Coming from a place that has produced many famous athletes like Mary Kom, Kunjarani Devi, Diana Ningombam is trying her best to put India’s name on the history book but what stands in the midway is the funds.
Hailing from Manipur, Diana who is an international taekwondo player has been selling fruit salads on the streets of Imphal in a bid to raise funds for her forthcoming tournaments.
Diana started mastering Taekwondo in 2006. After perfecting the sport, she grew from strength to strength where she alone won 15 medals at the national level as well as in international events which include silver in Kukkiwon, South Korea in 2018.
She wakes up at 3 am to make preparations and then sells fruit salads from 4 am to 7 am. After that, she hits practice session in the evening at the Langjing Achouba Makha Leikai (a local sports complex) where she has been preparing for the forthcoming tournament which will be held in Hong Kong.
Diana’s mother works in the market whereas her father is a printing machine mechanic.
I am with Diana Ningombam now at Kangla park. She is busy preparing fruit salads to the passerby. Let us support her. pic.twitter.com/j8XsT6coUm
— Chowkidar Naorem Mohen (@laimacha) April 28, 2019
“When I first stepped into sports, we required money to buy only sports tracksuits but players now have to manage their own transportation fees which is really hard for players belonging from poor family backgrounds,” she told to a daily.
She added that she earns somewhere between Rs 300-400 as profit from her small scale business.
She further told IFP, “Almost all of my customers encourage me, there are also some who give me more than the actual price of the salad as an act of encouragement and support.”
