Shamil skated his way through the 1st All India Open Speed Skating Meet held at Puducherry
All of 10, Muhammad Shamil Arshad is a roller skating champion who has 75 medals to his credit.
A class five student of The Yenepoya School, in Mangaluru city, Shamil started practising roller skating at the age of three and bagged his state-level gold medal at the age of five in Belagavi, Karnataka in November 2012.
Beating 53 participants, he also bagged two gold medals and an individual championship at a state-level event held in Bengaluru in November 2013.
The 75th gold medal shone brightly on Shamil as he skated his way through the 1st All India Open Speed Skating Meet held at Puducherry from 26th till 28th May 2017, securing four gold medals and an individual championship again.
The other skaters who won laurels also included Mangalurean skater Dashel Amanda, a class six student from Cambridge School, who bagged three golds, one silver and an individual championship; and Thanmay Kottary, a class four student from Canara CBSE School, who secured three gold medals and an individual championship at the same meet.
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The kids won accolades under the inline speed skating category. As members of the Hi-Flyers Skating Club, Shamil, Dashel and Thanmay are being trained under coaches K Mohandas and Jayaraj.
Shamil’s recent achievements also include three gold medals and an individual championship under the age group of 8-10 years at the RSFI National Championship – 54th National Speed Skating Championship 2016-17 held in Bengaluru from January 18 to 23. This event had a turnout of over 45 students from 26 states across India.
Son of Arshad Hussain M S and Ramlath Arshad, Shamil has a total of 10 national medals, including seven gold, one silver and two bronzes. He has also bagged six medals at the South Zone CBSE meets (including three gold, two silvers and a bronze), 12 golds at a state level, 13 district level medals and 13 medals at inter school competitions. His individual championship count at various events comes up to a staggering 15.
Ramlath Arshad, mother of Shamil and a degree college lecturer, told TOI that the boy has an ambition to scale greater heights by bagging laurels at international events. In fact, all three children who bagged championships in Puducherry are practicing hard to participate in international events. She feels that the government needs to support children who are talented in skating events.
Kudos to the young champions!
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