Zeshah, the rising star

At the AISM national athletics meet in Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad from November 4 to 6, 2015, Zeshah stood first in shot put, throwing a four kilo ball 9.2 m. During the District Sports Office interschool athletics championships held on October 14 and 16, 2015, the youngster won two gold medals and one silver. In the girls’ under 17 shot put event, Zeshah’s throw of 8.72m bettered her own previous record of 8.70m. She also stood first in discus and second in javelin throw, the email notes. Her stellar performance was reported in Mid Day of October 15, 2015.

Trained at Rustom Baug in Byculla under Dara Doomasia since the age of seven, in 2014-15 Zeshah, then 13 years of age, participated in 14 district, state and national level events, not including the smaller intra school or Parsi meets where she excelled, breaking five records. According to the email, she has stood first in every meet except for the nationals at Vijayawada in 2014 where she placed second. In January 2015, Zeshah stood first at the District Sports Office nationals held at Ranchi in Jharkhand.

Attributing her success to elder sister Zenrookh, now 19 and a national level shot put and javelin thrower, Zeshah recounts, "I used to accompany my sister to Rustom Baug, where she used to train under our coach Dara Doomasia. While Zenrookh trained, I used to play with the shot put ball. That’s when our coach suggested to my father (Shahrukh) that I should get into shot put." She is appreciative of the efforts of Doomasia who has devoted time and energy to training athletes like herself, the email notes.