An 83-year-old homemaker, Vasanti Madhav Utturkar took the internet by storm, showcasing her breathtaking prowess in carrom. After she bagged the gold in doubles and bronze in singles at the most recent All-Magarpatta City Carrom Tournament in Pune, she garnered admiration from youngsters across the world.
“Humne toh photo aur video aise hi le liya tha. Maine toh sapne mein nahi socha tha ki logon ko itna pasand ayega,” said Utturkar, who has been associated with the game for a long time. She began playing carrom 12 years after her wedding and often played to give company to her husband.
We can take some credit for practicing with her although @abhijeet_dipke and I got destroyed by Aaji, despite being paired with @PulkitS_ ? pic.twitter.com/N6mmb8v5ul
— Akshay Marathe (@AkshayMarathe) January 8, 2023
She said she played carrom with both genders. Her husband, she adds, was immensely supportive and waited for her outside with their 1.5-year-old son when she would go to competitions. She also revealed that she is a national-level kabaddi and Kho Kho player.
Inspired by my 83-year-old Aaji who won Gold in the Doubles and Bronze in the singles in Pune’s All-Magarpatta City carrom tournament against much younger and steadier hands. ??? pic.twitter.com/Mh1pPnUa2O
— Akshay Marathe (@AkshayMarathe) January 8, 2023
She stopped playing the game after 1978 until she decided to take it up again after being motivated by her neighbour. She also found that the rules had changed and were different from what they used to be when she played them earlier. Thus, she began to think that she had probably lost her magical touch, but her loved ones kept encouraging her.
She said that her neighbour, Avinash Wani enrolled her name again. And her grandson (Marathe) brought along his friends and asked Utturkar to play the match with them.
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Soon Utturkar was back in form and defeated the young group with an astounding victory. A 21-second video of Akshay’s grandmother playing Carrom received more than 30,000 views and numerous comments. In response, a user wrote that all the nation’s dadi jis look up to Aaji ji as an inspiration. “Age is just a factor… Dadi ji ne prove kar diya,” added the user.
