Niranjan Rajeev

Club / Team

Karnataka: India

Hobbies	Cycling, running, singing, playing chess, playing the keyboard. (mangalorean.com, 11 Oct 2019; gamatics.store, 29 Oct 2019)
Memorable sporting achievement	"I qualified for the junior world championships last season [2018] by clocking the fastest time at the [2018] Asian Open Championships in Jakarta. This would rank at the top at present in my mind. Being national champion for three consecutive years [2016-2018] also is something I cherish most." (gamatics.store, 29 Oct 2019)
Other sports	He has competed in chess at state level in India. (deccanchronicle.com, 12 Nov 2018)

Reason for choosing this sport

He was disappointed with his achievements in roller speed skating so he moved to short track, as his father thought it would be a good opportunity for him. "I motivate myself with my dream of representing India at the Winter Olympics."

Most influential person in career	His father. (deccanchronicle.com, 12 Nov 2018)
Hero / Idol	US short track skater Apolo Anton Ohno. (gamatics.store, 29 Oct 2019)
Ambitions	To compete at the Olympic Winter Games, and be the first Indian to become an Olympic champion in short track. (mangalorean.com, 11 Oct 2019; thebetterindia.com, 26 Oct 2018)

Name of coach	Avadhut Tawade [national], IND
Training Regime	He trains before and after school, doing specific short track exercises for one hour in the morning, followed by a gym session in the evening for two hours. He also runs and cycles as part of his training.
When and where did you begin this sport?	He began roller speed skating at age seven, and at age 12 he attended a 10-day ice skating camp in Gulmarg, India.

Other information

LACK OF FACILITIES The lack of ice skating facilities in India has made training difficult for him. "Since my young age, I have been working hard and putting in a lot of effort to achieve my goals. Training is expensive and a serious competitive skater like me needs experienced coaches and there are no proper facilities here [Mangalore], like an Olympic size rink. Most of the time, I train by myself without a coach, in public rinks. In order for me to pursue my goals, I have made many sacrifices and given up many activities a normal teenager would enjoy. I can firmly say that I have done my very best to make not only my parents proud but the country and Mangalore as well. However, to get to the Winter Olympics, which is my dream, home training is not enough. I need the guidance and expertise of experienced coaches in order to step up my game." He has also struggled to secure visas for international competitions. "Despite qualifying for [the] world championships [in 2018], I couldn't attend because my visa didn't get processed in time because of the Canadian embassy having Christmas holidays." (mangalorean.com, 11 Oct 2019; gamatics.store, 29 Oct 2019) STUDY PLAN After graduating from high school, he plans to study in the field of artificial intelligence at university. "My dream job is to get into artificial Intelligence. After my [high school] graduation, I intend to take up further studies in AI." (gamatics.store, 29 Oct 2019)

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