Top News

With rising tensions and reports of missile strikes on Iran, a certain heart in Nashik started beating faster. And now that the US President Donald Trump has officially declared bombing Iran’s nuclear sites, the cause for worry is even greater.

Shailaja Jain has every reason to be tense. In 2016, the renowned Indian kabaddi coach Shailaja had travelled all the way to Tehran to train Iran’s women’s kabaddi team.

Two years later, at the Jakarta Asian Games, Iranian girls dethroned the Indian team to claim the gold medal. A veteran NIS coach is non-committal on the war clouds hanging over Iran, but has extremely pleasant memories of the Iranian capital.

“Yes, due to their religious practice, Iranian women players may not have been as outgoing as players in the West or even in India. But otherwise, I found Tehran a top-class modern city,” she recalls. “In the beginning, language was a barrier between the players and me. But then I learnt Persian, and that resulted in a bond between us. I had travelled to Tehran in October 2016 and stayed as their coach till September 2023. I am still in touch with the girls and we occasionally talk or exchange notes,’’ she said.

“Being a vegetarian, I was wondering if food would be a problem for me. But the Iranian Kabaddi Federation provided me with a separate gas connection, a rice cooker and also a cook,” she recalls.

Tehran’s another historic India connect is the 7th Asian Games that the Iranian capital had so successfully organised in 1974. India had won four gold medals in the Games – all four in track and field. Sriram Singh who won gold in 800 metres, recalls: “They were very well-organised Games and for the first time Asian Games were held on a synthetic track in beautiful Aryamehr Stadium and even jumps and throwing events were all measured with electronic devices.’’

A Stadium full of memories

The Aryamehr Stadium (now renamed as Azadi Stadium) was built for the Asian Games. Incidentally, an ultra-modern architectural marvel, the stadium was designed and built by an American company.

Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, an architectural, urban planning and engineering firm, also built Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The US may be targeting the nuclear sites, as claimed by President Trump, but in times of war, even historic sites risk becoming collateral damage. The fate of the historic stadium also hangs in the balance. The stadium had the honour of staging the first-ever Asian Games in a Western Asian country.

For India’s T C Yohannan, the Aryamehr Stadium proved to be lucky and historic. It was at this stadium that on 12th September, 1974, Yohannan became the first Asian to cross eight metres in the long jump. His golden leap of 8.07 metres remained the Asian record for a long time. Incidentally, his performance inspired Satish Pillai to win a bronze medal in the same event. Satish was so lucky to see a historic Asian record being set from the pit side.

T C Yohannan on victory stand

Yohannan’s effort stood as the Indian national record for 30 years until Amritpal Singh did 8.08 metres at the 10th Federation Cup Meet in New Delhi in 2004.

Vijay Singh Chauhan (Decathlon) and late Shivnath Singh (5,000) were the other two Indian gold medallists from the same Aryamehr Stadium. “It will be a pity if the stadium is ruined by Israeli or American bombing, ” bemoans Sriram.

The Asian Games in Tehran were declared open by the King of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, after Asian Games Federation President Maharaja Yadvendra Singh of Patiala had delivered the inaugural speech. Pakistan, China, Arab nations and North Korea had refused to play Israel in football, basketball, fencing and tennis.

A year after a very successful Asian Games, Aryamehr Stadium also witnessed a concert by legendary American singer Frank Sinatra on 24th November, 1975.

Next time, when Israel or the US fires a missile towards Tehran, it should keep in mind that it was in the same Aryamehr Stadium that Ester Roth had kept the Israeli flag flying high. A sensational athlete, Ester had won gold medals in women’s 100 metres, 200 metres and 100m hurdles. This was the first and last time that Israel participated in the Asian Games.

Two years before the Tehran Asiad, at the Munich Olympics, Ester had qualified for the 100 metre hurdles semi-finals. But she had to withdraw from the Games, with other members of the Israeli team, after the tragic killing of her longtime coach, Amitzur Shapira and teammates in the Munich Olympics attack.

Back to Shailaja’s golden deed for Iran, she was quoted as being somewhat sad that Indian girls had lost the gold medal at the Jakarta Asian Games. “But my mission was to prove that I am the best coach. Before the final, I told the girls ‘Don’t send me back to India without a gold’. And after the match, some of them came to me and told me, ‘Madam, we’ve gifted you what you wanted’.”

Shailaj’s NIS colleague, Kewal Chand Suthar, had shown her the way to Tehran when the Iran Kabaddi Association was looking for a lady coach.

“In September 2014, my term with Maharashtra Sports and Youth Services was over, and I went ahead with the Iran assignment,’’ she recalls. Only if her golden memories of Tehran could stay with her and not get blurred in the war clouds.