Little Sree Abiraame was just three when, holding mum Shyamala Ramachandran’s hands, she went to the IOI City Mall in Putrajaya. The ice rink there had just been opened, and like all other kids, she wanted to have a go.
With rented skates and gloves, she got on to the ice, took a few tentative steps, and off she went. There was no need for mum’s hands anymore. A coach spotted the little girl and from then on, there was no stopping her.
The mum, and proud father B. Chendren Balakrishnan, have since been watching in awe as their daughter grew into a phenomenon in figure skating, bringing home medals from around the world.
She got into the Malaysia Book of Records twice – as the youngest to win the Skate Asia figure skating competition when she was just 5 years and 8 months and again as the youngest to win the most number of medals – 21 – in international figure skating competitions. She was just 7 years and 4 months old.
Abiraame has never stopped aiming high. Today (Saturday, Dec 19), she turns nine with even loftier dreams, of taking part in the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics in Korea and then the 2026 Winter Olympics in the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina.
Already, she is showing great style. YouTube videos of her are going viral, with astonishing displays by such a young girl – and in true Malaysian style. She cleared the test for freestyle 5, a fairly high-level by performing to the song Tere Mere Beech Mein, a popular Hindi number by top Indian singer S.P. Bala.
And on Tuesday (Dec 15), she cleared freestyle 6 with a performance to Sheila Majid’s Lagenda. Freestyle 10 is the highest she can go before she breaks into the golden level.
It’s an amazing feat, considering that just before her first competition when she was four, she fell and broke her arm – badly. The doctors had to insert a pin to fix the arm and it was bent out of shape.
“My mother vowed that she would never get on the ice again,” smiled Chendren. “She was a daughter that we had after a long time and the grandmother was not about to let her get into a ‘dangerous sport’.
“For nearly two years, we kept her away from the rink,” he said “but as she got better, she wanted to skate again.”
Like most little girls, she had daddy wrapped around her finger and before long father and daughter were sneaking out to the rink, on the pretext of going shopping or to watch a movie.
It was not a secret they could keep for long and Chendren convinced his wife to let the girl have her way. After all, she was a winner.
Piling up medals has been a breeze for Abiraame, who has been winning since she was barely six, at ISIAsia Skate meets in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, China and in international meets held in Abu Dhabi. A section of the family’s modest house in Seri Kembangan has been converted into a trophy room and it is burgeoning with medals, trophies and awards from all over the world.
The parents are determined that their daughter’s dreams must come true. After her success in February at the 5th international championship skate in Abu Dhabi where she won four golds and a silver, they decided to send her to train at the International Figure Skating Academy in Riga, Latvia, where she could become a world-beater. The family was in Latvia when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Chendren came home but mother and daughter are still in Riga, where Abiraame trains every day. It’s tough for all as Chendren only gets to speak to his wife and daughter well past midnight every night. And training is expensive.
That explains the modest home. Chendren, an engineer with his own consultancy firm, has had to dig deep into his pockets to keep his daughter on the rink.
He sold a house in Petaling Jaya for more than RM200,000, sold a car and dipped into his EPF savings after turning 55 recently to keep his daughter happy.
The Covid-19 pandemic has made things worse. With his own business suffering, Chendren is hard-pressed to keep paying the rink fees, training fees and his family’s stay in Latvia.
He has had help, from a businessman in Klang, from friends and others but it is never enough. His daughter has been congratulated by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed, former deputy prime minister Wan Azizah Ismail and many others – but financial help from the authorities is not forthcoming.
“There have been promises,” said the 55-year-old. But few have been kept. “If not for the pandemic, I could keep her going. But it’s hard now. I really hope the sports ministry or someone could help. They don’t have to sponsor her in full. I can still come up with some money every year, but it is expensive.”
Chendren said he will try as long as he can to keep the would-be ice queen going. But he may run out of finances by next year.
“Then,” he said forlornly “I will have no choice but to bring her home. The dream will end.”
And that would be a real pity.