I was called 'foolish Indian' in Japan, alleges Kolkata basketball player

Kolkata, Feb 10: She is Pallavi Sharma. She is one of the promising basketball players in India. She was a regular player in Kolkata Basketball League. Then she went to New Delhi for studies and played the game there too.

In Delhi, Pallavi who is the 6-feet 8 inches tall, found two well wishers in Amjyot Singh and Ampreet Pal Singh. Both players have been playing in Japan professional league for the last couple of years.

Following the duo's initiative, Pallavi travelled to Japan to play there. She got an opportunity at the University level. The 17-year old got a contract with Hakuoh University for 5 years and left the country 2 years ago.

Pallavi returned to New Delhi recently. She herself has terminated the contract with the university and after coming back she made a major complaint against her university side's coach and team-mates that they had "continuously abused her racially".

Pallavi, speaking over phone from New Delhi recently, said, "After a couple of months my team-mates, led by the Japanese captain, started abusing me on small issues. If I had made a silly mistake in training they asked me to leave the court immediately and forced me to work as their caretaker. I was forced to bring water and food packets after our team's training got over every day."

Pallavi added, "They often snubbed me saying I am foolish Indian. Even in the hostel I had to wash their dishes, clean up their rooms."

Pallavi also got injured during training one day. But none of her team-mates including the coach went to see her at the hospital. After coming from hospital, Pallavi was forced to sit on the wheelchair and she claimed that she was given food only twice a day.

Pallavi has been so frustrated that she is even thinking to stop playing basketball. She added, "I have already contacted my agent who took me to Japan. But now he is trying to skip the issue."

OneIndia News