Ajay Joshi

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, May 8

From an Olympian to a Sub-Inspector in the Punjab Police, Sunith Singh (50), a single mother has faced several ups and down in her life. However, one thing that remained constant was providing better education to her daughter.

Born on September 17, 1970, Sunith is a former Indian judoka. She represented India at the 1996 Summer Olympics. She also won bronze medals in the 1995 Asian Judo Championships and in 1996 Commonwealth Championship, but life took a different turn after she got married in 1996 to her fellow Indian judoka, Narender Singh, an Arjun awardee, who had also represented India in both the 1992 Summer Olympics and in the 1996 Olympics.

While she was working with a private company as a sports officer in Jamshedpur when her daughter was born, she had to giver up her job and leave sports so that she could be with her husband here.

“My husband was posted here at PAP. For sound upbringing and better schooling of my daughter, I left sports. Having played over 20 international tournaments and several national championships, sports was a big miss, but raising my daughter appeared to be a bigger responsibility. And I decided to make my daughter an ace judo player. As life is full of surprising events, In 2002, when my daughter started going to school, an opportunity to become HoD sports at a private school knocked at my door. Analysing all the pros and cons, I took up the job and remained associated with sports. I enjoyed training young minds, including my daughter,” said Sunith.

However, life isn’t a bed full of roses. She lost her husband in 2016. While Sunith was recovering from the trauma, she was offered to join the Punjab Police, as her husband was serving as the Superintendent of Police. Considering her young daughter’s future ahead, she joined the police as a judo coach.

Before formally serving as a coach, at the age of 46, she underwent a mandatory training for three years, that remained physically challenging. But motivation to set an example for all mothers kept her going. “Instead of putting restrictions on our daughters, we should set them free. Give them the space to spread their wings and let them stand tall on their feet,” she said.

Due to an injury, her daughter Sharon couldn’t continue with judo after state championships and is currently pursuing her higher studies abroad.