Gurgaon ice skating rink gets into serious business, will host nationals

GURGAON: A hot-weather nation producing winners in a cold-weather sport? Well, if luge athlete Shiva Keshavan can find a spot in five Winter Olympics, such a prospect suddenly doesn't seem chimerical.
Last week saw the first 'Blades for Glory' championship, which took place at Gurgaon's own iSKATE - the only rink in these parts. And in January, iSKATE will be hosting the skating nationals, the first time this event will be held outside its home in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh.
Located on the top floor of a city mall, iSKATE played host to nearly 50 skaters from across the National Capital Region. The competition was held in 17 categories in three disciplines - short-track speed skating, figure skating and free style. Among the judges was Shinichi Nakamura, a former Japan ice-hockey national, who pronounced himself impressed with the talent on show.
The rink, 450 square feet (approx.) of natural ice, has been around for three years, and has built up a loyal fanbase in a city that has often lacked entertainment options. Since December 2011, people young and old have turned up to chill out or work out, to indulge in a bit of fun on ice or to train on skates. And this is not just an outing for lovers of winter - iSKATE is open all year round, and attracts plenty of enthusiastic skaters during the summer months.
But iSKATE is more than just a weekend diversion for Gurgaonites. It could give skating a bigger profile in India, and possibly put the country on the road to an Olympic medal. Ankur Bhatia, iSKATE's promoter, says the idea was to introduce skating to Indians, and to create "another entertainment space in the city". More than seven lakh visitors later, it seems to have worked wonders. The challenge now, Bhatia believes, is to expose more youngsters to skating, and to develop the sport, so that India has a decent-sized pool of skaters capable of excelling globally.
"Across the world, skating is huge, but there's not much awareness of the sport in India, and also we don't have the infrastructure," says Bhatia. "But I feel skating has immense potential amongst the youth here," he adds. Bhatia disclosed plans to build Olympic-sized rinks in Delhi and (down the line) Mumbai. More such facilities, of course, would contribute towards creating a skating culture in India, and help unearth champions in the sport.
Col. (Retd.) S.C. Narang, of the Ice Skating Association of India, also feels that India doesn't lack in talent. "We just need to tap it, because more kids are taking up skating, it's becoming more popular," says the association's director. Indeed, Indian skaters have not only participated in international events (in the junior grand prix and at the Asian level, for example), but have come home with medals. Here, then, is a sport with some seriously cool vibes.
So if one day an Indian returns with an Olympic skating medal, a rink in Gurgaon would have played a big part in that success. But before that, there's the national championship, a fantastic opportunity for Gurgaonites to familiarize themselves with this exciting sport.