Indian Skaters

jatin · Administrator Joined: 20 Jan 2007 Posts: 136

TOKYO: India's first skater — via New Jersey — at the World Figure Skating Championships had a rough time Friday.

Not only did she have to get up early and be the first skater to compete while others were still having breakfast, Ami Parekh fell three times in the short program and will not advance to the final 24 to skate Saturday. She was next to last in the first, lower ranked, group of 22 women skaters.

Skating to a medley of Bollywood music and dressed in a variation of traditional Indian costume, she said she wasn't feeling right on the ice.

"I had to find myself and control myself. I felt queasy," she said.

Still, Parekh was excited to be India's first representative at the worlds, following up her competition at February's Four Continents. She became the first Indian figure skater at a major international championship there, placing 20th of 26 skaters.

"I can't believe India has a skater," she said. "I feel great that I can be the first one."

She was born in Jersey City and grew up in Princeton but lived a year in India and has dual citizenship. She trains in Delaware.

"I started skating when I was nine and competed in the United States from 1999 to 2003," she said.

She competed in U.S. sectional championships — one level below nationals — and came in ninth in the novice event in 2003 Eastern championships.

However, when India applied for membership in the ISU, she jumped at the chance.

"I wrote to the Indian federation and said I would be honored to be India's skater and would they be interested," the 19-year-old said. "I was thrilled when they wrote back and said we would love to have you skate for us."

She comes from a large family of half-brothers and sisters and her brother, Amar, became the first male skater to represent India in figure skating at the world junior championships last month in Oberstdorf, Germany.

They are both trained in Delaware by Jeff Digregorio, who coached 1998 Olympic champion Tara Lipinski on the novice level.

Now that she has skated in the world championships, the next goal would be the 2010 Olympics for Parekh. Not winning, just qualifying.

But she can take encouragement from a former fellow competitor. In 2000 and 2001 she and Kimmie Meissner were competing together on juvenile and intermediate level in the Atlantic regionals as Meissner is from Maryland and Parekh was competing out of New Jersey at the time.

Now Meissner is world champion.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/03/23/sports/AS-SPT-FIG-Worlds-Indias-Top-Skater.php