There is one young fighter though who does have significant experience. Oliviya Devi Huidrom is currently 10th in the world in a busy -44 kg category. In 2023 she won gold in both Macau and Hong Kong but more significantly, she won bronze in the heavily subscribed Zagreb World Championships Cadets 2023. This year she already has a silver medal from Telavi in Georgia. She also has the knowledge that anything is possible having seen Linthoi Chanambam become world cadet champion in 2022 in Sarajevo. That little nugget of inspiration fuels the whole team.
Head coach Jiwan Kumar Sharma is positive about what the experience of competing at a world championships can do for the team, “India came with 12 athletes, most of them new to the international level. Oliviya’s -44 kg bronze in Zagreb, along with her other results, show the rest that it is possible for India’s cadets to achieve. We don’t worry too much about the draw because whoever you face you have to win."
In fact, Olivia’s day did not go to plan but it was important to be here, in Peru, "We have been focused more on building the juniors and seniors in the past but it is important now to have a longer term view so we decided to attend this championships and focus more on the cadets for the future. They deserve the investment and it will contribute to them being more knowledgeable and prepared for their senior careers.
Travel was very difficult for us, 35 hours from our start in Delhi. There is a lot to take from that though, the patience, the ability to cope, the recovery processes. It’s good that they have this chance to learn new things, even with the struggle to get here. But, if they win, we know they will forget all the hardships and find a positive emotional link to this experience.”
In the first few rounds of day one the Indian team already showed that they have trained well ahead of this event with wins already chalked up and a lot to look forward to in the remaining days.
