Winning a family affair for Indians

Maybe it is the genes or plain rivalry, but two sets of siblings have achieved rare international success in the same discipline to boost India's medal collection at the Busan Asian Games this week.

(c) REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Top woman athlete K M Beenamol won the 800 metres gold and then fretted for the next 24 hours before her younger brother Binu snatched a surprise silver in the men's race.

But the 27-year-old Beenamol quickly brought her ecstatic brother down to earth, chiding him for not employing better tactics to ensure another gold for the Mathews family.

"If I make any mistake, she corrects me. Last night also she was teaching me how to run," Binu, 23, who works with the Railways, said after his win.

"I always had a chance of winning a medal. I was eager to do well for the country," he said.

Beenamol and Binu's success came on the heels of a silver and bronze medal won by brothers Nitin and Ashim Mongia in sailing, which took the country's total haul up to an impressive 27 medals.

Nitin won a silver in the OK Dinghy Class while Ashim joined Ramachandran Mahesh to finish third in the Enterprise Class, maintaining a family tradition that began when their father, Surinder Kumar, won a silver at the Bangkok games in 1978.

Both the Mathews and the Mongias were thrilled at their wins and said they gave credit to each other for their success.

"It's a great feeling when you and your brother are among the medals at the same meet," Nitin said.

Binu made light of his inexperience after entering the final, saying he was more concerned about Beenamol's prospects and her success goaded him to produce his best.

The 800 metres silver was the first major success for Binu, who had chosen to follow in his sister's footsteps as a schoolboy.

Beenamol, a former Asian junior champion who also won a silver in the 400 metres, said her younger sibling's success mattered more to her than her own victory.

"I am more happy with his medal than my victory," she said, before turning to advice Binu on how he should have held back his final sprint until the home stretch.

Thousands of miles away, their thrilled parents are busy receiving a steady stream of well-wishers in a nondescript village in Kerala. The duo hail from Idukki in the hilly central region of the state which has produced many top athletes.

Most of them like Beenamol and Binu come from modest backgrounds, and like the famed Kenyan runners, build on their natural strength by trekking long distances to schools.