Ranchi: By day, 29-year-old Amardeep Kumar drives passengers across the state in his cab. When he is not behind the wheel, he helps his family sell vegetables at Argora Chowk in Ranchi. But beneath the everyday struggle lies the story of an athlete who has won four international throwball gold medals for India — and is still waiting for Jharkhand to recognise him.Amardeep was 13 when a local player spotted his interest in sport during a summer vacation and offered to train him free at Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium. Of the disciplines taught there, throwball caught his imagination. The vegetable seller’s son, who helped his father after school, quickly rose through the ranks and broke into the Indian team.His first international gold came at the Asian Junior Throwball Championship in Malaysia in 2015. He followed it with titles at the Indo-Nepal Throwball Championship in Kathmandu in 2017, the South Asian Throwball Championship in Bengaluru in 2019 and its second edition in Ranchi in 2026.The medals, however, brought neither financial security nor a govt job.“I often took loans to participate in tournaments. I repaid them by selling vegetables and driving a cab while supporting my family,” Amardeep said. His elder brother runs a small shop and his mother is a homemaker.He said several teammates who represented India secured govt jobs in Haryana, Chhattisgarh and Bihar, but his applications for a job and cash reward under Jharkhand’s sports policy yielded nothing. Though the district administration forwarded his case to the sports department, he said there was no progress.A few weeks ago, a call from the sports minister’s personal assistant briefly revived his hopes. Amardeep was then ferrying passengers from Ranchi to Netarhat and sought a meeting after his return. “Later, I was told they would get back to me. Nothing happened after that,” he said.Repeated visits to the sports directorate left him feeling humiliated, he said, and he stopped pursuing the matter.Throwball may be a non-Olympic discipline, but it is recognised by the state govt. Amardeep believes athletes in lesser-known sports deserve the same dignity as stars in popular games. “We won international gold medals for the country, but nobody cares,” he said.
