Guts Glory Gumption - The Voice of Indian Sports with Rica Roy Podcast

Rani Rampal is an Indian field hockey player. At the age of 15, she was the youngest player in the national team which participated in the 2010 World Cup. She has completed her schooling but was not able to get the graduate degree due to practice sessions and matches which were lined up. She plays forward on her team. She has played 212 international matches and scored 134 goals. She is currently the Captain of the Indian Women's Hockey Team. She is also well known as a striker who often doubles up as a mid-fielder. She has a great fascination with CWG. In 2020, the Government of India honoured her with the Padma Shri. Listen to her on the Podcast Guts Glory Gumption The Voice of Indian Sports shares her story with Rica Roy on the RedFM India App. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An incredible story of a girl whose mother, a domestic help in a village in Odisha, left home with three kids and groomed her eldest child to become the Indian rugby captain. Listen to Sumitra Nayak's Bollywood story on Guts Glory Gumption -India's Rugby Captain See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nethra Kumanan is the first Indian woman to qualify for the Olympics and also the first Indian sailor to get a direct entry into the Summer Games. Nethra Kumanan is the 10th Indian to qualify for a sailing event at an Olympics, but her achievement is a bit more special. Nethra Kumanan is the first woman from India to do so and significantly, the first Indian sailor to have booked a place at the Olympics directly and that too by topping a qualifying event for the Summer Games. The nine Indians before her managed to get to the Games only because the quotas were not filled up. Some even moved up from the waiting list. All of them, of course, were men. Most importantly, Nethra Kumanan earned her spot at the Tokyo Olympics in the Laser Radial category after she led the 10-race series at the Mussanah Open Championship in Oman convincingly in April 2021. In the medal round, she finished sixth and was placed second overall. Such was Nethra's performance that she had all but booked her place on the penultimate day of the Asian qualifiers held at the Millennium Resort in the oldest sultanate situated on the Persian Gulf. Listen to her talk to Rica Roy in the Podcast Guts, Glory, Gumption – the voice of Indian Sports on the RedFM India App. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Srihari achieved the Olympics B qualification standard in 100m backstroke at the FINA World Junior Championships in 2019 with a national mark of 54.69s. Srihari Nataraj did not dive into a pool for five months last year. There was a time when the youngster was pleading with authorities to open the swimming pools, at least for those preparing for Tokyo Olympics qualification, as he saw training restart in most other sports post lockdown. What he has been aiming for is the A qualification timing of 53.85s which will give him a direct entry into Tokyo. The fact that no Indian swimmer has ever achieved an ‘A' qualification timing for the Olympics shows the enormity of the job at hand. But the 20-year-old from Bengaluru--one of the most talented swimmers India has ever seen–knows his potential. Listen to him on the Podcast Guts Glory Gumption – The voice of Indian Sports with Rica Roy on the RedFM India App See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Murali Sreeshankar is an Indian athlete who competes in the long jump event. He holds the National record of 8.26 metres set in 2021. In March 2018, Sreeshankar cleared a 7.99 m jump at the Federation Cup in Patiala. He was named in the Indian contingent for the 2018 Commonwealth Games but had to pull out 10 days before the April event after being diagnosed with appendicitis. Following an emergency appendix surgery, he was placed on a liquid diet, which resulted in significant weight loss and an inability to walk properly. Two months later, he participated in the 2018 Asian Junior Athletics Championships in Gifu despite having "less strength, speed and focus" from before the illness and won bronze with a jump of 7.47 metres. At the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, he "struggled with run-up issues" and finished sixth in the final with 7.95 metres. In September 2018, Sreeshankar broke the national record at the National Open Athletics Championships in Bhubaneshwar where he achieved a jump of 8.20 metres. It was also the world-leading jump of the season among under-20 athletes and made him the first Indian athlete to qualify for the 2019 World Athletics Championships scheduled to be held in September–October in Doha. Listen to him share his dreams, trials and tribulations with Rica Roy in the RedFM Podcast Guts, Glory, Gumption – The voice of Indian Sports. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tajinderpal Singh Toor is an Indian shit putter who holds the outdoor national record of 20.92m. Hailing from a family of farmers, he switched from cricket to shot put at the insistence of his father. He recorded his personal best outdoor throw of 20.40m at the Federation Cup National Senior Athletics Championships in Patiala but fell short of the World Championships qualification standard of 20.50m.In the following month, he won the silver medal at the 2017 Asian Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar with a throw of 19.77m, missing out on the gold medal by 0.03m. Toor finished eighth in the final of the 2018 Commonwealth Games with a throw of 19.42m. On 25 August 2018, Toor won gold at the 2018 Asian with a 20.75m throw, breaking the Games Record and the national record.Hear him talk about his ambitions for the Olympics 2021 (Tokyo) with Rica Roy in the Podcast Guts , Gumption and Glory – The voice of Indian Sports on the RedFM India App See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sunil Chhetri is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a striker or winger and captains both the ISL (Indian Super League) side Bengaluru and the Indian National Football Team. Popularly known as Captain Fantastic, having scored the second highest number of goals in international matches among active male players after Cristiano Ronaldo and 6th on the all time list, he is both the most – capped player and all time top goal-scorer for the Indian national team, with 72 goals in 115 appearances. Sunil Chhetri was named an 'Asian Icon' by AFC on his 34th birthday. He helped India win the 2007, 2009, 2012 Nehru Cup , as well as the 2011 SAFF Championship. He was also one of India's best players during the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup in which India won the tournament and thus qualified for their first AFC Asian Cup in 27 years. He then led India in scoring during their short-lived campaign at the 2011 AFC Asian Cup with two goals. Chhetri has also been named AIFF Player of the Year a record six times in 2007, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017 and 2018–19. Hear him talk about his ambitions for the Olympics 2021 (Tokyo) with Rica Roy in the Podcast Guts , Gumption and Glory – The voice of Indian Sports on the RedFM India App See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the words of Neeraj Yadav "I used to consider myself a weaker person. I used to be scared. But sports boosted up my confidence and motivated me. Now when I come to the ground, I do not consider myself a person with an impairment. I always feel that I can achieve what I have dreamt of." He has also competed in wheelchair tennis. His ambition is to win a medal at the Paralympic Games. He plans to compete in the discus throw at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. His main event originally was the F55 javelin but was not listed for the Games. "As discus throw is different than javelin, I had to work more on my back movement. I am now more focused on technique." Hear him talk about his ambitions for the Olympics 2021 (Tokyo) with Rica Roy in the Podcast Guts , Gumption and Glory – The voice of Indian Sports on the RedFM India App See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Achanta Sharath Kamal is a professional Table Tennis player from Tamilnadu, India. He is the first Indian table tennis player ever to become nine times Senior National Champion hence breaking the record of eight times National Champion Kamlesh Mehta. Recently he received the fourth highest civilian award, Padmashri  His current world rank is 41 as of September, 2019. Sharath won the men's singles gold in the 16th Commonwealth Table Tennis championship held at Kuala Lumpur in 2004. He is a recipient of the Arjuna Award for the year 2004. He has won the US Open Table Tennis Men's championships held at Grand Rapids, Michigan in July 2010 . First Indian to win a singles title on the ITTF Pro Tour. He also won the gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, beating crowd favourite Australian William Henzel in the final, apart from helping the Indian team clinch gold in the table tennis team event against Singapore.  The list does not end here! Listen to Sharath Kamal talk about the year gone by and how he has prepared for Olympics 2021 (Tokyo) in Guts Glory Gumption with Rica Roy ! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With a career spanning over a decade, Aditi Chauhan has been a phenomenal success in the world of football. She is the first Indian Woman to play English League Football and also the first member of the Indian National Team to play in the top tier English club. Aditi is also the founder and CEO of India's Number 1 Women's Football Academy - She Kicks Football Academy. Catch her talking about her life on this podcast. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Formula 4 Racer Mrinalini Singh bursts all myths around women being bad drivers. She is an IT professional who races for passion and shines in her Ahura Racing outfit. She has also courted controversies in a short sporting career. Listen to her on Guts Glory Gumption See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Subedar Anandan Gunasekaran is a well-known name amongst Indian sports fans. 12 years after surviving he lost his left leg and despite being on the wrong side of 30, the 400M Asian record holder is now on a quest for the ultimate prize of winning a medal for India at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics. In these difficult times, his journey is a constant reminder to all of us that nothing is impossible See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Indian race walker KT Irfan was the first track and field athlete from India to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics but Covid struck and he had to wait for long to learn if his qualification would be valid post Covid. He was much relieved after IOC's announcement that he could indeed compete. But since 2020, Covid denied him of paricipation in big events, the 31-year-old is now hoping that he gets some exposure tours ahead of the Games. He wants to be the first Indian race walking Olympic medallist. Listen to Irfan on Guts, Glory, Gumption See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Suyash Yadav is India's first para-swimmer to win a gold medal at the Para Asian Games in Jakarta in 2018. It was an year of extremes for him, injuries on one side, medal haul on the other. He will compete at the Tokyo Para Games this year. Listen to one of india‘s star swimmers on GGG See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

G Sathiyan is often referred to as the Virat Kohli of Indian Table Tennis. He is an engineer TT player who has captured the imagination of the world with his innovative style of play. One of the brightest medal prospects at Tokyo . Listen to him as we countdown to the games 100 days from now! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever thought about the fittest man you know? Meet Deepak Raj, a techie who was once 95kgs, and then transformed himself to participate in over 20 ironman races. Listen to him on Guts Glory Gumption about becoming an ironman and bringing the race to India to give a shot in the arm to India's fitness journey  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hailing from a family of athletes, a life in Sports was natural but his struggles have been unique. Ashish will box for Indian in the middleweight category at the Tokyo Olympics. Listen to this pugulist's story of working on his mental health to become a world beater on Guts Glory Gumption  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Harmilan Bains is the rising star of Indian athletics. She won the National Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championship in 1500m, beating the likes of PU Chitra. Listen to Bains on Guts Glory Gumption, on her trials and tribulations and how she has grown to become an accomplished runner  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From a fat teenager to the Indian hockey captain is a fabulous transformation story. In a career spanning over two decades, Sreejesh and his team have created several 'chak de' stories for India. Hear him speak about his Olympics plans and makings of PR Sreejesh on Guts, Glory, Gumption  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From a boy in Kolkata's backyard, who struggled to speak another language to reigning in the world of archery. He was rejected in 30 second at the Tata Archery Academy but the same system moulded him to become a top class archer. Every rejection has ignited Atanu's spirit. One of the brightest medal prospects at Tokyo speaks on Guts Glory Gumption on his rise, fall and quest for the Olympic podium  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shrey Kadian is a softball gold medallist from the Special Olympics World Summer Games 2015. Shrey, a special child had a difficult childhood, unable to speak till the age of 7. His family too was ostracized, but once he found a special school that directed his energies into sports, Shrey prospered. On the Podcast Guts, Glory, Gumption, the 13 year old veteran athletes from Special Olympics Bharat speaks about winning a gold medal and undertaking a variety of roles, even serving as the Chairperson of the Programme's National Athlete input Council. Sports has been key to his transformation and a happy life   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nikhat Zareen won't be at the Olympics but she is in red hot form. Lately the Telangana boxer has beaten the two-time World Champion. The sharp and agile Indian boxer speaks about overcoming prejudice and injury on Guts, Glory, Gumption. Even though she is missing the Olympics in Tokyo, after losing her spot to rival and legend MC Marykom, Nikhat continues to grab the headlines.      See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist Deepika Kumari has been the brightest talent in Indian Archery ever since she burst into the stage. Deepika shot to World No.1. Despite medals crowding her trophy cabinet, one spot remains vacant, that of an Olympic medal. London to Rio to Tokyo, expectations on Deepika have continued to pile. But she says that now she has learnt to handle fame and adulation better. Listen to Deepika Kumari's quest for Olympic glory on Guts, Glory, Gumption. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Robin Singh, a product of the Tata Football Academy has had a colourful career in the beautiful game. From East Bengal to Pailan Arrows to Bengaluru FC to Real Kashmir, Singh has kicked the ball across the length and breadth of the country. He has been an Indian International as well.  Covid forced him to take a break from the game. As he prepares to return, he is also training the gen next of Indian Football. Hear the Indian forward on Guts, Glory, Gumption   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When an 18 year-old Ekta Bhyan met with a road accident and damaged her spinal cord, not many believed that she could be an Asian Games Gold Medallist. Here's a remarkable story of transformation through sports. Ekta, a Haryana Govt Civil Services officer started playing in 2015. With the help of coach Amit Saroha she began winning medals in Club throw and Discus throw by 2016. Ekta Bhyan will now compete in Tokyo. On the podcast Guts, Glory, Gumption she speaks about the day that almost ended her life to dreams of Olympic glory. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Priyanka Goswami, 20 Km race walker blazed her way to Olympic qualification. She began racing for a kit bag, she badly wanted as a prize, will now race for India to bag a medal in Tokyo. She presents the story of an incredible girl who just leaves, breathes her sport and leaving no stone unturned for a podium finish. Listen  to her on Guts, Glory, Gumption See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Princepal Singh is a shy man, a man of few words with big deeds. He is currently plying his trade in the NBA  G_League Select Team . He spent time in a bio-bubble in Florida before the games began. This 6 foot 10 inches power forward is steadfastly marching towards his dreams of making an NBA team cut. Listen to him on Guts, Glory, Gumption See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jehan Daruvala is tipped to put India back on the Formula 1 map. He is currently racing in the F2 circuit,  Daruvala began his 2021 FIA Formula 2 Championship campaign on a bright note, clinching second place in Race 1 during the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend on 28th March. On the podcast Guts Glory Gumption, he talks about his passion for Motor sport and the pride of finishing at the podium to see the national flag go up. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The golden girl of Indian shooting Elavenil Valarivan is a protege of Olympic Medallist  Gagan Narang. Even though she does not have a Tokyo spot, Ela is currently the World No.1 in 10-m Air Rifle. Her trophy cabinet is fast filling up, with as many as 3 Sr Gold Medals. She is currently one of the brightest on the shooting scene. Ela speaks on our Podcast series Guts Glory Gumption on her rise up the shooting ladder See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We kick off the podcast series GUTS, GLORY, GUMPTION, the Voices of Indian Sports with a special chat with Sports Minister Kiren Rijuju who lays bare his ministry's plans in a very forthright account, in every detail. He speaks about the challenge of being a Sports Minister in Covid times and preparing India for the Covid Olympics. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bhavani Devi is the maiden Indian fencer to qualify for Olympic Games. The fencer from Tamil Nadu opens up to Rica Roy, about her journey to Tokyo qualification with help from the Govt of India and Rahul Dravid; her trials, tribulations and dreams of Olympic glory See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.