A popular saying, often used to describe champions in the sports field, is that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Abdul Haneef, the father of 12-year-old skating champ Abdul Irfaan, realised how tough a competitor his son was during a recent State championship.
During the penultimate round of the race, Irfaan was pushed off the skating rink by a competitor. Irfaan said, ”Having just one point in hand from the previous round, I had to finish in first place in the next round to get the required 6 points and win the gold medal. Only a first-place finish would secure me a berth in the national meet.”
“What I saw next was an unforgettable race!” exclaims Irfaans father Haneef. ”My son did not complain about falling down. He gritted his teeth and showed true determination to get to the first place. This was when I realised Irfaan was truly serious about skating,” he said.
“Just a few days back, Irfaan won two golds and one silver in the Tamilnadu National Selection Meet conducted by School Games Federation of India. He has won this tournament four times consecutively. All four times, he has emerged No. 1 in Tamilnadu. In the last two years, he has been participating in the u-14 category,” Haneef says proudly.
For a child with so much promise in skating, his talent in the sport was discovered by chance. Initially, Irfaan was taken by his father to tennis coaching at age six. The coaches, however, turned him down stating that he was too young. They later took him to Tower Park when young Irfaan saw children his age skating in the rink there. Irfaan was immediately hooked, Haneef said.
Just three months after Irafaan joined skating coaching, he bagged two gold medals in Chennai District Speed Skating Championship hosted by the Roller Skating Federation of India. He was just seven then.
Haneef, who himself knew skating, decided to stop sending Irfaan to coaching and started training him on his own. He said, “I realised that Irfaan has immense potential in the sport. But, I was not satisfied with the coaching that was provided. I felt my son could excel with specialised training.”
There was no turning back for Irfaan after that. He bagged medal after medal wherever he went. But all the successes were moulded by the sweat of the father-son duo. Haneef said, ”We practice every day at the skating rink at Nehru Indoor Stadium. Irfaans fitness and training in skating starts at 5.30 am daily and extends till 7 am. He then goes to school and returns to practice at 5 pm. the evening session lasts three hours.”
Weekends are also full on practice for Irfaan. He goes to he skating rink inside IIT for training. It is no wonder that the boy is shining!
Seeing the results of their hard work, Haneef has been approached by parents of other skaters to provide coaching for their children. Haneef says that he does that for free in Nehru Stadium. Call to congratulate the duo at 94443 17086.