‘The journey has just begun’: Quimcy D’Souza vows to grow teqball after Asian Games

Self-funded and self-coached for four years, Quimcy D'Souza came to the Asian Games with one dream- to make the country know about the sport of teqball.

At least a bronze from the two events she competed in the continental multi-sport event would have largely realised her dream, but still, Quimcy feels she has taken the first steps to take the hitherto unknown sport to a higher level.

Despite playing back-to-back matches with a gap of just five minutes, the 24-year-old was almost on the verge of making history, but lost both her women's singles and mixed double bronze medal matches here on Sunday.

She pushed the Japanese world No. 7 Yuina Sakamoto to the limit in the women's singles bronze-medal match, going down 0-2 (11-12, 11-12) to miss a podium finish.

Just five minuets later, she turned up again at the same arena along with Mohamed Anas Beg for another shot at a historic medal in the newly introduced sport. They, however, lost the mixed doubles bronze-medal match against Vietnam's Hoang Minh Tan Nguyen and Gia Ngih Trinh 0-2 (9-12, 6-12).

"It is hard to take it, the results did not go the way I expected it to be. But I know I gave it my all. I wanted India to know what teqball is all about," Quimcy told PTI in an interview.

"The journey has just begun. Trust me, I'm not giving up on this. We've just started and there's a way to go. The medal will come very soon. And I think with the right guidance, more girls can play. Please believe in this sport," she said, while trying to hold back the tears of disappointment.

"I started this sport when nobody knew what teqball is in India. I just fell in love with the sport from the first time I took a touch on the table. As a kid, I always dreamt about playing for the country's badge on my chest. It's a very good sport. You'll enjoy playing it."

Her teqball journey began four years ago. Initially a footballer, Quimcy happened to watch Brazilian great Ronaldinho playing teqball on Instagram while recovering from an injury. She began playing in Mumbai with a small group of enthusiasts before moving to Bengaluru, where she now runs the Teqball Club of Bengaluru. Two youngsters from her club have represented India at the Asian Youth Games.

"For the last four years, I have self-funded myself. Then, I have no coach. All the skills I have now have been self-developed. A professional athlete requires basic support and money to play the sport. You require good coaches and you need money for international competitions.

"I have played almost 15 international competitions in Europe and Asia. It's a lot. Tickets to Europe up and down would cost you Rs 3 lakh. Then you have your accommodations to be taken care of and then your food... (a) minimum of Rs 4 lakhs every tournament, so it's very difficult to be able to do this.

"So, it's no joke to fund by yourself for all these competitions, to be able to focus on your body without a physio, without recovery, without dieticians. It's not easy. But I think none of that really held us back."

The Indian contingent here comprise three players -- the other being Declan Marshall. All of them have learnt the sport by themselves.

"It is just the players guiding each other. It has only been me, Anas and Declan who have been training each other," Quimcy said.

"I hope to get good coaches in India. And I think as players, you don't get the coach's perspective. But if we had a coach, we would know what we are lacking at. We could get better at it.

"So I think with coaches coming on and with the right guidance, if we get funded and if everything goes our way, nothing short of a medal for India. I know we can do it."

Quimcy, a seven-time national champion, has no doubt that the Asian Games is the best moment of her life though she is returning home without a medal.

"I have never won in women's singles internationally. Just one group stage match, but I've never qualified out of group stage ever in my life for the last four years. Reaching the semifinals at the Asian Games really means a lot. It is the biggest win that I've had in women's singles.

"To be able to reach the semifinals is a big thing for me. I personally believe I can go much further than this."

She did not have anybody to guide her but she is currently a coach to youngsters who aspires to take up the sport.

"With the amount of experience that we have, we know what is the right way to teach the younger players. The athletes coming up in India, especially in Bangalore where I coach, they're already players in the Asian Youth Games, they're national medalists.

"So I think they're not going to take much time to learn the sport. We took three to four years and we're still learning, but the younger generations have the best in front of them. And I think it's easier to coach them and they're going to come up very soon. I think we gave it our all with whatever we had. The struggles have been immense, but we are here to give it our all."

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Bridge Desk. It is published from a syndicated feed)