Bobby’s daughter Gangotri dreams of an Olympic high in golf

Her mother Bobby Aloysius is a former Asian high jump champion and an Olympian but when Gangotri Skariah tried the event a couple of years ago, she was very worried.

“I wouldn’t even jump with one foot… I was worried I’d break my leg if I fell down,” said the 14-year-old.

Gangotri is an allrounder of sorts, she is into basketball, athletics, cricket and now feels that golf is her true calling.

“I started golf three years ago, after a selection trial at the SAI Golf Academy (Trivandrum Golf Club). But I could not go for any competition because of corona, this is my second tournament,” said Gangotri, in a chat with The Hindu, during the IGU Synthite-CIAL South Zone championship at Nedumbassery where she finished fifth in her age group.

“I’m trying to get seriously into golf, want to go to the Olympics like Aditi (Ashok), want a place in the Olympics.”

But she keeps juggling basketball, athletics and golf these days.

“I like athletics and golf because they are individual sports where as you have to do well as a team in basketball,” said Gangotri, a student at Thiruvananthapuram’s Infant Jesus School.

Surprisingly, Gangotri has not yet moved to high jump’s fosbury flop style.

“I don’t know if I can manage to do the flop. It looks very hard. I’ve seen many exercises, I can’t even imagine doing them,” she said.

“My coach Athira Surendran (a former jumper) taught me the scissors style. There is no high jump pit (at the Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium), so I train on a long jump pit and was second in the district.”

With 1.97m being the qualification standard for next year’s Budapest Worlds (Indian record, 1.92m), Bobby feels that high jump could be a very difficult event for Gangotri since the qualification standards for majors are likely to rise with every passing year.

“I think the potential to do well in women’s golf is very good, so we are planning to give it a serious try,” said Bobby, a Customs Superintendent in Chennai.

She is planning to move Gangotri to Chennai to give her golf a bigger push.