{"id":41321,"date":"2025-11-30T11:28:43","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T11:28:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=41321"},"modified":"2025-11-30T11:28:43","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T11:28:43","slug":"wrestler-shalina-sayer-from-siddi-community-is-a-shining-example-of-khelo-india-s-commitment-to-inclusivity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=41321","title":{"rendered":"Wrestler Shalina Sayer from Siddi community is a shining example of Khelo India\u2019s commitment to inclusivity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-41320\" src=\"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Shalini_Iyer.jpg\" alt=\"Shalini Iyer\" width=\"850\" height=\"565\" style=\"display: block; margin: 8px auto;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Shalini_Iyer.jpg 1016w, https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Shalini_Iyer-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Shalini_Iyer-768x510.jpg 768w, https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Shalini_Iyer-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Shalini_Iyer-696x462.jpg 696w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/>Bharatpur:<\/strong> The Khelo India Games are known for their inclusivity. In another example that reaffirms Khelo India\u2019s commitment to that, Shalina Sayer Siddhi from the Siddi Community on Friday bagged a bronze medal in the women\u2019s 57kg freestyle wrestling event of the 2025 Khelo India University Games (KIUG) here at the Lohagarh Stadium.<\/p>\n<p>Shalina from Karnatak University, Dharwad, beat Bhanu of Bhagat Phool Singh Mahila Vishwavidyalaya, Haryana 2-1 in her last group bout to claim the bronze.<\/p>\n<p>For the uninitiated, the Siddis have African origins and came to India by sea several centuries ago. They have been living here since, and now they are as Indian as any, totally acculturated. The Siddis are considered a backward class and in many states come under the \u201cscheduled tribes\u201d category.<\/p>\n<p>Naturally, Shalina\u2019s achievement is commendable for rising above the mundane. But she couldn\u2019t have done so without the Khelo India platform that provided opportunities to athletes like her to excel. \u201cI have participated in the Khelo India Youth Games. But this is my first Khelo India University Games. I had come with a lot of hope. I knew I would win a medal, though I was not sure what colour it would be. I am very happy to win the medal,\u201d she said in the company of Ismail, the man in charge of the Karnatak University contingent.<\/p>\n<p>This was no ordinary success. Athletes make a lot of sacrifices and sometimes face insurmountable hurdles to r\u0325ealise their dream. \u201cWe came here by train which took us three days. So, the journey was really arduous. But now that I have won, all that doesn\u2019t matter. I would say it was worth all the effort,\u201d Shalina, who picked up wrestling 10 years ago, said with a smile.<\/p>\n<p>India is by no means an ideal society. Discrimination on the basis of skin colour is still a reality in many parts of the country. When enquired on this, Shalina surprisingly insisted she didn\u2019t face such problems. \u201cI live in Dharwad and I have grown up with local kids. I will be very honest, I have not had any such experiences,\u201d Shalina, who also won a bronze at an All-India University event in Punjab earlier this year, said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn fact, I get respected a lot because of my sporting background. People see me as an achiever. My sister is also a police woman in Bangalore,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p>During the interview, Shalina also introduced Pro Kabaddi League player Sushil Motesh Kambrekar from Bengal Warriors, who also hails from the same community. \u201cSiddis are doing well. He is such a big inspiration to the entire community. I have never met him but I hope I make my name like him and make everyone proud,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bharatpur: The Khelo India Games are known for their inclusivity. In another example that reaffirms Khelo India\u2019s commitment to that, Shalina Sayer Siddhi from the Siddi Community on Friday bagged a bronze medal in the women\u2019s 57kg freestyle wrestling event of the 2025 Khelo India University Games (KIUG) here at the Lohagarh Stadium. Shalina from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wrestling-wrestling"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Wrestler Shalina Sayer from Siddi community is a shining example of Khelo India\u2019s commitment to inclusivity - IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News &amp; Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis &amp; Other Sports<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=41321\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wrestler Shalina Sayer from Siddi community is a shining example of Khelo India\u2019s commitment to inclusivity - IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News &amp; Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis &amp; Other Sports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bharatpur: The Khelo India Games are known for their inclusivity. In another example that reaffirms Khelo India\u2019s commitment to that, Shalina Sayer Siddhi from the Siddi Community on Friday bagged a bronze medal in the women\u2019s 57kg freestyle wrestling event of the 2025 Khelo India University Games (KIUG) here at the Lohagarh Stadium. Shalina from [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=41321\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News &amp; Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis &amp; Other Sports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-30T11:28:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Shalini_Iyer.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1016\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=41321#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=41321\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b8f51f3c66686ab3518464e9b8368646\"},\"headline\":\"Wrestler Shalina Sayer from Siddi community is a shining example of Khelo India\u2019s commitment to inclusivity\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-30T11:28:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=41321\"},\"wordCount\":477,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=41321#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/Shalini_Iyer.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Wrestling\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=41321#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=41321\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=41321\",\"name\":\"Wrestler Shalina Sayer from Siddi community is a shining example of Khelo India\u2019s commitment to inclusivity - IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News &amp; 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