New Delhi. Former long jumper legend Anju Bobby George believes that judging by the performance of her pupil Shaili Singh at the age of 19, she will be at the top of the world in the next four or five years like javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra.
In the same year, Shaili jumped 6.76 meters in the Indian Grand Prix, which is the second best performance by an Indian woman after Anju. Anju’s national record of 6.83m has stood since 2004. Shaili won his first international medal at the senior level on Sunday when he took bronze with an effort of 6.65m at the Seiko Grand Prix, the gold-level event of the World Athletics Continental Tour in Yokohama, Japan. The medal was named after him. This was the first global competition at the senior level of the genre.
Anju told PTI, “The leap she (Shaili) has made at the age of 19 is amazing. At the age of nineteen, he jumped 6.76 meters. He is a rare talent and we have to nurture him very carefully so that he can become one of the best players in the world when he matures.” Indian female athlete Anju and her husband Robert Bobby George discovered Shaili in 2017 when she was just 13 years old.
Shaili is currently training under the guidance of Robert who is also a High Performance Coach at the Sports Authority of India’s National Center of Excellence in Bangalore.
Anju said that winning the bronze medal in Japan is the first step towards Shali’s transformation from a talented athlete to a consistent medalist at the global level. “This medal will boost her confidence a lot,” she said. You need such competitions and respect for change. Age is on her side and she will achieve more in the years to come.” Anju said, “I hope Shelly can win at least one medal in the Asian Games and also qualify for the World Championships in Budapest. Can.”
The three women’s long jump medalists at the Asian Games 2018 had cleared 6.55m, 6.51m and 6.50m respectively. The qualifying standard for the World Championships is 6.85m. If Shaili clears 6.85m to qualify for the August 19-27 World Championships in Budapest, she will break Anju’s national record which she set during the 2004 Athens Olympics. Shaili was brought up by her mother, who works as a seamstress in a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi district. “She is very dedicated and hardly goes home,” Anju said. His mother comes to Bangalore to meet him. Financially he is now in a better position, he has some sponsors and he is also in TOPS (development group).”