Long jumper Shaili Singh aims to break Anju Bobby George's record this season
Shaili Singh, who is only 19-years-old and has only competed in the senior circuit for two years, has already become the best female long jumper in India. She is ambitious and motivated, and this year she plans to beat her mentor Anju Bobby George's national record.
Shaili achieved a record-setting leap of 6.76 metres in April, making it the second-longest distance ever recorded by an Indian woman. With this accomplishment, she came in barely behind the illustrious Anju, whose record of 6.83m has been unbroken for 19 years.
Anju Bobby George, Shaili's mentor, has great confidence in her talents and believes that Shaili has the ability to break her own record.
"Anju mam wants it to happen this year and believes I may beat her record because I am only 7 centimetres away from it." Shaili stated after the women's long jump qualifying round at the National Inter-State Athletics Championship on Sunday, "She thinks I am in that range, therefore I feel like I can accomplish it."
With a best leap of 6.27 metres, she advanced to the final round in third place, behind jumpers from Kerala named Ancy Sojan and Nayana James. Sojan beat James' best performance of 6.31m and broke the Asian Games record of 6.45m.
"This year, I missed one month of work to recover from an injury. I'm growing more fit. Sojan, whose personal best is 6.56m, responded, "I feel I can do 6.70m to 6.80m," when asked what her objective distance is.
Shaili said that she will attempt a higher leap in the final on Monday. With her jumps of 6.76 metres in Bengaluru in April and 6.65 metres when placing third at the renowned Seiko Golden Grand Prix in Japan last month, she has already surpassed the Asian Games qualification standard. "I tried to cross 6.45m (Asian Games qualifying mark), but it did not happen. But I am still happy, I will improve in the final."
She claimed that the Kalinga Stadium's hot and muggy environment is similar to taking a "Sauna Bath." "The conditions are difficult but the target given to me by my coach is to do better than the 6.76m that I had done in Bangalore in April."
Robert, the spouse of Anju Bobby George and a high-performance coach with the Sports Authority of India, oversees her training at the Anju Bobby George Sports Foundation in Bengaluru.