My daughter obsessive about sports, says mother of star long jumper Shaili Singh

JHANSI:

Shaili Singh

, 17, bagged silver medal in long jump at the

World Athletics

(Under-20) Championship in Nairobi on Sunday, bringing laurels to Jhansi and also reaffirming a mother’s faith in her daughter and her abilities against all odds.

Behind Shaili's stupendous success is sheer hard work and unflinching support of her mother, who worked tirelessly to see her daughter achieve her dream after her father deserted the family.

"I worked day and night to support my children - Shaili, her elder sister Shanu (19) and younger brother Ishu (14) - as their father had abandoned us a long time ago," Shaili's mother told TOI on Monday, barely able to fight back her tears of joy on the success of her daughter.

While Shanu is a student of nursing, Ishu is in grade IX. Shaili had started showing her sporting skills when she was in primary classes. Her talent got noticed in school and she went on to achieve her goal.

Shaili Singh's house at Paricha

"When Shaili was in grade II, she had started showing her talent, which was further promoted by her school teachers Sushil Kumar Parashar and Chandrashekhar, who are the ones who took her out of Jhansi and gave her chance at various places like Bareilly, Varanasi, Lucknow and Sonbhadra," added Vinita.

Vineta recalled how Shaili would practice in the small farm in their backyard in Paricha village and cry if denied to go out of the city for appearing in competitions. She honed her sporting skills after being shifted to

Anju Bobby Sports Federation

in Bengaluru in 2018.

"She is simply obsessive about sports," is how Vinita summed up Shaili's love of sports. Vinita added that she herself was once a sportsperson and her father was a wrestler.

While living in her village, Shaili was lauded for her talent when she was studying in the local

Saraswati Shishu Mandir

where she started her initial practice.

Later, Shaili was noticed by Anju during an inter-district national championship in Visakhapatnam, where she had made a national record in junior category by jumping 6.40 meters. In Patiala national trial competitions, Shaili achieved a jump record of 6.48 meters. Earlier on Friday in Nairobi, Shaili again jumped 6.40 meters to qualify for the finals.

After winning the silver medal, Shaili has been heaped with all-round praises. Anju Bobby George tweeted, "In 2017, Bobby and I came across a young girl from Jhansi. We scouted her later that year in the junior national competition and decided to induct her into the Anju Bobby Sports Federation in 2018".



Olympic javelin gold medallist Neeraj Chopra too has congratulated Shaili. "Many congratulations Shaili, you have come so close to gold today and I am sure you have a long way to go," he tweeted.



President,

District Athletics Association

, Asadullah Khan told TOI that he was present during the team selection for inter- district national championship, but at that time no one knew that Shaili would scale such heights.

"Her own efforts and hard labour was further polished at the

sports academy

of Bobby George," Khan said.

Shaili cleared 6.59 meters at the Nairobi meet and missed the gold by just one centimetre. The first position was won by Maja Askag of Sweden by jumping 6.60 meters.

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