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The Hindu
7 days ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
Meet the Masters: An all-women team from India gears up for the World Championships
The sun is beating down on Besant Nagar beach on Saturday morning, and while people are carefully choosing to sit or stand under the scattering of trees nearby, a group of women is hard at work — deftly passing a frisbee, and sprinting across the sand. This all-women team, the Team India Masters Women, has players from different cities including Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, and Chennai, who have come together for their monthly camp in Chennai in the run-up to the World Beach Ultimate Championships (WBUC) in Portimão, Portugal, from November 16 to 22. 'This is the first time that India is sending an all-women team in the Masters category for an international tournament. In the Masters category, all players have to be above the age of 30, and we have players between the ages of 30 and 50 years,' says Smithi Manickam, the team's coach. A player with the Chennai-based Flywild club for ten years now, Smithi, says that in addition to monthly camps in Chennai and specific training plans, their focus is on creating a strong statement at the world championships. 'It is also important that the players have a great campaign overall. Many of our women players have a host of responsibilities, including their careers and families, and they are juggling all of this along with their love for the sport,' she says of her team. The players all have diverse careers and interesting stories of how they discovered the sport and have seen it evolve over the years. At 49 years old, Priya Thineshan — a player with Puyal, a Chennai-based club and the oldest member of the team — says she discovered Ultimate when she was 42 and has not looked back since. 'Growing up, I had always been interested in sports and was looking for a way to get back to it. My family, and my children in particular, have been most encouraging about this,' says Priya, who subtitles films. While Ultimate Frisbee is a rare mixed-gender sport, Nimisha Vasava, a 32-year-old showroom manager from Ahmedabad, says that this is something she cannot stop bragging about. Her teammate, actor Gayathrie Shankar — who first discovered the sport as a great way to use the beach when she moved to Chennai — says she has seen this aspect evolve for the better through the years. 'From being asked to join teams that simply needed to meet the minimum number of women required, to being a part of an all-women team that is now going international, has been amazing,' she says. A professor at IIM-Bengaluru, Sreelata Jonnalagedda first learnt the sport from her students, and later, as she began taking her daughter to practice sessions. 'Playing Ultimate Frisbee gave me a reason to be fit, and the best thing about the sport is truly the variety of things you can do. As an all-women team, we can take on a host of different roles, and of course, the bonding and sisterhood here are unparalleled,' she says. For Smithi, it has been inspiring as a coach to see the grit and determination of her team. Given that the team will be coming together for monthly camps till November in Chennai, there is a lot more intense training, practice games to be played, and team-building in store for them.
The Hindu
14-07-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
Chennai's Flywild Ultimate Frisbee team wins TRIO Invitational Tournament 2025 in Malaysia
There is something about the high you experience, watching an edge-of-the seat victory in a sports movie on the big screen. Closer home however, the sands of Besant Nagar beach that has several teams come together to play Ultimate Frisbee through the year has an inspiring, and almost equally cinematic story to tell. At the TRIO Invitational Tournament 2025 held in Kuala Lumpur earlier this year, Flywild, one of Chennai's most promising Ultimate Frisbee clubs clinched the gold, becoming the first club team from India to win an international tournament. Facing off players from different countries including Indonesia, China, Japan, Thailand, and USA, Flywild played a well-fought final against the team Pancake Men from Philippines and emerged victorious, in what was also the club's first international tournament participation. Sedric Emmanuel, the team's captain, says they initially lost two matches and won one, which meant their fourth match was to decide if they would make it to the quarter-finals. 'We initially struggled through that match. While we play with no pressure back home in Chennai, this was a lot more challenging. We motivated each other as a team and got through,' he says. Once they were in the quarter-finals, their winning streak continued. The tournament was a culmination of four months of practice, and special camps. 'While some of us have played internationally as part of team India in other international tournaments, this was the first international travel experience for many other members,' says Siva Raman, who coached the team and topped the stats board in the tourney as the player with the most goals and assists. 'We took this as a challenge, and decided to create history for Ultimate in India,' he adds. Many young players on the team have inspiring stories to tell, of how their passion for the sport has changed their lives and kept them going through hard times. Paul Pradeep, founder of Puyal, an Ultimate club in Chennai who was also Flywild's manager for the TRIO tournament says that many players who take to playing Ultimate in Chennai, and some who went on this tournament came from disadvantaged backgrounds. Team captain Sedric who is 23-years-old was job-hunting in the run-up to the tournament, and had also suffered a significant financial setback. 'I had to turn down opportunities to participate in tournaments in the UK and Portugal. However, for the TRIO invitational, the Ultimate community and my team helped me secure funds. We are a family, a team of brothers,' says the player, whose father is an auto driver. The sight of grown-up 'annas' diving into the sand, and throwing around a disc nearly 14 years ago is something Akash Palani still cannot forget. 'Many children including me from Thiruvalluvar Nagar were introduced to the game and encouraged to play. It soon became an after-school activity. The game has given me an identity. If you ask about AP, everyone will know me and I have also met so many people from across the world because of this sport,' he says. The Ultimate community, he says, came together to fund and help him complete his college education, to become a physical education trainer. 'I learnt at a young age what 'spirit of the game' means thanks to Ultimate, and this has guided my life throughout,' says the 24-year-old player, who also credits the sport to having given him an opportunity to go to France as a volunteer for the 2024 Summer Olympics. His teammate and a gymnastics coach, P Neelakandan says that being introduced to the sport at a young age immensely helped him with exposure. 'I feel that since we do not play for money, we do not fight and stick together,' he adds. Given that Ultimate thrives on a sport played for passion across the country, many players juggle full-time jobs and make it to practice sessions through the week. S Santhosh, who works as a delivery representative with Swiggy says he finishes his work shifts from 7am to 6pm, and then heads to practice, which goes on till 10pm. 'I took to playing Ultimate when I was 10 years old, after seeing my brother play. The TRIO Invitational was my first international tournament,' says the player, whose father is a watchman. According to Ben Ong, tournament director, winning ahead of the usual Asian powerhouses that are Japan, the Philippines and Singapore has put India on everyone's radar now. 'This is the first time a team from India has come this far in a tournament in Malaysia. Many teams that they beat on their way to the gold medal have already told me they want to come back, and look forward to playing the Flywild players again. I am very happy that all their hard work and sacrifices, especially given some of the players' financial difficulties, has come to fruition and it was a joy to see them play with a lot of heart and win,' he says. This unprecedented win has given the Ultimate community in Chennai, and across the country, much to be enthused about. 'I was part of a team from India that went to Malaysia in 2011 for a tournament. It has taken us 14 years to get that gold medal,' says Abhinav Vinayakh Shankar, a senior player and mentor with Flywild. Abhinav, who saw the young Flywild team clinch the gold as a spirit director for the tournament, says it was very inspiring to see the team as the underdogs, adapt to the local conditions, work together, and rise up to the challenges. 'Teams from India have come to the finals several times in the past and have fallen short. To see the Flywild team seize the opportunity like they did; this is truly what sport is all about,' he says.
