock class event at the Juhu airfield in Bombay, following it up with other victories. In 2004, he won the Mumbai Drag Race on a Kawasaki 1200 cc bike.

Having taken part in All-Parsees sports earlier, Nazir says he started running to stay fit. "I do not have a trainer. I do jogging on my own,” he declares. Nazir lives at Bharucha Baug in Andheri and works with Canara Bank at Colaba.

Almost 69, champion Khushru Patel says he entered the Veterans meet with no practise at all. "Heel spurs have been troubling me and I have not been training. For me a five km distance is nothing much. I have taken part in marathons. But for that you have to put in mileage — at least 100-150 km per week.”

"Karanjia put in such a grand effort in winning the five km walk at the Thana meet that he was dehydrated and collapsed after winning. He had to be medically treated. Hats off to such a full power performance, made even greater by the fact that he was coming off a bad hip injury,” remarks Mehta. Parsiana was unable to contact Karanjia as he was in Malaysia, where he achieved third place in the five km walk at the Malaysian Masters in July.