SSGTB Khalsa College is jubilant after Amoj Jacob’s relay team breaks Asia record!
Delhi University’s Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur (SGTB) Khalsa College is the alma mater of athlete Amoj Jacob. He was part of the team comprising Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Muhammad Ajmal Variyathodi and Rajesh Ramesh, who broke the Asian record at the recent World Athletics Championships held in Budapest (Hungary).
A round of thunderous applause is not enough for 25-year-old Amoj Jacob as his alma mater Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur (SGTB) Khalsa, Delhi University (DU), is jubilant since the Indian men’s 4x400 relay team broke the Asian record! The team comprising Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Muhammad Ajmal Variyathodi and Rajesh Ramesh Asian record of 2:59.51, which was held by the Japanese team. As the boys from India came fifth at the World Athletics Championships, in Budapest (Hungary), a wave of jubilation struck his alma mater in North Campus.
Jaswinder Singh, principal of SGTB Khalsa, swelled with pride talking about his former student, and tells us, “We are prepping to celebrate this feat in college! I remember, Amoj was the star athlete of our college in those days. He got admission to the college in 2016 in BCom (Prog) and went on to represent Khalsa College and DU at the national and the international levels. SGTB Khalsa has a wonderful sports culture and the fact that we have seven Arjuna awardees among our alumni community is testament to that... Ab Arjuna Award toh uska hai hi, but he will get much more! I feel he will get Padma Bhushan one day and we will be there cheering for him!”
His sports coach from that time, Arvind Kapoor, also cuts a happy father figure as he gushes: “Amoj has been training with me since he was in class V. He is like my child only! I trained him while in school (St Xavier’s Senior Secondary School) and then when he enrolled at DU’s Khalsa College... In fact, after school, he used to come to my house to eat lunch and we used to go together to the stadium for training. He has suffered injuries, but there is no pressure. He has proved his mettle and will go on to win huge accolades for the country.”
“Amoj has always been one of the brightest persons in the 400m category seen in the university,” adds Anil Kumar Kalkal, director of the DU Sports Council, adding, “He accompanied me in the 2017 World University Games in Chinese Taipei, and I have seen his dedication as an excellent student. We were unhappy when he couldn’t participate in the 2019 World University Games due to his injuries. But, we all know he has a bright future ahead as he continues to make the university proud!”
An inspiration for the current batch of students, Jacob has already become an idol for many like Pradeep Singh, a first-year History (Hons) student at SGTB Khalsa. Singh says, “Bhaiyya has made us all so proud! We’ve been celebrating non-stop. Humare senior college se padhkar itna upar gaye hain, internationally records break kar rahe hain, it’s brilliant! He’s taught us about resilience and dedication with his performance and sports trajectory. He has proved to everyone that Khalsa College is more than just its bhangra team.”
Author tweets @KritiKambiri